Lev 4:4 | KingComments | STEP | The anointed priest has no choice when it comes to the offering he has to bring for his sin. The offering must be a bull. A bull is a great offering. In the picture, it assumes that the anointed priest has a great insight into what this bull represents. It represents how the Lord Jesus accomplished the great work with determined power and that He had to accomplish that work for this sin as well. The priest must be aware of this. He must bring his offering animal “to the doorway of the tent of meeting”. The sin of the anointed priest has consequences for the service in the tent where God meets His people. He must bring it “before the LORD”. If we have sinned, we must confess it before God. We must once again realize that the Lord Jesus had to come under God’s judgment for that sin, and had to die. We must, as it were, go back to the cross to see what the Lord Jesus had to suffer in order to work atonement for this sin. The placing of the hand on the head of the sin offering expresses identification with the offering. For the worshiper in the previous chapters, the laying on of hands means that he is made one with the acceptability of the offering animal. In the sin offering it means that the animal is identified with the unacceptability of the one who offers the animal. The sinfulness of the sinner is transmitted in picture to the offering. After this identification the bull has to be slain. The anointed priest does that himself. After all, he has sinned. It suggests that we become aware again: what happened to the Lord Jesus happened in my place. The picture of slaying shows that every sin results in death: “For the wages of sin is death” ( ). As long as there are excuses for the sin committed, the confession is incomplete.

‏ Leviticus 4:4

The Sin Offering Has to Be Slain

The anointed priest has no choice when it comes to the offering he has to bring for his sin. The offering must be a bull. A bull is a great offering. In the picture, it assumes that the anointed priest has a great insight into what this bull represents. It represents how the Lord Jesus accomplished the great work with determined power and that He had to accomplish that work for this sin as well. The priest must be aware of this.

He must bring his offering animal “to the doorway of the tent of meeting”. The sin of the anointed priest has consequences for the service in the tent where God meets His people. He must bring it “before the LORD”. If we have sinned, we must confess it before God. We must once again realize that the Lord Jesus had to come under God’s judgment for that sin, and had to die. We must, as it were, go back to the cross to see what the Lord Jesus had to suffer in order to work atonement for this sin.

The placing of the hand on the head of the sin offering expresses identification with the offering. For the worshiper in the previous chapters, the laying on of hands means that he is made one with the acceptability of the offering animal. In the sin offering it means that the animal is identified with the unacceptability of the one who offers the animal. The sinfulness of the sinner is transmitted in picture to the offering.

After this identification the bull has to be slain. The anointed priest does that himself. After all, he has sinned. It suggests that we become aware again: what happened to the Lord Jesus happened in my place. The picture of slaying shows that every sin results in death: “For the wages of sin is death” (Rom 6:23). As long as there are excuses for the sin committed, the confession is incomplete.