What is the Spiritual Meaning of the Meal Offering in Leviticus 2:1?

    Not all the offerings were animal sacrifices.  God's word about the meal offering in Leviticus 2 probably reminded the Israelites about their ancestors eating unleavened bread on the night of the Passover (Exodus 12:8,15) because they were pretty similar.  I learned from reading the  Life-Study of Exodus that leaven in the Bible always signifies what is sinful, evil, and corrupt in the eyes of God. 

A friend texted me this beautiful picture.

The footnote in my Recovery Version of the Bible  on Exodus 12:8  references 1 Corinthians 5:6-8. In these verses Paul is reprimanding the church in Corinth and telling them that a little leaven in the church would eventually leaven them all. Then Paul flashbacks to the Passover story in Exodus and tells them that they need to keep the feast with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.  

  
  Only Christ is unleavened without any sin or impurity.  As such He represents the fine flour as Witness Lee states in chapter 11 of The Life-Study of Leviticus . Christ's humanity is perfect, even, balanced, and right in every way.  Oil in the Bible always represents the Spirit of God.  In the meal offering presented in Leviticus 2 we see so many details about Christ's life:   

And when anyone presents an offering of a meal offering to Jehovah, his offering shall be of fine flour; and he shall pour oil on it and put frankincense on it....And when you present an offering of a meal offering baked in the oven, it shall be of fine flour, unleavened cakes mingled with oil or unleavened wafers anointed with oil....And every offering of your meal offering you shall season with salt,...  Leviticus 2:1, 4, 13A

     The meal offering had frankincense sprinkled on it, and this signifies Christ's fragrant resurrection. In chapter 11 he says that Christ's human living always had the aroma of resurrection. In verse 13 God commands that every meal offering must be seasoned with salt.  I add salt to my food for flavor, but in the Bible salt represents something that kills corruption.  In chapter 13 I learned that salt signifies the cross of Christ that puts to death anything corrupting in our relationships with other believers in the Body of Christ.  

   I am very thankful that Witness Lee was faithful to speak the truth about how the picture in Leviticus of flour and oil mingled together was a type of Christ being a mingling of divinity with humanity.  On pages 111-113 he talks about that:

In the early part of the Christian era, there was much debate about the matter of the mingling of divinity with humanity. Some theologians thought that to speak of being mingled with God implied the belief that a person could become God....Eventually theologians did not dare to use the word mingle or to teach concerning the mingling of humanity with divinity.  Why then are we so bold as to use this term today. We speak of mingling because there is such a revelation in the Bible. Our teaching concerning the divine mingling with humanity is based on the New Testament revelation and is also confirmed by the Old Testament types.....Verse 4 speaks of "fine flour mingled with oil." Oil denotes divinity, and fine flour denotes Christ's humanity....Because  the Lord Jesus is God incarnated to be a man, He is a God-man. Do you think that His divinity can be separated from His humanity, or that apart from any mingling, His divinity and humanity are merely united to make Him a God-man?...However, this mingling of divinity and humanity surely has not produced a third element, something  that is neither divine nor human (Lee, Witness. Life-Study of Leviticus. Anaheim: Living Stream Ministry, 1989, Print).

      What really opened my eyes was learning that way back in the fourth century Athanasius, who was a deacon of the Church in Alexandria, fought for this truth when Arius, who was another deacon of the same church, started to promote the heresy that Christ was not fully divine.  Athanasius not only saw that Jesus was both God and man, but also he saw the reason.  His known for some awesome quotes on the incarnation, and here's one of them:  

 "He Became what we are that we might become what He is."  

     I've heard a lot of messages on this truth, and I've also read a lot of Life-Studies and books that have made this truth clear.  What's touched me the most is seeing that God arranges all the circumstances of our lives so that we would open our hearts to Him in prayer.  All of our conversations with God and prayers give Him the opportunity to mingle more with us. And this is what causes us like Athanasius said to become what He is. This is what the Apostle John was writing about it in his first Epistle when he said:

Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been manifested what we will be. We know that if He is manifested, we will be like Him because we will see Him even as He is.

  1 John 3:2

You can listen to excerpts of Witness Lee's speaking the Life-Study of Leviticus on Life Study of the Bible  with Witness Lee.   You can also read the online Life-Studies of Leviticus and check out other resources available to enhance your study of the Bible on Living Stream Ministry's website.

Other Posts on Leviticus:

What is the Purpose of the Offerings in Leviticus 1:2?
Why Does Leviticus Start with the Burnt Offering in Leviticus 1:4?
What is the spiritual Meaning of the Meal Offering in Leviticus 2:1?
Taking a Closer Look at the Peace Offering in Leviticus 3:1
What Do You Know About Christ as the Sin Offering? 
What is the Meaning of the Trespass Offering in Leviticus 5?