Then the LORD said to Moses, “Give Aaron and his sons the following instructions regarding the sin offering. The animal given as an offering for sin is a most holy offering, and it must be slaughtered in the LORD’s presence at the place where the burnt offerings are slaughtered. The priest who offers the sacrifice as a sin offering must eat his portion in a sacred place within the courtyard of the Tabernacle. Anyone or anything that touches the sacrificial meat will become holy. If any of the sacrificial blood spatters on a person’s clothing, the soiled garment must be washed in a sacred place. If a clay pot is used to boil the sacrificial meat, it must then be broken. If a bronze pot is used, it must be scoured and thoroughly rinsed with water. Any male from a priest’s family may eat from this offering; it is most holy. But the offering for sin may not be eaten if its blood was brought into the Tabernacle as an offering for purification in the Holy Place. It must be completely burned with fire. [Leviticus 6.24-30]
As I read and re-read today's One Year Chronological Bible reading, I found myself trying to understand the differences between the required sin offerings and the offenses requiring those offerings. Admittedly, I only made the following conclusions:
First, as is noted in the passage above, there are two very broad categories: those that can be eaten and those that cannot. The distinction between these two categories is made based on whether or not the blood of that offering was taken into the Holy Place.
“If the high priest sins, bringing guilt upon the entire community, he must give a sin offering for the sin he has committed. He must present to the LORD a young bull with no defects. He must bring the bull to the LORD at the entrance of the Tabernacle, lay his hand on the bull’s head, and slaughter it before the LORD. The high priest will then take some of the bull’s blood into the Tabernacle, dip his finger in the blood, and sprinkle it seven times before the LORD in front of the inner curtain of the sanctuary. The priest will then put some of the blood on the horns of the altar for fragrant incense that stands in the LORD’s presence inside the Tabernacle. He will pour out the rest of the bull’s blood at the base of the altar for burnt offerings at the entrance of the Tabernacle. Then the priest must remove all the fat of the bull to be offered as a sin offering. This includes all the fat around the internal organs, the two kidneys and the fat around them near the loins, and the long lobe of the liver. He must remove these along with the kidneys, just as he does with cattle offered as a peace offering, and burn them on the altar of burnt offerings. But he must take whatever is left of the bull—its hide, meat, head, legs, internal organs, and dung— and carry it away to a place outside the camp that is ceremonially clean, the place where the ashes are dumped. There, on the ash heap, he will burn it on a wood fire. [Leviticus 4.3-12]
As seen in bold above, the blood of the sin offering for the high priest (for an unintentional sin) was actually taken into the Holy Place and applied in two ways: sprinkled in front of the inner curtain, and applied to the horns of the altar of incense.
The other sin offering that could not be eaten was the offering for unintentional sins committed by the entire Israelite community.
“If the entire Israelite community sins by violating one of the LORD’s commands, but the people don’t realize it, they are still guilty. When they become aware of their sin, the people must bring a young bull as an offering for their sin and present it before the Tabernacle. The elders of the community must then lay their hands on the bull’s head and slaughter it before the LORD. The high priest will then take some of the bull’s blood into the Tabernacle, dip his finger in the blood, and sprinkle it seven times before the LORD in front of the inner curtain. He will then put some of the blood on the horns of the altar for fragrant incense that stands in the LORD’s presence inside the Tabernacle. He will pour out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar for burnt offerings at the entrance of the Tabernacle. Then the priest must remove all the animal’s fat and burn it on the altar, just as he does with the bull offered as a sin offering for the high priest. Through this process, the priest will purify the people, making them right with the LORD, and they will be forgiven. Then the priest must take what is left of the bull and carry it outside the camp and burn it there, just as is done with the sin offering for the high priest. This offering is for the sin of the entire congregation of Israel. [Leviticus 4.13-21]
The distinction between what can and cannot be eaten of the offerings discussed today is reiterated in the subject passage of this article, Leviticus 6.24-30.
Next, and in contrast, verses 22-31 of Leviticus 4 detail the unintentional sin offering requirements for any other leader in Israel besides the high priest and any common person in Israel; not the corporate nation.
“If one of Israel’s leaders sins by violating one of the commands of the LORD his God but doesn’t realize it, he is still guilty. When he becomes aware of his sin, he must bring as his offering a male goat with no defects. He must lay his hand on the goat’s head and slaughter it at the place where burnt offerings are slaughtered before the LORD. This is an offering for his sin. Then the priest will dip his finger in the blood of the sin offering and put it on the horns of the altar for burnt offerings. He will pour out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar. Then he must burn all the goat’s fat on the altar, just as he does with the peace offering. Through this process, the priest will purify the leader from his sin, making him right with the LORD, and he will be forgiven. “If any of the common people sin by violating one of the LORD’s commands, but they don’t realize it, they are still guilty. When they become aware of their sin, they must bring as an offering for their sin a female goat with no defects. They must lay a hand on the head of the sin offering and slaughter it at the place where burnt offerings are slaughtered. Then the priest will dip his finger in the blood and put it on the horns of the altar for burnt offerings. He will pour out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar. Then he must remove all the goat’s fat, just as he does with the fat of the peace offering. He will burn the fat on the altar, and it will be a pleasing aroma to the LORD. Through this process, the priest will purify the people, making them right with the LORD, and they will be forgiven. [Leviticus 4.22-31]
The blood of these sacrifices is not taken into the Holy Place therefore the remaining portions of these animal sacrifices could be eaten by any male Levite (descendant of Aaron). Likewise, the prescribed grain offerings could be eaten except those used in anointing the priests (Leviticus 6.19-23).
With as much as I can understand and as described in Leviticus 6.1-7, another distinction was made for sin offerings in today's OYCB reading distinguishing between those sins committed unintentionally and those committed intentionally.
Then the LORD said to Moses, “Suppose one of you sins against your associate and is unfaithful to the LORD. Suppose you cheat in a deal involving a security deposit, or you steal or commit fraud, or you find lost property and lie about it, or you lie while swearing to tell the truth, or you commit any other such sin. If you have sinned in any of these ways, you are guilty. You must give back whatever you stole, or the money you took by extortion, or the security deposit, or the lost property you found, or anything obtained by swearing falsely. You must make restitution by paying the full price plus an additional 20 percent to the person you have harmed. On the same day you must present a guilt offering. As a guilt offering to the LORD, you must bring to the priest your own ram with no defects, or you may buy one of equal value. Through this process, the priest will purify you before the LORD, making you right with him, and you will be forgiven for any of these sins you have committed.” [Leviticus 6.1-7]
As best I can tell, the defining difference between unintentional and intentional sins is found in the necessity for full restitution plus 20% for intentional sins. Also in this passage the offering is not called a "sin offering" but is called a "guilt offering."
So, while this understanding is certainly limited, it is at least something. I am confident that, with persistent reading of these passages as part of the whole Bible, more understanding will come in progression in time. One question whose answer might be anticipated is, "How does this all relate to and point to Jesus?" I certainly look forward to that question being answered!
Father, thank You for pointing out the distinctions noted above to my understanding today. I want to remain faithful to read Your Word and learn more about You - about Jesus - every day! So be it!
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