Leviticus 4

The sacrifice of the ultimate acceptable offering before the Lord God was a very complex matter. God used more than one ceremony to prepare us for the perfect life and death of the Man who would accomplish such a weighty response to the sin of Adam. The burnt offering, the grain offering, the peace offering each had their stories to tell about the required life and work of the Savior and the blessing that His death would bring to the Lord's chosen people. But it was with the sin offering that the Lord touched upon the heart of the offense that required such a weighty solution.

Sin entered the world through one man. But that one man was not the only person who sinned against God. Sins were a fact of life in Israel, and they would require atonement. The fullness of sin was not atoned for by the sin offering. Intentional rebellion against the Lord would be dealt with in another way. The normal offerings for sin would only be for unintentional sins.

Unintentional sin against any of the Lord's commandments required the shedding of blood if the people of Israel were to live at peace with God in the Promised Land. But not all unintentional sin was to be atoned for in the same way. Was the sinner the anointed priest, the whole congregation, a leader of the people, or a common person? The matter of who committed the sin was a detail that God cared about.

The sin of the anointed priest was of great consequence, bringing guilt upon the people of the nation. That sin required the death of a bull from the herd before the presence of the Lord near the bronze altar in front of the tabernacle. The priest was to approach the entrance to the tent of meeting and lay his hand on the head of the bull. This laying on of the priest's hands was an identification between the sinful priest and the one who would take the penalty for him, the bull without blemish.

The priest would kill the bull, for this offering was for his sin. There would be no doubt as to who killed the sacrificial substitute. It was the one who committed the sin that necessitated the death of this atoning offering.

In this case of the anointed priest, he would serve as sinful worshiper and the priest who would mediate between the sinner and God. He would be the one to do the necessary work with the sacrificial blood of the offering. He would dip his finger in that blood and sprinkle it seven times in front of the veil of the sanctuary. He would also put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of incense inside the sanctuary, though not in the most holy place on the other side of the veil. Finally, all the rest of the blood would be poured out at the base of the bronze altar, the altar of burnt offering outside the tabernacle.

As with the peace offering, the special cuts referred to as “fat” portions would be burned on the altar of burnt offering. The remainder of the offering would be taken outside the camp to a clean place, and burned there on a fire of wood. This prepared the people of God for a sin offering who would be sacrificed outside the camp in some way. See Hebrews 13:11-12.

If the whole congregation of the people of Israel sinned unintentionally, the way to perform the necessary sin offering was similar. When they realized their guilt, the whole assembly should bring one bull, with the sinners placing their hands on the bull through the elders that represented them. Then the bull would be killed, and the procedures of the priest with the blood would be the same as when it was the sin of the anointed priest. As with him, the remainder of the bull after the burning of the Lord's portion on the bronze altar would be burned outside the camp. This was the way for the priest to make atonement for them.

In the case of an individual leader, the procedure was different. Now instead of a bull, he was to bring a male goat without blemish. Also the priests work with the blood would be restricted to the bronze altar outside of the tent of the meeting, its horns and its base. Finally, there was no mention of taking the animal and burning it outside the camp.

The details for an individual among the common people were very similar with the case of a leader. But in this case, when the guilt was realized, the worshiper would bring a female without blemish from the goats or the lambs, rather than a male.

These were the laws regarding the sin offering. There was a recognition of the special responsibility of leaders, especially among the priests who were to stand before God in the place of the people, but the whole assembly and every individual in it needed to know about how to handle the problem of unintentional sin.

Most important for the continued existence of the people in the land was this fact: There was a way provided by God for sinners to have ceremonial holiness before the Lord.

How much better is the news from heaven proclaimed to New Covenant believers. A true Redeemer has come to be our Sin Offering. His death was a sad consequence of our sin, but His resurrection was a sure proof that our sin has finally been atoned for. Ceremonies that taught us about forgiveness were fine for their time, but we needed a sin offering that would take away sin once for all time. This sin offering has now been accomplished through the cross of Christ. We are forever forgiven by God. His Son suffered in the place of disgrace for priest, leader, individual, and even for the whole congregation. There is no need for any other sacrifice. Our guilt has been canceled. We are forgiven.