Leviticus 04

 

Sin Offering Regulations

4:1 Then the Lord spoke to Moses: 

 

Jehovah spoke directly to Moses again. He does not speak verbally to charismatics today. God only speaks through the written scriptures.

 

4:2 “Tell the Israelites, ‘When a person sins by straying unintentionally from any of the Lord’s commandments which must not be violated, and violates any one of them— 

 

There are some Israelites who would eventually commit sins unintentionally.

 

For the Priest

4:3 “ ‘If the high priest sins so that the people are guilty, on account of the sin he has committed he must present a flawless young bull to the Lord for a sin offering. 

 

If the High Priest sins, then all of the people are guilty of the sin. Therefore, the High Priest must offer a young bull to Jehovah for a sin offering.

 

4:4 He must bring the bull to the entrance of the Meeting Tent before the Lord, lay his hand on the head of the bull, and slaughter the bull before the Lord. 

 

The High Priest must bring the bull to the door of the Meeting Tent before Jehovah. He was to lay his hands on the bull so that he could symbolically transfer his own sin to the innocent bull. He was to slaughter the bull before Jehovah.

 

4:5 Then that high priest must take some of the blood of the bull and bring it to the Meeting Tent. 

 

The high priest was to carry the blood of the bull to the meeting tent.

 

4:6 The priest must dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle some of it seven times before the Lord toward the front of the veil-canopy of the sanctuary. 

 

The high priest was to dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle it seven times before Jehovah. He was to perform this ritual in front of the veil-canopy of the sanctuary.

 

4:7 The priest must put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of fragrant incense that is before the Lord in the Meeting Tent, and all the rest of the bull’s blood he must pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering that is at the entrance of the Meeting Tent. 

 

Some of the blood must be poured upon the horns of the altar of fragrant incense. This altar was located inside of the Holy Place in front of the curtain of the Holy of Holies. He was to pour the remainder of the blood on the altar of burnt offering, which was in the outside courtyard.

 

4:8 “ ‘Then he must take up all the fat from the sin offering bull: the fat covering the entrails and all the fat surrounding the entrails, 4:9 the two kidneys with the fat on their sinews, and the protruding lobe on the liver (which he is to remove along with the kidneys) 4:10—just as it is taken from the ox of the peace offering sacrifice—and the priest must offer them up in smoke on the altar of burnt offering. 4:11 But the hide of the bull, all its flesh along with its head and its legs, its entrails, and its dung—4:12 all the rest of the bull—he must bring outside the camp to a ceremonially clean place, to the fatty ash pile, and he must burn it on a wood fire; it must be burned on the fatty ash pile. 

 

Some of the parts of the animals were to be offered as a peace offering by the other priests. They were to be burned to smoke. Other parts of the offering were to be discarded outside of the camp.

 

For the Whole Congregation

4:13 “ ‘If the whole congregation of Israel strays unintentionally and the matter is not noticed by the assembly, and they violate one of the Lord’s commandments, which must not be violated, so they become guilty, 

 

If the whole congregation of Israel unintentionally sins, then the entire nation was guilty.

 

4:14 the assembly must present a young bull for a sin offering when the sin they have committed becomes known. They must bring it before the Meeting Tent, 

 

Once the sin became known, the entire assembly was to bring a young bull to the entrance of the meeting tent.

 

4:15 the elders of the congregation must lay their hands on the head of the bull before the Lord, and someone must slaughter the bull before the Lord. 

 

The elders must lay their hands on the bull as a symbolic transfer of the sins of the nation to the innocent bull. One of the members of the congregation was to slaughter the bull.

 

4:16 Then the high priest must bring some of the blood of the bull to the Meeting Tent, 4:17 and that priest must dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle some of the blood seven times before the Lord toward the front of the veil-canopy. 4:18 He must put some of the blood on the horns of the altar which is before the Lord in the Meeting Tent, and all the rest of the blood he must pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering that is at the entrance of the Meeting Tent. 

 

The High Priest was to take the blood to the Meeting tent and sprinkle the veil-canopy seven times. He was to do the same thing to the horns of the altar. The rest of the blood was to be poured out at the entrance of the meeting tent.

 

4:19 “ ‘Then the priest must take all its fat and offer the fat up in smoke on the altar. 4:20 He must do with the rest of the bull just as he did with the bull of the sin offering; this is what he must do with it. So the priest will make atonement on their behalf and they will be forgiven. 4:21 He must bring the rest of the bull outside the camp and burn it just as he burned the first bull—it is the sin offering of the assembly. 

 

The rest of the unused sacrifice was to be discarded outside of the camp. If this ritual was done in the correct manner, then the nation would be forgiven.

 

 

For the Leader

4:22 “ ‘Whenever a leader, by straying unintentionally, sins and violates one of the commandments of the Lord his God which must not be violated, and he pleads guilty, 4:23 or his sin that he committed is made known to him, he must bring a flawless male goat as his offering. 

 

If a leader committed an unintentional sin and it was made known, then he was to offer a flawless male goat.

 

4:24 He must lay his hand on the head of the male goat and slaughter it in the place where the burnt offering is slaughtered before the Lord—it is a sin offering. 

 

The leader must lay his hands on the head of the male goat, symbolizing that the sin was transferred from the leader to the goat. The leader was to slaughter the goat before Jehovah as a sin offering

 

4:25 Then the priest must take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and he must pour out the rest of its blood at the base of the altar of burnt offering. 

 

The priest sprinkled the blood on the horns of the altar. The rest of the blood was poured out at the base of the altar.

 

4:26 Then the priest must offer all of its fat up in smoke on the altar like the fat of the peace offering sacrifice. So the priest will make atonement on his behalf for his sin and he will be forgiven. 

 

The fat of the offering was to be offered up in smoke. The sin was forgiven. 

 

For the Common Person

4:27 “ ‘If an ordinary individual sins by straying unintentionally when he violates one of the Lord’s commandments which must not be violated, and he pleads guilty 4:28 or his sin that he committed is made known to him, he must bring a flawless female goat as his offering for the sin that he committed. 

 

If one of the common people committed a sin unintentionally and it was made known to him, then he must bring a flawless female goat as a sin offering.

 

4:29 He must lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and slaughter the sin offering in the place where the burnt offering is slaughtered. 

 

The laying on of hands was a symbol of the person transferring his sins to the innocent goat. Notice that the sinner was always responsible for slaying the innocent animal.

 

4:30 Then the priest must take some of its blood with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and he must pour out all the rest of its blood at the base of the altar. 

 

The priest was to sprinkle the blood on the horns of the altar and pour the rest out at the base of the altar.

 

4:31 Then he must remove all of its fat (just as fat was removed from the peace offering sacrifice) and the priest must offer it up in smoke on the altar for a soothing aroma to the Lord. So the priest will make atonement on his behalf and he will be forgiven. 

 

The fat was to be burned to smoke.

 

4:32 “ ‘But if he brings a sheep as his offering, for a sin offering, he must bring a flawless female. 4:33 He must lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and slaughter it for a sin offering in the place where the burnt offering is slaughtered. 4:34 Then the priest must take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and he must pour out all the rest of its blood at the base of the altar. 4:35 Then the one who brought the offering must remove all its fat (just as the fat of the sheep is removed from the peace offering sacrifice) and the priest must offer them up in smoke on the altar on top of the other gifts of the Lord. So the priest will make atonement on his behalf for his sin which he has committed and he will be forgiven. 

 

The common person was allowed to bring a sheep instead of a goat. The procedures were the same.

 

There are two major spiritual concepts in these rituals. First, even unintentional sins needed atonement in the eyes of God. Second, the sins of leaders carry more responsibility and carry a heavier sacrificial price.