Ingredients Offered || Leviticus 2:1-3 || A Year in Leviticus #5

Welcome to Day 5 of our “A Year in Leviticus” devotional series. We’re going to slow things down in 2025 and spend the year in the book of Leviticus. The goal of this series is to understand its historical context and see how we can apply its teaching today.

Today, we’re focusing on Leviticus 2:1-3. We begin our discussion on the grain offering and will touch on how the burnt offering is combined into this.

Leviticus 2:1-3

NASB	NLT	VOICE
1 ‘Now when anyone presents a grain offering as an offering to the Lord, his offering shall be of fine flour, and he shall pour oil on it and put frankincense on it.	1 “When you present grain as an offering to the Lord, the offering must consist of choice flour. You are to pour olive out on it, sprinkle it with frankincense,	1 Any time one of you brings a grain offering to Me, it should be the finest flour mixed with olive oil and frankincense.
2 He shall then bring it to Aaron’s sons the priests; and he shall take from it his handful of its fine flour and of its oil, with all of its frankincense. And the priest shall offer it up in smoke as a memorial portion on the altar, an offering by fire of a soothing aroma to the Lord.	2 and bring it to Aaron’s sons, the priests. The priest will scoop out a handful of the flour moistened with oil, together with all the frankincense, and burn this representative portion on the altar. It is a special gift, a pleasing aroma to the Lord.	2 Give it to Aaron’s sons, the priests. One of the priests will take a handful of the fine flour mixed with olive oil and frankincense and offer up a memorial portion on the altar, and the smoke of the offering will rise and be a pleasant aroma to Me.
3 The remainder of the grain offering belongs to Aaron and his sons: a most holy part of the offerings to the Lord by fire.	3 The rest of the grain offering will then be given to Aaron and his sons. This offering will be considered a most holy part of the special gifts presented to the Lord.	3 The rest of the grain offering is for Aaron and his sons. It is a most holy part of the fire-offerings dedicated to Me. No one other than the priests may eat it.

The grain offering must include:

• Choice/Fine flour
• Covered in (olive) oil
• Sprinkled with frankincense.

The priests take a part of the mixture (I assume a tenth of it) and offer it up to God via smoke as a memorial portion. The rest belongs and is eaten by the priests.

The grain offering went with all burnt offerings, showing that they will happen together, and was a gift of gratitude to God. It’s a reminder to the Jewish people that their food came from God and that they owed their lives to him. For me, this grain offering (there are two others that we’ll cover in the next two parts) reminds me of manna. The bread-like substance that was given to the Exodus crowd after they complained to Moses of starving and wanting to return to Egypt. This was given to them in a way to have enough for the day and trust that God will provide tomorrow. There were consequences if they took too much manna as well (see Exodus 16:1-36).

Let’s go through the ingredients here and look at their biblical importance:

FINE FLOUR

Fine Flour is the Hebrew noun coleth (so-leth). In general, it’s a finely ground wheat product. It was very valuable at the time and was widely useful across both the church and community. The flour was a staple for day-to-day life and religious practices. It was used in preparing bread and other baked goods. The process of making fine flour involved grinding wheat into a very fine consistency, which needed effort and care, which symbolized the dedication and purity expectation in offerings.

The fine flour was a way to show the effort and intentionality providing a valuable commodity and sacrificing it to God as a sign of gratitude for God’s provision.

OLIVE OIL

Olive Oil is the Hebrew noun shemen (sheh-men). The usefulness of olive oil is vast, used for anointing, cooking, lighting lamps, and as a symbol of abundance. Oil was used for anointing sacred kings, priests, and sacred objects, signifying consecration and the presence of the Holy Spirit. Like the fine flour, it was valuable and well-needed. The abundance of producing olive oil related to God’s abundance. The process of extracting oil from olives involved crushing and blessing.

This crushing and blessing remind me of Luke 6:38 where Jesus says the return of our gift will be pressed down, shaken together, running over, and poured into our lap. The abundance of God is shown through them, and they can repay that abundance through the sacrifice of the Olive Oil.

FRANKINCENSE

Frankincense is the Hebrew non lbownah (leh-voh-NAH). It’s often associated with offerings and worship, symbolizing purity and prayer. It was highly valued for its smell and its trade value. The resin was harvested by making incisions in the bark of the Boswellia tree, allowing the sap to harden into beads or “tears” that were collected.

This just makes sense for the sacrifice. This almost feels like the offering garnish for these offerings that to symbolizing its worship and prayer for the thanksgiving and provision of God.

The grain offerings are a sign of provision and gratitude. Today, we learned about the one when flour, oil, and frankincense. The fine flour shows our effort and intentionality of our gratitude. The oil shows the return of the abundance of God. The frankincense sends the offering as a prayer.

In the next one, we’re going into the next grain offering consisting of baked cakes or wafers of choice flour and oil. Until then, stay blessed.

• Associated Scripture
  • Lev 2:1
    • Exodus 29:2
• • • Leviticus 6:14-18
• • • Leviticus 24:7
• • • Numbers 15:4-21
    Lev 2:2
    • Leviticus 5:12-13
• • • Leviticus 6:15-18
  • Lev 2:3
    • Leviticus 10:12-13