Grain, Oil and Wine

Our Offering Returned with His Blessing

Grain, Oil, Wine

Palm Sunday                                                                                      

Jody Tester

April 13, 2025

Covenant Sealed in Blood

God made a blood covenant with Abraham, that was extended to all Abraham’s descendents…natural and spiritual. The shedding of blood “sealed” that covenant.

Being Palm Sunday, its important to recognize that Jesus came into Jerusalem knowing that the shedding of His blood would serve as a seal to God’s new covenant promise for all who would come under that blood sacrifice. He was to “seal” God’s go-forward covenant by the shedding of His blood.

Today, I want to explore certain aspects of that covenant that might easily be overlooked. It might seem a bit disjointed at the start, but be patient as it comes together. It’s a bit like a baseball runner circling the bases.

Let’s first talk briefly about the Temple, built by Solomon.

-          3 main areas of the temple proper

o   Outer Court

o   Holy Place

o   Holy of Holies

This Temple was a structure without equal in its day. The beauty of the Temple was, and remains, unparalleled, and it had something else going for it…God Himself was present there.

Here’s a 30,000 foot view of the Temple areas to give us some orientation…

Outer Court

The Outer Court was the first area encountered upon entering the Temple complex through the Beautiful Gate. It was accessible to all Israelites, unlike the more restricted inner areas such as the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies. For most Israelites this is the only part of the Temple they would see or experience. It contained the Brazen Altar for burnt offerings and the Bronze Laver (Basin) for ceremonial washing/purification.

Holy Place

The Holy Place was the second area of the Temple, reserved for priests and Levites, and services were performed on a daily basis. It contained the golden lampstands, shewbread and altar of incense.

The Holy of Holies, aka The Most Holy Place

The Holy of Holies, also known as the inner sanctum was the innermost chamber of the temple. It was the holiest part of the temple and housed the Ark of the Covenant, cherubim and mercy seat. Access to the Holy of Holies was extremely restricted, with only the high priest allowed to enter, and that only once a year on the Day of Atonement. A veil (curtain) separated the Holy Place from this inner-most chamber. God met the high priest there, above the mercy seat, between the two cherubim that are over the Ark of the Testimony/Covenant; He said “I will speak with you about all that I command you regarding the Israelites" . This highlights the Holy of Holies as the site of divine revelation and communication.

Pattern

What was the Tabernacle, and later the Temple, patterned after?

1Th 5:23  Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again. 

The incredible glory of Solomon’s Temple was patterned in fact after God’s most marvelous creation of all: us!

Psa 139:14  I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made…

The symbolism is almost beyond comprehension:

The Outer Court                        our Body

The Holy Place                           our Soul

The Holy of Holies                    our Spirit

No wonder scriptures assure us that we are now the Temple of the Living God!

2 Cor 6:16 “For we are the temple of the living God. As God said: ‘I will live in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they will be my people.’”

Our offering as His Temple

As His Temple, there is an offering to be made by us; it is holy and sacred.

What offering then are we to make? The same one required of Israel in the days of Moses. Jesus called it the most important commandment of all:

Mar 12:30  And you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’ 

Deu 6:5  You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. 

Temple Connections:

The Heart in the OT was often conjoined with references to the spirit. The heart referring often to our core, our innermost being. We see the reference as well in the NT; e.g. 1Pe 3:4  but let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God. 

-          Therefore our spirit is the Holy of Holies, the place where God reveals Himself and communicates with us. It is ultimately our deepest, most intimate place of worship and connection with the triune God.

Our Soul/Mind is the Holy Place

-          This is the part of us that exercises its will to praise God and to process His revelations in such a way that transform us. Paul told the church in Rome: “be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”

Our Body is the Outer Court

-          Our Body is visible for all to see. Everyone has access to it, and it operates with 5 senses: touch, taste, sight, hearing and smell.

More simply stated:

Our Spirit is the seat of our God consciousness

Our Soul is the seat of our Self consciousness

Our Body is the seat of our Physical World consciousness

So when we love the Lord with all of our Heart, Soul, and Strength (Spirit, Soul and Body), we’re offering up all of this Holy Temple; offering our whole life to Him; every part of us. Holding nothing back.

We’re circling the bases…rounding third and headed home.

Quick Check

1. God’s Temple in Jerusalem was comprised of 3 sections: Outer Court, Holy Place, and Holy of Holies.

2. The physical Temple was patterned after God’s human temple: Body, Soul and Spirit

3. The foremost commandment according to Jesus is to love the Lord our God with all our Strength (body), Soul (soul/mind) and Heart (spirit)

   
   

Last Connection: Grain, Oil and Wine Offering

Lev 23:12  On that same day (Feast of First Fruits) you must sacrifice a one-year-old male lamb with no defects as a burnt offering to the LORD. 

Lev 23:13  With it you must present a grain offering consisting of four quarts of choice flour moistened with olive oil. It will be a special gift, a pleasing aroma to the LORD. You must also offer one quart of wine as a liquid offering. 

?? Why would Almighty God require an offering of this sort? Grain, Oil and Wine.

Surely He doesn’t need our food and beverage…

Grain, Oil and Wine

We’re about to experience the “associative property” found in mathematics

              i.e. if A=B, and B=C, then A=C.

We learned in Lev 23 that the Lord required an offering from the Israelites of grain, oil and wine.

Continuing that thread:

Deu 7:9  "Know therefore that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God, who keeps His covenant and His lovingkindness to a thousandth generation with those who love Him and keep His commandments; 

If you listen to His judgments and keep them…Deu 7:13  "He will love you and bless you and multiply you; He will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, your grain and your new wine and your oil, the increase of your herd and the young of your flock, in the land which He swore to your forefathers to give you. 

Deu 11:13  "It shall come about, if you listen obediently to my commandments which I am commanding you today, to love the LORD your God and to serve Him with all your heart and all your soul,...

Deu 11:14  that He will give the rain for your land in its season, the early and late rain, that you may gather in your grain and your new wine and your oil. 

Jer 31:11  For the LORD has ransomed Jacob And redeemed him from the hand of him who was stronger than he. Jer 31:12  "They will come and shout for joy on the height of Zion, And they will be radiant over the bounty of the LORD—Over the grain and the new wine and the oil, And over the young of the flock and the herd; And their life will be like a watered garden, And they will never languish again. 

Joe 2:18  Then the LORD will be zealous for His land And will have pity on His people. Joe 2:19  The LORD will answer and say to His people, "Behold, I am going to send you grain, new wine and oil, And you will be satisfied in full with them.

Joe 2:23  So rejoice, O sons of Zion, And be glad in the LORD your God; For He has given you the early rain for your vindication. And He has poured down for you the rain, The early and latter rain as before. 

Joe 2:24  The threshing floors will be full of grain, And the vats will overflow with the new wine and oil. 

Speaking of Rain: Thunderstorm Analogy

Water evaporates from the earth; ascending into the heavens; this warm, moist air condenses into water droplets as it rises

As more water rises, the droplets in the  clouds increase in size and are further condensed, making for very heavy clouds of moisture. The moving air in the clouds creates electric charges; and the further buildup of electric charges creates lightning.

The condensed and super-charged water returns to earth in a downdraft; often with great force depending on the makeup of the thundercloud.

Glory Storms

There is an amazing covenant blessing contained in our temple offering…

No, He doesn’t need our offering of grain, oil and wine.

We do.

Grain speaks to the physical needs of our body. We eat to be nourished, and strong.

Oil speaks of our soul; “the oil of joy for mourning”; “oil of gladness”, etc.

Wine speaks of our spirit. Think of “new wine” for example

(Note: all from Holy Spirit, whether grain, oil or wine.)

When we offer our Body, Soul and Spirit to the Lord, it’s our Grain, Oil and Wine offering.

That offering ascends to Heaven, just like water from the earth ascends into the heavens and returns as a super-charged downpour.

When we love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, and strength, its an offering that He cherishes…for our sakes. 

-          Because He can take that offering and return it to us with the weight of His blessing, anointing and eternal power infused in the offering.

When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the Jews waved palm branches and laid them at His feet. They laid these palm branches along His path as the sacrificial lamb made His way to certain slaughter.

-          To make sacrifice that would forever seal God’s new covenant relationship with us

-          A sacrifice that would change the world and make salvation possible for all

So, on this Palm Sunday, what would we lay at the feet of Jesus?

How about we love the Lord our God with all our Heart, Soul and Strength;

-          yielding our Spirit, Soul and Body to the sacrificial Lamb who now reigns as our King and Savior?

When we do this, we are basically seeding a Glory Storm. A storm that returns our offering – multiplied and weighted with heavenly power to meet our every need.

- Whether you’re needing God’s touch on your body.

- Or deeply burdened in your soul, needing to be set free or refreshed

- Or you sense something is missing in your relationship with the triune God; perhaps you need salvation, or you want a full outpouring of God’s Spirit into your spirit;

…you’ve come to the right place. God has super-charged, supernatural Grain, Oil and Wine ready for you. 

If you haven’t yet made that all-important offering to God of your heart, soul and strength…i.e. all of you offered to Him. Perhaps you haven’t made Jesus your Savior. Or perhaps you haven’t surrendered all. There’s no better time than right now.

Come taste and see that the Lord is good!