Variations In The Offering (Leviticus 2:4-10).
‘And when you (singular) offer an oblation of a grain-offering baked in the oven, it shall be of unleavened cakes of milled grain mingled with oil, or unleavened wafers anointed with oil. And if your oblation be a grain-offering of the baking-pan, it shall be of milled grain unleavened, mingled with oil. You shall part it in pieces, and pour oil on it, it is a grain-offering. And if your oblation be a grain-offering of the frying-pan, it shall be made of milled grain with oil.'
The various ways in which the offering can be enhanced are here outlined, with the women especially seeking to show their dedication to and love for Yahweh by presenting to Him the best of their handiwork. Here it is stressed that the grain should be unleavened. Leavening was a fermenting process, while what was offered to God must be pure and uncorrupted by earthly transformation. So they offered of themselves in purity and love, free from any corrupting influence.
The oven would be a deep earthenware vessel with a fire in the bottom. The flat cakes would adhere to the side so that the fire could cook them. The wafers would be extra thin, probably round, cakes, with oil spread on them. An alternative was to use a heated flat-plate, or a deep pan with a cover. The former would produce a large flat pancake which would be separated into pieces, with the oil poured on the pieces. The latter would have oil in it, with pieces of milled grain dough dropped in the oil in order to cook them.
These varied grain offerings, representing the skills of the offerers, are a reminder that we too can bring of our skills to God as an offering so that they may be used in His service, and offered up to Him as a pleasing odour.
‘And you (singular) shall bring the grain-offering that is made of these things to Yahweh, and it shall be presented to the priest, and he shall bring it to the altar. And the priest shall take up from the grain-offering its memorial, and shall burn it on the altar, an offering made by fire, of a pleasing odour to Yahweh. And what is left of the grain-offering shall be Aaron's and his sons'. It is a thing most holy of the offerings of Yahweh made by fire.'
This repeats the procedures for the grain offering to stress its importance. Each grain offering of whatever kind was brought and presented to the priests, who brought it to the altar and took out the memorial portion and burnt it on the altar. Notice the emphasis made here on the smooth progression of the whole procedure from start to finish, from the first bringing of the grain offering to its finally going up in the flames. Then the priests partook of the remainder within the tabernacle as Yahweh's anointed. The fact that the offering was ‘most holy' meant that it could only be eaten by the priests in the tabernacle. They received it as themselves being ‘most holy' and an essential part of Yahweh's dwellingplace, which itself was most holy apart from the court. But that was still, of course, holy. Only the holy nation could enter it.
“An offering made by fire, of a pleasing odour to Yahweh.” It was a fire offering and pleasing to Yahweh, in the same ways as the whole burnt offering. The fire consumed it, Yahweh enjoyed what it signified. With some it was all that they could afford to offer.