the meal offering church life with no leaven and no honey is for God’s satisfaction

The meal offering in Leviticus 2:1-13 is a type of Christ (as the real meal offering) and the church (as the reproduction of Christ to be the corporate meal offering). After seeing all the aspects of the meal-offering, their fulfillment in Christ, and their application in our experience, we just love the Lord for such a wonderful type in the Old Testament!

The last two elements of the meal-offering are “no leaven and no honey” – God expressedly forbids the people of Israel to allow any leaven or honey in the meal offering.

No leaven and no honey in the meal-offering

What is leaven? Based on the usage of this word by the Lord Jesus in the Gospels leaven signifies sin and other negative things (like: the leaven of the Pharisees, the leaven of the Sadducees, and the leaven of Herod, see Matt. 16:6; Luke 12:1; Mark. 8:15). What is honey? Honey signifies the natural human life in its good and even sweet aspect. People aren’t always bad – there’s a good aspect, a good part, in each one of us. This natural goodness is honey, and is not to be added to the meal offering.

Honey is sweet – why is it not allowed to be in the meal-offering? According to its nature, after a period of time honey can ferment and the result is leaven. So whether we are good or bad, sweet or bitter, right or wrong, nice or not nice, the result is the same. This is why God told Adam and Eve not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good (honey) and evil (leaven). Even such a sweet and nice thing as the natural human love can ferment and, in the case of divorce, can become something bitter like leaven.

The negative things are leaven, and the good aspects of our natural life are honey – but they eventually ferment and become leaven also. We need to learn to reject our natural man, our natural preferences, and even the good aspects of our natural man, when it comes to serving the Lord.

As priests, we cannot allow leaven (anything sinful) or honey (anything natural, even good aspects) to defile us. We need to be salted, living in the resurrection life under the cross, so that any good or bad aspects of our natural man would be annulled.

The reproduction of Christ as the meal-offering

With the Lord Jesus there was no leaven (no sinful or negative thing) and no honey (no natural affection, attachment, or preference). Rather, He lived a life of the highest and finest humanity (fine flour) oiled with the Holy Spirit (mingled with oil), having the fragrance of resurrection (frankincense), and living under the cross every day (being salted).

This One is our daily food and our supply, our sustenance, and by eating of Him we become His corporate reproduction! We also live a life of the highest humanity mingled with the Spirit, with the fragrance of resurrection, and being daily under the cross. Also, as we eat this One, we will reject any sinful thing or any good aspect of our natural man.

One bread and one cup – the church life

At the Lord’s Table we openly display and testify of the fact that the church life is a corporate meal offering (signified by the one bread, see 1 Cor. 10:17) and we all partake of the cup of blessing.

This partaking of the bread and the cup in a collective way is a sign of the church life – it is a testimony that the church life is the reproduction and duplication of Christ as the meal offering.

We are men with the highest humanity being oiled with the Spirit, living daily under the cross with the resurrection of Christ as the frankincense, and with no leaven or honey! We testify of this whenever we partake of the bread and the cup.

For God’s satisfaction and for our supply

The top portion of the meal offering is for God’s enjoyment and satisfaction, and the remainder is for us to enjoy as our food in our service to God as priests. This means that God needs the meal offering as His food, and we need the meal offering as our continual serving supply.

God desires to have a meal offering in each locality – the meal-offering church life satisfies God and feeds us. On the one hand, Christ is our daily supply, but on the other hand, the church life as the corporate meal offering is our supply and sustenance. Aren’t you fed and supplied when you meet with the saints and enjoy Christ, this wonderful One as the meal-offering? Praise the Lord for such a church life – the meal-offering church life.

Lord, gain such a corporate meal offering church life. Keep us coming to You, Lord, and dealing with any aspect of our natural life. We want to be priests serving You and bringing You food for Your satisfaction. Keep us eating Your humanity until it is being lived out in us as the highest humanity mingled with the Holy Spirit. Lord, more living in the resurrection life. More salt in our living. Oh, Lord, gain a meal offering church life in every locality on the earth!

References and Further Reading

• Sharing inspired from, the Life-study of Leviticus (msg. 16, by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Focus of the Lord’s Recovery, week 6;
• Hymns on this topic:
  # We must eat Jesus till God can / Have the fulfillment of His plan— / One man expressed for all to see, / One church in each locality.
  # How may we express such oneness, / Be divine and shining too? / Hallelujah, eating Jesus is the way! / He’s the tree of life, the manna, / And the feast that’s ever new— / Hallelujah, we may eat Him every day!
• Picture source: unleavened bread.