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.