Leviticus 4:1-6:7

"Dealing with Sin"

Last time we looked at the burnt offering, the grain offering and the peace offering.

These were the foundational offerings in the OT sacrificial system.

God alone consumed the burnt offering by fire,

signifying that God alone can deal with sin.

God and the priest consumed the grain offering,

signifying that we need a mediator who will bring peace with God.

And God and the worshiper consumed the peace offering,

signifying the peace that comes through the sacrifice.

We also saw that Leviticus does not go into detail regarding the meaning of these sacrifices.

They were well known throughout the ancient world,

and so there was no need to explain their meaning or significance.

But the sin offering and the guilt offering were different.

These are unique in the ancient world.

And for a good reason.

The burnt offering, grain offering and peace offering were to be brought to God voluntarily.

The sin and guilt offerings were mandatory.

If you committed certain sins, you had to bring these offerings.

This reminded Israel that it is not enough for the priests to offer sacrifices daily.

If you have sinned, you need to deal with it.

Let us look at how God told Israel to deal with sin.

First, the sin offering.

The sin offering was to be brought when you unintentionally broke God's law.

Flagrant, wilful rebellion resulted in the person being cut off (Numbers 15:30),

which means, executed.

But not all sin is considered wilful.

God's law is an objective standard.

It is possible to sin without even realizing it.

The people of God were commanded to be holy as God is holy,

but they still sinned.

And the sin offering was designed to deal with those sins committed by accident.

These are the sins that we catch ourselves afterwards and say,

"how could I have done that!?"

Unlike the burnt, grain or peace offerings,

the sin offering also varies depending upon the person who sinned.

While all sin deserves death,

there are several aggravations which can result in a more severe penalty.

Our Larger Catechism asks Q151: What are those aggravations that make some sins more heinous than others?

It answers: Sins receive their aggravations,

1. From the persons offending: if they be of riper age, greater experience or grace, eminent for profession, gifts, place, office, guides to others, and whose example is likely to be followed by others.

2. From the parties offended: if immediately against God, his attributes, and worship; against Christ, and his grace; the Holy Spirit, his witness, and workings; against superiors, men of eminency, and such as we stand especially related and engaged unto; against any of the saints, particularly weak brethren, the souls of them, or any other, and the common good of all or many.

3. From the nature and quality of the offense: if it be against the express letter of the law, break many commandments, contain in it many sins: if not only conceived in the heart, but breaks forth in words and actions, scandalize others, and admit of no reparation: if against means, mercies, judgments, light of nature, conviction of conscience, public or private admonition, censures of the church, civil punishments; and our prayers, purposes, promises, vows, covenants, and engagements to God or men: if done deliberately, wilfully, presumptuously, impudently, boastingly, maliciously, frequently, obstinately, with delight, continuance, or relapsing after repentance.

4. From circumstances of time and place: if on the Lord's day, or other times of divine worship; or immediately before or after these, or other helps to prevent or remedy such miscarriages: if in public, or in the presence of others, who are thereby likely to be provoked or defiled.

Leviticus 4 sets forth four different cases of how the sin offering should be conducted

depending upon the station in life of the person sinning.

First, it deals with the transgression of the priest. (4:3-12),

and second with the whole community (4:13-21).

These are so similar that they should be dealt with together.

As the priest goes, so go the people.

He is the representative of Israel,

who enters the Holy of Holies once every year,

bearing the sin of the people upon his breast.

If he is not holy,

then the whole community is not holy.

Therefore the ritual for the priest and for the whole community are nearly identical.

The priest lays his hand on the head of a bull

(or in the case of the whole community's sin,

the elders of the congregation lay their hands on its head),

thereby spiritually transferring the sin to the bull.

He slaughters the bull,

sprinkles the blood of the bull seven times before the Holy of Holies,

and on the horns of the altar of incense in the tent of meeting.

This was the closest the priest could get to the Most Holy Place,

except on the Day of Atonement.

The blood was sprinkled there as a sign that the whole community had been defiled,

and needed to be cleansed (notice in verse 17 that this is done

when the whole community had sinned.)

The fat of the bull was then burned on the altar of burnt offering,

and then, unlike any of the other offerings,

the carcase of the bull was taken outside the camp and burned.

This is what the priest deserved.

He should have executed outside the camp

(All executions were to be performed outside the camp,

so that the camp would not be defiled by death).

But the animal is taking his sin upon itself,

and so must receive the same penalty that the sinner deserved.

This is why Hebrews 13 says that our Lord was crucified "outside the camp."

He was the sin offering that cleanses the community from sin.

The third instance is a "leader"-a chieftain or elder of Israel. (4:22-26),

and the fourth is of a common person (4:27-35)

The leader must bring a male goat,

while the commoner brings a female goat.

The more important the sinner, the bigger the offering.

But also notice how the ritual differs for these two.

There is no mention of sprinkling the blood of the sacrifice before the veil.

And there is no mention of burning the carcase outside the camp.

The sin offering for the priest and for the people involved averting the judgment of God

upon the whole nation.

The sin offering for the leader or commoner is strictly an individual matter.

Therefore it is sufficient for the priest

to put some blood on the horns of the altar of burnt offering;

and it would appear that the meat of the sin offering for the leader or commoner

would be eaten by the priest.

Notice that in all of these instances (except the priest),

the conclusion of the offering includes a declaration of pardon:

"So the priest shall make atonement for him for his sin,

and he shall be forgiven." (4:20, 26, 31)

This is why we have a declaration of pardon every Sunday morning.

God promises that those who trust in the sacrifice,

will indeed be forgiven.

But in these sacrifices, Israel is learning that sin must be dealt with.

You cannot simply ignore it and hope that the regular sacrifices will take care of it.

In 5:1-13 we hear further details about the sin offering.

First we hear of several additional cases that require a sin offering.

It is not only for unintentional sins,

but also for sins of negligence.

5:1-when someone failed to speak when there was a public charge;

This probably refers to a legal setting when someone hears a witness giving false testimony.

If you hear someone bearing false witness, and do not speak,

you must bring a sin offering.

5:2-3--when someone was unaware of touching something unclean

(Leviticus speaks of a sin offering after childbirth (chapter 12),

after infectious skin diseases (14), or unclean discharges (15),

and Numb. 6:11 requires one after the accidental violation of Nazirite vow.

5:4-when someone takes a rash vow-one that he either could not or would not keep.

Verses 5-13 then give extra details on the ritual of the sin offering.

The first point is that the sinner had to confess his sin.

He could not merely bring the offering,

he had to confess.

This is why we have a public confession of sin every Sunday morning.

The reformers understood that sin must be dealt with publicly.

But our public confessions are rather general.

They are not intended to cover every individual sin.

This is why James urges us to "confess your sins to one another." (James 5:16)

Just as the OT saint would confess his sins to the priest,

so also we, if we believe in the priesthood of all believers,

should confess our sins to one another.

All of you are qualified by God to hear each other's confessions.

But sin offerings were expensive.

If you were a careless Israelite, these could add up pretty quickly.

And unlike the burnt/grain/peace offerings,

these might have to be brought several times a year.

And what about the poor?

The poor could bring a pair of pigeons or doves,

and if he could not even afford a pair of doves,

he could bring a tenth of an ephah of fine flour (about two quarts).

It was not to be confused with the grain offering (hence it had no oil or incense),

it was in fact a sin offering.

This should cause us to note that the removal of sin did not always require blood.

Hebrews 9:22 says that "without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins."

This refers to the ordinary process commanded by God.

But this is the one exception.

For the very poor, God would forgive their sins even without a blood sacrifice.

The last offering is the guilt offering.

This also has to do with "unintentional" sins,

but these have to do specifically with the Lord's Holy Things,

and with your neighbors things.

And the first thing to note is that the liturgical penalty for sacrilege and for theft was the same.

Stealing from God and stealing from your neighbor are equivalent.

This is all the more striking considering the gradations given to the sin offering.

But upon further reflection it makes sense.

God called Israel his son, his firstborn.

To steal from the Son of God is the same as stealing from God.

The sin offering makes distinctions based on the sinner,

not on the person who was sinned against.

First, 5:14-19 deal with sacrilege.

What happens to those who commits a "breach of faith" with respect to the holy things.

What are the holy things?

This refers to the various sacrifices.

The showbread in the holy place was one of these.

Of course, it is not very likely that anyone was going to sin

"unintentionally" in that matter.

More likely would be sins against the tithe, the firstfruits, and other offerings

that might accidentally get mixed up with the regular food supply.

Then 6:1-7 deals with a "breach of faith" against the LORD through defrauding your neighbor.

Whether through deception, oppression, robbery, or even finding something that was lost

and then lying about it to keep it,

in any of these cases the penalty was the same as though you had stolen from God.

You must bring a ram for a guilt offering,

and you must restore that which you stole, plus an additional 20%.

Those of you who are familiar with OT criminal law may wonder at this.

The restitution required in Exodus 22 is double the amount that was stolen.

But this is not the criminal penalty; this is the liturgical penalty.

Indeed, it appears that if you repented of your sin and brought the guilt offering to the priest,

and restored that which you stole,

then you would not be subject to the civil penalty.

This provided incentive for turning yourself in before you got caught!

What is the point of all this?

You must deal with sin.

Practice repentance and forgiveness in your homes, and with one another.

Repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved!

He is the sin offering, and the guilt offering,

by whose blood we are cleansed.