The Shadow – offerings by faith speak of faith in God

Gen 4:4 – Abel pleased God in his offering.  Heb 11:4 – By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead.

Lev 2; Deut 26 et al. – Grain offerings were sacrifices of worship given them by God as agents of consecration. Grain offerings were the fruit of Israel’s hands in the promise land, the land of God’s provision.

They were to contain three critical elements besides the grain/meal:

            OIL – generally marks belonging as what has been anointed (Lev 8:12; Psa 23:5).

            INCENSE – marks prayers rising to God (Lev 16:13; Rev 5:8; 8:3)  

            SALT – Lev 2:13; 2 Chron 13:5; Num 18:19

These three elements marked Israel’s belonging to God, prayer filled relationship, and their lasting commitment to Him.

 The Reality – the church in Christ Jesus

The Philippian church

They had partnered with the apostle Paul ( Php 1:5) as part of Christ’s good work in them (Php 1:6).

A definite part of this work and relationship was their giving of gifts for the mission efforts of the apostle (Php 4:15).

These gifts were a fragrant aroma sacrifice to God, a sweet smell of their devotion to Him (Php 4:18)

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