"God tells Moses to instruct the Israelites how to present a sin offering to the Lord when someone sins unintentionally against any of the Lord's commands, doing anything prohibited by them. Specifically, God tells Moses what is to be done if the anointed priest sins or if the whole community of Israel commits a sin. During the sin offering for the assembly of Israel, the community is to bring a young bull as a sacrifice to the Lord. The priest will make atonement on their behalf, and they will be forgiven. God also tells Moses the sin offering to be given by a leader that has broken the Lord's commands and when a common man sins against the Lord. The sin offering is to be performed in order to atone and forgive one's sin. The priest and his sons perform all the offerings and sacrifices to the Lord."
- WHY YOUNG. I wonder if being 'young' symbolizes 'less sins', that's why God commanded the young bull to offered for sins unintentionally committed. Being a 'young' person could also somehow mean lack of knowledge and ignorance to some things in life, that's why sometimes they commit sins unintentionally. It could be or could be not.
- SEVEN TIMES. There it is again, God's number 7 that means completion or perfection. Some of the blood shall be sprinkled 7 times, perhaps to mean or assure that the forgiveness of sin through the sin offering is perfectly done and complete.
22 ‘When a ruler or leader sins and unintentionally does any one of the things the Lord his God has commanded not to be done, and he becomes guilty, 23 if his sin which he has committed is made known to him, he shall bring a goat, a male without blemish as his offering. 24 He shall lay his hand on the head of the male goat [transferring symbolically his guilt to the sacrifice], and kill it in the place where they kill the burnt offering before the Lord; it is a sin offering. 25 Then the priest is to 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 the rest of its blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering. 26 And he shall offer all its fat up in smoke on the altar like the fat from the sacrifice of peace offerings; so the priest shall make atonement for him in regard to his sin, and he will be forgiven.
27 ‘If anyone of the common people sins unintentionally by doing any of the things the Lord has commanded not to be done, and becomes guilty, 28 if his sin which he has committed is made known to him, then he shall bring a goat, a female without blemish as his offering for the sin which he has committed. 29 He shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering [transferring symbolically his guilt to the sacrifice], and kill it at the place of the burnt offering. 30 The priest shall take some of its blood with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering and shall pour out all the rest of its blood at the base of the altar. 31 Then he shall remove all its fat, just as the fat was removed from the sacrifice of peace offerings; and the priest shall offer it up in smoke on the altar as a sweet and soothing aroma to the Lord. In this way the priest shall make atonement for him, and he will be forgiven.
32 ‘If he brings a lamb as his offering for a sin offering, he shall bring a female without blemish. 33 He shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering [transferring symbolically his guilt to the sacrifice], and kill it as a sin offering in the place where they kill the burnt offering. 34 The priest is to 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 all the rest of the blood of the lamb he shall pour out at the base of the altar. 35 Then he shall remove all its fat, just as the fat of the lamb is removed from the sacrifice of the peace offerings, and the priest shall offer it up in smoke on the altar, on the offerings by fire to the Lord. In this way the priest shall make atonement for him in regard to the sin which he has committed, and he will be forgiven.
- THE WAGES OF SIN IS DEATH. As gory or bloody as it sounds, the animal offerings makes sense knowing that everything belongs to the Lord. God did not take the life of the people, because of their sins, instead gave them a solution or a way to be right with Him. If that is not love, grace and mercy, I don't know what is. Also God even gave up His own Son to once and for all fulfill God's wrath and justice in our sins. Jesus as the perfect, unblemished Lamb, sacrificed and died on the cross, so that we will be reconciled back to God and we will enjoy a relationship and fellowship with Him 🙂
"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 6:23
After reading, I always check out the Study Guide Commentary from David Guzik (very helpful!):
a. If a person sins unintentionally: The idea is not so much of an accidental sin, but of a sin committed by a person who basically loves God. The contrast to an unintentional sin is to sin presumptuously (Numbers 15:30). Literally, this was "to sin with a high hand." There was no atonement available for the one whose heart was so defiantly turned against the LORD in presumptuous sin. If your heart wasn't turned towards the LORD, then all the animals in the world sacrificed on your behalf did you no good.
a. If the anointed priest sins, bringing guilt on the people: If a priest needed a sin offering made on his behalf, a bull had to be sacrificed on his behalf, with the priest identifying with the victim through the laying on of hands.
i. The presence of a separate ritual of cleansing for the sin of the priest shows that they had a great accountability before the LORD and were, in a sense, judged according to a stricter measure.
b. Sprinkle some of the blood seven times before the LORD, in front of the veil of the sanctuary: The blood of this bull was applied to the veil in the tabernacle of meeting, to the altar of incense, and to the altar of sacrifice outside the tabernacle.
i. Sin is an offense against the holiness of God, and so the veil guarding His holy presence must receive sacrificial blood.
ii. Sin affects our prayer life, and so the altar of incense representing the prayers of God's people must receive sacrificial blood.
iii. Sin makes our atonement necessary, so the altar of the burnt offering - the place of atonement - must receive sacrificial blood.
Reference and credits to https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/guzik_david/StudyGuide2017-Lev/Lev-4.cfm ©2013 David Guzik
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