Ezekiel 46:19-24 Cooking Offerings
The bronze man shows Ezekiel two different places for cooking the offerings brought to the Temple. Thee of these offerings are more holy and require special treatment.
There were five ways to prepare the offerings brought to the Temple. The processing of the offering was determined by the reason for it. Some offerings were burnt, even burnt up, on the altar. Some were boiled in a pot. Some were baked in an oven. Some were poured out. And some were waved before the altar. We will look at where and which offerings were prepared in the first three manners.
I remembered that several offerings were to be consumed by either the priests or by those who brought them. I also remembered that there were offerings that were to be completely burned up. When first reading our text, I went looking to refresh my memory and gather a little more information about the sin, guilt, and grain offerings. Leviticus 6-7 tells us about these three offerings. One thing that unites the three is that they are the MOST holy offerings. All three of these offerings were to be consumed by the priests. The priest who presented the sin and guilt offerings were to eat them. He could be helped by any male in his family. NONE other. The guilt offering could be eaten by ANY male in the line of Aaron. All three were also to be eaten in the inner court, apart from the common people.
One reason for this is that these offerings were so holy that even touching them imparted holiness to whomever and whatever. To keep this holiness from transferring to the people, these offerings were prepared in a special place within the inner court. The preparation place was set back and away from the altar and sanctuary itself.
The “burnt offering” was another special offering. No one was to eat of it. It was to stay on the altar the whole day and night. It was to be taken off in the form of ashes. The ashes were then carried to a consecrated place outside of the camp.
The grain offering was baked in the same area that the sin and guilt offerings were boiled. A small ‘ceremonial’ portion of what was received was burnt up on the altar. It was the priests’ portion. This guaranteed that they had bread to eat too.
The second portion of our text has Ezekiel looking at the cooking stations for the offerings that were to be consumed by the bringer of the offering. These would be cooked in the kitchens outside of the inner court. They would not impart holiness to those who touched it. These were prepared by the priests who ministered to the people, not the ones designated to minister only to the Lord. These priests would receive a portion back for their service after giving God’s portion to the other priests and preparing the sacrifice by boiling it.
Talk about sitting down to dinner with God! All the sacrifices, except the burnt offering, were opportunities to ‘dine’ with the Lord and His people. These times encouraged bonding between the people and God. They were times of community. Times of thanks giving and worship.
Father God, these activities I would LOVE to participate in with You. These times would be MORE than reason enough for me to bring a sacrifice to a specific place to meet with You. I’m looking forward to these kinds of times with You when we finally meet face-to-face.
