Leviticus 6

All of Israel's sin was against God, but some sins were also against one another, Sincere repentance concerning a sin against another person needed to be accompanied by all possible restitution. If a man deceived his neighbor through some theft, it was necessary to pay his neighbor back, and the Lord required that the offender add a fifth to what he had taken and return all of it to the injured party.

Robbery and deceit brought injury to others, even if the underlying actions might have been in some sense unintentional. A deceiver might have deceived himself even more than the man he had stolen from. But once he came to his senses, appropriate compensation was due to his neighbor.

This offense also necessitated that things be made right with God. The man who was in the wrong needed to bring a ram without blemish out of the flock for a guilt offering. The good news of forgiveness through the shedding of the blood of a substitute was part of the Word of the Law: “He shall be forgiven for any of the things that one may do and thereby become guilty.” Reconciliation with man and restored relationship with Almighty God; the Lord cared about both of these good goals, even in the era that would prepare Israel for God's grand finale, the resurrection community of the faithful. Surely the Lord's kingdom should always give testimony of His healing power on both a horizontal and vertical plane. Christ has done this for Israel, and not only for the Jews, but now even the hostility between Jew and Gentile has been repaired through His cross.

In all of the Lord's offerings, the priest played a most important role. The priest was a mediator between the one bringing the offering, and God who would receive the offering from the hands of an acceptable officer appointed according to His Word.

In the earlier descriptions of each offering in the Lord's system, certain details of priestly activity were not mentioned. Now was the time to clarify some specific steps that a proper mediator had to perform.

For instance, the burnt offering was to remain on the altar long after the worshiper went home. It would burn there all night until the morning, and the priest was to keep that holy fire burning. It could not go out. He was the one who would have to know what to do with the ashes that were left over from that offering. The worshiper had returned to his normal life, but not the priest. All of this was his life. Even the details of his hidden garments were made subject to the Lord's instructions for those who would touch the holy things of God's offerings. After a change of clothing, the ashes would be taken outside of the camp to a clean place.

He had to know what to do with the grain offering. He would burn the Lord's memorial portion including the frankincense and some of the oil on the bronze altar. He was allowed to eat the remainder as part of his connection with the offering, the people who offered it, and the Lord who received the offering and the people, but only without leaven, and only in a holy place. How much would these priests have to eat? How could they consume all that was necessary? This was “a thing most holy” to God. Whatever touched these grain offerings became holy, so the priests that ate them became holy.

There would be special offerings on the day when Aaron and his sons were set apart as priests. The requirement of a grilled grain offering would be passed down forever to future generations of priests. The sons of Aaron would come and go, but the ceremonial law of the priesthood would continue, until the final system found its completeness in an offering of a life that would end all offerings. One day, before He offered up Himself, He would say these words: “This is my body. This is my blood, the blood of the New Covenant.” Until that time, new priests would be anointed and a tenth of an ephah of fine flour would be used in the regular grain offering, half in the morning and half in the evening. These griddle cakes would be entirely burned before the Lord. They would not be eaten. This was what the Lord decreed, and the priests needed to obey Him.

The priest would know what to do with the holy sin offering. They knew where the sin offering was to be killed “before the Lord.” Once again, this was something that the priest who offered it was to eat. It was to be eaten in the court of the tent of meeting. And it made everything it touched holy. There were rules about the blood of the sin offering splashing on a garment. It was holy. The garment had to be washed in a holy place. The vessel in which the offering was boiled had to be disposed of or scoured in a particular way. The priests needed to know and follow all of these procedures. They were to eat the appropriate portions of the sin offering, except in the case of offerings where the blood was taken inside the tabernacle. Those offerings had to be burned up with fire.

Jesus was not descended from Aaron. Yet these provisions of the priesthood remind us that He had a special role in a new kind of priesthood. He is the appointed mediator between the Lord's people and our holy God. His blood makes us clean. His hands brought resurrection healing to the weary and diseased in this crumbling creation. He has opened a way for us into a new life and a new world. His priesthood is forever.

He alone knew how to do His priestly duties. He has made things right between us and God, and in doing so He has made a way for there to be eternal peace among all those who belong to Him.