The Meal Offering

by R.F. LUNDWILL,Vancouver, B.C. | Category: General | Jun 1962

The burnt offering is a type of the Lord Jesus Christ. In type the meal offering lays emphasis on His perfect life. It views Him as He lived and walked during His life upon earth, the sent One of God.

Christ said, "For I am come down from heaven, not to do Mine own will, but the will of Him that sent Me" (John 6.88). This chapter of John's gospel records Christ's discourse on the Bread of Life. Christ is the "Manna" and also the "oblation" of Leviticus 2.4. The manna was food in the wilderness for all, while the "oblation" which was left, was for the priests. The manna should never be confused with the meal offering. No manna was ever brought to the altar and burnt.

"Oblation" means "something brought near the altar," i.e., a sacrificial present to God. It suggests "preparation" at home. In the home of the Israelite was the fine flour, the oil, the frankincense, and the fire and the oven in which it was baked. All was prepared in the home, and before it was brought to the altar. Can we not see in this the offerer being engaged with that which was typical of Christ in private, that he may bring an offering which would arise as a sweet smelling savour unto God? It is only as we meditate on Christ in His life, that we can trace His steps which end at Calvary. Thus, as we view that life of full consecration, we may know something of the joy it brought unto the Father, causing Him to rend the heavens, and to say, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased" (Matthew 3. 17).

There were three ingredients in preparing the meal offering. They speak of what is true of Christ. These were fine flour, oil and frankincense.

Fine flour is typical of Christ's humanity. Every virtue was there, in a life wholly yielded to God. There were no course grains, nothing uneven, nothing rough. Solomon describes Him in the words, "He is altogether lovely" (Song of Songs 5.16).

All that is true of the flesh (Galatians 5.19-21) in man, had no place in Christ. Not a syllable had He to recall, nor a step to retrace, nor an act which required confession.

Wheat of the finest quality is used for the milling of fine flour. All that Christ did in service was of the highest quality. It was indeed the fruit of a devoted life, and thus a life which was fully set apart for God.

Oil is a type of the Holy Spirit. Christ's ministry was in the power of the Holy Spirit. The oil was applied in a three-fold way, e.g., "fine flour mingled with oil," "unleavened wafers anointed with oil," and "cakes of fine flour soaked with oil."

Isaiah prophesied the virgin birth of Christ. "Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign; behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel" (Isaiah 7.14). This truth is seen in type in the fine flour mingled with oil, as prophesied by Isaiah, and fulfilled in Christ's birth. "Fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit" (Matthew 1.20). To Mary the angel of the Lord announced, "The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee: wherefore also that which is to be born shall be called holy, the Son of God " (Luke 1.85). What a profound mystery that He who was from all eternity should be made in the likeness of man, born of a virgin!

There were unleavened cakes anointed with oil. This typifies Christ being anointed with the Holy Spirit. This also was prophesied in Isaiah 61.1, "The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me; because the LORD hath appointed Me to preach good tidings unto the meek." At the commencement of Christ's earthly ministry, He was baptized of John the Baptist in the Jordan, the Spirit descended as a dove, abiding upon Him, and God's voice was heard from heaven, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased" (Matthew 3.17). Thus Christ's earthly ministry commenced. Whatsoever He did was in the power of the Holy Spirit. His was a life of subjection. Would Christ act in His own power? Satan was soon to find whereon Christ would depend. He was "led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil" (Matthew 4.1). For forty days and nights He fasted, and at the end of this time Satan said, "If Thou art the Son of God, command that these stones become bread. But He answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God" (Matthew 4.8). Thus He continued, even to the death of the cross, a life of dependence upon the Holy Spirit and the word of God.

In the law of the meal offering it was commanded that on the day in which the priest was anointed there was to be "a meal offering perpetually." This particular offering was obligatory, not voluntary. It was all for God, no part of it was eaten by the priests. It was to be made with oil, soaked, then brought in a "meal offering for a sweet savour unto the LORD" (Leviticus 6.21). Herein was the life of Christ. His day ended as it began, for the Spirit had His way in every detail. The day began with the fragrance of a sweet savour ascending unto God, and an equal aroma ascended in the evening. Luke's words concerning Christ's entry into the wilderness is different from Matthew's. "And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan, and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness" (Luke 4.1). This experience of being filled with the Holy Spirit was truly consistent throughout His earthly ministry.

Frankincense is typical of the object of Christ's ministry. It was all to the glory of God the Father, and thus the fragrance of His life ascended to the delight of His Father. Frankincense is a vegetable resin, brittle, glittering, and is of a bitter taste. It is called " frank" because of the freeness with which, when burned, it gives forth its odour. It burns for a long time with a steady flame. The first incision yields the purest and whitest resin. This frankincense was poured upon the offering, and when brought to the 1)riests and laid upon the altar, a sweet savour ascended unto God.

"He was for Thee an offering,

Devoted to Thy will;

He gave Thee boundless pleasure,

He Thee delighteth still."

The meal offering might be baked in an oven or a pan, or a frying pan. The oven would be an enclosed chamber hidden from the eyes, the pan more easily perceptible, and the frying pan in full view. In this we see the varied ways Christ suffered on the cross. There were the intense sufferings, unseen by man, as seen in the baking in the oven.

The sufferings of Christ are not limited to the cross. "Jesus wept". He suffered for righteousness, for the rulers were angry when they realized their own self-righteousness in contrast to His sinlessness. Thus they hated Him without a cause (Psalm 69.4). Before Him was the physical pain and soul anguish of Calvary, so He suffered in anticipation of what He would endure on the cross. Yet with the foreknowledge of the impending shame, He turned not back, neither was He rebellious (see Isaiah 50.5, 6).

The meal offering was to contain no leaven or honey, but always to be seasoned with salt. Why leaven was not used is easily understood, for it speaks of evil, and could have no place in that which was to be a sweet savour offering. Honey suggests natural sweetness, and aids the corrupting power of leaven, and the life of Christ reveals how He refrained from allowing human ties to deter Him from the purpose for which He came. "Behold, My mother and My brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is My brother, and sister, and mother" (Mark 3.84, 85). The cleavage which arose between Paul and Barnabas was due in part no doubt to the natural ties of Barnabas and Mark. Salt is a preservative. The words of Christ were hard for some to bear, for His words were searching, bringing to light the hidden motive. However they were ever with grace and love, never harsh, never unkind.

The oblation of first fruits "in " the bruised corn of the fresh ear" is suggestive of the freshness and vigour of His life, yet a life which was bruised. "He came unto His own, and they that were His own received Him not"(John 1.11). They rejected Him, and heaped on Him their intense hatred. How heavy was His heart! and many were the tears He shed, as He trod the shores of the sea of Galilee, and visited the cities and towns of Judah, a lonely stranger in the world His hands had made.

R.F. LUNDWILL,Vancouver, B.C. | Jun 1962
General