Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit · Sermon No. 1942
“And every oblation of your meat offering shall you season with salt; neither shall you suffer the salt of the Covenant of your God to be lacking from your meat offering: with all your offerings you shall offer salt.” Leviticus 2:13.
IT is taken for granted that all true Israelites would bring many oblations and offerings of different kinds to God. And so they did who were truly devout and really grateful. I am sure that if the Lord has set our hearts on fire with His own love, we, also, shall be frequently saying, “What shall I render unto the Lord for all His benefits toward me?” It will be the habit of the Christian, as it was the habit of the devout Israelite, to be continually bringing oblations to his God.
How is this to be done? That is the point. We have need, each of us, to say with Paul, “Lord, what will You have me to do?” And we may add another question, “How will You have me do it?” For will-worship is not acceptable with God. If we bring to God what He does not ask, it will not be received. We must only present to Him that which He requires of us and we must present it to Him in His own way, for He is a jealous God.
I call your attention to the fact that, in this verse, the Lord three times expressly commands that with the meat offerings and all other offerings they were to offer salt. Does the great God that made Heaven and earth talk about salt? Does He condescend to such minute details of His service as to enact that the absence of a handful of salt shall render a sacrifice unacceptable—and the presence of it shall be absolutely necessary to its being received by Him? Then, my Brethren, nothing in the service of God is trifling! A pinch of salt may seem to us exceedingly unimportant, but before the Lord it may not be so. In the service of God, the alteration of an ordinance of Christ may seem to be a pure matter of indifference, and yet in that alteration there may be the taking away of the very vitals of the ordinance—and the total destruction of its meaning. It is yours and it is mine to keep to the letter of God’s Word, as well as to the spirit of it, remembering that it is written, “Whoever shall break one of these least commandments and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven.” It is not for the servant to say, “This order of my master is unimportant and the other is binding.” The servant’s duty is to act in all things exactly as he is bid. Since our Master is so holy and so wise, it is impossible for us to improve upon His commandments. Yes, God enters into detail with His servants and even makes orders about salt.
If you will read the chapter through, you will note that other things were needed in connection with the sacrifices of the Israelites. Their sacrifices were, of course, imperfect. Even on the low ground which they occupied as symbols and emblems they were not complete, for you read, in the first place, that they needed frankincense when they offered their sacrifice to God. God did not smell sweet savor in the bullock, or the ram, or the lamb, unless sweet spices were added. What does that teach us but that the best performances of our hands must not appear before His Throne without the merit of Christ mingled with it? There must be that mixture of myrrh, aloes and cassia with which the garments of our Prince are perfumed to make our sacrifice to be a sweet savor to the Most High! Take care in your sacrifices that you bring the sacred frankincense.
Another thing that was enjoined constantly was that they should bring oil—and oil is always the type of the blessed Spirit of God. What is the use of a sermon if there is no unction in it? What is unction but the Holy Spirit? What is prayer without the anointing that comes of the Holy Spirit? What is praise unless the Spirit of God is in it to give it life, that it may rise to Heaven? That which goes to God must first come from God. We need the oil—we cannot do without
it. Pray for me that I may have this oil in the sacrifice of my ministry, as I pray for you that in all that you do for the Lord Jesus, your sacrifice may continually have the sacred oil with it.
Then came a third requisite, namely, salt. If you read the preceding verses, you will see that the Lord forbids them to present any honey. “No meat offering, which you shall bring unto the Lord, shall be made with leaven: for you shall burn no leaven, nor any honey, in an offering of the Lord made by fire. As for the oblation of the first fruits, you shall offer them unto the Lord: but they shall not be burnt on the altar for a sweet savor.” Ripe fruits were full of honey, full of sweetness—and God does not ask for sweetness, He asks for salt. I shall notice that as we go on farther. Not honey, but salt, must be added to all the sacrifices which we present before the living God.
What is the meaning of all this? We may not pronounce any meaning of the types with certainty unless we have Scripture to direct us, but still, using our best judgment, we do, first of all, see that the text explains itself. Observe, “neither shall you suffer the salt of the Covenant of your God to be lacking from your meat offering.”