Lev. ii. 13. Every oblation of thy meat-offering shall thou season with salt; neither shall thou suffer the salt of the covenant of thy God to be lacking from thy meat-offering : with all thine offerings thou shall offer salt.
THERE certainly is need of much sobriety and caution in interpreting the typical parts of Scripture, lest, instead of adhering to the path marked out for us by the inspired writers, we be found wandering in the regions of fancy and conjecture. But there are some types, which, notwithstanding they be soberly explained, appear at first sight the mere creatures of one's own imagination ; which, however, on a more full investigation, evidently appear to have been instituted of God for the express purpose of prefiguring the truths of the Gospel. Of this kind is the ordinance now under our consideration : for the elucidating of which, we shall, I. Explain the meat-offering —
The directions respecting it were very minute —
[Meat -offerings were annexed to many of the more solemn sacrifices, and constituted a part of them a. But they were also frequently offered by themselves. They were to consist of fine flour, mixed with oil, and accompanied with frankincense b. The quantity offered was at the option of the offerer, because it was a free-will offering. The wheat might be presented either simply dried and formed into flour, or baked as a cake, or fried as a wafer c : but, in whatever way it was presented, it must by all means have salt upon itd. It was on no account to have any mixture in it, either of honey, or of leaven e. A part, or a memorial of it, was to be taken by the priest (but with all the frankincense), and to be burnt upon the altar f: and the remainder was for the maintenance of the priest himself, as holy foodg. When it was duly offered in this manner, it was most pleasing and acceptable to God11.]
And this was altogether typical of things under the gospel dispensation.
It was typical,
1 . Of Christ's sacrifice —
[The meat-offering, or mincha, is often spoken of in direct reference to Christ, and his sacrifice. In the Epistle to the Hebrews, we have a long passage quoted from the Psalms, to shew that neither the meat-offering (mincha) nor any other sacrifice was to be presented to God, after that Christ should have fulfilled those types by his one offering of himself upon the cross1. And it is of great importance in this view to
a Numb, xxviii. throughout. b ver. 1, 2, 5. c ver, 4, 7, 14. (1 ver. 13. e ver. 11. f ver. 16. s ver. 3.
h ver. 9. ' Compare Ps. xl. 6 — 8. with Ileb. x. 5 — 10.
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