“No grain offering, which you bring to the Lord, shall be made with leaven, for you shall not offer up in smoke any leaven or any honey as an offering by fire to the Lord.” (v.11)
Just as the burnt offering we looked at in chapter 1 was to be "without blemish," so the meal offering here in chapter 2 was to be without leaven. Yeast (leaven) was not allowed because it was a picture or representation of sin and the effects of sin. The ancient Israelites sewed leaven into their dough by a pinch of dough left over from the previous batch. A little pinch of the old dough made the whole new lump of dough rise and puff up, spreading through the entire new batch souring the dough.
Therefore, the work of leaven was considered an illustration of the work of sin and pride. The presence of a little can corrupt everything. Almost without exception, leaven in the Bible signifies evil and the active energy of sin, so it could not be mixed in with the grain as an offering or it would overtake it. Honey was not allowed because it was a favorite thing to sacrifice to pagan deities. God did not want to be worshipped in the same way that false, pagan gods were worshipped.
Interestingly leaven can make things artificially sour and honey can make things artificially sweet. God did not want either of these in sacrifice. When we offer ourselves as a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1-2) He wants us to come just as we are, without artificially making ourselves more sour or sweet.
The grain offering was a gift to the Lord that honored Him as the source of life and of the fertility of the land. It represented the dedication to God of the fruit of one’s labor. Here the worshiper offered the best of the kernels of wheat to indicate that he was offering his best to God. This became the consecration of one’s service to Him.
The application for us is, when bringing our service to God, don’t give Him our left overs, our begrudging time slot, or our so-so commitment, we go all in. We give Him our best, for He has certainly given us His.
The Truth: “Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.” (Luke 6:38)
