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5:35
The Israelites have the same problem that we have today. Sin separates us from God, and we have to find a way to cleanse ourself in order to spend time with Him. The Israelites had to perform ritualistic sacrifices in order to be temporarily cleansed, but because of Jesus, our sins have been forgiven forever and ever.
Hello and welcome to the Christians on College Campuses podcast. My name is Will from the University of Oklahoma, and today we are talking about Leviticus chapter 2. So for this chapter, let's just get into it. It says that when you present grain as an offering to the Lord, the offering must consist of choice flour. You are to pour olive oil on it, sprinkle it with frankincense, and bring it to Aaron's sons, the priests. The priest will scoop out a handful of flour moistened with oil, together with all the frankincense, and burn this representative portion out on the altar. It is a special gift, a pleasing aroma to the Lord. The rest of the grain offering will then be given to Aaron and his sons. This offering will be considered a most holy part of the special gifts presented to the Lord. If your offering is a grain offering baked in an oven, it must be made with choice flour, but without any yeast. It may be presented in the form of thin cakes mixed with olive oil or wafers spread with olive oil. If your grain offering is cooked on a griddle, it must be made of choice flour mixed with olive oil but without any yeast. Break it in pieces and pour olive oil on it. It is a grain offering. If your grain offering is prepared in a pan, it must be made of choice flour and olive oil. No matter how a grain offering for the Lord has been prepared, bring it to the priest, who will present it at the altar. The priest will take a representative portion of the grain offering and burn it on the altar. It is a special gift, a pleasing aroma to the Lord. The rest of the grain offering will then be given to Aaron and his sons as their food. This offering will be considered a most holy part of the special gifts presented to the Lord. Do not use yeast in preparing any of the grain offerings you present to the Lord, because no yeast or honey may be burned as a special gift presented to the Lord. You may add yeast and honey to an offering of the first crops of your harvest, but these must never be offered on the altar as a pleasing aroma to the Lord. Season all your grain offerings with salt to remind you of God's eternal covenant. Never forget to add salt to your grain offerings. If you present a grain offering to the Lord from the first portion of your harvest, bring fresh grain that is coarsely ground and roasted on a fire. Put olive oil on this grain offering and sprinkle it with frankincense. The priest will take a representative portion of the grain moistened with oil, together with all the frankincense, and burn it as a special gift presented to the Lord. So my first questions, my first thoughts that I had when reading this was why does this exist? Why does it in the Bible? What's the point? And what does it have to do with me? Well, when reading the Bible, it is important to remember that Jesus is king and context is everything. And so Leviticus chapter 2 was not written for us immediately. It was originally written for the Israelites. It's important to remember that God is holy. And holy means to be set apart, meaning that God is set apart from us, and especially the Israelites, back in Bible times. And these first few chapters of Leviticus are ways that the Israelites can deal with their sins so they can spend time in the presence of God because the wages of sin is death. In the first part of this book, there are a couple types of ritualistic sacrifices. This one is a way of saying thanks to God. It's a way to offer back to God symbolic tokens of what God has first given them. Like, for example, God provided them with food, so the Israelites are giving back to God a grain offering or food back to God. Well, what does this have to do with us? God is still very much holy and set apart from us, and we still have to deal with our sins in order to be with Him. However, good news, we don't have to sacrifice things anymore because God sent His own Son, Jesus, to come and take the punishment of death for us. The grain offering sacrifice thing mentioned in this chapter is a way to give back to God what He has already given the Israelites first. And we have a way to do this as well with our tithes and offerings. Where God provided the Israelites with food and uh livestock and all of that. Through the jobs that God has given us the opportunities for, we are given money. And um just as that came from God, we should give it back to him first. Fun fact Um, tithes and offerings is actually the only time in the Bible where God says to test him directly. So if you were like, man, I want to I want to prove that God, like I want to test God, I don't know if he's real or anything. If that is if that is something you think, test him with your tithes. It's a big step, it's a step of faith. But he says that if you trust him with that, your life will be blessed. And so Jesus, I come to you right now, and I thank you that because of your son and just because of how the world works, we don't have to sacrifice random stuff like animals and food in order to be on your good side. But we just have to accept Jesus' free gift of salvation in our lives so that we can spend time with you all the time. I pray that if there's anyone listening that doesn't know you, that you show them their love and allow them to open up and test you in giving your tithe so that you can prove how loving and caring you are towards your creation. And in Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
