The proper ingredients in any recipe can mean the difference between success and disaster. The difference between a great taste or a bad aftertaste. In many cases the difference between recipes can be very minute. Just a pinch of the right thing (or a pinch of the wrong thing) can make or break the batch. In fact, many famous companies fiercely protect their “secret recipes” and the pinches they include. Many even actively use them in their marketing and advertising campaigns. Colonel Sander’s original recipe chicken, a secret combination of 11 herbs and spices, is scrawled on an aged yellow piece of paper and kept in a vault in Louisville, Kentucky. Dr. Pepper’s secret recipe of 23 ingredients has been protected since 1885 and the recipe is not held in one safe, but two, the recipe cut in half for safety. And of course, I think every family on the planet has some sort of secret family recipe whether it be a dessert, a casserole or a special BB-Q sauce. The secret to a tasty experience lies within the ingredients.
Today in Exodus 2 we see God giving Moses the details on food offerings. We saw animal offerings yesterday in Leviticus 1, the importance of the blood sacrifice. But today is different, we will not see animals offered to the Lord, but food. What’s the difference?
The animal sacrifice is all about the blood. You see there is life in the blood. “For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life.” Lev 17:11. We looked closely yesterday at the fact that blood must be shed to atone or “cover up” human sin. Not pay for it, but merely cover it up. To do that, there must be blood shed from an animal.
But today we see food offerings. The food or meal offering is a little different. “The Meal offering is an act of remembrance or memorial (Lev 2:2), of worship, gratitude and request for future blessing. (from Wordpress.com)
But what’s important about the food offering is the specific recipe God gives for it. He has several things that must be included and several things that He explicitly demands to be excluded. Let’s take a look.
1) Fine flour. There were no mills in these days, the flour had to be processed by hand with a mortar and pestle. The best you could expect quickly was a very coarse flour. To get a very fine flour you had to spend much time and effort grinding away. It was your best. And God wants our best to be given back to Him.
2) Oil. Oil (olive oil) is mentioned a whopping nine times in chapter 2 alone. Every food offering was to be generously mixed, covered or smeared with oil. Why? Oil speaks of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God. The importance of the Holy Spirit is incalculable and every offering to God was to literally be drenched in oil, symbolic of a life lived for and dedicated to God.
3) Salt. “You shall season all your grain offerings with salt. You shall not let the salt of the covenant with your God be missing from your grain offering; with all your offerings you shall offer salt.” (Lev 2:13) Salt is a preservative and preserves food from spoiling. It symbolizes a life dedicated to remaining free from corruption and spoil. A life that is being preserved by God will not suffer the decay and rot of the world. A righteous life free from spoil will result from living in His ways.
Now we’ll see two things that God says are expressly to be left out of the offering recipe. Two things that if mixed into a life can spoil the entire recipe.
1) Leaven. Leaven is mentioned again and again in God’s Word and Jesus even uses it as a parable in Matt 13 and Luke 13. Everywhere in scripture leaven is presented as a principle of evil. Jesus warned His disciples about the leaven of the pharisees, that is their evil teaching that was not from God. All offerings were to be free of evil, given by a pure and righteous heart.
2) Honey. What, honey? Honey is awesome (especially on a hot flour tortilla) Why would God exclude honey? If you think about it, honey is basically a sweetener, something you add to make the unsweet sweet. It makes something sweeter than it really is. It is sweet on the tongue, pleasing to the flesh. God wants our lives to be an accurate reflection of Him, not something that is tainted or “sweetened” by the things of the world.
Folks, even here in the seeming dryness of Leviticus 2 we are greatly challenged by God. What is the recipe for your life today? Are you a pleasing offering to the Lord? Are you giving God you best? Are you pounding that flour tirelessly for Him? Working hard to give Him your best today? Do you have the oil of the Holy Spirit completely drenching your life today? If you are living with sin you are grieving Him and your relationship with His Spirit is broken at best. You must confess your sin to God, repent from it, and ask His forgiveness. Only a pure heart can expect to be completely drenched in the oil of the Holy Spirit, God will not accept anything less. Are you the salt of Christ today? Christians are called to be the salt of the earth (Matt 5:13) Are you living a life that is free of corruption and decay? If yes, you are an example to the world that pleases Christ.
But folks, is there a few unwanted ingredients in your recipe today? Do you have even just a little leaven in there? Even a little evil in your heart will spoil your entire testimony to the world. Hatred, anger, lying, bitterness, unforgiveness, idolatry, pride, arrogance, intolerance and foul language will all greatly affect your ability to stand for Christ in this world. In fact, it will do just the opposite. A little evil in the life of any Christian can and will do tremendous harm. And what about your walk in this world? Are you sweetened by the world today? Do you covet material things, collecting stuff to impress others and please yourself? Do you love money and accumulate it for yourself and your own causes? Do you use people to get what you want? Friends, the sweetest life in the world is one touched by the grace, mercy and forgiveness of Jesus Christ. Don’t look to the world for your purpose, love and worth, you can find all of those things in abundance in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Live a life today that is the right recipe. Put in the good and leave out the bad. As a result, you will find that you possess a special recipe that is not stored in a safe somewhere, but just the opposite, it is given freely to all that desire it. Share the special recipe of Jesus with the world today.
Blessings for you and your personal time with God today.
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