Leviticus 4: The Sin Offering of the Anointed Priest
“‘Then the LORD spoke to Moses,’ from the throne of glory between the cherubim God delivered these orders.” (Matthew Henry) saying, ‘Speak to the children of Israel, saying: “If a soul,’ — that is an "individual" (Barnes)— ‘sins unintentionally’— not willfully. “For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries.” (Heb 10:26-27) Note also that "it is the soul (better, "the person") that is liable to death by it. Ezekiel 18:4.” (Robert Hawker)— “’against any of the commandments of Yahweh in anything which ought not to be done, and does any of them.’ (1-2) “‘By the law is the knowledge of sin.’ It is here defined as ‘against the Commandments of the LORD,” etc. (the moral code); and to meet this new disclosure of human frailty and guiltiness, God appointed the sin and trespass offerings. Shall we not welcome a full discovery of our sinfulness, since it both disposes the sinner to despair of self-justification and constrains him to seek the redemption divinely provided? When God reveals sin it is to show its antidote; and “with Him is plenteous redemption.’” (Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary)
“The sin offering is not for a sinner who lives without God, but for someone who is already a member of God’s people (he has already offered a burn offering, meal offering and peace offering), but has sinned. A child of God can sin (1 John 2:1) This disrupts fellowship with the Father. In the sin offering God prescribes how fellowship can be restored.” (G. de Koning) As in all offerings so far there are differing aspects for different people. “The choice of a victim for the sin-offering seems to have been determined by the rank of the sinner. For a high priest, or for the whole people, it was a bullock, (Levi 4:3,14); for a ruler, a he-goat was chosen (Lev 4:23); a she-goat sufficed in the instance of an ordinary person (Lev 4:28), or a lamb (Lev 4:32) or two doves or pigeons (Lev 5:7), or a measure of fine flour (Lev 5:11), depending upon the sinner's ability to pay. Despite such variations, however, all sinners without exception had no means whatever of finding peace with God except as provided here.” (Coffman Commentary)
“An order of responsibility is revealed in that provision is made first for the priest, then for the congregation, then for the ruler, and finally for the individual. While it is recognized that in the priest or the ruler sin is more pernicious on account of the influence each exerts, no man can excuse himself by transferring blame to others. It will be observed that through all these arrangements concerning the sin offering, responsibility is recognized with the knowledge of the sin. It is when a man's sin was made known to him that he was expected to bring his offering. Let it not be thought, however, that sins of which a man is unconscious can be lightly excused. For these, sacrificial provision was also made in the offering on the great Day of Atonement, which will be considered in due course [lest he die].” (Morgan’s Exposition)
3 if the anointed priest sins, bringing guilt on the people, then let him offer to Yahweh for his sin which he has sinned a young bull without blemish as a sin offering. 4 He shall bring the bull to the door of the tabernacle of meeting before Yahweh, lay his hand on the bull’s head, and kill the bull before Yahweh. 5 Then the anointed priest shall take some of the bull’s blood and bring it to the tabernacle of meeting. 6 The priest shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle some of the blood seven times before Yahweh, 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 sweet incense before Yahweh which is in the tabernacle of meeting; and he shall pour the remaining blood of the bull at the base of the altar of the burnt offering, which is at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. 8 He shall take from it all the fat of the bull as the sin offering. The fat that covers the entrails and all the fat which is on the entrails, 9 the two kidneys and the fat that is on them by the flanks, and the fatty lobe attached to the liver above the kidneys, he shall remove, 10 as it was taken from the bull of the sacrifice of the peace offering; and the priest shall burn them on the altar of the burnt offering. 11 But the bull’s hide and all its flesh, with its head and legs, its entrails and offal— 12 the whole bull he shall carry outside the camp to a clean place, where the ashes are poured out, and burn it on wood with fire; where the ashes are poured out it shall be burned.
“‘If the high-priest,’ who only was anointed. His anointing is mentioned, because he was not complete high-priest till he was anointed.— ‘do sin,’ either in doctrine or practice, which it is here supposed he might do. And this is noted as a character of imperfection in the priesthood of the law, Whereby the Israelites were directed to expect another and better high-priest, even one who is ‘holy, harmless, and separate from sinners,’ Hebrews 7:26.” (Benson)— “‘[bringing guilt on the people.’ (3a) The whole nation is concerned in every transgression of its representative [head].” (Barnes) It influences his sergeants or, here, priests. “As the high priest, so, in modern time, the bishop, minister, or elder, is ordained as an officer in matters of religion, to act for and with men in the things of God.” (The Expositor's Bible Commentary)
If the church authority unintentionally transgresses the moral code of the Commandments. “Well, what then? I KNOW WHAT THE MOCKING WORLD WILL SAY: ‘If the priest that is anointed do sin,’ I will have nothing to do with religion at all; it is all hypocrisy; he is no better than other men. I KNOW WHAT THE UNCHARITABLE PROFESSOR WILL SAY: Turn him out; he is a hypocrite. ‘If the priest that is anointed do sin,’ he has disgraced himself. I KNOW WHAT MY OWN HEART WILL SAY: It is no good; I have tried; I have fallen; I may as well give it all up, there is no hope at all. BUT WHAT DOES GOD SAY? ‘If the priest that is anointed do sin,’ let him bring his sacrifice; ‘let him bring . . . a young bullock without blemish . . . for a sin-offering.’ Is it not marvellous! … And if you read on you will see, in the Revised Version, ‘If the priest that is anointed do sin, so as to cause the people to sin.’ Yes, if the priest sin, he causes the people to sin, and if the Christian sin he is a stumbling block to others, therefore an ungodly man will go still further into the depths of sin. Brethern, if the priest that is anointed do sin, do not deter him. Let him bring his sacrifice, as prescribed by the Lord! He shall bring it to ‘the door of the tabernacle of meeting’- the same place that he made atonement on the offering of the burnt offering. Let him ‘lay his hand upon the bullock’s head.’ The bullock is to be without spot or blemish. The priest comes there conscious of his own sin, and lays his hand upon the bullock’s head. And that is the first thing you must do. You must [again] find a spotless victim. The Lord Jesus Christ is that Lamb without sin, without spot. The first thing to do is to put our hand upon the victim… [and again] he shall kill the bullock before the Lord. There is no doubt about it, ‘the wages of sin is death.’ Look at it! look priest! and see what your sin has brought about [yet again] the death of that pure and spotless victim.” (E. A. Stuart, M. A.)
For the sin offering, rather than gathering the blood in a container, the high priest shall “dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle some of the blood seven times before Yahweh, in front of the veil of the sanctuary." “Seven times; a number much used in Scripture, as a number of perfection.” (Matthew Poole) And here prescribed, it shows the completeness of the access restored. “The fathers had a notion that the world should endure seven thousand years; hence they affirmed, that Christ’s blood should be sprinkled throughout the seven ages or periods.” (Jospeh Sutcliffe) "And the priest shall put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of sweet incense before Yahweh which is in the tabernacle of meeting." His prayers are then heard again. "And he shall pour the remaining blood of the bull at the base of the altar of the burnt offering, which is at the door of the tabernacle of meeting." The atonement that the burnt offering afforded the priest was made effective again by the sin offering. Note also brethren: “There was no oil mixed with the sin offering to suggest gladness; no fragrance of frankincense; no festive joy or communion, as at the meat offering. Everything about it denoted sorrow and suffering on account of sin [ of ignorance].” (F. W. Brown)
“The internal fat is to be burnt upon the altar of the burnt offering, but not actually upon the smoldering burnt sacrifice, as in the case of the peace offerings;.” (The Pulpit Commentaries)
But the rest of the animal, rather than being consumed in a festive meal, was taken to a clean place outside of the camp and burned, where normally the residue of the victim lay, returned as it were, to the earth from which it came. It is holy. Likewise, Christ suffered without the camp. “Jerusalem meant it as a reproach. God by it indicated His extreme holiness. Jerusalem testified against itself… It was clearly a place set apart for God’ use and was regularly needed for the depositing of holy ashes.” (Peter Pett) When we discover sin in the church that will not be addressed by the leaders, “We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat. For the bodies of those animals, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned outside the camp. Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore let us go forth to Him, outside the camp, bearing His reproach. For here we have no continuing city, but we seek the one to come. Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name. But do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased. Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you.“ (Heb 13:10-17)
Leviticus 4:13-21 The Sin Offering for the Whole Congregation
“‘Now if the whole congregation of Israel sins unintentionally, and the thing is hidden from the eyes of the assembly,’ The assembly’ here spoken of denote the great Sanhedrin [or tribes leaders], the representatives of the people…. As the whole Church, in its corporate body, is no more exempt from human frailty than its highest spiritual chief, the law now prescribes the sin offering for the congregation. The case here assumed is that of the whole congregation having ignorantly committed some act which at the time of its committal they believed to be lawful, but which they afterwards discovered to be sinful. ” (Ellicott's Commentary)
“When the sin becomes ‘known’ to them (Leviticus 4:14), an expiation must be made with a solemnity equal to the high priest’s. Guilt is not less guilty because of its being prevalent in a community. God has declared against wrong-doers that ‘though hand join in hand they shall not be unpunished.’” (Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary)
"We must be open to God telling us that we, as a local church, do things that in His eyes are sin… On behalf of the whole people, the elders put their hands on the head of the bull.” (G. de Koning) “‘And the priest that is anointed (and cleansed from his sin offerings in Leviticus 4:1-2) priest,’ i.e., the high priest, ‘shall put some of the blood up on the horns of the altar which is before the LORD that is in the Tabernacle of the Congregation,’ the golden altar of incense, ‘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 up on the altar. And he shall do with the bullock as he did with the bullock for a sin-offering,’ that offered by the high priest,’ 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 burned the first bullock, it is a sin-offering for the congregation.” (Kretzmann Commentary) “The people, returning from those tragic sacrifices, left their sins behind their backs. An apostle calls those sins, ‘dead works,’ which could only be purged by the superior efficacy of the blood shed on Calvary.” (Jospeh Sutcliffe)
The blindness found in the Jews in Jesus’ day seems to have a parallel in the Church at the end of time. There is a strange woman there. And many of the prophecies had dual applications. “This offering for the whole congregation appears to teach us that at the cross sin in its entirety was fully judged, not only individual sins. This would be a further reason for the animal being burned outside the camp, with the blood brought into the sanctuary to make atonement.” (L. M. Grant) There will simply be no way for a congregation or a denomination to stand before Jesus on the day of Judgment and defend an action or doctrine with the words “this is what the church has taught from the earliest days.” Beware, ecclesiastical tradition is not Infallible. We must study to show ourselves approved by God. And we must purge bad doctrine with a sin offering for the congregation. “ Proper appreciation of that (Reformation) truth does not mean ‘abandoning the core of Reformation Theology,’ McGowan continues, but neither does it warrant moving ‘towards a rigid confessionalism, giving the impression, that the final codification of truth has already taken place and that there is no future need for reformation.’ (McGowan)…” (The Fire that Consumes by Edward Fudge)
As we discover truth, let us have circumcised hearts. And when we find something amiss, we must tell the church to allow the sacrifice of Jesus to cleanse the institution. But if the church leaders will not hear us, let us go onto Him in a clean place outside the camp.
Leviticus 4: Sin Offering for a Ruler (Lev 4:22-26) or the People of the Land (Lev 4:27-35)
The third instance is that of a civil ruler sinning inadvertently… “as the word here translated ‘ruler’ is used for a king (1 Ki 11:34; Eze 34:24; 46:2), the head of a tribe (Num 1:4-16) or of the division of a tribe (Num 34:18).” (C. J. Ellicott) “And here is a lesson for modern politicians, no less than for rulers of the olden time in Israel. While there are many in our Parliaments and like governing bodies in Christendom who cast their every vote with the fear of God before their eyes, yet, if there be any truth in the general opinion of men upon this subject, there are many in such places who, in their voting, have before their eyes the fear of party more than the fear of God; and who, when a question comes before them, first of all consider, not what would the law of absolute righteousness, the law of God, require, but how will a vote, one way or the other, in this matter, be likely to affect their party? Such certainly need to be emphatically reminded of this part of the law of the sin offering, which held the civil ruler specially responsible to God for the execution of his trust. For so it is still; God has not abdicated His throne in favour of the people, nor will He waive His crown rights out of deference to the political necessities of a party.” (The Expositor's Bible Commentary)
And the fourth and final case is that of the “common people - “literally, ‘the people of the land.’ It was the ordinary designation of the people, as distinguished from the priests and the rulers.” (Barnes) “A ‘ruler’ was not a spiritual representative, as the priest was, yet he was in authority over the ‘common people’, so that his sin and that of one of the common people (v. 27) required the same treatment, except that a male goat was required for the ruler, a female for the subject. As to the priest and the whole congregation there was a marked difference….The male kid of the goats was used because the ruler is objectively the authority…. In the case of the sin of ignorance on the part of one of the common people, the instructions were just the same as for a ruler, except that a female animal was required, and also that either a sheep or a goat was acceptable. The female was appropriate for a subject, for the female speaks of a subjective character, rather than objective, as in the case of a ruler.” (L. M. Grant)
“Now, in comparing the phrase used with regard to the sin of ignorance in the case of the high priest, the congregation, and any one of the people, it will be seen that in all the three instances it is simply described as a sin ‘against any commandments of the LORD’(cp. Lev 4:2; Lev 4:13; Lev 4:27), whereas in the case of the ruler, we have the exceptional phrase, ‘against any of the commandments of the LORD HIS GOD’.” (C. J. Ellicott) “God takes notice of and is displeased with the sins of rulers. Those who have power to call others to account are themselves accountable to the ruler of rulers; for, as high as they are, there is a higher than they. This is intimated in that the commandment transgressed is here said to be the commandment of the LORD his God,Leviticus 4:22. He is a prince to others, but let him know the LORD is a God to him.” (Matthew Henry) “It was surely no small humiliation to the priest, and no small mark of the greatness of his sin, to see a ruler or a prince stand by him with a kid of the goats, though he had been guilty of the same offence. This evidently teaches that the sins of magistrates and of secular men, are far less heinous than the sins of those who officiate in the sanctuary of God. But let not the rich man triumph in his pride, as though the Lord took no cognizance of his crimes; for unless he also appear before his Maker with humility, with sincere repentance and all its fruits, he abides under the divine displeasure, and is cut off from his kingdom.... [and likewise] the peasant.. Let every one therefore make haste, and sprinkle his conscience with the blood of the covenant; for if the destroying angel should pass by, and find no mark on his forehead, no blood on the door of his house, he will become a victim of divine justice, and be cut off from the city and temple of our God.” (Jospeh Sutcliffe)
In these cases "in contrast to the case of the high priest or the whole nation, the animal’s blood and carcass were treated differently. The place where the priest met with God, and where the nation met with God through him, was in the Holy Place at the veil that hung between the altar of incense and the ark of the covenant. Therefore, the blood was applied there, to symbolize that through the blood of atonement access to God was possible again (see v. 6-7). But for ordinary people, the place of meeting with God was the altar in the court where they offered their sacrifices. The blood was therefore applied to this altar, to symbolize atonement and renewal of fellowship with God (22-35).No blood from the sin offering of a private person was taken into the Holy Place, and the carcass, instead of being destroyed outside the camp, was eaten solemnly by the priests. The worshipper would have assurance that God was satisfied and fellowship restored when he saw the same priest who offered the sacrifice on his behalf eating part of it in the presence of God. The priest was allowed to eat the sacrificial meat in this case, because the sin offering was not for his own sin. He could not do so when the sin offering was for his own sin or for the sin of the nation of which he was a member (6:24-29).A simple rule summarized the procedure for the treatment of the carcass and the blood. In those cases where the blood was brought into the Holy Place, the carcass had to be burnt, not eaten. In those cases where the blood was not brought into the Holy Place, the carcass had to be eaten, not burnt (6:30; 10:18).” (Bridgeway Bible Commentary)
“The animals sacrificed as sin-offerings varied, according to whether it was for the ‘priest,’ ‘whole congregation,’ ‘ruler,’ or ‘one of the common people.’ Also, as before observed, no one type could ever suffice to depict the glorious Antitype; therefore no doubt some different characteristic or aspect of the Blessed One, in His passion, is set forth in each of the animals sacrificed.” (Lady Beaujolois Dent) “But here again the form of the Son of Man appears! Jehovah, God of Israel, institutes sacrifice for sins of ignorance, and thereby discovers the same compassionate and considerate heart that appears in our High Priest, ‘who can have compassion on the ignorant!’ (Hebrews 5:2). Amidst the types of this Tabernacle we recognise the presence of Jesus; it is His voice that shakes the curtains and speaks in the ear of Moses, ‘If a soul shall sin through ignorance!’ The same yesterday, to-day, and for ever!” (A. A. Bonar)