If the burnt offerings are the sacrifices that everyone remembers, then the grain offerings are the ones most often forgotten.
The reason is simple. Unlike burnt offerings, which are offered as a penance for sin, grain offerings are given as a way to show gratitude towards God. Just like the burnt offering, only the highest quality is to be offered (i.e. “fine flour” is used). And, also just like the burnt offering, it is to offered with fire.
Unlike the burnt offering, there is no blood. In fact, the grain offering is the only sacrifice in Leviticus that doesn’t have any blood whatsoever. It’s given to the priest, who then turns around sacrifices the produce.
Maybe that’s why our consciences have a hard time understanding the grain offering. After all, wasn’t it Cain’s “plant only” sacrifice that got him in trouble in Genesis 3? Why is God now not only allowing grain, but mandating it?
Of course, the difference is that Cain offered an unlawful sacrifice out of his pride, whereas the grain offering is authorized by God. Going a step further, the grain offering shows God’s dominance over all of creation. Not just animals can be sacrificed to Him, but that which comes from the ground, as well.
The part that is given to the priests afterwards is called the “memorial portion,” as opposed to the portion offered up in smoke that was called “a thing most holy.”
Why it’s called the “memorial portion” is somewhat up for debate. Some argue that the offerer “remembers” that all of his possessions come from God, including the grain, whereas others claim that this is a nod to God “remembering” His covenant with His people. Both could be right at the same time.
One other note about this that speaks to the nature of sacrifice. In the Sinai Peninsula (where the wanderings took place), animals were far more plenty than grain. If you’re going to make a sacrifice to God, convenience would dictate offering an animal. To sacrifice plants was a much larger sacrifice.
How does this reflect our own attitude towards God? When we’re thankful, do we offer to Him whatever is just laying around? Or do we give Him something that is truly a sacrifice—something that shows how thankful we really are?
