Filling To The Soul, and Delicious To The Taste

Scriptures: Leviticus 7:11-14

'Now this is the law of the sacrifice of peace offerings which shall be presented to the LORD.  'If he offers it by way of thanksgiving, then along with the sacrifice of thanksgiving he shall offer unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers spread with oil, and cakes {of well} stirred fine flour mixed with oil. 'With the sacrifice of his peace offerings for thanksgiving, he shall present his offering with cakes of leavened bread. 'Of this he shall present one of every offering as a contribution to the LORD; it shall belong to the priest who sprinkles the blood of the peace offerings.

In the Old Testament, there are many offerings that are designated to the Lord. Some of which include the burnt offering, the grain offering, the sin offering, the guilt offering, the ordination offering, and the sacrifice of peace offering. Each offering had a significant purpose. However, the peace offering by way of thanksgiving, was directly connected to the deliverance of the children of Israel out of the hand of their oppressors in Egypt (Leviticus 7:37).

Unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers spread with oil, and caskes of well stirred fine flour mixed with oil, were to be offered along with the peace offering, offered by way of thanksgiving. The unleavened bread was used in the rituals of the Levitical law. There it seems to have had two special significances: 1). Unleavened bread was required in the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread.  It is also called "the bread of affliction" (Ex 12:34-39; 13:3; Deut 16:3-4). This kind of bread was required as a reminder that God had thrust the Israelites out of Egypt suddently, without even sufficient time to allow their bread to rise. Hence they ate unleavened bread as they began their wilderness journey (Wycliffe Bible Encyclopedia, 1975).

Therefore, in both the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, designed as memorials of the deliverance from Egypt, unleavened bread was required. Unleavened bread was required in the offerings made under the Levitical law (Lev 2:4; 6:16; 7:12). Leaven here does have an ethical connotation in these two instances. It was excluded because the process of fermentation implied corruption. When used in an ethical sense, leaven speaks of evil or corruption (Wycliffe Bible Encyclopedia, 1975).

The peace offering was a sweet-savor offering, revealing the Godward aspect of the death of Christ, in contrast to the nonsweet-savor offerings, which depicted the sinward aspect of Christ's sacrifice. In His death Christ reconciled the world to God (II Cor. 5:19). He caused the warfare between man and God to cease, and established peace (Eph 2:14-18). Although "unleavened cakes mingled with oil" were offered (Lev 7:2) to show that Christ was separated from sin, leavened bread was also offered (Lev 7:13) as a symbol of the fact that Christ's reconcilation was for the sinful world. (Wycliff Bible Encyclopedia, 1975).

Strong's Condordance Definitions:

Leviticus 7:11 - Peace: 8002
1) peace offering, requital, sacrifice for alliance or friendship

a) voluntary sacrifice of thanks

Leviticus 7:12 - Unleavened: 4682
1) unleavened (bread, cake), without leaven.
Reflection:
When God says it's time for us to be delivered out of a situation, sometimes He immediately removes us, and requires us to utterly depend on Him for our daily sustenance. Just like the children of Israel were thrust out of exile into the wilderness; we too, may be instantly removed from an oppressive lifestyle, that has us locked into the grip of the enemy.

The children of Israel were in bondage, and their cry went out to the Lord. When He heard their cry, He delivered them hastily. They had no time to prepare their daily sustenance of bread as usual. They left in an instance; and carried only what He commanded them to carry out of the land of Egypt. The leavened bread was filling to the soul, and delicious to the taste. But God was replacing their daily sustenance of bread, with the bread of life; through the wilderness experience.

Prayer: 
Father God, I thank you for placing your hand upon my life, and delivering me out of situations that I could not see my way out. I thank you for hastily removing me, and saving my life from the grip of death. You are the Lord that has delivered me out of the hand of the enemy, for your glory, honor, and praise; and I will continually praise you for your delivering power. You are the bread of life that keeps me, and protects my soul from the deceit of the enemy. I give you praise for your keeping power. You are more than worthy all of my praise. I thank and remember you this day, for what you have done in my life. In Jesus name. I Pray. Amen.

History Viewpoint of the Peace Offering:
Kurtz ("Das Mosaische Opfer," pp. 129-154, Mitau, 1842; idem, "Der Alttestamentliche Opfercultus," ib. 1862) maintains that means "to be perfect," "to make perfect." The sacrifice, therefore, has for its purpose a "restitutio integra," a rehabilitation of the person. Besides, divine benefits cause one to feel that the grace received is undeserved. God shows by His gracious deeds that He maintains His part of the covenant. The thank-offering is to restore the right relation under the consciousness that man on his part has been derelict. The free-will offering and the vow-offering are always mentioned together: their rituals, too, are identical in essential points as differing from the thank-offering. "Peace-offering" is a term covering the different kinds of sacrifices, but it is a thank-offering (Kopelman Foundation, 2010).

References:
Blue Letter Bible. "Law of Moses - Leviticus 7 - (NASB - New American Standard Bible)." Blue Letter Bible. 1996-2010. 9 Feb 2010. < http://www.blueletterbible.org/Bible.cfm?b=Lev&c=7&t=NASB

Higgins, S. (2010). Filling To The Soul, and Delicious To The Taste. Devotions for Thought. Higgins Publishing, http://www.devotionsforthought.blogspot.com, http://www.higginspublishing.com
 
Kopelman Foundation. (2010). Peace Offerings. Different View on the Sacrifice. Retrieved on February 9th, 2010 from http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=131&letter=P
 
Wycliffe Bible Encyclopedia. (1975). Food: Leaven, unleavened bread (Vol 1, A-J p. 625). Moody Press, Chicago.