3/23

Numbers 15:13

¹³Every native Israelite shall do these things in this way, in offering a food offering, with a pleasing aroma to the LORD.

The Israelites were to make several kinds of offerings to the LORD. One was the meal or food offering. To offer food to someone was a sign of friendship and fellowship. Remember that the people in Eastern cultures think in pictures or illustrations. That was why Jesus used parables. All of the offerings spoke of something of our relationship with God that was fulfilled in Jesus.

This offering was made of fine flour. To make fine flour, one had to break and crush the grain. The additional ingredients were oil, frankincense and salt. No yeast or honey was to be added to this flat bread. A portion of it was offered on the altar, and the priests were to consume the rest. Because the bread was to be offered to the LORD, it was holy.

Jesus was the fulfillment of this offering in that He was broken and crushed for us (Isaiah 53:5). Oil is symbolic of the Holy Spirit. Jesus' life was certainly saturated with the Spirit. Frankincense speaks of prayer. He was always in prayer with the Father and even now lives to intercede for us. Salt speaks of the enduring quality of the covenant God makes with us. It preserves and keeps it from decaying. Those who ate salted bread together were entering into a covenant of friendship.

Jesus said He is the bread of life. He offered Himself in complete obedience to the Father, but what was not consumed on the altar of God's will is offered to us. He tells us that if we eat the heavenly bread we will never die (John 6:51). That is because by taking in Jesus, the Holy One, we enter into a friendship covenant with God. Jesus becomes our atoning sacrifice. Our sins are covered and the work of perfecting us for heaven has begun. This is the same reason that Jesus invited the wayward church of Laodicea to let Him in so that He might dine with them. (Revelation 3:20) The meal is the meal offering, Jesus, the pleasing aroma to the LORD.

Prayer: Thank you Jesus, for giving Yourself so that I might live. Help me to never take this heavenly bread for granted, or let a day go by without my meal of You, the Word made flesh, the Bread of Life.