“This is the law for the grain offering: the sons of Aharon are to offer it before Adonai in front of the altar. He is to take from the grain offering a handful of its fine flour, some of its olive oil and all of the frankincense which is on the grain offering; and he is to make this reminder portion of it go up in smoke on the altar as a fragrant aroma for Adonai. The rest of it Aharon and his sons are to eat; it is to be eaten without leaven in a holy place — they are to eat it in the courtyard of the tent of meeting.”-Leviticus 6:7-9
From verse 7, the subject matter shifts from the OLAH rituals to the MINCHAH rituals that the priests were to perform.
Recall that the MINCHAH was the Grain Offering or sometimes called the “Meal Offering” (as in corn meal).
Back in Leviticus Chapter 2, we learned that the MINCHAH could be prepared in a number of different ways.
The MINCHAH could have been cooked or uncooked flour.
It cooked be prepared on a hot griddle or baked in an oven.
It could be made into CHALLAH bread or even produced into a wafer form.
Note the interesting detail that the priests were required to eat a portion of the MINCHAH offering.
This was NOT an option.
Leviticus makes it very clear.
A portion of the flour offered up was to be made into unleavened cakes that HAD TO BE EATEN.
Also notice the detail that the priests were to eat it inside the Tabernacle.
This doesn’t mean inside the actual tent or in later times inside the temple.
It meant inside the Tabernacle courtyard.
They usually ate right outside of the entrance leading into the tent sanctuary.
Afterwards, the remaining uneaten portions were to be completely destroyed.
Now why are we given such specific instructions concerning how the portion of the MINCHAH is to be eaten?
We are given the answer in verse 10.
“It is not to be baked with leaven. I have given it as their portion of my offerings made by fire; like the sin offering and the guilt offering, it is especially holy.”
We are told that this particular food has been classified as “especially holy”, or some other translations might say “most sacred”.
In Hebrew, this is KODESH-KODASHIM.
All of the offerings talked about in Chapter 6 and the beginning part of Chapter 7 deal with these MOST HOLY or KODESH-KODASHIM offerings.
The remainder of Chapter 7 with deal with the sacrifices classified as “Offerings of Lesser Sanctity” or KODASHIM KALLIM in Hebrew.
So what’s the big takeaway here?
We learn that just as sin is classified into different categories depending on how serious they are from the Lord’s perspective, so to are the sacrifices ordered based on their degree of holiness.
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