Please Pass the Salt of the Covenant

In my Bible reading, I have reached the book of Leviticus.  I think I almost heard your groan as I typed that.  Like most people, if we are honest, I dread Leviticus.  All of it is a bit difficult.  It saddens me to think of the animal sacrifices.  The amount of rules and laws is overwhelming.  I pray to get something from it, but reading it feels more like survival.  That is why it was particularly interesting that a passage caught my attention and made connections I have not noticed before.  God can even use the book of Leviticus to reveal Himself, the love of Jesus, and the way of salvation.

What is the salt of the covenant?

The passage that caught my attention was Leviticus 2:13: “You shall season all your grain offerings with salt.  You shall not let the salt of the covenant with your God be missing from your grain offering; with all your offerings you shall offer salt.”  Wow – that is a pretty heavy emphasis on salt!  What is going on there?  And what is the salt of the covenant?  Since salt is mentioned three times in one verse, we need to notice that.  Anytime God repeats something for us, He is trying to get our attention.

God is interested in details.

Before I dove into finding out about the salt, I took a step back and looked at the book of Leviticus as a whole.  Once I got past the overwhelm, I realized something very important about the character of God.  He is interested in details.  He gave such exacting instructions to the Israelites in the wilderness.  There were certain woods and metals and dimensions to be used in building the Tabernacle.  The cloth hangings involved certain colors and specific decorations.  Even the clothing of the priests was exactly spelled out.  This idea of God’s interest in the smallest details is both frightening and comforting.  It can be fearful to think that the all-powerful God notices absolutely everything – including everything about us.  And it is comforting because He notices with infinite love.  He cares about every detail of our lives.

How we interact with God matters.

It also serves as a sobering reminder to us that how we interact with God matters at all times, even in the smallest of moments.  God wasn’t just being a micro-manager.  Every little detail has great symbolism, even if the best Bible scholars haven’t figured it all out yet.  We know that because we can see the symbolism in so many of the details.  Take the clothing of the priests for instance.  The priests were to be holy – set apart and unblemished.  This is symbolic of Jesus, our perfect High Priest and unblemished sacrificial lamb.  The clothing indicated this.  They wore linen.  In fact, later in Leviticus 19:19, there is a command about not wearing wool and linen woven together.  The wool often symbolizes the ways of man – self-sufficiency and turning from God.  Linen is a symbol of purity – obtained only through submission to God and setting aside the old man.  And this makes sense.  On a sheep, the wool is constantly filthy, picking up every piece of dirt, every burr, and even insects.  And once the wool grabs it, it stays there.  What a vivid picture of our sin.  And God showed that in the material He chose for the priestly robes.

When we are salt, we give glory to God.

So knowing that, I wanted to look more closely at salt.  If God said the bread of the grain offering should have salt, and He said it three times, there definitely was a reason.  The words of Jesus came to mind right away: “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored?  It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.” (Matthew 5:13) He said this in the portion of the Sermon on the Mount where He is telling His followers to let their light shine as beacons to give glory to God.  When we are salt, we give glory to God.  We show His light to a dark world.  But we are only glorifying as salt if we keep our saltiness.

How does salt lose its saltiness?

How does salt lose its saltiness?  It doesn’t do it by itself.  Salt is a preservative.  It makes things last.  Saltiness is the point – it is not supposed to lose that, and it can sit for years retaining its saltiness.  Salt can only lose its saltiness by contamination with other things.  Jesus is telling us that if we are His followers, we need to be uncontaminated by the things of the world.  We need to be clean from sin.  Otherwise, we will lose our saltiness and become useless in our walk with Him.

When we walk with God, how we live needs to be changing because of that. 

I believe that is what the “salt of the covenant” is talking about.  What was God’s covenant with Israel?  He said that Israel would be His people and He would be their God.  He meant for them to walk with Him and also to glorify Him.  He wanted His people to reflect Him to the world.  He wanted to set them apart and make them different from everyone else.  That was part of the reason for all the laws.  They belonged to God now, and how they lived needed to change because of that.  We need to remember that as well.  When we walk with God, how we live needs to be changing because of that.  Otherwise, our salt may not be as salty as we think it is.

Jesus is the saltiness in our salt. 

He also said that there was a particular seed that would arise from the multitudes of the nation of Israel.  That seed would deliver us from sin, just as God delivered the Israelites from Egypt.  That seed would cause spiritual death to pass over us, just as the blood on the doorposts allowed the plague of the firstborns’ death to pass over Israel and affect only Egypt.  The covenant is all about the sacrifice of Jesus that brings us redemption.  That is the only way we can be clean from sin and get all the filth out of our wool.  That is the only way we can live a life that shines with the image of God.  Jesus is the saltiness in our salt.  Such a little detail.  Such a big message.  Put the salt in all your offerings because it represents the ultimate offering – Jesus, the perfect Lamb. 

My sacrifices should be salted with Jesus.

Then I had to stop and consider how I am doing with that.  I am the salt of the earth – Jesus told me that.  I am His representation to those around me who don’t know Him.  Do I do that with saltiness?  Do I sacrifice with taste?  Do I serve with savor?  Salt is a flavor enhancer.  If I have Jesus with me, I should have an enhanced life.  When I serve, I should serve from the added flavor and joy Jesus has given me.  When I give, I should give readily and happily because I already have such a flavorful life with Jesus that I am savoring it.  My sacrifices, whether of time, material giving, submitting my will, humbling myself, or foregoing something that is not God’s choice for me, should be salted with Jesus.  They are only possible through Him.  They should be done with joy because of Him and His ultimate sacrifice for me.

Please help me savor Your salt in all things.

As I ended my study of the salt of the covenant, I left with a prayer in my heart.  Dear Lord, please help me savor Your salt in all things.  Help to keep my salt from being contaminated by sin and the things of the world.  Help my sacrifices to be seasoned with gratitude for Your sacrifice and made savory by the joy of relationship with You.  And then Lord, help the world to recognize the salt in me and want to have the same seasoning I have found. 

I hope today’s message touched your heart, increased your understanding, and encouraged you.  Praying the peace and comfort of Christ Jesus on your life.