Leviticus 2:11 - Meaning and Application

Here, first, leaven and honey are forbidden in every grain offering: no leaven and no honey were to be included in any offering made by fire (Leviticus 2:11). Leaven was banned in memory of the unleavened bread Israel ate when they left Egypt. The offerings were to be made quickly, so there was no time to let them rise.

The New Testament uses leaven as a picture of pride and hypocrisy, because it spreads and puffs up. It also uses leaven for malice and wickedness, because it can sour the whole batch. So this law warns us to watch out for sins that spoil the value of our spiritual sacrifices. Our hands must be lifted up without anger, and all our gospel feasts should be kept with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

Honey was also forbidden, even though Canaan was a land flowing with it. Too much honey is not good (Proverbs 25:16, Proverbs 25:27). It may taste sweet at first, but it can turn bitter and hurt the stomach. Some think the main reason both leaven and honey were banned was that the Gentiles used them often in their sacrifices, and God’s people were not to copy the ways of the heathen. God’s worship was to be different from idolatrous worship (Deuteronomy 12:30, Deuteronomy 12:31).

Some also apply this double rule in another way. Leaven can stand for grief and sorrow of spirit (Psalm 73:21), while honey can stand for sensual pleasure and joy in worldly comfort. In worship, both extremes must be avoided, and a balanced spirit kept. The sorrow of the world leads to death, and love for bodily pleasure is a strong enemy of holy love.

Second, salt was required in every offering (Leviticus 2:13). The altar was the Lord’s table, and salt was always used at human tables, so God would have it used at his as well. It is called the salt of the covenant because, just as people confirmed agreements by eating and drinking together, often with salt present, so God confirmed his covenant with his people by accepting their gifts and sharing his sacrifices with them. In this way he was, as it were, dining with them and they with him (Revelation 3:20).

Among ancient people, salt was a sign of friendship. The offerers did not bring the salt themselves. It was supplied at public expense, just as the wood was (Ezra 7:20-22). There was even a chamber in the temple court called the chamber of salt, where it was stored. Salt also reminded them that sacrifices were not naturally pleasing in themselves. The saints, who are living sacrifices to God, must have salt within them, because every sacrifice must be salted with salt (Mark 9:49, Mark 9:50). Our speech must always be gracious (Colossians 4:6), and so must all our worship be seasoned with that same grace. Christianity is the salt of the earth.

Third, directions are given about the first fruits. The first fruits at harvest, which we read about in Deuteronomy 26:2, were to be offered to the Lord. They were not burned on the altar, but given to the priests as part of their support (Leviticus 2:12). Leaven and honey could be brought in the offering of first fruits, though they were forbidden in other grain offerings, because they were fit for the priests to eat, though not for the altar fire. The loaves of the first fruits were even ordered to be baked with leaven (Leviticus 23:17). We also read of the first fruits of honey brought to the house of God (2 Chronicles 31:5).

There is also a grain offering of first fruits. The first kind was required by law, but this one was voluntary (Leviticus 2:14-16). If a man, grateful for God’s goodness and hopeful of a good harvest, wanted to bring an offering straight from his field, he was to bring it as a gift to God and confess his dependence on him. He must make sure to bring the first ripe and full ears, not the small and dried ones. Whatever was offered to God had to be the best of its kind, even if it was only green ears of grain. We mock God and deceive ourselves if we try to offer him something flawed while we have a male in the flock (Malachi 1:14).

These green ears were to be dried by fire so the grain could be beaten out. We do not expect as much from green ears as from grain that has fully ripened. If young people do God’s work as well as they can, they will be accepted, even if they cannot do it as well as older and wiser people. God is gracious with green ears of grain, and so should we be.

Oil and frankincense were to be added. Some have taken this to mean that wisdom and humility should soften and sweeten the actions and words of young people, and then their green ears of grain will be pleasing to God. God takes special delight in the first ripe fruits of the Spirit and in early signs of devotion. Those who can only think and speak like children, if they think and speak well, are pleasing to him in their buds and blossoms, and he will not forget the kindness of their youth.

This offering was to be handled like the other grain offerings (Leviticus 2:16, compare Leviticus 2:9). All the frankincense was to be offered, and it was an offering made by fire. The fire and the frankincense seem to have had special meaning. The fire points to the warmth and zeal that should be in all our worship. In every good thing, we should be eager and wholehearted. Holy love for God is the fire by which all our offerings must be made, or they will not rise as a pleasing smell to him.

The frankincense points to the mediation and intercession of Christ, through whom all our services are made pleasant and accepted by God. We should thank God that we have the reality of which these rites were only shadows, the fruit hidden beneath these leaves.