No leaven in the sacrifice

So, last time we looked at the fact that Jesus was the bread of heaven that was offered in the meat offering. It is interesting to note that no leaven was to be offered in this offering. In fact verse 11 of Leviticus chapter 2 tells us that no leaven was to be offered in any sacrifice made by fire. Leaven signifies several things in the scriptures so let's take a look at them.

          1. False doctrine

In Matthew 16:12 it says,"Then understood they how that he bade [them] not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees." False doctrine spreads. It works its way through the church deceiving believers. Unfortunately 'doctrine' is a dirty word amongst many who profess to love the Lord Jesus these days. Nevertheless Jesus said in John 14:6 that He was THE way THE TRUTH and THE life. The definite article is used in each occasion. Truth is truth and error is error. There is no grey area between the two in regards to doctrinal truth - and so Jesus warns His disciples to beware of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadduccees. In fact when Paul says,"A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump" in Galatians 5:9 he is actually speaking about false doctrine since the Galatians were being tempted to go back under the law and be circumcised.

          2. Hypocrisy

Luke 12:1 states,"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. " Hypocrisy is where false doctrine leads. The word hypocrisy means to be a stage player - pretending to be someone else - not really being the real you.  1 Cor. 5:8 says, "Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened [bread] of sincerity and truth." Someone who is being sincere and truthful cannot be a hypocrite.

          3. Sin

In 1 Corinthians 5:6-8 Paul quotes the same thing as in Galatians 5:9,"A little leaven leavns the whole lump," but this time he is talking about sin. The Corinthians had not dealt with a sinful brother and Paul warns them that sin spreads. In fact verse 8 says that it is the leaven of malice and wickedness.


So in the offering up of Christ there was no room for false doctrine, hypocrisy or sin because He was the perfect sacrifice - the only way to heaven - the way the truth ad the life.

the meat offering

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: Leviticus 2:1 This meat offering was actually a grain offering of flour. In John 6:47 - 51 Jesus tells us that He is the bread that came down from heaven and in verse 51 He says, I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. So Jesus is the bread that is to be offered up for the sins of the world. Also notice that the offering had oil poured upon it. This happened to Jesus in Matthew 3:16 where the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form. Finally, this sacrifice had frankincense put on it. In Hebrew the word frankincense means 'white' in that this is the colour of pure frankincense. White obviously refers to purity. Thus Jesus was the Bread from heaven who was anointed with the Holy Spirit and was totally sinless and pure. (Hebrews 1:9; Hebrews 4:15;) Next we shall take a look at the fact that no leaven was to be offered in the offering.

Leviticus1 verse 7-9

"And the sons of Aaron the priest shall put fire upon the altar, and lay the wood in order upon the fire."

As we discussed over the last few sessions the sacrifice typifies the sufferings and offering up of the Lord Jesus Christ. Here we have a reference to fire. Fire relates to several things in the scriptures, one of these being the suffering and trial that we have to go through as believers in the Lord.  (Daniel 3, 1Peter 1:7 That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ).  Jesus said to His disciples: Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? (Matt 20:20-23) On the cross Jesus had to suffer the cruel mockings of sinful men, but He also carried our sins on the cross and took upon Himself the punishment for these offences. So much so that the apostle Paul says that He became sin for us. (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. 2  Cor5:21) This was the baptism to which Jesus was referring to - a baptism of fire. So when Jesus said that we had to take up our cross, this was also referring to this baptism. Now note that the offering is placed on wood: Jesus was crucified on a wooden cross. Thus the sacrifice of Christ on the cross satisfied the divine justice of Almighty God. Isaiah 53:12 says that , "He shall see of the travail of His soul, and be satisfied : by His knowledge shall my Righteous Servant justify many; for He shall bear their iniquities."

Leviticus 1: 6

And he shall flay the burnt offering, and cut it into his pieces. Leviticus 1:6. The offering had to be flayed and then cut into pieces. Before Jesus was crucified he was scourged. Matthew 27:26 says: When he had scourged Jesus, he delivered [him] to be crucified.  So the sacrifice in Leviticus was a type showing us that Christ Himself would be beaten and cut to pieces. The Roman scourge was a horrific instrument that was designed to quickly remove flesh from the person being beaten or scourged. Thus the Levitical description of the sacrifice being flayed is very accurate in regards to the sufferings of the Lord Jesus since this flaying was performed to remove the skin from the sacrifice before being offered as a burnt offering on the altar. Isaiah 50:6 tells us I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting. The Lord Jesus offered Himself for us and put Himself through this for us! Praise His name. Next time we shall look at verse 7.

Leviticus 1 verse 5

And he shall kill the bullock before the LORD: and the priests, Aaron's sons, shall bring the blood, and sprinkle the blood round about upon the altar that [is by] the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. Leviticus 1v5. So here we see that the offering was killed before the Lord and the blood sprinkled about upon the altar. The Lord Jesus Christ, when He was offered up on the cross, was offered up to His heavenly Father as a perfect sacrifice. Isaiah 53 v 10 says, 'Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put [him] to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin'.  As well as being offered up to the Lord, His precious blood actually purified 'heavenly things' as Hebrew chapter 9 vs 22 - 24 says:  '[It was] therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, [which are] the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us.' Praise God that 'by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.' Hebrew 10 v 14. Next time we look at this chapter we shall be looking at how the sacrifice in Leviticus speaks to us about the sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ. Bye for now.

Leviticus chapter 1

Sometimes the book of Leviticus can be seen as a very hard book to read or understand. The thing is it is still very relevant for us since it speaks to us of the Lord Jesus Christ in various ways regarding His sacrifice on the cross. Therefore today I would like to look at chapter 1 of Leviticus in regards to his great sacrifice for us. "If his offering [be] a burnt sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a male without blemish: he shall offer it of his own voluntary will at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the LORD. And he shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt offering; and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him. "(v.3-4) The Lamb had to be without blemish. At Passover time in a Jewish home the male  Passover lamb had to be set apart four days before the sacrifice. (Exodus 12v 3) The lamb was observed for defects and could not be used if it was imperfect. Typologically this speaks of Christ. He was the sinless Lamb of God offered to take away the sin of the world. (John 1:29) Now note in verse 4 that those who were offering the lamb had to place their hand upon the sacrifice for it to be accepted as an atonement for them. Therefore if the sacrifice was offered but they did not put their hand on it would not have atoned for them. Christ has been sacrificed - but you must reach out to touch him. You can do this by putting your faith in His finished work on the cross. Once you place your hand on Him His sacrifice atones for you! Nevertheless, even though He has been offered, if you do not place your hand upon Him, His atonement will avail nothing for you. Your sin can only be forgiven if you confess that you are a sinner and rely on nothing but Christ - He is the only way to heaven (John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.)  I will look at more from chapter one next time. Bye for now.

Ecclesiastes 11 verse 6

VERSESIX


In this final verse which I want to consider from this chapter we are encouraged again to diligently sow the seed of the gospel; indeed the scripture states ‘In the morning sow thy seed and in the evening withhold not thy hand’. This term does not only speak of witnessing at every opportunity but also to me this speaks of ‘morning’ indicating the beginning of a believers life , whilst ‘evening’ indicating the end of life. Thus the whole life of a believer should be lived with the goal of reaching as many as possible with the gospel. We don’t know what seed will bear fruit to salvation but  we are to leave the results to God and direct our full attention to reaching the lost with the gospel.