Leviticus 4-6

What I Noticed Today (Leviticus 4-6)

Leviticus 4

Leviticus 4 deals with the laws surrounding the sin offering. The sin offering was for unintentional sin or sins of ignorance. There was no provision for a sacrifice to cover intentional sin!

The law covers first the priest who sins, then the nation who sins, a leader who sins, and finally, the common people who sin.

In verses 3-12, the Lord provides instructions for the priest who sins unintentionally.

• When the anointed priest (high priest) sinned unintentionally bringing guilt on the people, he is to bring an unblemished bull as a sin offering.
• In front of the tent of meeting, he is to lay hands on the bull’s head and slaughter it.
• Then he is to sprinkle some of the blood seven times before the Lord in front of the sanctuary veil.
• He must then apply some of the blood to the horns of the altar of incense.
• He must then pour out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar of burnt offering.
• The fat, liver, and kidneys must be burned as a fellowship offering to the Lord.
• The rest of the bull is to be taken outside the camp to a ceremonially clean place and burned on a wood fire.

In verses 13-21, the Lord provides instructions for the nation for their unintentional sin.

• When the assembly sinned unintentionally, they must present a young bull as a sin offering.
• The elders must lay hands on the bull’s head, and it must be slaughtered before the Lord.
• The anointed priest will sprinkle some of the bull’s blood seven times before the tent of meeting.
• Then the priest is to apply some of the blood to the horns of the altar before the Lord.
• The rest of the blood is to be poured out at the base of the altar of burnt offering.
• The fat must be burned on the altar of burnt offering.
• The rest of the bull must be burned outside the camp in a ceremonially clean place like the first bull.
• In this way, the priest will make atonement for the sins of the assembly.

In verses 22-26, the Lord provides instructions for a leader who sins unintentionally.

• When a leader sins unintentionally, he is to bring an unblemished male goat as a sin offering.
• He is to lay his hands on the goat’s head, and it is to be slaughtered.
• The priest must take some of the blood and apply it to the horns of the altar of burnt offering.
• The rest of the blood must be poured out at the base of the altar of burnt offering.
• The fat must be burned on the altar of burnt offering.
• In this way, the priest will make atonement for the sins of the leader.

In verses 27-35, the Lord provides instructions for the common man who sins unintentionally.

• When a common man sins unintentionally, he is to bring an unblemished female goat or a lamb as a sin offering.
• He is to lay his hands on the goat’s head, and it is to be slaughtered.
• The priest must take some of the blood and apply it to the horns of the altar of burnt offering.
• The rest of the blood must be poured out at the base of the altar of burnt offering.
• The fat must be burned on the altar of burnt offering as a pleasing aroma to the Lord.
• In this way, the priest will make atonement for the sins of the man.

Leviticus 5

Leviticus 5 deals with what is called trespass & guilt offerings.

In verses 1-4, these included people who refuse to be a witness, someone who touches something unclean, and someone who makes a rash oath.

In verses 5-6, the person who sinned in this way is to bring a female goat or lamb as a sin offering, and the priest will make atonement for his sin.

In verses 7-14, the sin offering for a poor person is described:

• If the person could not afford an animal from the flock, he could bring two turtledoves or two pigeons; one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering.
• In this way, the priest will make atonement for his sin.
• If the person could not afford turtledoves or pigeons, he may bring two quarts of fine flour.
• The priest will burn a portion of the flour on the altar as a sin offering.
• In this way, the priest will make atonement for his sin, and the remainder of the flour will belong to the priest.

In verses 14-19, the sin offering for unintentionally violating something holy is described:

• The person must make a restitution offering of an unblemished ram before the Lord.
• Also, a penalty of 20% of the value was also assessed and given to the priest.
• Then the priest will make atonement for him, and he will be forgiven.

Leviticus 6

Leviticus 6 describes the guilt offering for misappropriation of another person’s property, and the priest’s duties with regard to burnt, grain, and sin offerings.

The beginning of Chapter 6 mentions six examples: a deposit given for safekeeping, an investment made in a business, theft, property acquired through fraud, keeping the lost property, and false testimony.

In verses 1-7, the guilt offering for violation of property rights is described:

• If a person sins and offends the Lord by deceiving or defrauding his neighbor, finds something and lies about it, or swears falsely, he must return what was stolen or lost, or whatever he swore about falsely.
• He must make full restitution to the owner and add a fifth (20%) to it.
• Then he must bring a restitution offering of an unblemished ram to the Lord and give it to the priest.
• The priest will make atonement on his behalf, and he will be forgiven.

In verses 8-13, the priest’s duties with regard to the burnt offering are described:

• The Lord spoke to Moses and said the burnt offering must remain on the altar all night, and the fire must be kept burning.
• The priest is to put on his linen robe and linen undergarments and remove the burnt ashes and place them beside the altar.
• Then he must put on other clothes and take the ashes outside the camp to a ceremonially clean place.
• The fire must be kept burning at all times.
• He is to arrange the burnt offering and the fat portions of the fellowship offerings on the altar every day.

In verses 14-23, the priest’s duties with regard to the grain offering are described:

• Aaron’s sons will present the grain offering before the Lord in front of the altar.
• The priest will remove a handful of fine flour, olive oil, and frankincense and burn it as a pleasing aroma to the Lord.
• Aaron and his sons may eat the rest of the offering.
• It is to be eaten as unleavened bread in a holy place, the courtyard of the tent of meeting.
• It is not to be eaten with leaven; it is holy like the sin offering and the restitution offering.
• Any of Aaron’s male descendants may eat it.
• Aaron and his sons must present an offering before the Lord on the day he is anointed of two quarts of fine flour as a grain offering, half in the morning and a half in the evening.
• It is to be prepared with oil, kneaded, and baked on a griddle.
• It was to be burned completely on the altar.

In verses 24-30, the priest’s duties with regard to the sin offering are described:

• The sin offering is most holy and must be slaughtered before the Lord, where the burnt offering is slaughtered.
• The priest who makes the sin offering is to eat it in a holy place in the courtyard of the tent of meeting.
• Anything it touches will become holy.
• If any of its blood splashes on a garment, the garment must be washed in a holy place.
• A clay pot in which the offering is boiled must be broken. A bronze vessel must be scrubbed and rinsed with water.
• Any male among the priest may eat it; it is holy.
• No sin offering may be eaten if its blood has been brought into the tent of meeting to make atonement; it must be burned up.

Some additional thoughts for consideration:

• There are nine examples of atonement and forgiveness mentioned in these three chapters. It’s important to note, though, that in each case, the sacrifice, atonement, and forgiveness were made for unintentional or unknown sin.
• In the case of the sin offerings, the person making the offering was required to lay hands on the animal that was slaughtered. It made very personal the connection between the sin and the spilled blood of the animal.

What did you notice in your study today? Feel free to visit the website and leave a question or a comment.

Tomorrow: Leviticus 7-8