XI. WITH SALT
“Every offering of your meal offering you shall season with salt; you shall not let the salt of the covenant of your God be lacking from your meal offering; with all your offerings you shall offer salt” (v. 13). The salt here is not common; it is the salt of the covenant of God, the covenant which is incorruptible and unchangeable. This salt seasons, kills germs, and preserves.
What is the spiritual significance of the salt in the meal offering? Thus far, in the meal offering we have seen the Spirit (the oil), Christ’s resurrection (the frankincense), and Christ’s humanity (the fine flour), but we have not yet seen the death of Christ. The death of Christ, the cross, is signified by the salt. The salt in the meal offering therefore refers to the death of Christ, to the cross.
The reason there is so much ambition and natural affection in the church is that there is too little salt. We are short of the cross of Christ, short of the application of Christ’s death. If we have adequate salt in the church, ambition and natural affection will be crossed out. As long as the cross is here, salt is here; and as long as salt is here, the germs will die. As long as the cross is here, ambition and natural affection will be crossed out. I hope that this will be the experience of us all. We should not have ambition, and we should not have natural affection. We should have only the crossing out of the Lord’s death. Then we will have pure humility and pure love. We will be pure, and we will live a life like that of the Lord Jesus when He was on earth, a life without leaven and honey but full of salt.
XII. CAKES OF FINE FLOUR
“When you bring a meal offering baked in an oven as an offering, it shall be unleavened cakes of fine flour mingled with oil, or unleavened wafers anointed with oil” (v. 4). The cakes of fine flour signify Christ’s humanity to be food for God and His serving ones.
Whereas fine flour has no form, the cakes of fine flour are solid and have a definite form. These cakes indicate a stronger experience of Christ. We may experience Christ as fine flour, as meal without a form. We may also experience Christ as the cakes, as something solid and with a definite form.
A. The Biggest Item of the Meal Offering
The cakes of fine flour are the biggest item of the meal offering. Thus, the cakes signify the biggest portion of Christ in our experience of Him. From this we see that the experience of the meal offering differs in degree. You may have a portion of a certain size, and another saint may have a portion of a different size.
B. Perforated, or Pierced
The cakes of fine flour are perforated, or pierced. This perforating, this piercing, signifies a kind of Christ’s suffering in His humanity. In the Lord’s human life there were many different kinds of sufferings, and the cakes’ being perforated, or pierced, signifies one kind of Christ’s sufferings.
C. Unleavened
The cakes of fine flour are unleavened. Being unleavened signifies being without sin or any negative thing.
D. Mingled with Oil
The cakes of fine flour are mingled with oil. Being mingled with oil signifies being mingled with the Holy Spirit. Christ’s humanity was always mingled with His divinity. In our experience and enjoyment today, the meal offering cannot be separated from God the Spirit.
(Life-Study of Leviticus, Chapter 13, by Witness Lee)
