The finest flour is the best of yourself in God (see previous blog). It is not quite taking all improvement exercises, methods in mindfulness or self-emptying, wellness enhancement such as balanced diet, deep breath, or wholeness; or any such combinations of the above. Some of these are good. The point though is that the ‘fineness’ is your readiness for God to work in your life.
In the way you can comfortably play all the bar chords of B major on the guitar, you can recall the friends and teachers who gave you tips and tricks on learning and playing them. Your fineness in these chords are possible through your own training, as well as teaching from others.
The best of yourself – the finest flour – is coming to God as affirming that God has made you a person more like his image than how you were before, and he is continuing this work. You continue to want to improve, and want God to improve you.
Oven sounds like expensive stuff. Microwave is far better, isn’t it? Comparatively portable, easy to operate. Oven requires electric or gas, and far heavier and bulkier. What’s up with oven then? Back in those times, you can cook with portable vessel under fire – and so that’s the oven back then. You can obviously get a lot of heat, i.e. high temperature, in the oven to bake lots of stuff.
Come to God to affirm that God has made you a person more like his image than how you were before; he is continuing this work of wellness and wholeness.
Reading Leviticus 2:4-6 this way makes more sense. God is not instructing his people a new method of cooking using a new kit called “oven”. For that matter, they might simply called it “cooking”, or “hot pot”.
Most of the English translations of the text say or imply “when” you cook it in the oven. It’s not like saying from now on you will cook rice using Panasonic rice cooker SR-JN series, stop that “boil and drain” method. People then were already using oven. The cakes / loaves and wafers were probably regular items people cooked and ate in those days. Taking these two points together, this suggests that this kind of sacrifice is nothing out of the ordinary from what people were already doing.
Preparing these items for sacrifice, however, obviously means they are not for your own use. It is for taking part in your offering to God. Remember in this blog that sacrifice was common practice in those days, but God requires sacrifice to him to be pleasing to him and that people were not doing some extreme stuffs to unknown gods.
Yep, the fire is inside.The second “method” of baking – the use of griddle or pan – implies a more sophisticated utility more likely available in a community.
- The text probably implies that people should form community,
- or that this practice of sacrifice can, or should be, at a community level (rather than doing it in your personal space and your own personal time, a very “western” approach).
- We can be definite, though, that baking using griddle or pan is not an out of ordinary way of cooking.
- There is then a sense of “openness” or “sharing” of the act of sacrifice.
That reminds me something about the first – “oven” – method, in some practices back in those days, the flour is thrown on to the sides of the oven and then cooked.
In fact, rather than portable vessels on your back pack, some of these “ovens” could well be a dug-out hole on the ground. The surrounding of the hole is set up (hardened treated soil like plaster?) to retain heat. The flour is then set up on the side, over the fire underneath.
A BBQ you might think, but I’d guess the whole thing is covered for baking. Yep, the fire is inside.
I know this is way too much detail. It is a world we are no longer familiar with.
Before you say, ah, flour cooked in open fire in a covered oven, that’s intense preparation for holiness – indeed, but there’s another important ingredient mentioned in the text. The yeast, in fact, the lack of yeast.
It’s a command, whatever you do, no yeast. I don’t think we need to take this idea too far. It’s not immediately clear why yeast would not be used in baking the cake, wafers or loaves as part of sacrifice. I know that not using yeast has meanings in the Bible, especially the case of unleavened bread in Exodus (the book, and the actual Exodus from Egypt).
God is. Why does he need something else?
Before we complicate things too much, in the here and now of Leviticus, the yeast as a catalyst is a big no-no. God is the only maker (more than an “agent”) who, having made us, will encourage us to become better people that please him.
Mindfulness, warm bath, self-emptying, off-grid (yes, off-net), vegan diet, wholesomeness, journaling, dark chocolate, etc. God does not require any of these. He is not saying “no” to any of these. He only needs you as you come near to him. God is. Why does he need something else? For what?
Bring yourself as you come to God.
You might have been faithfully, silently, and without fuss setting up the song books and Bibles in good time prior to worship every week. You might do well with all the bar chords on the guitar for the key of B major. You might be able to sing the tenor as well as the bass parts of a hymn / song. You might have finally learned how to play “Blessed Assurance”, yes in 9/8.
- These things matter to God. But the centre of it all is you.
- These things are not like a “launch pad” or even pre-conditions. I don’t think God assigns you a new project based on what you have already done. Not always.
- What counts more is your readiness, your willingness.
God is preparing you as fine flour, you need to respond to be the “finest” of who you are in his eyes.
God is preparing you for the cakes and wafers, you need to agree for God’s training.
God is preparing you by himself, you rely on him and nothing else.
God reveals great things to the world because of your willingness.
