Amen. If you turn in your copy of God's Word now to Leviticus, we'll continue our study there tonight in Chapter 2. I believe that's on page 96 of your Pew Bibles. Let's give our attention once again to the Word of God, Leviticus chapter 2, beginning at verse 1. When anyone brings a grain offering as an offering to the Lord, his offering shall be of fine flour. He shall pour oil on it and put frankincense on it and bring it to Aaron's sons, the priests. And he shall take from it a handful of the fine flour and oil with all of its frankincense. And the priest shall burn this as its memorial portion on the altar, a food offering with a pleasing aroma to the Lord. But the rest of the grain offering shall be for Aaron and his sons. It is a most holy part of the Lord's food offerings. When you bring a grain offering baked in the oven, as an offering it shall be unleavened loaves of fine flour mixed with oil or unleavened wafers smeared with oil. And if your offering is a grain offering baked on a griddle, it shall be a fine flour unleavened mixed with oil. You shall break it in pieces and pour oil on it. It is a grain offering. And if your offering is a grain offering cooked in a pan, it shall be made of fine flour with oil. And you shall bring the grain offering that is made of these things to the Lord. And when it is presented to the priest, he shall bring it to the altar. And the priest shall take from the grain offering its memorial portion and burn this on the altar, a food offering with a pleasing aroma to the Lord. But the rest of the grain offering shall be for Aaron and his sons. It is a most holy part of the Lord's food offerings. No grain offering that you bring to the Lord shall be made with leaven, for you shall burn no leaven nor any honey as a food offering to the Lord. As an offering of firstfruits you may bring them to the Lord, but they are not to be offered on the altar for a pleasing aroma. You shall season all your grain offerings with salt. You shall not let the salt of the covenant with your God be missing from your grain offering. With all your offerings, you shall offer salt. If you offer a grain offering of firstfruits to the Lord, you shall offer for the grain offering of your firstfruits fresh ears, roasted with fire, crushed new grain. And you shall put oil on it and lay frankincense on it. It is a grain offering. And the priest shall burn as its memorial portion some of the crushed grain and some of the oil with all of its frankincense. It is a food offering. to the Lord, thus far in the reading of God's word. Amen. Please be seated. Would you pray with me? Father, now we come once again to what we might consider to be a difficult passage And we ask, Lord God, we plead with You, send Your Spirit that we might glean much from this passage many of us may overlook. We ask, Lord God, apply this to our hearts. Work powerfully by Your Spirit in us tonight. We ask all this in Jesus' name and for His sake. Amen. There's a passage in Genesis when Jacob, who has been away from home for a long time, is now going back home. Remember, he left home because his brother was angry with him. He had taken his birthright and Esau was not happy. So as a result, Jacob goes and spends much time with relatives and accumulates much property, certainly wives and children. And so, in Genesis 32, Jacob is going back home at God's command. And as a result, he's taking a present for his brother who was angry, ready to kill him. It's amazing. The scope of his present, 200 female goats, 20 male goats, 200 ewes, 20 rams, 30 milking camels, 40 cows, 10 bulls, 20 female donkeys, 10 male donkeys. He sent them ahead. And when his servants met Esau, they were to say they are present to my lord Esau. Jacob thought that I might appease him with the present that goes ahead of me. Perhaps he will accept me." That word present is the same word that is used in Leviticus tonight with regard to this grain offering. Jacob sought to appease his brother. with this significant present that would go before him, that he would be accepted. It seems to be the idea here behind this law set forth for us for grain offerings. As we open up the book of Leviticus, we're seeing a progression written here in the Pentateuch. The first five books of the Bible, the first five books written by Moses himself, referred to as the Torah or in English as the law. As we've walked through Genesis and portions of Exodus, we've seen that God is gathering his people and delivering them. Delivering them out of bondage to worship. And he's bringing them to a place where they can worship him. to that promised land. I will take you to be my people. I will be your God. I will bring you into the land I swore to give Abraham. And he's met with them. God has come down on Mount Sinai. He's met with his people and now he's given them a place to meet with them on the ground. The mountain has moved down into the tabernacle, so to speak. And as Exodus finishes up, as the tabernacle was complete, we remember But the glory of the Lord filled it, so much so that Moses was unable to enter the tent of meeting. And so then we begin Leviticus. And we see that Leviticus sets forth the way for men to approach the living God. As Moses had been kept out, there was something missing, and Leviticus answers that question for us. What was it that was missing? What was it that was needed in order for men to worship the living God. Last week, we briefly looked at the burnt offerings. This week, we're going to be talking about the grain offerings set forth as means given by God to approach human worship. Tonight, I want us to see that Christ must truly, excuse me, Christians must truly feed upon Jesus Christ. that they may approach and commune with the living God." Christians must truly feed upon Christ that they may approach and commune with the living God. We'll see that tonight in three points. First, fruit of the field. Secondly, labor of the hands. And then finally, bread of life. You may be asking yourselves tonight, why should I listen to this? These were things put in place many years ago. before Christ went to the cross. I'm hoping tonight we're going to see how so applicable this is to our lives tonight as we live before Christ. First, fruit of the field. Just an overview now of this grain offering It's the second of three offerings, which in the English Standard Version are referred to as food offerings. In other versions, we read they're offerings by fire. The burnt offering, the grain offering, and the peace offering are all in that category. In verse 9 of chapter 1, we read, the priest shall burn all of it, meaning the burnt offering, as a food offering with a pleasing aroma to the Lord. Here in Leviticus 2, Verse two, we see Aaron shall take it, meaning the fine flour and oil from the hand of the one offering it, shall burn it as its memorial portion on the altar, a food offering with a pleasing aroma to the Lord. And finally, in chapter three, with regard to the peace offering, we see something very similar. It is a food offering with a pleasing aroma to the Lord. This grain offering fits right in the center of those three. an offering by fire, a food offering. And there are many details that are given to us here in this passage. It was to be of fine flour. When anyone brings a grain offering as an offering to the Lord, his offering shall be of fine flour. He shall pour oil on it and put frankincense on it. While we have drink offerings, most other offerings that the Israelites were called to bring involved the shedding of blood. You see this grain offering does not. It puts it in somewhat of a unique category. And as one would bring this fine flour and oil and frankincense, he brought it to the priests and they were to burn a portion of it as the memorial portion on the altar. Now this would go up in smoke. Some think that this symbolized or a reminder that God remembered his people. A memorial portion. Remember in Exodus, as the people cried out for rescue from slavery, as that cry goes up to God, God heard their groaning and God remembered His covenant with Abraham. And so as this portion of the fine flour, the grain offering goes up, there's a sense in which the people were remembering that God remembered them. Well, only a portion of it was to be offered up as a memorial portion. There was the rest of it, which was unique in that it was given to the priests. Look at verse three. But the rest of the grain offering shall be for Aaron and his sons. It is a most holy part of the Lord's food offerings. Interesting that the Lord would speak of this portion to be given to Aaron and his sons as a most holy part of the Lord's food offering. And then there were the means of preparation. Verse 4, when you bring a grain offering baked in the oven, it shall be unleavened loaves of fine flour mixed with oil or unleavened wafers. But that wasn't the only way you could prepare it. If it were baked on a griddle, it shall be of fine flour, unleavened, mixed with oil. You shall break it in pieces and pour oil on it. It's a grain offering. Or if you cooked it in a pan, it shall be made of fine flour with oil. Bring the grain offering that's made with these things to the Lord. When it's presented to the priest, he shall bring it to the altar." Three different ways in which, actually four different ways that the offering could be brought. Just flour itself, it could be baked, it could be baked in the oven, baked on the griddle, cooked in a pan. Whether you had an oven, a griddle, a pan, or even no cooktop, you could just bring the flour. The Lord seemingly gave everyone an opportunity to bring this offering. All were welcome. No limitations. Now as to the frequency of this offering, it appears that this offering, along with the burnt offering, the peace offering, were voluntary, generally speaking. Look at verse 2 of chapter 1. When any one of you brings an offering, there was no time frame. Similarly, verse 1 of chapter 2 with regard to the grain offering, when anyone brings a grain offering, this is how they're to do it. In contrast to the sin and the guilt offerings, which we'll see later on, Lord willing, in chapter 5, when he realizes his guilt in any of these and confesses the sin he's committed, he shall bring to the Lord as his compensation for the sin. or with regard to the guilt offering. If anyone commits a breach of faith and sins unintentionally in any of the holy things of the Lord, he shall bring to the Lord as his compensation a ram without blemish of the flock. But seemingly the grain offering, closely connected to the burnt offering, was voluntary for the individuals, yet Yet, as the whole congregation, as the nation was called to sacrifice lambs, burnt offerings, morning and night, morning and night, the grain offering was to go along with it. It was connected. You see that in Exodus 29. Now, this is what you shall offer on the altar, two lambs a year old, day by day regularly. One lamb you shall offer in the morning, the other lamb you shall offer at twilight. These were burnt offerings. And with the first lamb, a tenth measure of fine flour mingled with a fourth of a hin of beaten oil." Sounds like a grain offering. The other lamb, you shall offer a twilight and shall offer with it a grain offering. So now we see while for individuals it was voluntary, yet for the whole nation this was to be done morning and evening, morning and evening. A burnt offering along with a grain offering was to be done. every day. Well, it wasn't just flour. We see in this passage there were things added to the flour. Oil and then frankincense. When anyone brings a grain offering as an offering to the Lord, his offering shall be a fine flour. He shall pour oil on it and put frankincense on it and bring it to Aaron's sons, the priests. We have little information as to the purpose of these additives. But we know oil is usually used for anointing, spiritually used for setting apart those things and persons to be used in the service of God. When we get to it, Lord willing, in chapter 8 of Leviticus, we're going to read that Moses took the anointing oil and anointed the tabernacle and all that was in it and consecrated them, meaning set them apart for spiritual use, not for common use. And he sprinkled some of it on the altar seven times and anointed the altar. And he poured some of the anointing oil on Aaron's head and anointed him to consecrate him. Aaron set apart for particular work before the Lord. The oil was used for that. And here it would appear that the oil was used to set apart the flower for the sacrifice, for holy purposes. And you shall put oil on it and lay frankincense on it. It is a grain offering." Frankincense apparently was an aromatic resin used in incense and perfumes according to Wikipedia. I think that's right. It appears that the frankincense was to remain separate, not mixed in with the flour. unlike the oil, which was to be mixed in or smeared. The frankincense seems to be a part of that which was burned along with the fine flour, which became a sweet aroma pleasing to God, maybe symbolizing prayer, a petition which would go alongside the grain offering as it was burned as that memorial portion to the Lord. And then salt. You shall season all your grain offerings with salt. You shall not let the salt of the covenant of your God be missing from your grain offering. Salt was and is a preservative. We know that. It would have been used to keep food from spoiling. And thus the addition of salt may have symbolized the eternal nature of God's covenant with his people. It certainly is referenced here. Salt of the covenant. It may point to the preserving hand of God and keeping his people from straying away and from the hand of Satan, a reminder to the offerer that he was dependent not upon himself or upon his act of offering the sacrifice, but upon God who had entered into covenant with him to make him his own. What do we see here? Once again, as we just take an overview of this sacrifice, what comes to mind? What are we struck by? In general, in this grain offering, we see much detail. Somewhat like the details God gave to Moses for the materials and the construction of the tabernacle. So detailed. Not just the dimensions, but the kind of wood to be used and how the various strands of cloth were to be woven together and what was to be imagery within the tabernacle itself. We read of particular ingredients to be used in the making of incense and certainly the oil. We see that here in the grain offering as well. We have different instructions depending upon whether the offering was baked or cooked on a griddle or prepared in a pan, down to the various implements used in preparing the cakes of flour. Not only the method of preparation, but then also the elements to be included in it or with it, the oil, the frankincense, the salt. It was not to include leaven. And if the offering was of first fruits, the Lord called for ears, supposedly of corn, to be roasted with fire and crushed. The detail is significant and should cause us to ask why. Why was this method of preparation significant to the Lord? Why were these offerings devoid of leaven and must include salt? How does this matter to God? This must call us to go back to the purpose or goal in bringing an offering. and remembering that Moses couldn't go into the tent of meeting, not yet. Fellowship, communion with God had been broken, severed by sin. And in order for sinful man to come before God, to petition Him, to enter into communion with Him, he had to come or approach on God's terms. Remember, Adam and Eve were removed from the garden and they had no ability to get back in. The flaming sword and the cherubim were placed at the only entrance back to the tree of life. It wasn't on their terms that they would come back in. It had to be on God's terms. He didn't tell them to go out and do some good things and come back. It had to be according to God's plan as He is holy. That there was one particular way which appeased God, like Jacob appeasing Esau with the present that went before him. Men could attempt to devise a way, but man's plans always fall short and always result in death. We should begin seeing the significance now of the detail. God was providing a way, and that way was not only prescribed by God, but at its end was pleasing to God. And so he, the living God, the creator God, was telling his people, the only way to approach me, your holy God, is by the way I myself provide to you. You must be careful to heed the way. There can be no other way to life, for all other paths lead to death. That should cause us to think tonight upon Christ. Men devise so many different ways to try to get to God or try to be God. And they all lead to death. But Christ, Christ leads to life. Christ is life. And God has provided Him as our way to come before Him To be that pleasing aroma, not in ourselves, but in Christ. The priest then shall burn this as its memorial portion on the altar, a food offering with a pleasing aroma to the Lord. That's Christ. That brings us to our second point, labor of the hands. In Gordon Wenham's commentary on Leviticus, he writes several things. First, he says Leviticus 2, meaning chapter 2, gives us few clues as to what the serial offering was thought to achieve. I think he's right. There's not much here. There's not much detail. He said usually the serial offering was presented in conjunction with other sacrifices and that makes it even harder to determine what the purpose of the grain offering was. He concludes that it's symbolizing the dedication of man's life and work to God. Another commentator indicates that the most important ingredient in the vegetable food of the Israelites are the food already prepared for eating. There can be no doubt that in them the Israelite offered his daily bread to the Lord. seemingly the idea behind the grain offering, offering my daily bread to the Lord. Do we see that here in this passage? Well, we know that this involves flour, fine flour. Not many of us really understand or appreciate how much work, how much labor, how much effort would have gone into making a loaf of bread. We usually go to the grocery store and go to the bread aisle and pick up a loaf or two, carry it home, and we're done. But not so for the Israelites. Remember, at the point in time that they're receiving this word, they're about to enter the promised land. They haven't gone in yet. And so, as they're wandering through the wilderness, just think of that. They're wandering through the wilderness and now they're told, one of the offerings you're to bring is an offering of fine flour. Probably not many of us even know the steps and effort which is required to produce fine flour, even in a place where flour or grain grows more easily than in the wilderness. This step involved so much. At first the grain must have been grown. Now remember, as they're trying to grow this grain in the wilderness, standing behind it all was God's word to Adam. Because you've listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten the tree of which I have commanded you, you shall not eat of it. Cursed is the ground because of you. In pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you. That's the backdrop to bringing fine flour. Much labor would have been required in preparing the ground, planting the seed, watering and nurturing the plants, battling the curse, disease, pests, theft, harvesting that which grows, threshing the grain, discarding the chaff, grinding the flour, grinding the grain into flour just to get a cup. Much labor and effort. in providing that which God called for. Persevering through the curse and working to produce fruit pleasing to God, daily work, sweat, producing labor involved in bringing this fine flour, and then the baking or the griddling or over an open fire in a pan. Producing those cakes unleavened, salted, oiled, prepared exactly the way God had prescribed. All involved the work of their hands. Unlike the offering from the herd or the flock or the birds, the burnt offerings, the grain offering required much labor. Now, it takes effort to raise a sheep, but think about the effort required to produce that flower. It seems like so much more was required, all the work of their hands, and this is in essence what they were offering up. the work of their hands, grain grown with much toil, then harvested, threshed, ground, baked, all the works of the hand being offered, offering time and self-devotion, as Wenham alludes to. Offering up that which involved perseverance. pressing on in the middle of the curse and all the while being attacked by Satan with the old man still taking up residence. And yet the sacrifice being made, being offered up, being given. It seems that Wenham would be right. Complete devotion of all that we are and do to God. Persevering through the curse and working to produce fruit pleasing to God. Is that a description of your life tonight? This was just one offering. But it really, at least in significant part, focuses upon the one bringing the offering. And it should be describing our lives. We bring everything that we have before Christ, serving Him with all of it. And it brings us to our third point, the bread of life. Did you notice, hopefully you did, the memorial portion was burned on the altar, but the rest of the grain offering shall be for Aaron and his sons. is the most holy part of the Lord's food offering. The priests were to be fed. Now we'd be remiss if we didn't think of this grain offering and what it has to say about the Lord Jesus. In general, it appears that this offering has much to say about the offerers, how they were to live, how they were to devote themselves and all the things, all the work of their hands to God. But then as we consider the truth that a significant portion of this grain offering was to be given to and used by the priests as a most holy part to sustain them, to provide for them, to nourish them, to bless them, the priests were fed, truly fed by this twice a day grain offering. Remember, morning and evening, morning and evening, the burnt offering combined with a grain offering. They're being given this offering twice a day. And that must bring us to Christ, the one who is indeed the bread of life. Just as the priests would feed upon, would consume and be nourished by the grain offerings, Christians, believers, followers of Christ are called to feed upon Christ, to be spiritually nourished. We have a wonderful picture here tonight in this grain offering for the priests, being continually fed by this most holy offering provided to them, really and truly provided by God Himself as He commands these offerings to be given. So now think of Christ and the call to feed upon Him. We read those words tonight in John chapter 6, Jesus said to them, I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me shall not hunger. Whoever believes in me shall never thirst." Do you hear that? Do you hear the call of Christ to feed upon him? Why did the priest need the grain offerings? Because they hadn't been given land. They hadn't been given by God the ability to grow their own grain. They had no means of their own sustenance. They had no way to produce their own nourishing bread. And so we see the same thing with our need to feed upon Christ. You have no way to feed your soul. You have no reserve to draw from. You have no place to grow the righteousness that you need to appear before a holy God. You have no way to harvest holiness on your own. Indeed, you lack holiness and righteousness and have much of the other, meaning wretched sin. And so tonight, as you've assembled here, you've brought your sins with you, and not only do you need the righteousness of Christ, you need to have your sins removed, washed away, cleansed, covered up, imputed to Christ. So how do you do that? How do you rid yourself of sin and gain His righteousness? It's only by being in Christ. It's only by faith in Jesus Christ. What happens if your faith is small tonight? What happens if your faith from a human perspective is about to be abandoned? What happens if doubts are creeping in? What happens if Satan is seeking to sift you as he sifted Peter like wheat and convince you that your faith is insignificant tonight? Brothers and sisters, you need to be nourished. You need to be built up, strengthened, fortified in your faith. You need to feed on Christ. You need to consume the bread of life so that your faith will be sustained, so that your faith will be increased and strengthened, so like the priests, you can persevere, not in your own strength, but in the strength of Christ as you feed upon Him. The priests needed their energy to continue morning and evening, morning and evening, morning and evening sacrifices. They needed to intercede for the people, and you need to continue serving Christ. It's impossible. unless you feed upon Him. This grain offering, given to and used by the priest, points you to Christ tonight. The call tonight is to feed and feast upon Christ. And He will build up your weak faith. He will wash your sins away. and He will supply you with the righteousness you need to commune with the living God. Yes, Christians must truly feed upon Jesus Christ that they may approach and commune with the living God. Jacob. Jacob apparently appeased Esau with his gift, his tribute that he brought to him. Brothers and sisters, we are not offering up grain tonight, but we are feasting upon Christ. And so the call tonight is to continue feeding upon the Lord Jesus. Amen. What a joy it is for our minds to be set upon Christ tonight, knowing that we are so insufficient, we are so unable within ourselves, Lord God, to approach you. We are unable to sustain ourselves. And so we thank you and praise you for the Spirit tonight who has worked faith in us and through Christ continues to build us up as we feed upon Him. And so we ask even now, Lord, help us, even as we contemplate the supper tonight, to feed, truly feed upon Christ by faith. We ask this in His precious name. Amen.