THE SIN OFFERING

LEVITICUS CHAPTER FOUR

In our introduction we stated that the sin-offering corresponds to Mark's presentation of Christ in his Gospel. Mark presents Christ as the bullock, (the animal of service and sacrifice,) of the sin-offering. He does not give us any details about His conception, birth, or childhood, but instead presents Christ as the Servant of God, as He begins His service. We might write as a caption to Mark's Gospel the words of Isaiah 42;1, "Behold my Servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth".

Throughout Mark's Gospel the words, "Immediately", or "Straightway" continually occur, showing that the Lord Jesus never wasted any time. In chapter 10, verse 45, the He said, "The Son of man did not come to be ministered unto, but to minister, and give His life a ransom for many". Mark's presentation of the sufferings of Christ from Gethsemane onwards, is perhaps the most solemn and intense of all the Gospel writers. He omits many of the details of what took place at the Last Supper. He tells us nothing about the feet washing, or the singing of the hymn before going to Gethsemane. In his account he almost hurries to the garden. Only Mark tells us about the young man who tried to follow Jesus unnoticed-noticed, but who, when siezed, fled away naked. ( This young man was probably Mark himself.) Mark tells about the two robbers who were crucified with Jesus, and tells us nothing else about them, but fixes our gaze on the One who hung on the middle cross, our Sin offering, the One who made His soul an offering for sin. Mark draws attention to what Christ has done, and tells us that He did all things well, ( 7;37.)

In the same manner the sin-offering does not emphasize so much the worth and glory of the person, but rather the perfection of His work. In the sin-offering, attention is drawn to the dreadful nature of sin and it's guilt, and to the awful cost that it entailed, it's judgment and the forgiveness of the sinner.

NO PROVISION FOR WILLFUL SIN:

First we are to notice that there is no provision for willful sin. It is not supposed that any of God's covenant people would even think of committing such a sin. In each case it is a sin of ignorance, or inadvertence. In the Hebrew it means to make a mistake, to err, to do something, not realizing the gravity of the wrong that is done.

This is meant to be a warning to us, that we should never think of sinning willfully. Paul warned the Hebrews that if we "Sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more sacrifice for sins",( Heb. 10;26 ). This statement has to be understood in the context in which it is stated in the Epistle to the Hebrews, yet it stands as a warning to us all. It does not mean that willful sin cannot be forgiven, because the Lord Jesus said that " All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men", ( Mark 3;28), and John tells that " The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses from all, (every), sin", (1 John 1;7).

A true believers should never even think of willfully committing a sin that he knows to be contrary to the word of God. However, we are often very weak, and also ignorant of what the word of God teaches, and of the things that it condemns, so we do make mistakes, and we do sin. But we should never excuse ourselves, and even though God has made provision for us in the true Sin-Offering, (our Lord Jesus Christ), yet we should not continue in sin, ( Rom. 6; 1-2).

FOUR CLASSES OF SINNERS:

We see now that there are four classes of sinners, and each with his own responsibility, the greater the privilege bestowed on a person, the greater that person's responsibility becomes. In verse 3, it is the PRIEST who is anointed who sins. In verse 13 it is the WHOLE CONGREGATION, that sins, a collective sin. In verse 22, it is a RULER or PRINCE who sins, and in verse 27 it is any ONE of the PEOPLE of the land, or the common people, who sins. In each case provision is made in this sacrifice, since in the sufferings and death of Christ there is a perfect satisfaction of every claim of divine justice. Thus mercy and forgiveness are available to all who will receive it, through repntance and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

THE PRIEST:

The first class of sinner mentioned is the "priest who is anointed", verse 3. Under the law, only the sons of Aaron were called to serve as priests, and each of these was anointed on the day of their consecration. This made them a very privileged class, and thus very responsible. The Lord Jesus said, "Unto whom much is given, much shall be required of him," (Luke 12;48.) However in the Church dispensation, all who are washed in the blood of Christ, are made both Kings and Priests, ( Rev.1;5 & 6.) There is no separate caste now, we are all sons of our "Great High Priest", and we are a "Holy Priesthood", and a "Royal or Kingly Priesthood", ( 1 Pet. 2;5 & 9.) Each one of us has the right and privilege to approach to God, and to offer worship and praise, and also to intercede for one another, and for those yet unsaved. We do not need a human mediator, because for us there is one Mediator, " The Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all", ( 1 Tim. 2;5 & 6.) We may assist one another in our worship, and we may, and should intercede for one another, for this is exercising our priesthood. We too have been anointed for our life and service on that very day that we were born again into the royal family of our Great High Priest. On that wonderful day, we were given the gift of the Holy Spirit and sealed by Him until the day of redemption, and we were then given, "All things that relate to life and godliness", ( Eph. 1; 13 & 14, & 2 Pet. 1;3.) This makes us the most privileged and responsible of all people. there is no excuse for us to sin, since God has given us all the power we could ever need to enable us to live a holy life. We have been called to a holy life, with a holy calling, we have been sealed by, and anointed by, and indwelt by the Holy Spirit. In addition to all this, we have been entrusted with the Holy Word of the Holy God. yet sad to say, we still sin, sometimes through carelessness, but mostly through ignorance of God's way of sanctification, and through allowing the flesh, the fallen nature of Adam which indwells us, to control us, when we do things which are against the commandments of God, which ought not to be done.

WHEN THE PRIEST SINS:

When the priest thus sinned, it was not to be overlooked, nor was it to be covered up. but once he became aware of his sin he was to present his sin offering. We too must do the same, we must first repent of what we have done, then confess it to God and receive His forgiveness, having done this, the blood of Jesus Christ His Son, cleanses,[ goes on cleansing], from every sin. He forgives and cleanses us "from all unrighteousness", (1 John 1;7-10.)

We become aware of our sin when the Holy Spirit convicts us, He takes the word of God and uses it like a mirror to show us our condition, to make us feel guilty and ashamed, and to lead us to repentance. If we are sensitive in our conscience, it will convict us when we sin, we will lose our joy, we will become aware that something id wrong. We need to discern between the conviction of the Holy Spirit, and the condemnation of Satan. The Holy Spirit convicts, but never condemns. Satan first tempts us to sin, will try to disarm our conscience by assuring us that there is "no harm in the thing", but once we yield to the temptation he then comes as an accuser, and roars his accusations and condemnation. He will then magnify the sin and make it to appear so glaring and horrible as to be unforgivable. He will try to convince us that there is no hope for us now, and will try to get us to doubt whether we were ever really saved. We may be sure of one thing, that if we were never saved, then we have no salvation to lose, and it will not trouble us. But if we are truly saved and we think that we have lost that salvation, ( which we can never lose,) then we will be depressed and miserable in the extreme.

Each time the priest sinned, he had to bring his sin-offering, which spoke to God, and to the priest, of Him who was to give Himself, to suffer for sin, and to "make His soul an offering for sin", ( Isaiah 53;10.)

We do not have to offer the sacrifice of Christ again, that is never repeated, but is that " one offering, (by which He), has perfected forever, those that are sanctified", ( Heb. 10;14.) However we do need to gain a new and deeper sense of the horrible nature of sin, it's guilt and judgment, the terrible cost for it to be righteously forgiven, and a greater appreciation of the merit and value of that "one offering" by which we have been sanctified forever.

THE PRIEST MUST BRING A BULLOCK:

The priest then had to bring a young bullock that had no blemish. A smaller offering was not acceptable because of the greatness of his place of privilege, to him much had been given, so from him much was required. It was a large and costly offering and would remind us of the terrible cost to our Lord Jesus, that our sin might be judged yet forgiven. The fact that it was a young bullock reminds us that because of what we have done, His holy life was shortened, being cut off at the age of 33 years.

"Without blemish" stresses once again His holy, sinless character, and that "He suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God", (1 Pet.3;18.) The spotless victim was brought to the entrance of the Tabernacle and presented to God there. This is to show us that it is the holiness of God, and the rights of God that have been offended against by our sin, and that His just demands must be met. The priest who had sinned , then placed his hands on the victim's head, showing his personal involvement in, and acceptance of the sufferings and death of the innocent victim, which typified the one who was to die in his stead as his substitute. The hymn writer has written,

"Oh head once full of bruises, so full of pain and scorn,

Mid other sore abuses, mocked with a crown of thorn,

Oh Head once bowed and wounded on the accursed tree,

Is now O Lord surrounded with highest majesty."

It was for us that He wore that crown of thorns, it was our sin that caused it all!

The priest that sinned, then took the knife, cut the throat of the sinless victim so that the blood gushed out, until at last the victim fell and struggled and finally lay in the stillness of death. How the sight of all this would break the heart of the sinner, as he realized that he was the cause of all this agony, this suffering, this death of one who did not deserve to die, but had willingly become the substitute. The offender was the one who deserved all this, but the guitlless one had to suffer it all on his behalf.

We sometimes tend to forget our personal part in causing the sufferings and death of our Lord Jesus Christ. Again the hymn says..

....." O lord what Thee tormented, was our sin's heavy load,

We had the debt augmented, which Thou didst pay in blood".

If we were but to realize this properly we could never regard sin lightly. How vile and hateful it is when it caused our blessed Savior such agony! "He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed", (Isaiah 53;5.)

Another priest then took of the blood of the sin-offering into the Tabernacle and sprinkled it with his finger seven times before the veil of the sanctuary. This was the place of the priest's service, it is here that he had stood to minister daily, and as he took up that service again after he was cleansed and forgiven, the sprinkled blood would continually remind him of the completed work of atonement. It would also speak to God of Him who was to accomplish the perfect work of redemption. It would remind us of that perfect completed work of atonement that the Lord Jesus accomplished on the cross, the number seven in scripture always speaks of perfection, completeness. It was sprinkled before Jehovah, to satisfy His righteous claims. The hymn says

The perfect righteousness of God,

Is witnessed in the Savior's blood;

'Tis in the cross of Christ we see,

How God can save, yet righteous be.

Some of the blood was then placed on the horns of the Golden Altar; this was the place of communion, revelation and intercession, and it would remind us that communion can only be restored because the precious blood of Christ has been shed, for "Without the shedding of blood there is no remission", (Heb.9;22.) The rest of the blood was poured out at the bottom of the brazen altar. The fact that it was poured out, would remind us of the mighty flow of the love of Christ. He said, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you",( Luke 22;20, J.N.Darby trans.)

The serving priest then opened the body of the victim and removed all the fat, the kidneys, and the diaphragm, (caul ), and burned all on the altar of burnt offering. We have discussed the significance of these things in earlier chapters , so will not repeat it here.

The sin offering was not a sweet savor offering, because it reveals the holy judgment of God. God finds no pleasure in judgment, it is said to be His "strange work", (Isaiah 28;21,) yet in His redeeming work, even in His bearing the wrath of God, the excellence and perfection of Christ are see, for He not only met the claims of divine righteousness, but He glorified God in the most wonderful way.

THE BURNING OF THE SACRIFICE:

After the fat etc. had been burned, the whole bullock was taken outside the camp to a clean place, where the ashes were poured out, and there it was burned to ashes on a great fire of wood. This reminds us that the Lord Jesus suffered without the gate, (Heb.13;11-13,) that he went outside Jerusalem to Golgotha, the place of a skull, and there as He hung on the cross, during those three terrible hours of darkness, the fire of God's holy wrath in all it's unmitigated fury, fell on Him. It reminds us also of the utter loneliness of the cross, ( hell is eternal loneliness). The sun hid its face, the darkness descended and wrapped the earth in its mantle, and His cry of agony pierced the dread silence, " My God! My God!, why hast thou forsaken me?"

The priest who had sinned witnessed the fury of the flame wholly consume the sacrifice. What a solemn and terrible sight! How it would bring home to his heart the terrible nature of his sin, and the awful cost for it to be judged so that he might be forgiven. Likewise when we come in our minds to that place called Calvary, when we stand there in that terrible darkness, and when we hear that cry of anguish wrung from the very heart of our blessed Savior, only there do we realize, and that only dimly, the terrible nature of our sin and what it cost Him to bear it for us. Having stood there (in our minds), could we ever regard sin lightly again? How careful it would make us, in every detail of our lives, lest we add to that burden that bowed His blessed head.

Can you picture in your mind now, the priest who had sinned, as he returned to the camp? Cleansed and forgiven he was, but at what a dreadful cost! But for us, what is greater than all the agony and shame, is the wondrous love of Him who willingly gave Himself for us, for me. The understanding of the sin offering would help us to hate sin all the more, and to love Him with our whole heart, He who made His soul an offering for sin.

IF THE WHOLE CONGREGATION SIN:

In verse 13 of this chapter we read about collective sin. "If the whole congregation, (or assembly,)sin". There are numbers of examples in the Old Testament of collective sin, we will give just three. The sin of the golden calf, (Ex. 32,) the sin of lusting, (Num. 11,) and the sin of unbelief, ( Num.14 ). These were not just individual sins, but the whole congregation was involved. For a New Testament example, we might refer to the sin in the assembly at Corinth, in their toleration of the incestuous man, for though he was to be disciplined, excommunicated, yet they too had to repent, and they did repent, as the second epistle shows. Also the Church at Ephesus were called to collective repentance.

For this kind of sin, the whole assembly was to present a young bullock, but the elders were to act on the assembly's behalf, as they were those responsible for the care of the assembly, and thus responsible to give a lead in true repentance where there is collective sin. In our day, the elders are those who are responsible, and they are to give an account to God for the sins of the assembly, ( Heb. 13;17). Also in the addressed to the seven churches in Revelation chapters 2 & 3, the Lord Jesus speaks to the Angel, or Messenger, or the elders of each assembly.

The elders, as the representatives of the assembly, were to lay their hands on the head of the sinless victim, and one of them was to kill it, but all was done in the presence of the whole assembly. This was all meant to bring godly sorrow, which leads to true repentance. to all the members of the assembly. This is what Paul did for the assembly at Corinth where in the first Epistle he commanded them to gather together, his spirit being present with them, and the power of the Lord Jesus, and they were to put away from among themselves that wicked person, (chapter 5). But as well they were to purge out the old leaven of malice and wickedness from within themselves. Then in his second Epistle, chapter seven he tells of the effect that their obedience had on the whole assembly, bringing them to repentance, so that they had now been cleansed and had proved themselves to be pure in the matter.

Not only that but it would seem that the wicked person had judged his wickedness, and was so broken as to be in danger of being swallowed up with overmuch sorrow, (ch. 2;6-8), and they were to forgive him and comfort him, confirming their love toward him.

Such a thing is rarely seen today of an assembly coming under conviction of sin, and coming to collective repentance. Surely there would be a much more powerful witness, and much greater glory to God, if our assembly conscience could be revitalized, and our assemblies brought to a state of true humility, repentance, and the resultant holiness.

The procedure for the offering in this case was the same as for the priest that had sinned, so there is no need for us to repeat the instructions, and what they signify.

WHEN A PRINCE OR RULER SINS:

Verse 24, deals with the case where a prince or a ruler sins, and we are now told what he must do. Though he does not have quite the same degree of guilt as the priest that is anointed, yet because of his public position of responsibility as a leader and a ruler, and as a prince, one in a position of dignity from whom exemplary behavior is expected, he is in the public eye. When he is guilty of acting against any of the commandments of God, things which should not be done, he must bring a sin offering, though a smaller one than that required of the priest, or the whole assembly.

How sad it is today, when we see those in positions of leadership, actively encouraging the believers to disobey the things that are said to be "The Lord's commandment". Seeking to nullify and explain away such commandments, as being merely things that were cultural in the days in which the scriptures were written, and of no relevance to us today in the end of the 20th century.

Paul tells us that those who desire to exercise oversight, desire a good work. This good work however, carries with it great responsibility, and demands that the life of the overseer should measure up to given qualifications, (1 Tim.3). Therefore it is a more serious thing for an elder to sin, than for one who is in a position of lesser responsibility, and is not so much in the public view. This is not to be used as an excuse by those of lesser prominence, as we shall see later, but is to emphasize the greater responsibility, and hence the greater guilt , of the ruler, (or in our case elder), who sins.

In chapter five of 1 Timothy, we are told that the elder is to be treated with affection, honor and respect. The elders who rule well, are to be considered worthy of double honor, especially one who labors in the word and teaching. We are not to listen to rumors or scandal about an elder, except facts that can be supported by competent witness. But an elder who sins is to be publicly rebuked before the whole assembly, showing that because of his position of privilege, trust and responsibility in leadership, his guilt is also greater.

Once the sin has come to his knowledge, not necessarily to the knowledge of others, and his conscience is convicted by the word of God, he is to bring a buck of the goats as a sin offering. Here it is supposed that the ruler is sincere, his conscience sensitive, and that he is convicted by his conscience, as it is enlightened by the word of God. It is always good when this is so, but where it is not so, then we are responsible to bring the matter to the conscience of such a one, "between him and you alone", (Matt.18;15). This is to be done in love, and with respect in the light of the scriptures previously quoted.

The prince's offering, as with all the other offerings, was to be without blemish, and to consist of a he-goat. The fact that it is a male, would first remind him of his responsibility, and would also typify the dignity of the perfect pathway of our Lord Jesus Christ. In Proverbs,( 30;29-31,) we are told that the he-goat has a "stately step, and is comely in going." This would also remind the ruler, of his own crooked pathway, and sin, which have necessitated the death of a sinless one, which had trodden the path with dignity. Typifying our blessed Lord Jesus whose beautiful feet, trod the pathway of the will of God with such dignity and perfect holiness.

In general the same procedure in the presentation of the offering was to be followed with this exception. The blood was not taken into the holy place but the priest was to put some of it with his finger on the horns of the brazen altar. That was the place for the repentant sinner to come to, to cling there, and plead for mercy, through the blood shed and applied. The rest of the blood was to be poured out at the bottom of the altar. The brazen altar stood before the gate of the court of the Tabernacle, and could be seen by all who entered there. This confirms what we have said as to the public nature of the ruler's life and responsibility, and was a testimony publicly that the sin had been punished, and thus righteously forgiven.

THE SIN OF ONE OF THE COMMON PEOPLE:

We come now to the fourth class of sinner, that is one of the common or ordinary people. These people were ordinary, only in the sense that they had not been separated to the full time service of God, nor did they receive the special anointing that the priest had received. These people had not been given a place of leadership and public responsibility, but like most of us had no extraordinary privilege or responsibility.

We might have thought that the sin of such ordinary people would be overlooked, but it was not so. For each person does have a special responsibility, because we do have a special privilege. As to ourselves each one of us belongs to those who are said to be a "peculiar people, zealous of good works," ( Titus 2;14.), and we are called out to "show forth the excellencies of Him who has called us," ( 1 pet. 2;9.) The difference is only in the degree of responsibility.

The ordinary person, when convicted of their sin, also felt a sense of guilt, and that guilt could only be removed by forgiveness, which forgiveness could only be obtained through sacrifice. They must also bring their sin-offering, which could be either a goat or a sheep, (verse 32,) but either had to be females, and without blemish.

This likewise is a smaller offering, because the privilege or the responsibility of the person is not so great as one like a priest or ruler. Thus the same measure of appreciation of the nature and guilt of sin , and the wonder of the atoning work, were not expected.

THE OFFERING A FEMALE ONLY:

The offering of the common person had to be a female, and it would remind us again of the meekness and gentleness of Christ. It fits perfectly with Isaiah chapter 53, where our Lord Jesus is likened to a lamb and a sheep. The Hebrew word for lamb can mean either male or female and is translated as female several times, the sheep referred to there is a female, because she "before her shearers is dumb". In that chapter it is aid that He is led as a lamb, ( the same word is translated kid), to the slaughter. It implies going to death meekly and without resisting. My observation of both sheep and goats is that the female is usually meek and does not resist the dominance of the male, and their lot is the bearing and care of the young.

It is to humble the sinner, as they realize that their sin has cost the suffering and death of one so meek and gentle, so lowly in heart. Christ the holy Lamb of God, was led as a lamb to the slaughter. Never did He complain, never did He resist, those who came to arrest Him could not stand in His presence, yet He meekly gave himself into their hands and allowed them to lead Him away captive. They led Him away to crucify Him, He did not have to be dragged or driven.

There on that cross He bore our sins, He suffered the punishment that those sins deserved, He bore the guilt and blame, He shed His precious blood and died, that we might be cleansed of our sin, and freely and fully forgiven. Blessed be His holy name!

The service of the priest is to be noted in all this. We may help each other to gain a fresh and deeper appreciation of the wonder of the redeeming work of Christ, but it is the Lord Jesus who offered himself. In that sense He is both Priest and offering. We read in Hebrews chapter 1;3, that He by Himself purged our sins. That is, without the assistance of another, for when He hung on the cross, during those three terrible hours of darkness, He was terribly alone. His God forsook Him there, that is why He cried, " My God, My God ! why hast thou forsaken me?" It was as man that He took man's place, and became our substitute, He made His soul an offering for sin. He said, " I looked, and there was none to help; and I wondered that there was none to uphold: therefore mine own arm brought salvation...," (Isaiah 63;5). He did all this alone, that you and I might be forgiven.

The bodies of the sacrifices brought by the Ruler and the ordinary person were not burnt outside the camp, but were eaten by the priests in a holy place. Only the bodies of those sin offerings whose blood was taken into the Holy Place and sprinkled there were burnt outside the camp, they were never to be eaten.

The eating of the sin offering would suggest that as we feed our souls on Christ in this aspect of His sufferings and death, it would strengthen us to be able to serve our brothers and sisters when they fail. It would also give us a deeper judgment and hatred of sin. It would enable us to be more spiritual, and spirituality is required if we are to serve our brethren when they fall or are taken in a fault, ( Gal. 6;1).

Before we leave this subject let us notice that the priest who served the offender, made "atonement" for them, and they were forgiven. The Hebrew word translated "atonement", simply means to cover. None of those sacrifices could remove sin, but covered it until the Lord Jesus shed His blood, and gave His life, in so doing He "put away sin", so our position, privilege and blessing is so much greater than those who were under the law.

The chapter closes with the words "And it shall be forgiven him". How wonderful to know that we are forgiven, that our sins will never rise against us. May the Lord enable us to gain an ever deepening hatred and judgment of sin, and an increasing appreciation of Him who is our Sin-Offering!

C E Wigg