Leviticus 4 Study – “Sin Offerings” – (vv. 1-35)
The Sin Offering
4 Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘If a person sins [a]unintentionally against any of the commandments of the Lord in anything which ought not to be done, and does any of them, 3 if the anointed priest sins, bringing guilt on the people, then let him offer to the Lord for his sin which he has sinned a young bull without blemish as a sin offering. 4 He shall bring the bull to the door of the tabernacle of meeting before the Lord, lay his hand on the bull’s head, and kill the bull before the Lord. 5 Then the anointed priest shall take some of the bull’s blood and bring it to the tabernacle of meeting. 6 The priest shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle some of the blood seven times before the Lord, in front of the veil of the sanctuary. 7 And the priest shall put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of sweet incense before the Lord, which is in the tabernacle of meeting; and he shall pour the remaining blood of the bull at the base of the altar of the burnt offering, which is at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. 8 He shall take from it all the fat of the bull as the sin offering. The fat that covers the entrails and all the fat which is on the entrails, 9 the two kidneys and the fat that is on them by the flanks, and the fatty lobe attached to the liver above the kidneys, he shall remove, 10 as it was taken from the bull of the sacrifice of the peace offering; and the priest shall burn them on the altar of the burnt offering. 11 But the bull’s hide and all its flesh, with its head and legs, its entrails and offal— 12 the whole bull he shall carry outside the camp to a clean place, where the ashes are poured out, and burn it on wood with fire; where the ashes are poured out it shall be burned.
13 ‘Now if the whole congregation of Israel sins unintentionally, and the thing is hidden from the eyes of the assembly, and they have done something against any of the commandments of the Lord in anything which should not be done, and are guilty; 14 when the sin which they have committed becomes known, then the assembly shall offer a young bull for the sin, and bring it before the tabernacle of meeting. 15 And the elders of the congregation shall lay their hands on the head of the bull before the Lord. Then the bull shall be killed before the Lord. 16 The anointed priest shall bring some of the bull’s blood to the tabernacle of meeting. 17 Then the priest shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle it seven times before the Lord, in front of the veil. 18 And he shall put some of the blood on the horns of the altar, which is before the Lord, which is in the tabernacle of meeting; and he shall pour the remaining blood at the base of the altar of burnt offering, which is at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. 19 He shall take all the fat from it and burn it on the altar. 20 And he shall do with the bull as he did with the bull as a sin offering; thus, he shall do with it. So the priest shall make [b]atonement for them, and it shall be forgiven them. 21 Then he shall carry the bull outside the camp and burn it as he burned the first bull. It is a sin offering for the assembly.
22 ‘When a [c]ruler has sinned, and done something unintentionally against any of the commandments of the Lord his God in anything which should not be done, and is guilty, 23 or if his sin which he has committed [d]comes to his knowledge, he shall bring as his offering a kid of the goats, a male without blemish. 24 And he shall lay his hand on the head of the goat and kill it at the place where they kill the burnt offering before the Lord. It is a sin offering. 25 The priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger, put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and pour its blood at the base of the altar of burnt offering. 26 And he shall burn all its fat on the altar, like the fat of the sacrifice of the peace offering. So the priest shall make [e]atonement for him concerning his sin, and it shall be forgiven him.
27 ‘If [f]anyone of the [g]common people sins unintentionally by doing something against any of the commandments of the Lord in anything which ought not to be done, and is guilty, 28 or if his sin which he has committed comes to his knowledge, then he shall bring as his offering a kid of the goats, a female without blemish, for his sin which he has committed. 29 And he shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and kill the sin offering at the place of the burnt offering. 30 Then the priest shall take some of its blood with his finger, put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and pour all the remaining blood at the base of the altar. 31 He shall remove all its fat, as fat is removed from the sacrifice of the peace offering; and the priest shall burn it on the altar for a sweet aroma to the Lord. So, the priest shall make atonement for him, and it shall be forgiven him.
32 ‘If he brings a lamb as his sin offering, he shall bring a female without blemish. 33 Then he shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and kill it as a sin offering at the place where they kill the burnt offering. 34 The priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger, put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and pour all the remaining blood at the base of the altar. 35 He shall remove all its fat, as the fat of the lamb is removed from the sacrifice of the peace offering. Then the priest shall burn it on the altar, according to the offerings made by fire to the Lord. So, the priest shall make atonement for his sin that he has committed, and it shall have forgiven him.
Notes Leviticus 4 Study – (vv. 1-35)
4:2: The sin offering only covered sins committed involuntarily, that is, sins committed in ignorance of the law – (v. 13) … In the Law of Moses, no provision was made for willful sins, which are called sins of arrogance: “But the soul who may do something with a hand of arrogance, whether he is a native -born or a resident alien, that one is provoking God; and he shall be utterly destroyed from among His people” – (Numbers 15:30) … Willful sins were sins committed with knowledge of the Law … But in Christ all sins are remitted – voluntarily sins, involuntarily sins, and sins without, word, deed – if there is appropriate repentance …
4:3: A Levitical priest is called THE ANOINTED PRIEST … ANOINTED is the word from which the name Christ is derived … “Moses was the first to make known the name of Christ as being especially august and glorious … When he delivered types and symbols of heavenly things, and mysterious images, in accordance with the oracle which said to him, ‘Look that you make all things according to the pattern shown you in the mount’, he consecrated a man high priest of God, in so far as that was possible, and him he called Christ … And thus, to this dignity of the high priesthood, which in his opinion surpassed the most honorable position among men, he attached for the sake of honor and glory the name of Christ” – (Eusb) Eusebius …
This involuntarily sin of some individual may have been detrimental not only to himself but also to others … This was especially true of a priest who sinned … “Wishing to show that sins receive more serious punishment by far when they occur in the case of the priest than in the case of the laity, Moses enjoins as a great sacrifice to be offered for the priest as for the whole people, and this amounts to a proof on his part, that the wounds of the priesthood need more assistance, that is, as great as those of all the people together” – (JohnChr) … The sins of the priesthood under the new covenant also carry as much guilt as those of the entire Church … The priesthood therefore has the awesome responsibility of living a holy life …
4:6, 17: The blood was also treated differently in the variations of the sin offering – those for the anointed priest, the whole congregation, and others … In this case of the priest and the whole congregation, the blood was sprinkled (1): before the veil in the Holy Place, (2): on the horns of the altar of incense, and (3): at the altar of burnt offering … We this type fulfilled in Jesus, who went into the very heavenly holy of holies with His own blood, and presents it before God continually – (Hebrews 8:1-6; Hebrews 9:11-13) … No one can get closer to God than that …
4:12, 21: The sin offering for the priest and all the people had to be burned outside the camp … When any blood was taken into the holy place, the remains of the animal of the sin offering had to be completely burned outside the camp … Regarding Jesus, this point is precisely made in Hebrews: “For the bodies of those animals, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned outside the camp … Therefore, Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered outside the gate” – (Hebrews 13:11-12) … Jesus said, “For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me” – (John 5:46) … Thus, according to His own words, the sin offering in Leviticus is about Himself …
4:13-21: There is such a thing as corporate sin … Here, the whole congregation of Israel sins – (see also Numbers 15:22-26) … This typified the Church in the new covenant … Why??? Because God holds his people accountable – individually and corporately – and even if unknow, sin will have consequences … When sin becomes known, there must be an offering, because the people of God have a responsibility to represent God to the world … Thus, their failure is a disaster to the world around them … St. Paul says of Israel, “For ‘the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you’” – (Romans 2:24) …
4:22-26: There was a distinction of accountability between a private individual’s sin and the sin of a political leader or ruler … And though there may be no awareness of sins committed, consequences remain, and ignorance is not a legitimate excuse … Therefore, it is good to pray for “the president and all civil authorities”, a prayer said in most all our church services, for the day of judgement, they will be accountable before God for their sins and the consequences of them for those they governed … This is equally true for all the nations, even for democracy as a whole … St. Paul indicates, that rulers are appointed by God, not by the people: “Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities … For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God … Therefore, whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God” – (Romans 13:1-2) …
4:27-35: Though the common people are less accountable before God for their sins, more is said about their individual offerings than those of priest, the entire congregation together, or a ruler … The sin offerings of the individuals make up greater part of all sin offerings made … Thus, provision must be made for all, even the poorest – (see also, Numbers 15:27-29) …
Numbers 15:27-29
27 ‘And if a person sins unintentionally, then he shall bring a female goat in its first year as a sin offering. 28 So the priest shall make atonement for the person who sins unintentionally, when he sins unintentionally before the Lord, to make atonement for him; and it shall be forgiven him. 29 You shall have one law for him who sins unintentionally, for him who is native-born among the children of Israel and for the stranger who dwells among them.
The type here reveals Christ the sinless One as being the offering for sin: “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” – (2Corinthians 5:21) … He is accessible to all as an offering – to priest, congregation, ruler, or any other individual … One’s station in life or wealth is no issue …
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