Leviticus 4

Leviticus 4:1

D. The Sin Offering (4:15:13)Chap. 4 The sin offering (Heb., hatte3’th) was appointed for a redeemed people. It does not speak of a sinner coming to the Lord for salvation, but of an Israelite, in covenant relationship with the Lord, seeking forgiveness. It has to do with sins committed unconsciously or unintentionally. The offering itself: There were different grades of offerings, depending upon the person who sinned: The anointed priestthat is, the high priest, if he by sinning brought guilt on the people (v. 3)brought a young bull without blemish; the whole congregation (v. 13) brought a young bull also; a ruler (v. 22) brought a kid of the goats, a male without blemish; an ordinary person (v. 27) brought a female goat, without blemish (v. 28), or a female sheep, without blemish (v. 32). (The Hebrew wording here indicates full-grown animals.) Duties of the offerer(s): In general, the offerer brought the animal to the gate of the tabernacle court, presented it to the Lord, laid his hand on its head, killed it, and removed the fat, the kidneys, and the fatty lobe above the liver. The elders acted for the congregation (v. 15). The victim’s death was regarded symbolically as the sinner’s death. Duties of the priest: For himself and for the congregation, the high priest carried the blood of the sacrifice into the holy place of the tabernacle, sprinkled it seven times before the veil (vv. 5, 6, 16, 17) and on the horns of the golden altar of incense (vv. 7, 18). Then he poured the rest of the blood at the base of the altar of burnt offering (vv. 7, 18). For a ruler and for common people, a priest sprinkled the blood on the horns of the altar of burnt offering and poured the rest of the blood at the bottom of the altar (vv. 25, 30, 34). For all classes, he burned the fat, kidneys, fatty lobe above the liver, and fat tail on the altar of burnt offering (vv. 8-10, 19, 26, 31). In the case of the offering for the high priest or for the whole congregation, all the rest of the animal was taken outside the camp and burned (vv. 11, 12, 21). Distribution of the offering: The Lord’s share was the portion that was burned upon the altarthe fat, kidneys, fatty lobe above the liver, etc. The priest was allowed to eat the flesh of the offerings of a ruler or of a commoner because the blood of these offerings was not taken into the sanctuary (Lev_7:30), as in the case of the offerings of the high priest and the congregation (4:5, 6, 16, 17). He could also eat the offerings described in Lev_5:6-7, Lev_5:11 for the same reason. No part of the above offerings was set aside for the offerer. The body of any sin offering whose blood was taken into the holy place was burned outside the camp. So our Lord, through His own blood, entered the holy place once for all (Heb_9:12) after He had suffered outside the city of Jerusalem. We are admonished to “go forth to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach” (Heb_13:13). Note: The expression “sin through ignorance” seems to mean more than lack of knowledge of the sin. It probably means that the sin was not willful, deliberate, or done in defiance or rebellion. There was no sacrifice for willful sin; the death penalty had to be exacted (Num_15:30). The person who brought a sin offering was acknowledging that he had sinned unintentionally through weakness or negligence. He sought forgiveness of sins and ceremonial cleansing. The sin offering points symbolically to Christ, who was “made sin” for us, though He knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. Some suggest that the sin offering speaks of Christ dealing with what we are, whereas the trespass offering pictures Him dealing with what we have done. The Holy One who knew no sin, God made Him sin for us; The Savior died our souls to win, Upon the shameful cross. His precious blood alone availed To wash our sins away; Through weakness He o’er hell prevailed, Through death He won the day. Hannah K. Burlingham