No Leaven or Honey
The book of Leviticus has a lot of specific details about the offerings that the Lord required His people to make, so they could atone for their sins and stay right with Him. Many of these things seem strange to us, but we must remember, they were Asians, and their culture was much different from ours here in the west. The people could offer various types of burnt offerings to the Lord, such as bulls, sheep, birds, and grain. Each one had to be done in the right way for God to accept it. The grain burnt offering is unique, because they could not offer it with any leaven or honey. (Leviticus 2:11) This raises and interesting question, "Why did God say that?" Let's consider the Lord's directions here.
God always has a reason for what He does and what He asks us to do. Most of the time He explains why He wants us to do those things. However, at other times, He simply tells us what to do or what not to do. As we look at other passages of Scripture, often, we are able to learn the reasoning better. Here, it is pretty easy to see the meaning of the leaven being omitted from the grain burnt offerings. God is very consistent in the Bible. Leaven or yeast represents sin in every passage except one. This is because leaven had great power in just a small amount to spread and cause a change in the dough. That is true for sin, a little spreads, and it infects everyone and everything around in a short period of time. God never wants our offerings to Him to include any amount of sin. We need to bring them with pure hearts, and then, He accepts them. The honey is a little different. Honey was used by the pagans in their offerings. God does not want us to copy unbelievers in how we worship Him. He is holy and separate from all false religions, and He wants us to worship Him in His own unique way. Also, anything made with yeast or honey tended to be corrupted quickly by mold or otherwise spoiling. God always wants us to bring offerings uncorrupted in any way, as we sing His praises, pray, and worship Him today.
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Tomorrow, I intend to read Leviticus 3-6.