“Every offering of your grain offering you shall season with salt; you shall not allow the salt of the covenant of your God to be lacking from your grain offering. With all of your offerings you shall offer salt.” -Leviticus 2:13
Last week’s Torah portion contained a description of the construction of the tabernacle, its furnishings, and the priestly garments. This portion, Vayikra, begins a description of the service of the tabernacle and the duties of the priests. Since Yeshua is described as both temple (Rev. 21) and High Priest (Heb. 7), the particulars of the construction and service of the tabernacle reveal his character and the responsibility of his people toward him. It is with this in mind that the meaning and purpose of salting sacrifices must be considered. Salt speaks of preservation and perseverance, two aspects of the covenant to which the salted offerings pertain.
Much commentary has been written about the preservative aspect of salt. For example, “you are the salt of the earth,” is generally understood to mean that believers are a preservative force against the corruption of the world. Since this aspect has been widely explained, I will not address it here. The second aspect, perseverance, is less commonly noted but offers insight into the text above (Lev. 2:13) and other related passages. The persevering aspect of salt may be seen in the grain offering. After the offering was burned on the altar the salt would remain unchanged. Among the ashes would be unburned, unmelted, persevering salt, a testimony to the continuing nature of God’s covenant and his desire for the perseverance of believers.
There are two passages where salt and a covenant appear together in the Bible: Leviticus 2:13 and Numbers 18:19. In both cases, the phrase occurs in the context of an offering and speaks of an everlasting commitment of God to his people. The covenant of salt, according to one commentary, was a Near Eastern tradition that consisted of ratifying a covenant through the eating of a seasoned meal. Taken in this sense, the requirement of salt in the offering could be a reminder of the meal that Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and the seventy elders ate before God as a seal of the covenant newly made with the people in Exodus 24. Similar covenant meals include that of Laban and Jacob (Gen. 31:46) and that of Yeshua and his disciples (Matt. 26:28). These are covenants of salt.
The perseverance of salt through the sacrificial fire teaches of the importance of salt for believers. In Mark 9:49-50, Yeshua says, “For everyone will be seasoned by fire, and every sacrifice will be seasoned with salt. Salt is good, but if the salt loses its flavor, how will you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace with one another.” Believers, as living sacrifices (Rom. 12), must be seasoned with salt so that as trials consume the outward person eternal glory will be revealed (2 Cor. 4:16). Having salt may be compared to building well on the foundation of the Messiah (1 Cor. 3:12-15). If a believer has salt in himself, then he is able to season his speech with salty, eternal words (Col. 4:6) and awaken the sense of eternity in every man’s heart. Yeshua’s question about how tasteless salt can be seasoned demonstrates a grave danger, which is also explained in Hebrews 6:4-8. If the flavor is lost, then the salt is worthless and will not withstand either the trials of this world or the baptism of fire that is to come (2 Pet. 3:10).
The practice of salting a sacrifice to God is a reminder of the covenant of salt, an enduring covenant. The covenant is connected to the fellowship meal, which finds its ultimate fulfillment in the Lord’s Passover. All believers are to have salt in them, salt that is the remembrance of the covenant and will enable them to persevere trials and preserve them through the judgment of the earth by fire.
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