The Spiritual Significance of the Meat Offering

[Study Aired 4/13/2020]

This is the second of the five types of offerings which Christ fulfills for us and in us. 1) burnt, 2) meat (meal), 3) peace, 4) sin, 5) trespass. There are two sub-types: the first three are sweet-smelling savors, and the last two are not sweet-smelling savors. This offering is just one part of the revealing of the “secret hidden from the ages:”

Col 1:26  Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:
Col 1:27  To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: [the ability to ‘do the things I say’]

There are three categories within each of the five types except for this offering. 1) herd, 2) flock, and 3) fowl.  These offerings are the revelation of “Christ in you the hope of glory.”

This offering differs from all the others in that there is not a life being given. So, there is no herd, flock or fowl categories in this offering. Instead it has four parts of one offering: it was composed of 1) flour, 2) oil, 3) frankincense and 4) salt. Each of these parts reveals more of what is Christ in you. All three are “fruit of the ground” and therefore represent what man, who was made out of the ground, made of the dust of the earth through “Christ in him”, owes to God in service to his fellow man. The meat offering being of the fruit of the ground represents our good works which we perform in our flesh. However, these ‘good works’ are not a “sweet savor” if they are not offered upon a burnt offering. Consequently, we have these phrases in God’s Word:

Lev 23:18  And ye shall [on the day of Pentecost] offer with the bread seven lambs without blemish of the first year, and one young bullock, and two rams: they shall be for a burnt offering unto the LORD, with their meat offering, and their drink offerings, even an offering made by fire, of sweet savour unto the LORD.

Num 29:2  And ye shall offer a burnt offering for a sweet savour unto the LORD; one young bullock, one ram, [and] seven lambs of the first year without blemish:
Num 29:3  And their meat offering shall be of  flour mingled with oil, three tenth deals for a bullock, and two tenth deals for a ram,

Ezr 7:17  That thou mayest buy speedily with this money bullocks, rams, lambs, with their meat offerings and their drink offerings, and offer them upon the altar of the house of your God which [is] in Jerusalem.

Jdg 13:19  So Manoah took a kid with a meat offering, and offered it upon a rock unto the LORD: and the angel did wondrously; and Manoah and his wife looked on.

The Law of the Meat Offering

Lev 2:1  And when any will offer a meat offering unto the LORD, his offering shall be [of] fine flour; and he shall pour oil upon it, and put frankincense thereon:

“Fine flour” means that this offering has been “crushed to powder.”

Mat 21:44  And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.

Luk 20:18  Whosoever shall fall upon that stone shall be broken; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.

What is the difference between ‘falling on the stone and being broken’ and ‘the stone falling on you and grinding you to powder?’ Here is that difference:

Rom 9:31  But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness.
Rom 9:32  Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumbling stone;
Rom 9:33  As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.

“Believing on Christ” is ‘doing the things I say.’ It is becoming ‘fine flour’ with no unevenness. It is to become completely malleable in the hands of the Potter to be “made anew”.

Luk 6:46  And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?

The meat offering was what Cain presented to God. However, Cain had not “done well” (Gen 4:7). He had not done ‘the things which I say’. Cain had not obeyed God’s instructions concerning how to approach God. God had already covered Adam and Eve with the skins of animals to show them how to properly cover their nakedness. Yet Cain saw no need to bother with shedding blood. He may have had to go to his brother to get a lamb. That was a humility Cain could not bear. Foreshadowing the death of Christ, which was to come, Cain killed God’s anointed rather than obey God’s instructions concerning how God was to be approached and satisfied:

Gen 4:1  And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD.
Gen 4:2  And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.
Gen 4:3  And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD.
Gen 4:4  And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering:
Gen 4:5  But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.
Gen 4:6  And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? And why is thy countenance fallen?
Gen 4:7  If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? And if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee [shall be] his desire, and thou shalt rule over him [over sin].

“The fruit of the ground” was what God had given man at this time as man’s nourishment:

Gen 1:29  And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which [is] upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which [is] the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.

However, “the fruit of the ground” does not satisfy God. What does satisfy God is the burnt offering, which requires the shedding of blood. God’s portions which satisfy and nourish Him were not to be eaten by man at that time. It was not until after the flood that God gave man meat to eat. And even then, He reserved the blood to himself:

Gen 9:3  Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things.
Gen 9:4  But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat.

“You shall rule over him” is a prophecy of Cain’s, and all men’s, ultimate destiny through the sacrifice of Christ for which Cain saw no need. “If you do well” means ‘if you do the things I say.’ Cain had not done as he had been instructed. Cain was the original King Saul, who was instructed to kill all the Amalekites and their animals, but he decided he knew how to better approach God than God knew. King Saul unilaterally decided to keep the cattle and women and King Agag. But King Saul’s good works, like our good works when those works are out of us and not through the burnt offering, not through Christ, become “as filthy rags” before God.

Isa 64:6  But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

“Our [most insidious and hard to detect] iniquities” are “our righteousnesses.” They are not called our unrighteousnesses; they are called “our righteousnesses,” our ‘blamelessness according to the righteousness which is in the law.’ They “are as filthy rags” and have taken us away” from the presence of our God.

Lev 2:2  And he shall bring it to Aaron’s sons the priests: and he shall take thereout his handful of the flour thereof, and of the oil thereof, with all the frankincense thereof; and the priest shall burn the memorial of it upon the altar, to be an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD:
Lev 2:3  And the remnant of the meat offering shall be Aaron’s and his sons’: it is a thing most holy of the offerings of the LORD made by fire.

Aaron and his sons represent Christ, our priest:

Heb 7:12  For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law.

His handful (Lev 2:2) represents His claim upon our entire lives just as the tithe represented God’s claim upon Israel’s entire life (Gen 47:24-26). All the shadows of the Old Testament represent Christ.  This offering represents His claim upon our entire life as a life in service to our brothers. We present our entire bodies as living sacrifices to God:

Rom 12:1  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, [which is] your reasonable service.
Rom 12:2  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what [is] that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

This offering is the type and shadow of Christ in us being ground to powder so as to be of service to our fellow man is a way which is a sweet-smelling savor to God.

Lev 2:1 And when any will offer a meat offering unto the LORD, his offering shall be of fine flour; and he shall pour oil upon it, and put frankincense thereon:

The meat offering is the second of the five types of offerings. 1) burnt, 2) meat (meal) 3) peace, 4) sin, and 5) trespass.

The meal offering consists of four ingredients 1) “finely ground flour” with 2) oil, and 3) frankincense and 4) salt. We have covered the significance of an offering which does not include the shedding of blood, an offering of the “fruit of the ground.” That ‘fruit of the ground’ represents the offering of our flesh:

Gen 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

The fact that part of this offering is not burnt but is given to the priests shows us that this is an offering whose emphasis is our debt to our fellow men who we are to see as Christ:

Mat 25:34 Then shall the King say unto them [the sheep] on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
Mat 25:35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
Mat 25:36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
Mat 25:37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed [thee]? or thirsty, and gave [thee] drink?
Mat 25:38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took [thee] in? or naked, and clothed [thee]?
Mat 25:39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
Mat 25:40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

So, the sheep on His right hand, who feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, take in strangers, clothe the naked, visit the sick and come to the prisoners, are the meat offering.

The oil of this offering shows us the spirit of Christ in us. But it is a certain part of Christ in us. This is Christ in us as “finely ground flour… of the fruit of the ground.” It is Christ being ground to powder for us. It is also Christ being ground to powder in us. It is us being ground to powder for Christ’s body which is the church:

Col 1:24 Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:

What do we see here in Colossians? How can anyone say that there is something “behind of the afflictions of Christ? Isn’t Paul blaspheming? Did not Christ say, “It is finished?”

Joh 19:30 When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.

How then can Paul say: “I… fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church?”

Paul can say this because Paul knew that it wasn’t really him who was filling up those afflictions at all. Paul knew his Bible, and Paul had the mind of the spirit (1Co 2:16). Paul knew what this verse was all about:

Exo 20:25 And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone: for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it.

Our works, without acknowledging the need and efficacy of the burnt offering, pollute our meat offering. While this offering shows us what Christ accomplishes in being bruised and crushed to powder for us, it also shows us that this is accomplished through us by having Christ in us. This is the only offering which is not a blood offering. It is an offering of the fruit of the ground. It represents what and how the fruit of the ground is given in service to God. It represents our good works toward our fellow man, who is also Christ. And the fact that it must never be offered without a blood offering tells us that our good works alone cannot save us. The fact that it is always offered with a shed blood offering tells us that our good works are not our works at all. They are rather ‘Christ in us.’

Gal 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
Gal 2:21 I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by [my own efforts of keeping] the law [for the lawless], then Christ is dead in vain.

Whose works are they if they are worked in us?

Eph 2:1 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
Eph 2:2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course (‘aion’) of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
Eph 2:3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
Eph 2:4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
Eph 2:5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
Eph 2:6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
Eph 2:7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Eph 2:9 Not of [our own] works, lest any man should boast.
Eph 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

Is “in the ages to come” an ‘Is, Was and Will Be statement? What say the scriptures?

1Co 10:11 Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.
1Co 10:12 Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.

The fact that “the ends of the ages… are come… upon [us]” tells us that the phrase “the ages to come” is indeed an ‘is, was, and will be’ statement, which will be applicable to every man in every generation of mankind.

The following words of Isaiah’s prophecy are part of the words of Christ which shall “never pass away” (Mat 24:34-35):

Isa 53:10  Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
Isa 53:11  He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.
Isa 53:12  Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

“Bruised… put to grief… the travail of His soul”, [and having] his soul poured out unto death”, that is the meat offering. It is bruised to please His Father and to atone for our sins:

Isa 28:28 Bread corn is bruised; because he will not ever be threshing it, nor break it with the wheel of his cart, nor bruise it with his horsemen.
Isa 28:29 This also cometh forth from the LORD of hosts, which is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working.

“Bread corn is bruised.” That is what we are if we are to be of service to our brothers. We must “fill up in our bodies what is behind of the afflictions of Christ, for His body’s sake which is the church.” That is the finely ground and even consistency of the meat offering. It was not just “finished” 2000 years ago on His cross. It ‘Is, Was and Will Be’ being “finished… in our bodies, for His body’s sake which is the church.”

Christ suffered, not just from His enemies. He suffered from His own apostles who left Him to whatever the Jews and the Romans wanted to do to Him. What that “two horned beast [which], looked like a lamb, but spoke as a dragon” (Rev 13:11), wanted was Christ’s death, and the seven headed beast which the two-horned beast rode upon (Rev 17:1-3), was willing to accommodate her.

What is missing in the false doctrine of a ‘substitutionary atonement’ is the Biblical doctrine stating there is something yet lacking in the afflictions of Christ.

Col 1:24  Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind [Greek, lacking] of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:

The reason this part of the gospel is so little understood is that Christ Himself is so little understood. How few it is who appreciate the depth of the Truth of these words:

Mat 25:40  And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

Mat 25:45  Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.

Act 22:7  And I fell unto the ground, and heard a voice saying unto me, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?
Act 22:8  And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest.

Christ did not die for us so we would not have to suffer and die. That is a lie from the depths of the ‘bottomless pit’, the carnal mind of man. Christ died for us so we could die with Him:

Gal 2:20  I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

We are not called to be physically blessed in this life. Rather our calling is to suffer with Christ:

Rom 8:17  And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.

Php 1:29  For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake;

2Ti 2:12  If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us:

Christ Himself made His doctrine on this matter clear beyond any question:

Mat 10:24  The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord.
Mat 10:25  It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household?

Luk 6:22 Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man’s sake.

Joh 15:18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.

1Jn 3:12 Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one [of his father the Devil – Joh 8:44], and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous.
1Jn 3:13 Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you.
1Jn 3:14 We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.
1Jn 3:15 Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.

Second ingredient – Oil

The second ingredient in the meat offering is oil – “he shall pour oil upon it.” What does oil signify in scripture?

Act 2:16 But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel;
Act 2:17 (a) And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh:

Oil is not mentioned in the burnt offering. In the burnt offering the spirit is signified by water:

Lev 1:9 But his inwards and his legs shall he wash in water: and the priest shall burn all on the altar, [to be] a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD.

Here is the ‘oil’ being poured out on the ‘flour:’

Luk 3:22 And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased.

Here is what that ‘oil’ generates:

Luk 4:1 And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,

Luk 4:14 And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and there went out a fame of him through all the region round about.
Luk 4:15 And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all.
Luk 4:16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read.

What He reads in the synagogue tells of what He does under the anointing of the ‘oil,’ the spirit:

Luk 4:17 And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written,
Luk 4:18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
Luk 4:19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.

The spirit is mentioned in this offering of our bodies to Christ in service to our fellow man, as oil, because it is in service to one another that the smoothing and healing effect of oil is needed to heal the wounds we find or inflict on one another:

Luk 10:34 And went to him [one of the least of these my brothers], and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.

Here is the one verse which best describes the meat offering:

Act 10:38 How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.

What was the result of Him “going about doing good?”

Luk 4:28 And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath,
Luk 4:29 And rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong.

All who present themselves to God to be given Christ in them will always be “the bruised corn,” the meat offering.

Third ingredient – Frankincense

The third ingredient is frankincense, “…and put frankincense thereon:” But look what is said in connection with commanding this ingredient to be part of the meat offering:

Lev 2:11 No meat offering, which ye shall bring unto the LORD, shall be made with leaven: for ye shall burn no leaven, nor any honey, in any offering of the LORD made by fire.

No leaven and no honey were ever to be burnt in any offering made by fire unto the Lord. Why is that? Why is frankincense to be burnt on the altar of the Lord, but leaven and honey are never to be burnt on the altar?

The reason is that both honey and leaven corrupt and puff up when submitted to heat. Frankincense, on the other hand, is a most precious and fragrant and enduring perfume whose scent is released when heated. That is the symbolism of Christ in us as the meat offering, and it is contrasted with the sweetness of honey which is in many of us until we are put through the fire of God’s words. Then all our sweetness, like honey and leaven, begins to ferment and sour immediately. Our sweetness must never be placed on the altar of God. Here is a story which gives the contrast of incorruptible, enduring, fragrant frankincense to the never to be burnt on God’s altar, honey and leaven:

1Sa 15:1 Samuel also said unto Saul, The LORD sent me to anoint thee to be king over his people, over Israel: now therefore hearken thou unto the voice of the words of the LORD.
1Sa 15:2 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way, when he came up from Egypt.
1Sa 15:3 Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.
1Sa 15:4 And Saul gathered the people together, and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand footmen, and ten thousand men of Judah.
1Sa 15:5 And Saul came to a city of Amalek, and laid wait in the valley.
1Sa 15:6 And Saul said unto the Kenites, Go, depart, get you down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them: for ye shewed kindness to all the children of Israel, when they came up out of Egypt. So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites.
1Sa 15:7 And Saul smote the Amalekites from Havilah [until] thou comest to Shur, that [is] over against Egypt.
1Sa 15:8 And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.
1Sa 15:9 But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all [that was] good, and would not utterly destroy them: but every thing [that was] vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly.
1Sa 15:10 Then came the word of the LORD unto Samuel, saying,
1Sa 15:11 It repenteth me that I have set up Saul [to be] king: for he is turned back from following me, and hath not performed my commandments. And it grieved Samuel; and he cried unto the LORD all night.
1Sa 15:12 And when Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning, it was told Samuel, saying, Saul came to Carmel, and, behold, he set him up a place, and is gone about, and passed on, and gone down to Gilgal.
1Sa 15:13 And Samuel came to Saul: and Saul said unto him, Blessed [be] thou of the LORD: I have performed the commandment of the LORD.
1Sa 15:14 And Samuel said, What [meaneth] then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?
1Sa 15:15 And Saul said, They have brought them from the Amalekites: for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.
1Sa 15:16 Then Samuel said unto Saul, Stay, and I will tell thee what the LORD hath said to me this night. And he said unto him, Say on.
1Sa 15:17 And Samuel said, When thou wast little in thine own sight, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel, and the LORD anointed thee king over Israel?
1Sa 15:18 And the LORD sent thee on a journey, and said, Go and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they be consumed.
1Sa 15:19 Wherefore then didst thou not obey the voice of the LORD, but didst fly upon the spoil, and didst evil in the sight of the LORD?
1Sa 15:20 And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the LORD, and have gone the way which the LORD sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.

King Saul is our own self-righteous old man. We convince ourselves that our ways are much better than God’s ways. To our old man these words…:

1Sa 15:3 Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass. [Meaning simply, clean up your life!]

…Are turned into these self-righteous actions:

1Sa 15:21 But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God in Gilgal.
1Sa 15:22 And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.
1Sa 15:23 For rebellion [is as] the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness [is as] iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from [being] king.

These words are not for Samuel and Saul. They happened unto them and they are written for us:

1Co 10:11 Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.
1Co 10:12 Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.

How can I say that these experiences were not for those who experienced them?

1Pe 1:12 Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.

King Saul’s life was lived and recorded by the prophets to “minister… unto us”, and “not unto themselves”.

1Sa 15:24 And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD, and thy words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice.
1Sa 15:25 Now therefore, I pray thee, pardon my sin, and turn again with me, that I may worship the LORD.
1Sa 15:26 And Samuel said unto Saul, I will not return with thee: for thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD hath rejected thee from being king over Israel.
1Sa 15:27 And as Samuel turned about to go away, he laid hold upon the skirt of his mantle, and it rent.
1Sa 15:28 And Samuel said unto him, The LORD hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day, and hath given it to a neighbour of thine, that is better than thou.
1Sa 15:29 And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent: for he is not a man, that he should repent.
1Sa 15:30 Then he said, I have sinned: yet honour me now, I pray thee, before the elders of my people, and before Israel, and turn again with me, that I may worship the LORD thy God.
1Sa 15:31 So Samuel turned again after Saul; and Saul worshipped the LORD.
1Sa 15:32 Then said Samuel, Bring ye hither to me Agag the king of the Amalekites. And Agag came unto him delicately. And Agag said, Surely the bitterness of death is past.
1Sa 15:33 And Samuel said, As thy sword hath made women childless, so shall thy mother be childless among women. And Samuel hewed Agag in pieces before the LORD in Gilgal.
1Sa 15:34 Then Samuel went to Ramah; and Saul went up to his house to Gibeah of Saul.
1Sa 15:35 And Samuel came no more to see Saul until the day of his death: nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul: and the LORD repented that he had made Saul king over Israel.

This story portrays the corrupting leaven and honey within us while we are in Babylon where we “fear the people” more than we fear God. Such actions are never to be offered with fire on the altar of God.

King Saul, within us is contrasted with Christ in us. It is contrasted with the enduring, sweet, fragrance of frankincense, that part of Christ within us which seeks to please His Father over everything else in this life. That is a life of “praying without ceasing (1Th 5:17). That is what smells so good to our Lord as a part of Christ as the meat offering:

Psa 45:7 Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness: therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.
Psa 45:8 All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia, out of the ivory palaces, whereby they have made thee glad.
Son 1:3 Because of the savour of thy good ointments thy name is as ointment poured forth, therefore do the virgins love thee.

Who are “the virgins?”

2Co 11:2 For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.

This is the virgin who says:

Son 1:13 A bundle of myrrh is my wellbeloved unto me; he shall lie all night betwixt my breasts.
Son 1:14 My beloved is unto me as a cluster of camphire in the vineyards of Engedi.

The frankincense also symbolizes the prayer of these ‘virgins’, “the prayers of the saints:

Rev 5:8  And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.

Rev 8:3  And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.
Rev 8:4  And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel’s hand.

It is for God that Christ is all these things which the meat offering symbolizes in us and for us.

Fourth ingredient – Salt

The fourth and final ingredient in the meat offering is salt:

Lev 2:13 And every oblation of thy meat offering shalt thou season with salt; neither shalt thou suffer the salt of the covenant of thy God to be lacking from thy meat offering: with all thine offerings thou shalt offer salt.

All meat offerings had to be seasoned with salt: “Every oblation of thy meat offering shalt thou season with salt.” Notice the next part of this same verse: “neither shalt thou suffer the salt of the covenant of thy God to be lacking from thy meat offering”.

When anything is intended to be understood as lasting and being preserved it is called “a covenant of salt.” Salt both “seasons”, and salt also preserves.

Num 18:19 All the heave offerings of the holy things, which the children of Israel offer unto the LORD, have I given thee, and thy sons and thy daughters with thee, by a statute for ever: it is a covenant of salt for ever before the LORD unto thee and to thy seed with thee.

That is why it is emphasized in this offering that there must be no leaven offered by fire on the altar of the Lord. Leaven is contrasted with salt. Leaven corrupts, and salt preserves: “neither shalt thou suffer the salt of the covenant of thy God to be lacking from thy meat offering”.

Leaven, on the other hand, is used like this in scripture:

Luk 12:1 In the mean time, when there were gathered together an innumerable multitude of people, insomuch that they trode one upon another, he began to say unto his disciples first of all, Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.

Mat 16:6 Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.

Mar 8:15 And he charged them, saying, Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and [of] the leaven of Herod.

Paul gives us this admonition using the word ‘salt’:

Col 4:6 Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.

Speaking with grace means that you understand how God works with His children, correcting and disciplining His chosen few. When this is so, our words are “seasoned with salt” and are not distasteful to the hearer. “Fitly spoken” words are words spoken “with grace [and] seasoned with salt:”

Pro 25:11 A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver.

The meat offering differs from the burnt offering in that it is not all burnt:

Lev 2:2 And he shall bring it to Aaron’s sons the priests: and he [the priest] shall take thereout his handful of the flour thereof, and of the oil thereof, with all the frankincense thereof; and the priest shall burn the memorial of it upon the altar, to be an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD:
Lev 2:3 And the remnant of the meat offering shall be Aaron’s and his sons‘: it is a thing most holy of the offerings of the LORD made by fire.

The priest takes a handful of the flour and of the oil and all the frankincense to burn on the altar to the Lord. “And the rest of the meat offering shall be Aaron’s and his sons.“

While it is not all burnt like the burnt offering, it is all consumed with nothing going to the offerer. Here is what the meat offering is:

Rom 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable [Greek: divine] service.

Christ in us is our meat offering, and He Himself feeds His priests:

1Pe 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:

Psa 132:15 I will abundantly bless her provision: I will satisfy her poor with bread.

Who is “her poor?” Look at the preceding verses:

Psa 132:13 For the LORD hath chosen Zion; he hath desired it for his habitation.
Psa 132:14 This is my rest for ever: here will I dwell; for I have desired it.

Where does God desire to dwell for ever?

1Co 3:16  Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

Rev 21:1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
Rev 21:2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
Rev 21:3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.

So, the meat offering, with its flour, its oil, its frankincense and its salt is intended to be consumed for the most part by man, it is nevertheless “for the Lord.” We may tend to do what we do for recognition of others. Christ in us does it all for God:

1Th 2:5 For neither at any time used we flattering words, as ye know, nor a cloke of covetousness; God is witness:
1Th 2:6 Nor of men sought we glory, neither of you, nor yet of others, when we might have been burdensome, as the apostles of Christ.

The last thing we need to know about this offering is how it differs from the wave sheaf at Pentecost.

Lev 2:12 As for the oblation of the firstfruits, ye shall offer them unto the LORD: but they shall not be burnt on the altar for a sweet savour.

What is the “oblation [offering] of the firstfruits? It is mentions in Lev 23:

Lev 23:15 And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete:
Lev 23:16 Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the LORD.
Lev 23:17 Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two tenth deals: they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baken with leaven; they are the firstfruits unto the LORD.

This offering was to be “burnt on the altar for a sweet savour” just the wave sheaf on the marrow after the sabbath during the days of unleavened bread was to be burnt on the altar.

Lev 2:14 And if thou offer a meat offering of thy firstfruits unto the LORD, thou shalt offer for the meat offering of thy firstfruits green ears of corn dried by the fire, even corn beaten out of full ears.
Lev 2:15 And thou shalt put oil upon it, and lay frankincense thereon: it is a meat offering.
Lev 2:16 And the priest shall burn the memorial of it, part of the beaten corn thereof, and [part] of the oil thereof, with all the frankincense thereof: it is an offering made by fire unto the LORD.

The reason why the meat offering of the days of unleavened bread is to be burnt upon the altar as a sweet-smelling savor is that is ‘first fruit’ is Christ. As “a kind of firstfruits” we, too, are a sweet savor to the Lord, even though we are offered “with leaven” on the day of Pentecost.

Lev 23:16  Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the LORD.
Lev 23:17  Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two tenth deals: they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baken with leaven; they are the firstfruits unto the LORD.
Lev 23:18  And ye shall offer with the bread seven lambs without blemish of the first year, and one young bullock, and two rams: they shall be for a burnt offering unto the LORD, with their meat offering, and their drink offerings, even an offering made by fire, of sweet savour unto the LORD.

1Co 15:20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.

We are also a ‘kind of first fruits’:

Jas 1:18 Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

We are a “kind of firstfruits” but meat offering of Pentecost is the only offering which is mixed with leaven:

Lev 23:17 Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two tenth deals: they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baken with leaven; they are the firstfruits unto the LORD.

The “bread of the firstfruits” was to be offered with the burnt offering. It was to be offered with fire on the altar. Read it again:

Lev 23:16  Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the LORD.
Lev 23:17  Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two tenth deals: they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baken with leaven; they are the firstfruits unto the LORD.
Lev 23:18  And ye shall offer with the bread seven lambs without blemish of the first year, and one young bullock, and two rams: they shall be for a burnt offering unto the LORD, with their meat offering, and their drink offerings, even an offering made by fire, of sweet savour unto the LORD.

Leaven could not be offered with fire on the altar to the Lord:

Lev 2:11 No meat offering, which ye shall bring unto the LORD, shall be made with leaven: for ye shall burn no leaven, nor any honey, in any offering of the LORD made by fire.

What is this all telling us is the difference between the offering of the firstfruit at “the morrow after the sabbath” and the offering of the firstfruit at the day of Pentecost 50 days later? Here is the difference:

Phi 3:12 Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.
Phi 3:13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
Phi 3:14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

As opposed to this:

2Co 5:21 For he hath made him [to be] sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

Christ in us is our meat offering accepted as a sweet savor and burnt upon the altar to God, but the offering contrasting us with Christ is also a sweet savor, but it is “Baked with leaven” on the day of Pentecost. Christ is all of these in us. As a sweet savor His is our meat offering. “The bread of the firstfruits… baken with leaven, is also “waved… with … a sacrifice of peace offering… unto the Lord:

Lev 23:19  Then ye shall sacrifice one kid of the goats for a sin offering, and two lambs of the first year for a sacrifice of peace offerings.
Lev 23:20  And the priest shall wave them [the two lambs of the peace offering] with the bread of the firstfruits for a wave offering before the LORD, with the two lambs: they shall be holy to the LORD for the priest.

Christ is both our sweet savor and our sin offering. He is all these things, and He is doing all of this in us:

Col 1:27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:

Rom 11:36 For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.