“And the remnant of the meat offering shall be Aaron's and his sons': it is a thing most holy of the offerings of the LORD made by fire.”
My Notes
What Does Leviticus 2:3 Mean?
The grain offering (meat offering in KJV, from the old English usage where "meat" meant food generally) has a distinctive feature: part of it goes to God on the altar, and the remainder belongs to Aaron and his sons. This remnant is declared "a thing most holy" — the same designation given to the most sacred objects in the tabernacle.
The practical implication is that the priests eat from the offerings. Their livelihood is directly tied to the worship of the people. They don't farm; they serve the tabernacle and are sustained by what's offered. This creates a system of mutual dependence: the people need the priests for mediation; the priests need the people for sustenance.
The phrase "most holy" applied to food is striking. The bread that feeds the priests is simultaneously common (it nourishes human bodies) and sacred (it was offered to God and carries his designation). There is no sharp line between the sacred and the ordinary in the tabernacle system — even eating becomes an act of participation in the holy.
Reflection Questions
- 1.How does labeling bread 'most holy' change how you view the ordinary provisions in your life?
- 2.What would it look like to treat your daily meals as sacred rather than routine?
- 3.How does the mutual dependence between priests and people mirror healthy community?
- 4.Where is the line between sacred and ordinary in your life — and should that line exist?
Devotional
The priests eat what has been offered to God, and what they eat is called "most holy." Think about that. Dinner is holy. A meal shared from the altar's remnant carries the same designation as the ark of the covenant. God doesn't distinguish between the grand and the ordinary the way we do.
This collapses the distance between "spiritual" activities and daily life. If bread offered to God and then eaten by a priest is "most holy," then the meal you eat in gratitude might be holier than you think. The sacred doesn't require special lighting and background music. Sometimes it looks like a plate of bread shared among people who serve God.
The mutual dependence built into this system is beautiful. The people bring offerings; the priests eat from them. The people need spiritual mediation; the priests need physical sustenance. Neither can function without the other. It's a picture of the body of Christ before the body of Christ existed — every member necessary, every contribution essential.
What if you treated your ordinary provisions — your food, your resources, the tangible stuff of daily life — as most holy? Not with ceremonial fussiness, but with genuine recognition that everything you have has been provided and is sacred?
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
And the remnant of the meat offering shall be Aaron's and his sons',.... Which not only shows the care taken by the Lord…
A thing most holy - literally, a holy of holies. All offerings were holy, including the portions of the peace-offerings…
There were some meat-offerings that were only appendices to the burnt-offerings, as that which was offered with the…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture