There are several lessons regarding worship that can be applied to New Covenant believers from this Old Covenant ritual; indeed some are similar to the features that we have mentioned in the previous reading concerning an Israelite worshipper. Christian worship should be marked by gratitude and voluntary giving in addition to regular required amounts (for example, believers should pay a tithe, but they can give more when they wish to do so). But I would highlight four ways in which the ritual of the grain offering has a message for today.
First, our worship must involve an appreciation that we are in a covenant relationship with God. We come to him as creatures of a Creator who provides for us, as servants of a Master who has complete authority over us, as sons of a Father who has redeemed us from the slavery of sin through the atoning death of his own Son, Jesus Christ. Other illustrations of the bond between his people could be mentioned. What is at the root of each of them is a covenant made by God.
For example, as creatures we live under the protection promised by God in his covenant with Noah; as his servants, we live in a relationship in which he has promised to be our God and we his people; as his sons, we belong to a family that was the object of divine affection and consideration in the covenant of redemption made within the Trinity before the universe was created. Further aspects of a covenant context can be found throughout the Bible; indeed, every time a believer says ‘my God’ or its equivalent he is using covenant language.
Second, our worship includes practical support for the full-time servants of God. The priests were provided for in the grain offering, and that provision is a reminder of Paul’s statement in 1 Corinthians 9:13-14: ‘Do you not know that those who are employed in the temple service get their food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in the sacrificial offerings? In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel.’ Such support can be through official channels (like what happened at the Feast of Weeks) or it can be voluntary. But providing for God’s servants is an expression of worship that pleases him.
Third, the grain offering reminds Christians that they are no longer their own; indeed they have been bought with a price. Presenting a grain offering was a confession by the worshipper that he was paying tribute to his Sovereign. Christians show by their lives that they belong to Jesus Christ. Yet, similar to how a devout Israelite came with his grain offering to confess his submission to God, so Christians draw near to worship the One who is their Lord and Master. An Israelite could offer a grain offering as often as he wished. Similarly, Christians can express their glad submission regularly to God.
Fourth, there are spiritual equivalents of the oil and frankincense that were used in the grain offering. Details from other biblical references indicate that oil often illustrates the Holy Spirit and that incense depicts prayer. Clearly, all that a Christian does should be by the enabling of the Holy Spirit and prayer should accompany whatever he does for the Lord. An obvious application from the immediate context of Leviticus 2 concerns gatherings for public worship of God – the contribution of each believer, whether pastor or otherwise, should be given in the Spirit and in the atmosphere of dependent and expectant prayer.
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