Leviticus 6

This chapter finishes the guilt offering for sins against a neighbor, then gives the priests their instructions for handling the burnt offering, the grain offering and the sin offering. Wrongs against people are treated as wrongs against the LORD, and they are put right by repayment plus sacrifice. The priests are told to keep the altar fire burning and to treat the offerings as holy.

Leviticus 6:1-3

God lists sins against a neighbor: cheating over something left in trust, robbery, extortion, keeping lost property, and lying under oath. Notice that he calls these acts of unfaithfulness against the LORD himself. Wronging a person is never only a human matter. It is a breach of faith with God.

BSA: acts unfaithfully (“deals falsely, is untrue”): The sin is treachery, a broken trust, and not merely a mistake. extorts (“oppresses, takes advantage of”): It pictures using power or pressure to squeeze what belongs to another.

See also: Psalm 51:4.

Leviticus 6:4-5

Forgiveness begins with putting things right. The guilty person must return what he took, add a fifth, and give it to the owner on the day he admits his guilt. Real repentance faces the person who was hurt, and it is not left as a private feeling.

BSA: restitution (“pay back, restore”): The wronged person is made whole again, and more than whole. acknowledges (“recognizes, admits”): Repayment comes with an open admission of guilt.

See also: Luke 19:8; Numbers 5:6-7.

Leviticus 6:6-7

After repaying the neighbor, the offender still has to deal with God. He brings a ram without defect to the priest, and the priest makes atonement. The result is plain: he will be forgiven. Both sides of the wrong are covered, the human and the divine.

BSA: guilt offering (“trespass offering, sin compensation”): The offering is a kind of payment to God for the damage done to his holy things and his people. forgiven (“pardoned, released from guilt”): Guilt is lifted off the person, not only covered up.

Hebrew: אָשָׁם (ʾāshām, H816) — “guilt, guilt offering.” One Hebrew word names both the guilt and the offering that answers it. It also appears in Isaiah 53:10, where the Servant’s life is made an offering for guilt.

See also: Isaiah 53:10.

Leviticus 6:8-9

Now the instructions turn to the priests. The burnt offering stays on the altar hearth all night until morning, and the fire is kept going. The offering is wholly given to God, and the altar is never left cold.

BSA: burnt offering (“a sacrifice completely consumed by fire”): Nothing is held back. The whole animal goes up to God.

Hebrew: עֹלָה (ʿōlāh, H5930) — “that which goes up.” The Hebrew name for the burnt offering means ’that which goes up.’ The whole offering rises in smoke to God.

Leviticus 6:10-11

The priest wears linen to remove the ashes and puts them beside the altar. He then changes his clothes and carries them outside the camp to a clean place. Even the leftovers of a sacrifice are handled with care. Holy things are not treated casually.

BSA: ashes (“remains, residue”): The ashes show that the offering was fully accepted and consumed.

Leviticus 6:12-13

The fire must never go out. Each morning the priest adds wood, lays the burnt offering on it, and burns the fat of the peace offerings. The day started with sacrifice. Worship was meant to be continual, and the way to God stayed open.

BSA: extinguished (“put out, quenched”): The command is repeated, which shows how serious it was that the flame never be allowed to die.

See also: Leviticus 9:24; 1 Thessalonians 5:19.

Leviticus 6:14-15

For the grain offering, the priest takes a handful of fine flour and oil, adds all the frankincense, and burns it as the memorial portion. It rises as a pleasing aroma to the LORD. It is a gift of daily bread, and by offering it the worshipper acknowledges that God is the giver.

BSA: memorial portion (“a reminder of the offering”): This small part stands for the whole gift and brings the worshipper to God’s remembrance. pleasing aroma (“a sweet, acceptable smell”): The picture is of a gift God receives gladly.

Hebrew: אַזְכָּרָה (ʾazkārāh, H234) — “memorial portion.” It comes from the word for ‘remember.’ The burned handful stands for the whole offering and brings it before God.

Leviticus 6:16-18

The rest of the grain offering belongs to the priests. They eat it as unleavened bread, in the courtyard, as a holy portion. Those who serve God at the altar are fed from it. Because the food is holy, anything that touches it becomes holy too.

BSA: leaven (“unleavened, free from corruption”): Yeast often pictures the spread of corruption, so the bread stays plain and pure. most holy (“extremely sacred, set apart”): It is set apart for God in the highest degree and may be eaten only by the priests in the sacred place.

See also: 1 Corinthians 9:13.

Leviticus 6:19-23

On the day a priest is anointed, and then regularly, a grain offering of fine flour baked on a griddle is brought, half in the morning and half in the evening. A priest’s own grain offering is burned entirely and not eaten. The priest could not take a share of what he himself offered.

BSA: anointed (“set apart, consecrated”): Anointing with oil marked a man as given over to God’s service. completely (“totally, without remainder”): None of it is kept back by the priest. It all goes to God.

Leviticus 6:24-26

The sin offering is slaughtered in the same place as the burnt offering, before the LORD. It is most holy. The priest who offers it eats it in the courtyard. The place of sacrifice is also the place where sin is dealt with, openly and without shame.

BSA: most holy (“sacred, set apart”): Even an offering for sin is called most holy. It is set apart for God and not treated as something unclean.

See also: Leviticus 4:24.

Leviticus 6:27-28

Whatever touches the flesh of the sin offering becomes holy. A garment splashed with its blood must be washed in a holy place. A clay pot used to boil it is broken, because it soaks up the juices. A bronze pot is scoured and rinsed. Holiness must be handled with great care.

BSA: holy (“set apart, consecrated”): What touches the offering is claimed for God and cannot be treated as ordinary.

Leviticus 6:29-30

Any male priest may eat the sin offering. But if its blood was brought into the Holy Place for atonement, the flesh must not be eaten but burned. The more public and serious the sin, the less the priests may benefit from the offering.

BSA: atonement (“reconcile, cover”): Blood is brought to cover sin and restore the relationship with God.

See also: Leviticus 4:11-12; Hebrews 13:11-12.