Christ in all the scriptures The sin offering part 2

 Christ in all the scriptures

The sin offering part 2  Leviticus 4

"Christ died for our sins, according to the scriptures..." 1st Cor. 15v1

The principles are the same, but the sin offering applies more to the confession of sins of redeemed people, rather than to their initial conversion.  The reality is that believers still can commit sin, and that the sins committed by them is no less abhorrent to God, and must be put away.  We will not be sinless until glorified.  The sacrifice if Christ has dealt with this also, as it says in 1st John 1v7, "...the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth (continues to cleanse) us from all sin".  This is in the context of confession of sins as we approach God, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness".  Confession means "to speak the same thing" as God about our sin, that is to agree with His thoughts about our sin, and to seek forgiveness and cleansing.  This is the sin offering, the aspect of the work of Christ that removes sin from us, whether past, present or future.  There is a wonderful study in the writings of Dr, Lewis Sperry Chafer, co-founder of Dallas Theological Seminary which says there are 33 individual sins exposed by scripture, and these have been answered by 33 blessings of grace theologically imputed to all believers at the point of conversion, and which are available experimentally in the ongoing challenge of the Christian life.

We note in the four cameos in chapter four, concerning the priest, the congregation, the rulers and the common people, that the answer to sin in every case is to bring the sin offering before the Lord-refer 4v3 "...let him bring for his sin...a young bullock without blemish unto the Lord for a sin offering"; 4v14 "the congregation shall offer a young bullock for the sin..."; 4v22-23 "When a ruler has sinned...he shall bring his offering, a kid of the goats, a male without blemish"; 4v27-28 "And if any one of the common people sin through ignorance...or if the sin which he has sinned come to his knowledge: then he shall bring his offering, a kid of the goats, a female without blemish, for his sin which he hath sinned.  There are slight differences in the offerings depending on the status of the sinner, but they all speak of the one sacrifice of Christ.  As John put it, Jesus Christ the righteous...He is the propitiation for our sins...1st John 2v1-2.  In service to God, sin in our lives must be put away.  

Note the ritual: Bring!...lay hands upon!...kill!  Confession...identification...substitution.  We do not approach God on our own, we come in the name of Christ our sacrifice; we lay our hands upon the offering, all or trust, all our dependence is firmly on Him, nothing of ourselves involved.  The sacrifice must die, itself a proclamation that our sins deserve eternal death, but Jesus took our place.  All this we first learned at the point of our conversion, and it applies all the way through life.  Not only did He die to save us, but He lives to intercede for us.  Why intercede? because our sins, even in our converted state, are an offence to God.   This is the greatest truth on earth, that my sins are gone, and, when in the pressures of life they raise their ugly head, He intercedes and pleads His righteousness before God.  None of us will ever know the extent of the protection we have in Christ, who pleads our cause at the throne of God. 

There is no provision made for eating the sin offering, in contrast to the peace offering where everyone shared a part.  There is nothing savoury or nourishing about the offering for sin.  Instead, the whole animal with all its entrails was removed from the camp and burned to ashes remotely.  Interestingly, the word for "burnt" is different for that describing the burnt offering on the altar.  In the latter the word is Olah meaning slow burning, that which causes smoke to ascend.  The word for the sin offering is Saraph (from which the burning seraphim around the throne) and means to burn utterly, to reduce to ashes.  The fat and the choice inwards were removed and burnt on the altar of sacrifice; the rest of the entire animal was quickly reduced to ashes outside the camp.  This represents God's attitude to sin, He wants it reduced to nothing out of His sight.  There is no pleasure for God in the sin offering, there is no profit for us to either rake it over ourselves, or feed on the faults of others.  God has removed it forever, in the language of Psalm 103v12,"As far as the east is from the west, so far hath He removed our transgressions from us".  Since no starting point in the east is given, the distance is permanent and incalculable.  Also from Isaiah 43v25 we read, "I, even I, am He that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins".  In the total burning of the sin offering God declares His purpose to eradicate it forever.  No doubt the abandonment of Christ on Golgotha's tree (Psalm 22v1; Mark 15v34; Matthew 27v46) refers to the sin offering, when, as Isaiah (53v6) wrote, "The Lord hath laid on Him (caused to converge upon Him) the iniquity of us all".  

In the peace offering the main thought is that of communion; in the sin offering it is cleansing (the offering was burned without the camp in a clean place (4v12)  What is prominent in the sin offering of chapter 4 is the blood, what was done with it, where it was sprinkled, and this proclaims the necessity of the blood of Christ to cleanse us from sins.  Leviticus 4v5-7, the priest brought the blood to the tabernacle of the congregation; dipped his finger in the blood and sprinkled it seven times before the Lord, before the veil of the sanctuary; put some of it on the horns of the golden altar, then poured out the remainder at the base of the brazen altar.  In 4v16-18, for the whole congregation, the same procedure was carried out.  In 4v25-27, for the sins of a ruler, the priest put the blood on the horns of the brazen altar, and poured the rest on the base of the altar.  In 4v30, the priest repeated the same ritual for the blood as for the ruler.  Hebrews 9v18-23, referring to the dedication of the tabernacle, "Moses sprinkled both the book and the people..."; "also the tabernacle and all the vessels"; "...almost all things are by the law purged with blood, and without the shedding of blood is no remission".   What we have in Leviticus 4 is the ongoing ritual of blood cleansing for the sins of the people.  It is considered gory to a modern sceptic to emphasize blood cleansing, but without it there is no approach to God.  The sceptic must remain outside of the process, both the person and his teaching.  The church, the true church, was purchased by, and lives by, the blood of Christ (Acts 20v28).  

"The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin"  1st John 1v7

"Propitiation through faith in His blood"  Romans 3v25

"...now justified by His blood..."  Romans 5v9

"The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ?"  1st Corinthians 10v16

"In whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins..."  Ephesians 1v7

"...made nigh by the blood of Christ."  Ephesians 2v13

"And having made peace through the blood of His cross..."  Colossians 1v20

"How much more shall the blood of Christ who, through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?"  Hebrews 9v14

"Having, therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus..."  Hebrews 10v19

"Wherefore Jesus, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered without the gate"  Hebrews 13v25

"Redeemed...from your vain (empty) manner of life...with the precious blood of Christ...1st Peter 1v18-19

"Unto Him that loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood..."  Revelation 1v5

"...Thou wast slain, and hath redeemed us to God by thy blood..."  Revelation 5v9

"...washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb..."  Revelation 7v14

"And they overcame him (Satan) by the blood of the Lamb"  Rev. 12v11

Who would be a sceptic in light of all this!?

Christ in all the scriptures The sin offering Leviticus 4

 Christ in all the scriptures

The Sin offering   Leviticus 4

"...when thou shalt make His soul an offering for sin..."Isaiah 53v10

We come now to the fourth aspect of the one offering of Christ.  We cite Hebrews 10v-4 for clarification that no animal sacrifice could take away sin, and so make worshippers perfect (fit to serve the living God).  The sin offering pointed to Christ, and the forbearance of God was active until He came (Romans 3v25-26), and it was in prospect of His coming God was able commune with them.  We understand from this that God will have nothing to do with sin, and therefore nothing to do with sinners in their sin, and they must be removed, if He would dwell among them.  In the worship of God, the question of sin must be removed completely, and this was done in Christ.  It is doubtful if we fully understand what sin is to God, and so we are bound by His definition of it and take on board the biblical meaning.

The Hebrew word chata actually means to miss, to fall short, to go wrong, and this in relation to God.  The Greek word is hamartia which is similar, and is derived from archery, where the object of hitting the bullseye has failed.  This is confirmed in Romans 3v23 "All have sinned and come short of the glory of God".  Thus we have fallen short of the most important aspect of our lives, we were created in the image of God to reflect His character, and we have come short!  We are on this earth to glorify God and we have failed.  This takes many forms but this is what sin is.  It is not only what we have done in defiance of God, but what we have omitted to do, that we should have done!  (Sins of omission as well as sins of commission.)  The Divine law refers to both aspects, "Thou shalt...", "Thou shalt not...".   We are not the people we should be, we have not given God His proper place.  We should be better than what we are, and we will be in Christ (Ephesians 4v24; Colossians 3v10).  Christ died  to save us from ruin, and make us the people we ought to be.  But first we must understand the nature of sin which is obnoxious to God.

Leviticus 4 deals with sins of ignorance, which afflict all sections of the congregation of Israel, and therefore all groups of people.  That is, so imbedded in our nature is this genetic flaw that we are not even aware that we are sinners (failures) in the sight of God.

Leviticus 4v1-2 "And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If a soul shall sin through ignorance against any of the commandments of the Lord concerning things which ought not to be done, and shall do against any of them."

There are four groups mentioned in this respect: the priests (v3-12); the whole congregation (v13-21; the rulers (v22-26); any one of the common people (v27-35).  Immediately, we can see that sin afflicts all sections of society, and can spread rapidly, like a disease from one to another.  No one escapes the reality that we are all sinners.  We may not know it, but we all are failures in the matter of sin.  The problem is our familiarity with it, our light-hearted appreciation of something that is abhorrent to God.  Sin challenges the perfections of God and reduces Him to a common level.  Thankfully the sacrifice of Christ has dealt with every aspect, affecting all people, and He is the answer to frailties and imperfections, and this is the teaching of the sin offering.  His death has removed the stain of sins from the hearts of God's redeemed people.  God Himself defines our sin, and He, Himself, delivers us from it.  It is now possible for the highest of God's creation to truly worship Him.

We should note the attitude of God to sin, all sin is "against the commandments of the Lord"-refer chapter 4v2; 4v13; 4v22; 4v27.  Commandments were introduced to define sin, so that we could understand and respect the Creator.  All sin, whether known or not, violates these definitions, and places us in conflict with God.  Deep within us is the strong tendency to stray from God, and so alienate us from Him, and Christ came to reconcile us.  Sin may harm those attached to us, like spouses, children, family, or even the wider community.  However, ultimately all sin is against God.  In Psalm 51, (a record of the fall-out from King David's adultery with Bathsheba), in his confession he said "Against thee, and thee only have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight"-v4.  The only answer to human sin is Christ, "...the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin"-1st John 1v7.  The fact that the Spirit of God highlights  the sins of officiating priests and rulers, in the chapter, tells us that no one is immune from this evil, indeed those in positions of privilege and leadership are treated the same as the common people, there is no respecter of persons with God.  In fact Jesus indicated that high privilege actually magnifies the sin of the individual (John 19v11), and James, in his epistle (3v1) indicates that individuals who break the commandments while in a status of honour would receive "greater condemnation".  High calling in life brings upon us greater responsibility.  

It is not only what we do in defiance of the known will of God, that constitutes sin, it is also the ignorance of (or indifference to) the word of the Lord.  There is a telling phrase in chapter 5v17 "...though he wist it not, yet is he guilty, and shall bear his iniquity".  Ignorance of the law of God is no excuse, and this surely calls for urgent education of the things of God.  

We shall find that every aspect of sin was covered in the sin offering, and in the next study we shall consider the ritual distinctions which demonstrate the character of sin, and God's abhorrence of it.  For now we focus on the offering of Christ for sins, which declares the depth of His suffering.

Hebrews 1v3 "...when He had by Himself purged our sins (made purification for sins-sin had defiled not only the whole of humanity, but the whole of the created universe).  He did this by Himself, alone bearing the awful burden of sin.

2nd Corinthians 5v21 "For He hath made Him sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."

1st Peter 2v24 "Who His own self bare our sins in His body on the tree, that we being dead to sins should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed".

2nd Peter 3v18 "For Christ also hath once (for all) suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God".

Romans 8v3 "God, sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us...".

John 1v29 "Behold the lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world".

These and many other texts reveal the reality of sin, and what Christ had to do to remove it. The hymnwriter, once again captures the thought to do with sins, "All my sins were laid upon Him, Jesus bore them to the tree; God who knew them, laid them on Him, and believing we are free!"

We shall discover next that the sacrifice of Christ dealt not only past sins, but present sins and therefore all future sins.  It is just that we need to be aware that in approaching God, confessing sins must become part of our lives until we become sinless, as we shall!