Lev 4:2-3 | KingComments | STEP | The first three chapters form a whole. They are spoken as an ongoing speech of the LORD to Moses. In these chapters it is about voluntary offerings, which are a soothing aroma to God. The offerings that now come in Leviticus 4-5 are not voluntary. God commands these offerings. It is about sin, and in that case, God prescribes how and what is to be offered. There is also no freedom of choice as with the previous offerings. Nor are they offerings to a soothing aroma. Here he who offers the animal does not approach as a worshiper, as in the first three chapters, but as a sinner. Here it is not someone who is clean to have fellowship with the LORD, but someone who is guilty. The sin offering is not for a sinner who lives without God, but for someone who is already a member of God’s people, but has sinned. A child of God can sin ( ). This disrupts fellowship with the Father. In the sin offering God prescribes how fellowship can be restored. In the sin offering we see a picture of the Lord Jesus and His work on the cross through which sins can be forgiven ( ). In the sin offering seven different cases are distinguished, four in Leviticus 4 and three in Leviticus 5:1-13. The three cases in Leviticus 5 concern concrete, named sins. These sin offerings therefore bear more of the character of the guilt offering that is discussed in the remainder of Leviticus 5. Guilt arises when a commandment is transgressed. In Leviticus 4 sin is not presented as transgression, but sin is everything that does not happen out of obedience to God: “Sin is lawlessness” ( ). Lawlessness does not mean ‘without law’, but means ‘without acknowledging God’s authority over us’. Sin is not only murder and stealing, something that also people without God see as wrong, but everything that does not happen by faith ( ; ). Sin is not only about what we do, it can also be something we fail to do. Sin is all that deviates from the Lord’s will. Here a new beginning is made, which can be seen from the words “then the LORD spoke to Moses”. These words are also at the beginning of the previous three offerings. Just as the previous offerings form a separate category, so too the following offerings, the sin offerings and guilt offerings, form a separate category. From the first words the LORD speaks, it appears that He presupposes that a member of His people does not sin intentionally, but unintentionally. There is no offering for anyone who intentionally sins, who sins “defiantly” or “willfully”, that is to say, who rebels openly against God. Such a person shall be cut off from among his people ( ; ). A believer can also sin consciously, but at the same time he hates the sin he commits. His new nature resists this. To succumb to a temptation in the consciousness that a sin is committed, is not yet sinning in conscious rebellion against God, to defy Him. It is about falling into sin, not living in sin. There is talk of being “caught in any trespass” ( ). It is a misconception to think that God does not charge someone an unconscious sin. That He does indeed see unconscious sin as sin is shown by the offering He has given for it.

‏ Leviticus 4:2-3

Introduction

The first three chapters form a whole. They are spoken as an ongoing speech of the LORD to Moses. In these chapters it is about voluntary offerings, which are a soothing aroma to God.

The offerings that now come in Leviticus 4-5 are not voluntary. God commands these offerings. It is about sin, and in that case, God prescribes how and what is to be offered. There is also no freedom of choice as with the previous offerings. Nor are they offerings to a soothing aroma. Here he who offers the animal does not approach as a worshiper, as in the first three chapters, but as a sinner. Here it is not someone who is clean to have fellowship with the LORD, but someone who is guilty.

The sin offering is not for a sinner who lives without God, but for someone who is already a member of God’s people, but has sinned. A child of God can sin (1Jn 2:1). This disrupts fellowship with the Father. In the sin offering God prescribes how fellowship can be restored. In the sin offering we see a picture of the Lord Jesus and His work on the cross through which sins can be forgiven (1Jn 2:2).

In the sin offering seven different cases are distinguished, four in Leviticus 4 and three in Leviticus 5:1-13. The three cases in Leviticus 5 concern concrete, named sins. These sin offerings therefore bear more of the character of the guilt offering that is discussed in the remainder of Leviticus 5. Guilt arises when a commandment is transgressed.

In Leviticus 4 sin is not presented as transgression, but sin is everything that does not happen out of obedience to God: “Sin is lawlessness” (1Jn 3:4). Lawlessness does not mean ‘without law’, but means ‘without acknowledging God’s authority over us’. Sin is not only murder and stealing, something that also people without God see as wrong, but everything that does not happen by faith (Rom 14:23; Jam 4:17). Sin is not only about what we do, it can also be something we fail to do. Sin is all that deviates from the Lord’s will.

Sin Without Intention

Here a new beginning is made, which can be seen from the words “then the LORD spoke to Moses”. These words are also at the beginning of the previous three offerings. Just as the previous offerings form a separate category, so too the following offerings, the sin offerings and guilt offerings, form a separate category.

From the first words the LORD speaks, it appears that He presupposes that a member of His people does not sin intentionally, but unintentionally. There is no offering for anyone who intentionally sins, who sins “defiantly” or “willfully”, that is to say, who rebels openly against God. Such a person shall be cut off from among his people (Num 15:30; Heb 10:26).

A believer can also sin consciously, but at the same time he hates the sin he commits. His new nature resists this. To succumb to a temptation in the consciousness that a sin is committed, is not yet sinning in conscious rebellion against God, to defy Him. It is about falling into sin, not living in sin. There is talk of being “caught in any trespass” (Gal 6:1).

It is a misconception to think that God does not charge someone an unconscious sin. That He does indeed see unconscious sin as sin is shown by the offering He has given for it.

The Anointed Priest

The anointed priest must be the high priest. He too can sin (Heb 5:3; Lev 9:7 ; Lev 16:6). If he sins, it does not only affect himself, but the whole people are guilty through his sin. The fellowship between God and His people has been broken. He is, after all, the representative of the people to God. Therefore, this case is on the same line as the second case, if the whole congregation of Israel sins (Lev 4:13-21).

The anointed priest must know best about the holiness of God. He must know better than anyone what sin means to God. Therefore, in this case a great offering must be brought, which speaks of a great insight into the work of the Lord Jesus. When the anointed priest sins, the blood of the offering is brought into the sanctuary and sprinkled in front of the veil (Lev 4:5-6). The blood is also put on the horns of the altar of incense. This also happens when the whole people have sinned (Lev 4:17-18), but not when a leader or anyone of the common people has sinned. Another difference between the first two sin offerings and the last two is that only in the first two cases the offering animal is taken outside the camp and burned there.

The anointed priest has to offer a bull for his sin. It is not mentioned, as in the other cases, that his sin first became known to him. In his relationship with God, he will immediately notice if this relationship is disturbed and that there must therefore be a sin which he has committed, albeit unintentionally.

In the spiritual application, every believer is an anointed priest. If a believer discovers that he has sinned, it is due to the work of the Lord Jesus as the Advocate with the Father (1Jn 2:1). As soon as he perceives his sin, he will confess it and not wait until the evening to confess it. He will also consciously think about the fact that for that sin the Lord Jesus had to die. That will bring about deep humiliation.