Let Them Cook! || Leviticus 2:4-7 || A Year in Leviticus #6

Welcome to Day 6 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 2:4-7. We continue our discussion on grain offerings with the usage wafers and cakes.

Leviticus 2:4-7

NASB	NLT	VOICE
4 ‘Now when you bring an offering of a grain offering baked in an oven, it shall be unleavened cakes of fine flour mixed with oil, or unleavened wafers spread with oil.	4 “If your offering is a grain offering baked in an oven, it must be made of choice flour, but without any yeast. It may be presented in the form of thin cakes mixed with olive oil or wafers spread with olive oil.	4 ETERNAL ONE: Any time of you brings a grain offering that was prepared in an oven, it should be bread made without yeast from the finest flour mixed with oil or a wafer made without yeast spread with oil.
5 And if your offering is a grain offering made on the griddle, it shall be of fine flour, unleavened, mixed with oil;	5 If your grain offering is cooked on a griddle, it must be made of choice flour mixed with olive oil but without any yeast.	5 Any time one of you brings a grain offering that was prepared on a griddle, it should be made without yeast from the finest flour mixed with oil.
6 you shall break it into bits and pour oil on it; it is a grain offering.	6 Break it in pieces and pour olive oil on it; it is a grain offering.	6 Separate it into pieces, pour oil on it, and present it as a grain offering.
7 Now if your offering is a grain offering made in a pan, it shall be made of fine flour with oil.	7 If your grain offering is prepared in a pan, it must be made of choice flour and olive oil.	7 Any time one of you brings a grain offering that was prepared in a pan, it should be made from the finest flour and mixed with oil.

This is for the grain offerings that were made in the oven. They could be:

• Bread/Thin Cakes/Unleavened Cakes made with choice flour, but without any yeast mixed with olive oil.
• Unleavened Wafers/Wafers made with choice flour, but without any yeast spread with olive oil.

If it’s made on the griddle, it must be made with the choice flour, mixed with olive oil, but without any yeast. If it’s made in a pan, it must be made of fine flour with oil.

What are the consistencies? Fine flour and Olive oil. Fine flour was used to symbolize the effort and intentionality of the sacrifice as a sign of God’s provision. The olive oil was used to symbolize the abundance of God and to repay that abundance.

What are the differences?

The cakes and wafers

Cakes and wafers were used to symbolize purity. They were to be made without yeast to symbolize the absence of sin. Cakes and wafers allowed for the easy portioning and burning on the altar. I’ve learned a new way to understand purity outside of our commonality of sin. (Referencing: “Leviticus: You Have No Idea” by Maurice Harris)

Purity describes a place where God’s presence can enter in. Impurity describes a place where God’s presence cannot enter in. How those places are formatted are based on our response and reaction. Are we setting up an area of our life where God’s presence can be found? The preparation of these cakes and wafers symbolizes this potential. The intentionality and intricacy about preparing the fine flour and oil represent how intentional we should be when we say and do things in life, allowing presence to be seen and reflected into the world.

The cooking/preparation methods

Believe it or not. Using the oven, the griddle, or the pan represent different mindsets behind your grain offering.

OVEN: Baking in an oven showed a more deliberate and carefully prepared offering potentially reflecting a higher level of devotion or a more prosperous person.

GRIDDLE: Cooking on a griddle could symbolize a more communal offering.

PAN: Cooking in a pan generally indicates a simpler, quicker method of preparation. A way to offer something o God even with limited resources.

Is one way better than another? No. Does God prefer one method more? Not that I can see. What matters at the end of the day is what you offer (following the ritualistic protocol) and more so, why you offer it. Where is the heart posture when you have to sacrifice something in order to build or strengthen your relationship with our Heavenly father?

Next time, we’ll wrap up our discussion on Grain Offerings with the last variation of ingredients. Until then, stay blessed.

• Associated Scripture
  • Lev 2:4
    • Exodus 29:2
    • Leviticus 7:12