Leviticus · chapter 2 of 27
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Leviticus 2 teaches the grain offering: fine flour with oil and frankincense, presented raw or baked in an oven, on a griddle or in a pan. It contains no yeast or honey, but it must have the salt of the covenant. The priest burns a memorial portion and the rest belongs to Aaron and his sons. The offering of firstfruits is also regulated.
After the burnt offering, which speaks of total surrender, the Lord teaches an offering that involves no blood: the grain offering. It acknowledges that daily bread comes from his hand. It often accompanied other sacrifices, and it expresses gratitude and dependence on God in the everyday life of Israel.
When someone brings a grain offering to the Lord, he brings fine flour, pours oil on it and adds frankincense. He takes it to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and one of them scoops out a handful of flour and oil together with all the frankincense and burns it on the altar as a memorial portion. What is left belongs to Aaron and his sons and is most holy.
The offering may also be baked: in an oven, on a griddle or in a pan, always of fine flour mixed with oil. It is broken in pieces and oil is added. The text lays down that no grain offering burned to the Lord may contain yeast or honey. Every offering, however, must be seasoned with salt, the salt of the covenant of God, which must never be lacking.
For the firstfruits of the harvest, the worshiper brings new grain, roasted heads or crushed kernels, again with oil and frankincense. The priest burns a memorial portion. In this way Israel acknowledges that the first part of the harvest belongs to the Lord.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
The priest takes a handful of flour, oil and frankincense and burns it as a memorial portion, a pleasing aroma to the Lord. A part stands for the whole: by presenting a handful, the worshiper acknowledges that all his provision comes from God.
No grain offering burned to the Lord could contain yeast or honey. Yeast often pictures fermentation and corruption, and honey ferments easily. The offering had to be pure and unmixed.
Every offering was to be seasoned with salt, called the salt of the covenant of God. Salt preserves and does not decay, so it symbolizes the lasting bond between the Lord and Israel. It was never to be left out of the offering.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: Fine flour, oil and frankincense. — Leviticus 2:1
Answer: A handful of the flour with its oil, together with all the frankincense. — Leviticus 2:2
Answer: Aaron and his sons; it is a most holy part of the Lord's offerings. — Leviticus 2:3
Answer: Yeast and honey. — Leviticus 2:11
Answer: Salt, the salt of the covenant of God. — Leviticus 2:13
Answer: Heads of new grain roasted with fire, or crushed kernels, with oil and frankincense. — Leviticus 2:14-15
The grain offering reminds us that what we eat each day is a gift. Giving a portion to the Lord was a way of saying thank you and acknowledging who provides. In a small group you can talk about how we show gratitude for what seems ordinary: work, food, health.
It also teaches that God cares for those who serve him: the rest of the offering supported the priests. Today, generously supporting those devoted to ministry follows the same logic. And the salt of the covenant invites us to ask whether our words and actions keep faithfulness.
Leviticus 2 shows that the fruit of daily labor is also offered to God with gratitude, and that his covenant stands firm. Leviticus 3 introduces the peace offering, in which the worshiper shares a meal of fellowship before the Lord.
The text only says that no burned offering could contain them. It is generally understood that both cause fermentation, and yeast appears in Scripture as a picture of something that spreads and corrupts. The offering therefore had to remain pure.
Salt preserves and prevents decay, so it was an image of a lasting commitment. By requiring salt in every offering, the Lord reminded Israel that his covenant was firm and that worshipers were to remain faithful to it.