In our study of Leviticus chapter four, we look at how even sin that was not done out of a spirit of rebellion had to be dealt with and the fact that all people sin.
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ADONAI said to Moshe, "Tell the people of Isra'el: 'If anyone sins inadvertently against any of the mitzvot of ADONAI concerning things which should not be done, if he does any one of them, then, if it is the anointed cohen who sinned and thus brought guilt on the people, he is to offer ADONAI a young bull without defect as a sin offering for the sin he committed.
Here, we see that there is to be a sin offering and we see that it is for a certain type of sin as there are sins where we don't do what God commands and there are sins where we do what God tells us not to do. This sin offering is for the latter case but it is for cases of doing things that God tells us not to but it is when they are done without the intent to do them. We also see that this offering is for priests (servants of the Lord) and that they are to bring a young bull as the offering. We are reminded that the young bull was more valuable and considered to be a greater sacrifice that the sheep and we also see that the actions of the priest brought guilt onto all of the people. This is a reminder that all sin has consequences for us as well as those around us and all sin must be dealt with; it cannot be ignored.
He must bring the bull to the entrance of the tent of meeting before ADONAI, lay his hand on the bull's head and slaughter the bull in the presence of ADONAI. The anointed cohen is to take some of the bull's blood and bring it to the tent of meeting. The cohen is to dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle some of the blood seven times in the presence of ADONAI in front of the curtain of the sanctuary. The cohen is to put some of the blood on the horns of the altar for fragrant incense before ADONAI there in the tent of meeting. All the remaining blood of the bull he is to pour out at the base of the altar for burnt offerings, which is at the entrance to the tent of meeting.
As payment for the sin, even though it was unintentional, the bull had to die which is a reminder that sin brings death. The priest was then to take some of the blood and sprinkle it seven times at the entrance to the tent of meeting the number seven speaks of purpose and holiness and, in this case, the purpose is to regain access to the Lord. Then, blood was to be put on the horns of the altar with the remainder dumped on the base of the altar.
He is to remove from the bull for the sin offering all of its fat - the fat covering the inner organs, all the fat above the inner organs, the two kidneys, the fat on them near the flanks, and the covering of the liver, which he will remove with the kidneys as it is removed from an ox sacrificed as a peace offering; and the cohen is to make these parts go up in smoke on the altar for burnt offerings.
As we saw in the last chapter, certain parts of the insides of the bull were to be removed and sacrificed as a peace offering. We are reminded that the purpose of the peace offering was to bring fellowship with God and, here, it is to restore the fellowship that was broken due to the sin.
But the bull's hide and all its flesh, with its head, the lower parts of its legs, its inner organs and dung - in other words, the entire bull - he is to bring outside the camp to a clean place, where the ashes are emptied out. There he is to burn it on wood with fire; there, where the ashes are emptied out, it is to be burned up.
There were parts of the bull that were not to be used and they were to be taken outside the camp and burned up on the ash heap. This is an example of God's judgement and it is a reminder that all sin brings judgement it is just a matter of who the judgement falls upon. In our case, as Christians, the judgement for our sins fell upon Yeshua Messiah.
"'If the entire community of Isra'el inadvertently makes a mistake, with the assembly being unaware of the matter, and they do something against any of the mitzvot of ADONAI concerning things which should not be done, they are guilty. When the sin they have committed becomes known, then the assembly is to offer a young bull as a sin offering and bring it before the tent of meeting. The leaders of the community are to lay their hands on the bull's head and slaughter the bull in the presence of ADONAI.
This passage is talking about unintentional sin where the leadership of the congregation of Israel does something that God says not to do but the congregation does not know about it. This is speaking of wrong judgements or rulings made by the leaders. We see that, when the leaders do something, the guilt falls upon all of the people and, when the sin becomes known, a sin offering has to be made. In this, we also are reminded that, even though there are often no witnesses to the sin, God sees and knows everything. In this case, we see that the leaders of the people are required to put their hands on the bull and slaughter it as they represent the people.
The anointed cohen is to bring some of the bull's blood to the tent of meeting. The cohen is to dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle it seven times in the presence of ADONAI in front of the curtain. He is to put some of the blood on the horns of the altar before ADONAI, there in the tent of meeting. All the remaining blood he is to pour out at the base of the altar for burnt offerings, which is at the entrance to the tent of meeting. He is to remove all its fat and make it go up in smoke on the altar. This is what he is to do with the bull - he must do the same with this bull as he does with the one for the sin offering. Thus the cohen will make atonement for them, and they will be forgiven. He is to bring the bull outside the camp and burn it as he burned the first bull; it is the sin offering for the assembly.
As we saw before, the bull was to be offered in the same manner with the same dealing with the blood and the other parts.
"'When a leader sins and inadvertently does something against any of the mitzvot of ADONAI concerning things which should not be done, he is guilty. If the sin which he committed becomes known to him, he is to bring as his offering a male goat without defect, lay his hand on the goat's head and slaughter it in the place where they slaughter the burnt offering in the presence of ADONAI; it is a sin offering.
This passage refers to an individual leader of the people and it would have meant the leaders of the individual tribes but it also refers to the coming kings that would lead the people of Israel. In this case, we see that the guilt rests upon the leader himself and the people are not mentioned. We also see that the passage begins with when and not if as it has previously done and this is a reminder that all of us sin no matter who we are or how holy we think we are. We also see that, when the sin is made known to the leader, the guilt is not ignored but an offering of a male goat without defect has to be made and the leader must slaughter the goat in the presence of God.
The cohen is to take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar for burnt offerings. Its remaining blood he is to pour out at the base of the altar for burnt offerings. All its fat he is to make go up in smoke on the altar, like the fat of the sacrifice for peace offerings; thus the cohen will make atonement for him in regard to his sin, and he will be forgiven.
Once again, we see that the priest is to offer the goat in the same manner with the same dealing with the blood and the other parts.
"'If an individual among the people commits a sin inadvertently, doing something against any of the mitzvot of ADONAI concerning things which should not be done, he is guilty. If the sin he committed becomes known to him, he is to bring as his offering a female goat without defect for the sin he committed, lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and slaughter the sin offering in the place of burnt offerings.
Here, we see the procedure for a member of the congregation committing an unintentional sin and, when the sin is made known to him, he is to bring a female goat as his offering. He is to personally slaughter the goat in the presence of the Lord and we are not told why it is a female goat instead of a male as it was in the case of the leader committing the sin.
The cohen is to take some of its blood with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar for burnt offerings. All its remaining blood he is to pour out at the base of the altar. All its fat he is to remove, as the fat is removed from the sacrifice for peace offerings; and the cohen is to make it go up in smoke on the altar as a fragrant aroma for ADONAI. Thus the cohen will make atonement for him, and he will be forgiven.
Once again, we see that the priest is to offer the goat in the same manner with the same dealing with the blood and the other parts.
"'If he brings a lamb as his sin offering, he is to bring a female without defect, lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and slaughter it as a sin offering in the place where they slaughter burnt offerings. The cohen is to take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar for burnt offerings. All its remaining blood he is to pour out at the base of the altar. All its fat he is to remove, as the fat of a lamb is removed from the sacrifice for peace offerings; and the cohen is to make it go up in smoke on the altar on top of the offerings for ADONAI made by fire. Thus the cohen will make atonement for him in regard to the sin he committed, and he will be forgiven.
Here, we see the principle of substitution introduced as before the sinner was told to bring a female goat but now there is the possibility of substituting a baby female sheep for the goat. The lamb is dealt with in the same manner but this speaks of the fact that Yeshua Messiah would face the judgement for our sins.
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