Good Morning.
And if you bring as an offering a grain offering baked in the oven, it shall be unleavened cakes of fine flour mixed with oil, or unleavened wafers anointed with oil. (Leviticus 2:4)
Every believer should be aware of what unleavened bread (matzah in Hebrew) signifies, or perhaps better yet, what leaven represents. Leaven, or as it is known in Hebrew, חמץ chametz is a symbol of fermentation and corruption. Consequently, sin is viewed as the moral fermentation that occurs in our life when we are not following the ways of the Creator. As Paul said, “Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened” (1 Corinthians 5:6-7). So then, no meal offering — that which represents our works — brought unto the LORD could contain leaven.
Furthermore, for these unleavened loaves to be considered acceptable, they had to be “anointed” or “smeared with oil.” Rabbinical sources even say that they had to be smeared in a certain way, specifically, in the form of the ancient rendering of the Hebrew letter ת tav, which would have resembled an X or a “cross.” Making this even more interesting is the Hebrew word that is translated as “anointed” — it is derived from the same root from which we get the word משיח mashiach or, as we would likely recognize it, Messiah. Finally, when the these cakes and breads were presented to the priest, they would be broken so as to replicate the dissecting of an animal of the burnt offering. Fascinating isn’t it?
The connection to the Messiah should be obvious — through Him we are brought near to the Almighty. Furthermore, it is easy to see the resemblance this offering has to the matzah that is broken and eaten at Passover, a clear picture of the suffering of Yeshua. But how else might this relate to us if this meal offering is connected to our works? I believe that Paul provides the answer when he says, “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (2 Corinthians 5:21).
In other words, through the suffering of the Messiah, our attempt to do the right thing, according to His Word, is deemed acceptable and righteous before the LORD. His broken body and our brokenness before Him sanctifies those good works that we perform in His name. Mind you, those works can not be defined as “good” at our discretion but according to His Word. Still, it is a comfort to know that when we abide in Him, we are anointed to produce good fruit — the works of righteousness — which is deemed acceptable by the Almighty. So then, let us continue to abide in Him, and He in us, that we may produce the fruit that brings glory unto the Father in Heaven (John 15).
Blessings and Shalom,
Bill
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