TWO FORMS OF THE MEAL OFFERING
In Leviticus 2 we see that the meal offering can be in different forms. Our concern here is with two particular forms of the meal offering. The meal offering may be in the form of flour mingled with oil, or it may be in the form of a cake. The flour meal offering signifies the individual Christ; it also signifies the individual Christian. The cake meal offering signifies the corporate Christ, Christ with His Body, the church. The New Testament reveals that the individual Christ has become the corporate Christ (1 Cor. 12:12) signified by the cake. Paul says, “We who are many are one bread, one Body; for we all partake of the one bread” (1 Cor. 10:17). This one bread is a “cake.”
With the meal offering there is the individual aspect, and there is also the corporate aspect. Today Christ does not live merely in an individual way; He also lives with His Body, the church. Christ lives before God in a corporate way. He is the Head, and He has His Body with its members. Therefore, with the meal offering in the form of a cake we have the church life.
In order to have a cake meal offering, we need fine flour mingled with oil. The mingling of flour and oil will produce dough. The dough is then baked in an oven and becomes a cake. This cake is a symbol of the church life. This symbol indicates that eventually Christ’s life and our individual Christian life become a totality, and this totality is the church life.
The church life is not an angelic life but a life full of humanity. However, some Christians have been told that they should try to be like angels and no longer live like human beings. This concept is altogether wrong. If we would have more church life, we need more humanity. For the church life we need to be very human. But this humanity should not be separate from the Holy Spirit;
rather, it should be a humanity which is mingled with the Holy Spirit and which has the Holy Spirit poured upon it. In other words, for the church life we need to be oiled persons, those who are oiled by the Spirit and with the Spirit. Furthermore, we should not have leaven or honey, but we should have salt and frankincense. In our life much salt, the death of the cross, should be applied, and we should be full of resurrection. This is the proper church life.
If we would have this kind of church life, we must be full of humanity and live like men, not like angels. However, certain sisters, and even some brothers, are trying to live as if they were angels. These saints are peculiar and lacking in humanity. The more you try to be an angel, the more peculiar you will be. Instead of being human, you will be a “ghost.” Therefore, I say again that in the church life we need to be full of humanity, but not with a humanity that is independent of the Holy Spirit.
We should be fully dependent on the Holy Spirit, being oiled with Him inwardly and having Him poured upon us outwardly. If we are such persons, we will be full of the Spirit. We will be centered on the Spirit and possessed by the Spirit. We will also live a life that is through salt and in frankincense, that is, a life that is through the death of Christ and in His resurrection. The salt will deal with the leaven, with the germs of sin; the salt will also deal with the honey, putting the natural life to death. This is the way to have a meal offering church life.
The meal offering church life can be burned to produce a satisfying fragrance for God, and the remainder of this offering will be our food. This means that we will eat our church life, for the church life will be our daily supply. Thus, the meal offering which is our daily supply is not merely Christ but Christ with the church life. Now we are feeding on Christ, and we are also feeding on the church life. We eat the meal offering not only in the first form as flour—the individual Christ; we also eat the meal offering in the second form as a cake—the corporate Christ, the church. I believe that in the coming days in all the churches we will see a meal offering church life, a life that first satisfies God and then feeds us.
(Life-Study of Leviticus, Chapter 15, by Witness Lee)
