Leviticus 4:1–35
Sin Does Not Have the Final Word, God Does
In Chapter 4-5 we will see salvation by grace through faith…Leviticus style.
We have seen the first three God-ordained offerings. We saw the first which was the Burnt Offering…this was the offering that grants atonement through the death and shed blood of the sacrificial animal. Next, we looked at the Tribute Offering Leviticus 2 and the Peace Offering Leviticus 3. We saw how these two went together and how they are a picture of sins forgiven and fellowship restored. They are celebrating the Burnt Offering or the forgiveness of God as they picture the restored sinner and God sharing a meal together. God received the fat portions and blood from the alter and the worshipper received the rest of the meat which was shared with the gathered family, friends and Levite. We further saw that the Tribute Offering and the Peace Offering picture the celebration of the Lord’s Supper.
Here we learn about what has been called the Sin Offering. This offering was to keep the Israelites pure in the sense of sin’s defilement.
Our holy God cannot abide the presence of those people and things that are unclean (22:3), and each time people sinned under the old covenant, they dirtied themselves. The burnt offering solved the problem of the Lord’s wrath, but it did not purify the one offering the sacrifice. There still needed to be expiation, or the removal of sin’s pollution, from the worshipers and the instruments of worship. The blood of the sin offering accomplished this cleansing. The tabernacle that became defiled because it was located in the midst of a sinful people was cleansed by the blood of the sacrifice, and the sinner was made clean and able to stand before God again (4:1–5:13).
That an intentional sin is not always a high-handed sin is seen in God’s willingness to forgive sins that were clearly intentional (2 Sam. 11–12). Only those who are unconverted may sin with a high hand, for a converted person will express sorrow and contrition after an intentional sin, thereby proving it was never high-handed in the first place. As we repent over sins both intentional and unintentional, we are assured that we belong to Jesus.
4 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the people of Israel, saying, If anyone sins unintentionally in any of the Lord’s commandments about things not to be done, and does any one of them, 3 if it is the anointed priest who sins, thus bringing guilt on the people, then he shall offer for the sin that he has committed a bull from the herd without blemish to the Lord for a sin offering. 4 He shall bring the bull to the entrance of the tent of meeting before the Lord and lay his hand on the head of the bull and kill the bull before the Lord. 5 And the anointed priest shall take some of the blood of the bull and bring it into the tent of meeting, 6 and the priest shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle part of the blood seven times before the Lord in front of the veil of the sanctuary. 7 And the priest shall put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of fragrant incense before the Lord that is in the tent of meeting, and all the rest of the blood of the bull he shall pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering that is at the entrance of the tent of meeting. 8 And all the fat of the bull of the sin offering he shall remove from it, the fat that covers the entrails and all the fat that is on the entrails 9 and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them at the loins and the long lobe of the liver that he shall remove with the kidneys 10 (just as these are taken from the ox of the sacrifice of the peace offerings); and the priest shall burn them on the altar of burnt offering. 11 But the skin of the bull and all its flesh, with its head, its legs, its entrails, and its dung— 12 all the rest of the bull—he shall carry outside the camp to a clean place, to the ash heap, and shall burn it up on a fire of wood. On the ash heap it shall be burned up.
13 “If the whole congregation of Israel sins unintentionally and the thing is hidden from the eyes of the assembly, and they do any one of the things that by the Lord’s commandments ought not to be done, and they realize their guilt, 14 when the sin which they have committed becomes known, the assembly shall offer a bull from the herd for a sin offering and bring it in front of the tent of meeting. 15 And the elders of the congregation shall lay their hands on the head of the bull before the Lord, and the bull shall be killed before the Lord. 16 Then the anointed priest shall bring some of the blood of the bull into the tent of meeting, 17 and the priest shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle it seven times before the Lord in front of the veil. 18 And he shall put some of the blood on the horns of the altar that is in the tent of meeting before the Lord, and the rest of the blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering that is at the entrance of the tent of meeting. 19 And all its fat he shall take from it and burn on the altar. 20 Thus shall he do with the bull. As he did with the bull of the sin offering, so shall he do with this. And the priest shall make atonement for them, and they shall be forgiven. 21 And he shall carry the bull outside the camp and burn it up as he burned the first bull; it is the sin offering for the assembly.
22 “When a leader sins, doing unintentionally any one of all the things that by the commandments of the Lord his God ought not to be done, and realizes his guilt, 23 or the sin which he has committed is made known to him, he shall bring as his offering a goat, a male without blemish, 24 and shall lay his hand on 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. 25 Then the priest shall 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 pour out the rest of its blood at the base of the altar of burnt offering. 26 And all its fat he shall burn on the altar, like the fat of the sacrifice of peace offerings. So the priest shall make atonement for him for his sin, and he shall be forgiven.
27 “If anyone of the common people sins unintentionally in doing any one of the things that by the Lord’s commandments ought not to be done, and realizes his guilt, 28 or the sin which he has committed is made known to him, he shall bring for his offering a goat, a female without blemish, for his sin which he has committed. 29 And he shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and kill the sin offering in the place of burnt offering. 30 And the priest shall take some of its blood with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering and pour out all the rest of its blood at the base of the altar. 31 And all its fat he shall remove, as the fat is removed from the peace offerings, and the priest shall burn it on the altar for a pleasing aroma to the Lord. And the priest shall make atonement for him, and he shall be forgiven.
32 “If he brings a lamb as his offering for a sin offering, he shall bring a female without blemish 33 and lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and kill it for a sin offering in the place where they kill the burnt offering. 34 Then the priest shall 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 pour out all the rest of its blood at the base of the altar. 35 And all its fat he shall remove as the fat of the lamb is removed from the sacrifice of peace offerings, and the priest shall burn it on the altar, on top of the Lord’s food offerings. And the priest shall make atonement for him for the sin which he has committed, and he shall be forgiven.
It’s so important for us to see that on the other side of the cross we have the great blessing to understand in a fuller way that these offerings take us to the cross and to Jesus our Lord. In Jesus Christ we too share in peace with God. By faith, our sins have been atoned for and Christ is the sweet aroma to the Lord.
1 Peter 2:24–25 (ESV)
24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. 25 For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
We saw last time as we examined the true God who is pleased to forgive our sin. We saw that perhaps our view of God may need to be adjusted. The sacrifices were pleasing to God. But far more pleasing is the sacrifice of Jesus Christ than the Burnt Offering. His sacrifice, as Hebrews tells us, is the superior all encompassing once for all time sacrifice.
Saving Faith is to trust Christ in all things, to believe that His sacrifice on the cross is sufficient for our complete forgiveness and restoration with God. Faith comes into play as we believe also that we have been reconciled to God.
Like the OT worshippers whom the Priest did his duty and burned their offering on the altar for the forgiveness of their sins, they too had to walk away by faith and believe that what God said He would do, namely, that their contrite heart coupled with the proper sacrifice done the correct way would grant them forgiveness of sin.
Every time the Word of God expresses God’s attitude toward the offerings, it says, it is a pleasing aroma to God.
With all the pleasure God expressed with the different Levitical offerings, each and every time His focus was on the pleasure that He finds in His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. The offering was also a time for God to turn from His wrath and look to Jesus and smile.
The first time the phrase Pleasing Aroma was used is when Noah offered God a sacrifice from the clean animals after the flood was over…
Genesis 8:20–22 (ESV)
20 Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and took some of every clean animal and some of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. 21 And when the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma, the Lord said in his heart, “I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done. 22 While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.”
Exodus 29:18 (ESV)
18 and burn the whole ram on the altar. It is a burnt offering to the Lord. It is a pleasing aroma, a food offering to the Lord.
One thing we must realize is that in Christ, God is very happy. His joy overflows with forgiveness and granting to us all we need as His people.
Jeremiah 32:37–41 (ESV)
37 Behold, I will gather them from all the countries to which I drove them in my anger and my wrath and in great indignation. I will bring them back to this place, and I will make them dwell in safety. 38 And they shall be my people, and I will be their God. 39 I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever, for their own good and the good of their children after them. 40 I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me. 41 I will rejoice in doing them good, and I will plant them in this land in faithfulness, with all my heart and all my soul.
John 15:11 (ESV)
11 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.
I want to speak to you today about the concept of a joyful and happy God.
Here we must separate our guilt and wrongful attitude toward forgiven sin. As humans even sinful humans we have a sense of the magnitude of our sin. That’s good. However, we also must, by faith, realize that in Christ, God is very joyful to forgive your sins and give you all you need to be His child. He is excited to forgive you and to meet all your needs. There is no human works added to our salvation. He delights in Jesus and in His work.
I pray that our faith in God’s forgiveness is strengthened as we realize or are reminded that it gives God great pleasure to forgive us through His Son Jesus. This is something in which God takes great delight.
God delights in many things. He delights in His Son reflecting back to Him His glory in all His attributes and perfections…
Mark 1:9–11 (ESV)
9 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. 11 And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”
Matthew 17:5 (ESV)
5 He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.”
In the account of the transfiguration of Jesus, we see the reality and focus of God’s pleasure. Jesus in all His perfections and attributes God takes great delight. God delights in Jesus’ righteousness.
In our salvation, we receive the glorious righteousness of Jesus Christ. So as the apostles stood there that day on the mountain with Jesus and had to shield their eyes because of the glory of Jesus we must realize that is how God sees us who are in Christ.
In Jesus then, God says, with you I am well pleased.
A macarious God….
1 Timothy 1:11 (ESV)
11 in accordance with the gospel of the glory of the blessed God with which I have been entrusted.
Jesus invites us to spend all eternity with a happy God.
Matthew 25:23 (ESV)
23 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’
Jesus lived a perfect life and died for our sins. This accomplished many things and one amazing accomplishment was that we could share in God’s joy.
John 15:9–11 (ESV)
9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. 10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. 11 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.
What I want to do today is to give you a greater confidence in God’s plan which includes you. Your sins are forgiven in Christ. The reason you can have confidence in this truth is because it brings God great delight to forgive you because His Son brings Him great delight.
1 Samuel 12:22 (ESV)
22 For the Lord will not forsake his people, for his great name’s sake, because it has pleased the Lord to make you a people for himself.
Speaking of Jesus, the Messiah, Isaiah wrote a very startling and amazing truth. Just as God was pleased with the offering of Noah, the burnt offering, the fellowship and peace offerings with their pleasing aroma, God is also pleased in the offering of His own Lamb as a substitute for us.
Isaiah 53:10 (ESV)
10 Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him;
he has put him to grief;
when his soul makes an offering for guilt,
he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;
the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.
Because the sacrificial system pleased God. Because He was pleased with everything about Jesus, His Son, because it pleased God to offer His Son as our Savior, it also pleased God to save you through His Son and to keep you by His Son.
Believe!!!
Resources Used:
Teaching Leviticus by Harper
Leviticus by Rooker
Leviticus by Wenham
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