Read Leviticus 2 at Bible Gateway.
qorban, that which gathers home 2014 apr 07
The olah, the whole burnt offering, is the first type of qorban, or offering, that we encounter in Leviticus. We saw yesterday how Messiah Yeshua fulfilled all the law of the olah in His life, death, and resurrection, causing us to draw near to God with a true, or circumcised, heart, in full assurance of faith. He is the qorban which gathers us home to God.
The second type of qorban that we encounter in Leviticus, is the minchah, the grain offering. Neither the olah, the whole burnt offering, nor the minchah, the grain offering, was offered to atone for sin, but was a voluntary offering brought by the man who desired to draw near and express his worship to God. Often in the Hebrew Old Testament, minchah is translated simply as “present” or “gift,” (for example, in Gen 43:11). Do you ever bring home a present or gift for your spouse, not for an obligatory reason such as a birthday or anniversary, but just because, to express your love for them? That is the idea of the minchah.
That Messiah was prophesied to fulfill the law of the minchah as well as the olah, we can see in Psa 40:6:
Sacrifice (“peace offering”) and offering (minchah, “grain offering”) You did not desire: but a body You have prepared for Me; in burnt offering (olah, “whole burnt offering) and sacrifices for sin, You had no pleasure.
Psalm 40 is a psalm of David. In the prophets we read of God taking no pleasure in sacrifices because the people offered them with a corrupt heart (Isa 1). They rationalized that since the sacrifice will atone for my sins, I will live my life in the lust of my flesh, and bring my sacrifices on the required days. It is no wonder God was wearied to His heart with them. But David did not have a corrupt heart, and still, he prophesied by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, that it was not the sacrifices themselves, as an end, that God took pleasure in, but rather they spoke of Messiah coming in the flesh, as we know now by hindsight, to fulfill the law of the sacrifices.
Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering (the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew minchah, grain offering) and a sacrifice (the Greek equivalent to the Hebrew blood sacrifices) to God for a sweet-smelling aroma. Eph 5:1-2
Paul is teaching us, that while in Leviticus the worshiper brought the grain offering as a love gift to God, Messiah Yeshua gave Himself to us as a love gift to God, being the fulfillment of the law of the minchah, or grain offering!
My congregation is studying Acts from a messianic perspective. Yeshua was resurrected not just during the Festival of 1st Fruits, but also during the munch offering. Your article here really fleshed out for me what was significant about the timing. Even the poorest could afford a handful of flour but with the purest of motives; to draw near to our Moshiach- the bread of life!