WHOLENESS BEFORE THE LORD

THE SIN OFFERING (Leviticus 4 - 5:13)

How Is It Different From The Burnt Offering? 

Not far into our exploration of the features of the sin offering we begin to wonder what the difference between this offering and the burnt offering may be, as they both have to do with the forgiveness of sin. We may find some answers if we visit the occasions on which the sin offering was presented to the Lord.

It was offered: at the dedication of Aaron and his sons as priests of the Lord (Exodus 29:10-15); when a person was deemed to be ceremonially unclean (Leviticus 12-15); on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16); during the Festival of Harvest (Leviticus 23:15-19); when a Nazirite wanted to renew his commitment to the Lord (Numbers 6:9-12); when a Nazirite’s time of service came to an end (Numbers 6:13-20); as part of the regular services of the tabernacle (Numbers 7); in the dedication ceremonies for the Levites (Numbers 8:5-12); on the occasion of the rededication of the temple by King Hezekiah (2 Chronicles 29:18-24); at the dedication of the temple rebuilt in Ezra’s time (Ezra 6:13-18); when the exiles returned after their captivity in Babylon (Ezra 8:35-36); in ceremonies after the rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem in Nehemiah’s time (Nehemiah 10:33); and it will be presented to the Lord as part of the services in the new temple during the closing stages of history on earth (Ezekiel 42:13, 43:13-27, 44:27-29, 45:13-25).

In taking note of these occasions we notice that the burnt offering also had a part in the ceremonies. What then is the difference, if any, between the two offerings? As we search among these occasions we discover, with regard to the sin offering, frequent reference to the defilement sin causes. This now emerges as the difference, as we come to see that the former offerings had to do with the sin itself—this offering with the results flowing from it. The sin offering provides atonement—a covering for the defilement caused by sin. Allen Ross[1] draws our attention to this aspect of the offering …

   The additional idea about sin introduced here is its defiling effects, even of the smallest matter. The different instructions will require the expositor to think about the defiling effects of different sins, especially the sins of leaders as opposed to those of the common people, or the sins of the community as opposed to those of the individual. While the chapter reveals much about sin, the dominant theological idea is purification.

This gives rise to another question.

What Is Meant By The Term Defilement?

We find that the term is used when referring to …

-   defilement in the life of a person. The Scriptures identify two sources of personal defilement. There is a defilement which comes from without and another from within a person. One kind of defilement from an external source has to do with bodily functions. These are spoken of in Leviticus 12-15 and resulted in what to the people of Israel was known as ceremonial uncleanness. Another kind is connected with religious traditions—ways of doing things, procedures, organization, power structures, religious politics. To do things differently, to break the rules of the group, and the person is considered defiled. This is the kind of defilement the religious leaders of Jesus’ time were preoccupied with.

There were procedures given the people of Israel to guide them in matters of health, personal hygiene, and worship services. But the Pharisees and other religious sects interpreted these instructions to suit themselves and added many others of their own. Jesus was confronted on many occasions by such people. On one occasion for example …

   Some Pharisees and teachers of religious law now arrived from Jerusalem to interview Jesus. “Why do your disciples disobey our age-old traditions?” they demanded. “They ignore our traditions of ceremonial hand washing before they eat.” (Matthew 15:1-2).

Jesus however, is always concerned with the defilement that occurs as the result of what is going on within a person. To the religious leaders,

   Jesus replied, “And why do you, by your traditions, violate the direct commandments of God? … You hypocrites! Isaiah[2] was prophesying about you when he said, ‘These people honour me with their lips, but their hearts are far away. Their worship is a farce, for they replace God’s commands with their own man-made teachings.’ ” (Matthew 15:3, 7-9).

And then Jesus explained further to the people and to his disciples …

   Then Jesus called to the crowds and said, “Listen to what I say and try to understand. You are not defiled by what you eat; you are defiled by what you say and do.”

   Then the disciples came to him and asked, “Do you realize you offended the Pharisees by what you just said?”

   Jesus replied, “Every plant not planted by my heavenly Father will be rooted up, so ignore them. They are blind guides leading the blind, and if one blind person guides another, they will both fall into a ditch.”

   Then Peter asked Jesus, “Explain what you meant when you said people aren’t defiled by what they eat.”

   “Don’t you understand?” Jesus asked him. “Anything you eat passes through the stomach and then goes out of the body. But evil words come from an evil heart and defile the person who says them. For from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, all other sexual immorality, theft, lying, and slander. These are what defile you. Eating with unwashed hands could never defile you and make you unacceptable to God!” (Matthew 15:10-20).

-   defilement in the lives of those the sinful person moves among. It is not only the person who sins that becomes defiled. When Achan sinned, for example, the whole of his community was affected.

   Then Joshua said to Achan, “My son, give glory to the LORD, the God of Israel, by telling the truth. Make your confession and tell me what you have done. Don’t hide it from me.”

   Achan replied, “I have sinned against the LORD, the God of Israel. For I saw a beautiful robe imported from Babylon, two hundred silver coins, and a bar of gold weighing more than a pound. I wanted them so much that I took them. They are hidden in the ground beneath my tent, with the silver buried deeper than the rest.” …

   Then Joshua said to Achan, “Why have you brought this trouble on us? The LORD will now bring trouble on you.” (Joshua 7:19-21, 25a).

-   defilement of the position held. The office people hold, the role they fulfil, is also defiled by the sin of the person holding that position. Nehemiah prays for two such people who defiled the office of the priesthood …

   Remember them, O my God, for they have defiled the priesthood and the promises and vows of the priests and Levites. (Nehemiah 13:29).

-   defilement of the places visited. Not only people, but the places visited by the sinful person can take on an atmosphere of defilement. The Lord speaks of places of worship becoming defiled by the sin of any of its people. When his people sin he is ready to discipline them because of the effect their sins have on the atmosphere in his house of worship. Of the effect the sins of the people of Israel had on the temple he says …

   “As surely as I live,” says the Sovereign LORD, “I will cut you off completely. I will show you no pity at all because you have defiled my Temple with idols and vile practices.” (Ezekiel 5:11).

Ross[3] explains …

   The significant feature of this sacrifice concerns how the purification worked. For example, when this ritual followed for bodily pollution (for example, skin diseases as in 14:19), the ritual was said to cleanse people, “so they will not die in their uncleanness by defiling my dwelling place [or tabernacle], which is among them” (15:31). Or, on the Day of Atonement the blood was sprinkled on the parts of the tabernacle “to make atonement for the most holy place because of the uncleanness and rebellion of the Israelites” (16:16). In this sacrificial ritual the blood was not put on the person, but on different parts of the sanctuary itself. When Moses offered the purification offering (8:15), he “decontaminated” (wayhattē’)[4] the altar.

   The point is that sin and its effects defiled God’s sanctuary and that put people in mortal danger should they enter the sanctuary in that condition. Someone guilty of sins needed forgiveness. Milgrom (256) explains, not so much because of the act, but because of the consequences of the sin—they defiled the sanctuary. This is why throughout Leviticus 4 the blood of the sacrifice is applied to various sancta in the sanctuary, but not to the sinner.

And now as we continue in our exploration of the features of the sin offering, we discover that it is provided to make atonement for …

A Certain Kind Of Sin

We notice that the sin offering is provided especially for those whose sin is unintentional.

   Then the LORD said to Moses, “Give the Israelites the following instructions for dealing with those who sin unintentionally by doing anything forbidden by the LORD’s commands. (Leviticus 4:1-2).

Commenting on the meaning of the Hebrew word translated ‘unintentionally’, F. Duane Lindsay[5] explains that …

   … the term is broad enough to include all sins not done in a spirit of rebellion against the Lord and his covenant stipulations—whether sins of ignorance (Leviticus 4), sins without conscious intent (chapter 5), or intentional but non-defiant sins (Numbers 15:22-29). It was for such sins that the sin offering was prescribed.

   The people the Lord has in mind for this offering are not those who intentionally plan to do evil—people like those the psalmist writes of …

   Everything they say is crooked and deceitful. They refuse to act wisely or do what is good. They lie awake at night, hatching sinful plots. (Psalm 36:3-4)

 No, not for those who sin wilfully like that. This offering provides for the atonement of sins that are not premeditated. Ross[6], attributing his thoughts to Wenham, writes …

   Even true worshippers, people who are steadfast in their devotion to the Lord and who seek to live in obedience to his laws, find that they need God’s gracious provision of cleansing if they are to continue in fellowship with him. They may fall into sin without realising it, or they may be overtaken in a fault, or they may sin unwittingly; but even these should not be treated lightly. In line with this, the law in ancient Israel clearly revealed that sins of any kind angered God, deprived him of his due, defiled his sanctuary, and thus put a barrier between the guilty and God (Wenham, 89).

Continuing on through Leviticus 4 we find that whether it be the priest (vs. 3), a group of people (vs. 13), one of the community leaders (vs. 22), or an individual (vs. 27), sins that are not premeditated and their flow on affect on others, even though it too is unintentional, are all atoned for in the presentation of the sin offering.

Some Examples (Leviticus 5:1-13)

The examples given are of cases where the person acts with a certain degree of innocence in that he may not be fully aware of the consequences of his actions. He is still to be held accountable however—for sins such as these …

A failure to testify (vs. 1)

Under the law, it was expected that when required to do so, a person would tell what he knew about a matter under consideration in the community. The law made it clear that the person was to speak truthfully: “Do not testify falsely against your neighbour.” (Deuteronomy 5:20). Ross[7] writes of this responsibility …

   The text indicates that any person (nepeš) who was an eyewitness or gained information should step forward and provide it to the magistrates. The implication is that some time has passed since the crime, and the witnesses have not come forward, even though they were bound by oath to do so.

The responsibility to give testimony has further meaning for God’s people when it comes to our calling to make his message known. We will be held responsible for the failure to do so, as Ezekiel was told.

   Now, son of man, I am making you a watchman for the people of Israel. Therefore, listen to what I say and warn them for me. If I announce that some wicked people are sure to die and you fail to warn them about changing their ways, then they will die in their sins, but I will hold you responsible for their deaths. But if you warn them to repent and they don’t repent, they will die in their sins, but you will not be held responsible. (Ezekiel 33:7-9).

Touching the forbidden (vs. 2-3)

Sources of defilement were clearly defined for the people of Israel. They were not to touch them.

   Or if they touch something that is ceremonially unclean, such as the dead body of an animal that is ceremonially unclean—whether a wild animal, a domesticated animal, or an animal that scurries along the ground—they will be considered ceremonially unclean and guilty, even if they are unaware of their defilement.

   Or if they come into contact with any source of human defilement, even if they don’t realise they have been defiled, they will be considered guilty as soon as they become aware of it. (vs. 2-3).

There are many times when it is wise for God’s people to heed the ‘Do not touch’ rule. The first ‘do not touch’ instruction, given to Adam and Eve, became a test case for the entire human race. When Satan cunningly got them to think about eating from the forbidden tree Eve at first resisted as she acknowledged the rule, “God says we must not eat it or even touch it, or we will die.” (Genesis 3:3b). God’s instructions are clear that the spouse of another person is not to be touched, nor people of either sex, in an improper way.

   Do not commit adultery … Do not covet your neighbour’s house. Do not covet your neighbour’s wife, male or female servant, ox or donkey, or anything else your neighbour owns. (Exodus 20:14, 17).

Boaz had regard to this when he instructed his workers not to touch the girl he was courting. He explained to Ruth what he had told them.

   So Boaz said to Ruth, “My daughter, listen to me. Don’t go and glean in another field and don’t go away from here. Stay here with my servant girls. Watch the field where the men are harvesting, and follow along after the girls. I have told the men not to touch you.” (Ruth 2:89a).

Paul is clear about what the ‘do not touch’ rule should mean to Christians when he writes to those in Corinth.

   Don’t team up with those who are unbelievers. How can goodness be a partner with wickedness? How can light live with darkness? What harmony can there be between Christ and the Devil? How can a believer be a partner with an unbeliever? And what union can there be between God’s temple and idols? For we are the temple of the living God.

   As God said: “I will live in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they will be my people. Therefore, come out from them and separate yourselves from them,” says the Lord.

   “Don’t touch their filthy things, and I will welcome you. And I will be your Father, and you will be my sons and daughters,” says the Lord Almighty. (2 Corinthians 6:14-18).

The breaking of a vow (vs. 4)

How are we to understand the term ‘vow’? The Concise Oxford Dictionary gives us these definitions, showing the relationship between a vow and an oath …

Vow: ‘a solemn promise, especially in the form of an oath to God.’
Oath: ‘a solemn appeal to God or revered or dreaded person or object in witness that a statement is true or that a promise shall be kept.’

The term ‘vow’ as used in the Scriptures is in keeping with these definitions. It refers to a promise made under oath, especially to God. It is expected of the person making such a vow that the promise will be fulfilled. Among the summary of regulations given to the people of Israel as they were camped ready to enter their new land we find this reference to the keeping of a vow.

   When you make a vow to the LORD your God, be prompt in doing whatever you promised him. For the LORD your God demands that you promptly fulfil all your vows. If you don’t you will be guilty of sin. However, it is not a sin to refrain from making a vow. But once you have voluntarily made a vow, be careful to do as you have said, for you have made a vow to the LORD your God. (Deuteronomy 23:21-23).

Solomon was aware of the importance of keeping a vow. He advises his readers …

   So when you make a promise to God, don’t delay in following through, for God takes no pleasure in fools. Keep all the promises you make to him. It is better to say nothing than to promise something that you don’t follow through on. In such cases, your mouth is making you sin. And don’t defend yourself by telling the Temple messenger that the promise you made a mistake. That would make God angry, and he might wipe out everything you have achieved. (Ecclesiastes 5:4-6).

Jesus takes us to another level when he teaches us about the making of vows. He says in fact that a person of genuine integrity should not find it necessary to even make a vow, that is to reinforce his promise with an oath. For a person who has proved himself to be trustworthy, his word should be enough. If he says he will do something then it is known that he will do it. Jesus says …

   “Again, you have heard that the law of Moses says, ‘Do not break your vows; you must carry out the vows you have made to the Lord.’ But I say, don’t make any vows! If you say, ‘By heaven!’ it is a sacred vow because heaven is God’s throne. And if you say, ‘By the earth!’ it is a sacred vow because the earth is his footstool. And don’t swear, ‘By Jerusalem!’ for Jerusalem is the city of the great King. Don’t even swear ‘By my head!’ for you can’t turn one hair white or black. Just say a simple, ‘Yes, I will,’ or ‘No, I won’t.’ Your word is enough. To strengthen your promise with a vow shows that something is wrong.” (Matthew 5:33-37).

It is for sins like these—a failure to testify, touching the forbidden, the breaking of a promise, or any other unpremeditated sin and its affect on others—that the sin offering is provided. But what about us today? What does all this mean to us? Turning again to the New Testament it is there that we learn of …

CHRIST AS OUR SIN OFFERING

We have already discovered that in his sacrificial death on our behalf, Christ has provided for us all that was available to the people of Israel in the burnt, grain, and peace offerings. And now as we leaf through the New Testament, we find that in the death of Christ we have forgiveness for all those sins which were not premeditated, just as the people of Israel found in the sin offering. And further, for the affect those sins may have had on others in a way that we may not even be aware of.

 As well as teaching us clearly about every aspect of Christ’s death—unmistakably pictured in the Jewish sacrificial system and which replaces it for all believers, both Jewish and Gentile—the New Testament also points to his being our sin offering. The author of the treatise written for especially for the Jewish people gives us perhaps the most comprehensive teaching about Christ’s sacrificial death and his priestly ministry. Towards the end of his exposition the author associates Christ’s death with that of the sin offering.

   The high priest carries the blood of animals into the Most Holy Place as a sin offering, but the bodies are burned outside the camp. And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood. (Hebrews 13:11-12 NIV).

Paul also makes reference to this aspect of Christ’s death when he writes …

   Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit. (Romans 8:1-4 NIV).

Added to what we have learned of the meaning for us of the previous offerings as we discovered Christ in them, our understanding now of the sin offering leaves us with a feeling of wholeness as we accept the completeness of the forgiveness of our sins—the unintentional with all its known and unknown consequences, and the intentional wilful sins. This is one of the reasons why Paul was able to write ...

   Don’t let anyone lead you astray with empty philosophy and high sounding nonsense that comes from human thinking and from evil powers of this world and not from Christ. For in Christ the fullness of God lives in a human body, and you are complete through your union with Christ. He is the Lord over every ruler and authority in the universe. (Colossians 2:8-10).

So also Jesus  suffered and died outside the city gate
in order to make his people holy by shedding his own blood.
(Hebrews 13:12 NLT)

©