Sacrificial Offerings 2

Article Index

 

L eviticus 4:1-35 

 

And the Lord spake unto Moses saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If a soul shall sin through ignorance against any of the commandments of the Lord concerning the things which ought not to be done, and shall do against any of them: If the priest that is anointed do sin according to the sin of the people; then let him bring for his sin, which he hath sinned, a young bullock without blemish unto the Lord for a sin offering. And he shall bring the bullock unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the Lord; and he shall lay his hand upon the bullock’s head, and kill the bullock before the Lord. And the priest that is anointed shall take of the bullock’s blood, and bring it into the tabernacle of the congregation: And the priest shall dip his finger in the blood, and sprinkle of the blood seven times before the Lord, before the veil of the sanctuary. And the priest shall put some of the blood upon the horns of the altar of sweet incense before the Lord, which is in the tabernacle of the congregation; and shall pour all the blood of the bullock at the bottom of the altar of the burnt offering, which is at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. And he shall take off from it all the fat of the bullock for the sin offering; the fat that covereth the inwards, and all the fat that is upon the inwards, And the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, which is by the flanks, and the caul above the liver, with the kidneys, it shall he take away. As it was taken off from the bullock of the sacrifice of peace offerings: and the priest shall burn them upon the altar of the burnt offering. And the skin of the bullock, and all his flesh, with his head, and his legs, and his inwards, and his dung, Even the whole bullock shall he carry forth without the camp unto a clean place, where the ashes are poured out, and burn him on the wood with fire: where the ashes are poured out shall he be burnt. And if the whole congregation of Israel sin through ignorance, and the thing be hid from the eyes of the assembly, and they have done somewhat against any of the commandments of the Lord concerning things which should not be done, and are guilty; When the sin, which they have sinned against it, is known, then the congregation shall offer a young bullock for the sin, and bring him before the tabernacle of the congregation. And the elders of the congregation shall lay their hands upon the head of the bullock before the Lord: and the bullock shall be killed before the Lord. And the priest that is anointed shall bring of the bullock's blood to the tabernacle of the congregation: And the priest shall dip his finger in some of the blood, and sprinkle it seven times before the Lord, even before the veil. And he shall put some of the blood upon the horns of the altar which is before the Lord, that is in the tabernacle of the congregation, and shall pour out all the blood at the bottom of the altar of the burnt offering, which is at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. And he shall take all his fat from him, and burn it upon the altar. And he shall do with the bullock as he did with the bullock for a sin offering, so shall he do with this: and the priest shall make an atonement for them, and it shall be forgiven them. And he shall carry forth the bullock without the camp, and burn him as he did the first bullock: it is a sin offering for the congregation. When a ruler hath sinned, and done somewhat through ignorance against any of the commandments of the Lord his God concerning things which should not be done, and is guilty; Or if his sin, wherein he hath sinned, come to his knowledge; he shall bring his offering, a kid of the goats, a male without blemish: And he shall lay his hand upon the head of the goat, and kill it in the place where they kill the burnt offering before the Lord: it is a sin offering. And the priest shall take of the blood of the sin offering with his finger, and put it upon the horn of the altar of burnt offering, and shall pour out his blood at the bottom of the altar of burnt offering. And he shall burn his fat upon the altar, as the fat of the sacrifice of peace offerings: and the priest shall make an atonement for him as concerning his sin, and it shall be forgiven him. And if any one of the common people sin through ignorance, while he doeth somewhat against any of the commandments of the Lord concerning things which ought not to be done, and be guilty; Or if his sin, which he hath sinned, come to his knowledge: then he shall bring his offering, a kid of the goats, a female without blemish, for his sin which he hath sinned. And he shall lay his hand upon the head of the sin offering, and slay the sin offering in the place of the burnt offering. And the priest shall take of the blood thereof with his finger, and put it upon the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and shall pour out all the blood thereof at the bottom of the altar. And he shall take away all the fat thereof, as the fat is taken away from off the sacrifice of peace offerings; and the priest shall burn it upon the altar for a sweet savour unto the Lord; and the priest shall make an atonement for him, and it shall be forgiven him. And if he bring a lamb for a sin offering, he shall bring it a female without blemish. And he shall lay his hand upon the head of the sin offering, and slay it for a sin offering in the place where they kill the burnt offering. And the priest shall take of the blood of the sin offering with his finger, and put it upon the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and shall pour out all the blood thereof at the bottom of the altar: And he shall take away the fat thereof, as the fat of the lamb is taken away from the sacrifice of the peace offerings; and the priest shall burn them upon the altar, according to the offerings made by fire unto the Lord: and the priest shall make an atonement for his sin that he hath committed, an it shall be forgiven him. 

Leviticus 6:24-30 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto Aaron and his sons, saying, This is the law of the sin offering: In the place where the burnt offering is killed shall the sin offering be killed before the Lord: it is most holy. The priest that offereth it for sin shall eat it: in the holy place shall it be eaten, in the court of the tabernacle of the congregation. Whatsoever shall touch the flesh thereof shall be holy: and when there is sprinkled the blood thereof upon any garment, thou shalt wash that whereon it was sprinkled in the holy place, But the earthen vessel wherein it is sodden shall be broken: and if it be sodden in a brazen pot, it shall be both scoured, and rinsed in water. All the males among the priests shall eat thereof: it is most holy. And no sin offering, whereof any of the blood is brought into the tabernacle of the congregation to reconcile withal in the holy place, shall be eaten: it shall be burnt in the fire. 

This is the first of the two compulsory offerings. 

It was offered according to social standing in the community. Animals used were bullocks, goats and lambs. No fowls were offered. 

a. The Priest offered a bullock. 

b. The Whole Congregation offered a bullock. 

c. The Ruler offered a male goat. 

d. The Commoner offered a female goat. 

In God's sight, when a priest sins, it is the equivalent of the entire congregation sinning! When a teacher sins, he teaches sin. High position demands equally high responsibility. Conduct is a powerful example. 

James 3:1 My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation. 

A male was offered by leaders of the community and shows authority. 

A female was offered by the common people: they held no positions of authority. 

In each case the offering had to be without spot or blemish; it had to be perfect. Variation lay in the application of the blood and the disposal of the carcase. 


 

T hrough Ignorance

 

This phrase occurs four times. Ignorance is no excuse when dealing with God. Every human being is a free, sovereign agent and consequently is held responsible and accountable to God. 

Genesis 3:8-12 And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden. And the Lord called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. 

As a result of his sin, Adam ran from the presence of God, hid, realised he was naked, and shifted the blame. 

This fundamental behaviour is common of fallen man. 

God holds him responsible! 

If you do the crime, you must do the time. 

I didn’t know the gun was loaded. 

In the majority of instances, man is willingly ignorant: he simply does not take the time to find out. 

Luke 12:47, 48 And that servant, which knew his lord’s will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall much be required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more. 

The responsibility of learning is on the student. 

God has provided teachers, the Bible, the Holy Ghost. 

Hosea 4:6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children. 

Consider how the word SIN has been diluted today. The words, mistake, error, failing, short-fall become substitutes. Man claims he can’t help it. He is a product of his environment. His parentage is at fault. He was born like it. It is in his genes. How can it be his fault? How can he assume responsibility for factors beyond his control? 

Until each man believes he is responsible for the state in which he finds himself, (who he is, where he is and what he does), he will never seek change. 

Isaiah 58:1 Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins. 

Isaiah 59:1, 2 Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear. 

This offering deals with the nature of sin. The trespass offering deals with the acts of sin. 

What then, does a person have to do in order to be a sinner? Nothing! He is born one. 

Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; 

The Greek word for sin is hamartia, which means, to fall short, to miss the mark. 

This offering affects every member of society. There is no respect of persons! Sin separates man from God. 

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. 


 

T ype

 

Romans 8:3  For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, condemned sin in the flesh. 

Psalm 19:7  The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure , making wise the simple. 

Galatians 2:16 Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. 

2 Corinthians 5:21  For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. 

Sin Offering

Responsibilities: 

Offerer: Laying hands on the head of the sacrifice. Identification. Transfer of sins to the sacrifice. Slay the sacrifice at the gate.

Priest: Sprinkle the blood seven times in the holy place. Order: The altar of incense, the brazen altar. The fat and inwards were burned on the altar: because of sin (transferred from the offerer to the innocent sacrifice), the animal had to be completely destroyed.

Hebrews 10:19-22; 13:10-12 Leviticus 4:11, 12, 30 

Portions: 

God:  The whole animal,  v.26 

Priest: Part of the commoner's offering. (Sheep or Goat) These carcases were not carried outside the camp.

Offerer: Nothing


 

T he Work of Jesus Christ

 

Hebrews 10:1-14   For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have no more conscience of sins. But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins. Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me: In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come, (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God. Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law; Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second. By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God; From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. For by one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified.