Sin Offering

I guess it’s pretty self-explanatory what a sin offering was for. Yet, since everyone sins, everyone’s sin had to be atoned for—including the priests. This offering was made when one sinned unintentionally, and it was made for a specific sin.

When priests unintentionally sinned, it brought guilt to all the people. When such occurred, the priest was to bring a young bull without blemish (Lv 4:3-12). A bull was one of the more expensive and precious livestock. The priest would lay his hands on the animal for atonement and then slaughter it. The blood of the bull was sprinkled before the veil in the Holy Place of the tabernacle. Blood was then placed on the horns of the Altar of Incense, and the remainder of the blood was poured at the base of the Brazen Altar outside the tabernacle. The fat of the animal was then offered on the Brazen Altar. The remainder of the animal was taken outside the camp to the ash heap and burned to ashes on a wood fire. This was symbolic of how sins were dealt with by God. The sin was symbolically transferred to a valuable animal whose blood atoned for their relationship to God, for their prayers to God, and then offered to God. Once the animal was completely consumed, nothing of the sin was left remaining.

When the congregation sinned unintentionally, they, too, were to bring a young bull without blemish (Lv 4:13-21). The elders (one from each of the twelve clans or tribes) would lay their hands on the head of the animal for atonement and then slaughter it. Again, this shows how they were intimately involved with the sacrifice. The blood of the bull was sprinkled before the veil in the Holy Place of the tabernacle and placed on the horns of the Altar of Incense. The remainder of the blood was poured at the base of the Brazen Altar, the fat offered, and the remainder of the animal taken outside the camp to the ash heap and burned to ashes on a wood fire.

When a leader of the people sinned unintentionally, he would bring a male goat without defect (Lv 4:22-26). He would lay his hands on the head of animal for atonement and then slaughter it himself. The priest would then place the blood on the horns of the Brazen Altar while the remainder of the blood was poured at its base. The fat of the animal was offered. Both the priest and his male family members could eat the remainder within the courtyard of the tabernacle.

When a member of the community sinned unintentionally, they would bring either a female goat or female lamb without defect (Lv 4:27-35). They would lay their hands on the head of animal for atonement and then slaughter it themselves. The priest would place blood on the horns of the Brazen Altar, the remainder of the blood poured at its base, and the fat offered on the Brazen Altar. The priest and his male family members could eat the remainder within the courtyard of the tabernacle.

So, what happened with the sin was not unintentional? The sin not forgiven (Lv 5:1). Also, if someone did not speak up about what they knew about someone accused, they would be held responsible, and a sin offering would not be accepted. A defiant sin was not forgiven, and they would lose their inheritance (Nu 15:27-31).

There were several sins mentioned that would be forgiven (Lv 5:2-4): realizing one unknowingly touched something unclean, or someone thoughtlessly took an oath. They had to confess their specific sin (Lv 5:5). Once the sin was recognized, specific requirements were dictated (Lv 5:6-13). The offender was to bring either a female lamb or goat, or, if they were poor, they were to bring two doves or two pigeons: one for a sin offering; the other for a burnt offering. The sin offering was made first (the head of the bird was wrung from its neck, blood splattered against the side of the Brazen Altar; the remainder drained at the base of the Brazen Altar). The other bird was offered as a burnt offering as previously described. If they could afford neither of these types of offerings, they were to bring one-tenth ephah (3½ lbs) of the finest flour (this required extreme effort on their part to make flour this fine). It could not contain olive oil or incense. The memorial part was offered on the altar; the rest of the offering belonged to the priest.

Some interesting facts were then provided about this type of offering (Lv 6:24-30). Whatever touched the flesh of the sacrifice became holy. Blood on any garment had to be washed in the sanctuary area. A clay pot cooking the meat had to be destroyed. A bronze pot cooking the meat had to be scoured and rinsed with water. As previously noted, only the flesh from the sin offering which did not require blood to be sprinkled in the Holy Place could be eaten by the priest; otherwise, the rest of the sacrifice had to be taken outside the camp and burned to ashes.

In summary, the sin offering was to be made for a specific sin and had to be made as soon as possible once the sin was identified. This type of offering was made only for sins which were unintentional. The offering made for sin which caused the congregation to sin was treated differently from the offering made for one’s individual sin, and the one making the offering received none of the sacrifice for consumption.

That brings us to the real question: what was the purpose of all of this? Stay tuned for the next post which will address this question and then explore what it means for us today.

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens