Sin and Its Effects. Leviticus 4 The sweet savor offerings were all voluntary sacrifices, with the offering itself being what mattered most. Burnt offerings were made before the laws were given to the children of Israel. All were burned on the altar as a burnt offering, and our acceptance with God is possible because of Jesus Christ. The meat offering was one in which no life was given. This was placed on the burnt offering, and all of the frankincense was for the Lord.
The hidden years of Jesus' life when He was here, as well as His public years of service, can be shared by God and those who worship Him. All excess was offered up to God. Christ has established peace, and symbolically, God, the priests, and the offeror all participate in the same sinless substitute, representing our fellowship with the Father and the Son through the Spirit. The two without-savor offerings were mandatory. One is because of our sinful nature, and the other because of sinful acts.
There is an undeniable fact that we sin because we are sinners, not the other way around. In explaining the sin offering, the emphasis is on the offeror rather than the offering itself. The offerings presented were appropriate for those who offered them. This specific offering was for unintentional sin. For those who sin willfully after hearing the truth, "there is no more sacrifice for sin." When someone is awakened to the sins they were unaware of in their unbelief, they feel conviction of sin and want to know what can be done to address it.
By nature, we cannot come to God on our own or through our own efforts. We need a sinless substitute. This is where we start with God. The scripture begins with God describing the offering first. We see God's perspective in the first chapters of Leviticus, particularly in the institution of the sweet-smelling offerings. Humanity's view is reflected in the sin offering and its application to meet our needs as sinners by nature. This is what first comes to mind when we hear the Gospel.
The first person mentioned is the priest, who represents all the people. He assumes responsibility for others. At the door of the Tabernacle, where men meet with God, he offers the best of his herd. He places his hand on the animal's head for identification and sacrifices it. When he kills the animal, the lifeblood is taken; some is sprinkled in front of the veil, as close to the ark of God's presence as possible; some is applied to the horns of the golden altar of incense, symbolizing the heavenly view of the sacrifice. The remaining blood is poured at the foundation of the bronze altar, representing the basis of our acceptance by God.
The first requirement is that God must be satisfied. Then, worship at the golden altar and communion can begin because of the redemption price paid. The fat is then burned entirely for God as the incense of a pleasing aroma. The rest of the bullock is taken outside the camp and completely burned in a clean place where the ashes of the offerings are collected.
The priest who brought the offering of a bullock symbolizes Christ, who is both the Offeror and the Offering. "He offered Himself without spot to God" on our behalf. He took our place as the Substitute for sinners and "suffered, the Just, for the unjust to bring us to God." By dying in our stead, as our representative, He bore the wrath of God when He was taken outside the city and crucified. "The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all sin." The severity of sin is not fully understood until we see what He endured for us. The impact of sin is often minimized by those who fail to grasp God's holiness and righteousness. In our acceptance through Christ, we go "forth unto Him, without the camp, bearing His reproach." Christ, our priest, has paved the way to God for us through His own blood.
When the congregation sinned, the consequences were severe, just as Israel had experienced over the years. The offering required from the congregation was the same as that of the priest. The Church and Christ are closely connected, so what affects one affects the other. The priest represented the people before God, bringing a sacrifice appropriate to the consequences of his sin. When the congregation sinned, the elders had to do the same as the priest. The impact of both who sinned was the same, and the atonement ritual was identical. "A little leaven, leaveneth the whole lump."
The ruler who needed atonement for an unknown sin had to bring a male goat. The ruler's sin did not affect the congregation's worship of God. As a person of influence, he has a responsibility to maintain a clear conscience to serve others acceptably. He needed to enjoy communion with God before representing others in daily life righteously. The blood of his sacrifice was sprinkled on the brazen altar and poured out there, symbolizing our acceptance by God in our earthly walk. This man's sacrifice does not show the heavenly response to the sin offering.
We may feel insignificant as everyday people, but God's plan of salvation remains the same for us as for others. God has provided a way for those who live simple, ordinary lives to be entirely accepted through Christ's sacrifice. The female goat had to be like the other animals—without blemishes. Our understanding of Christ shapes the value we place on what God expects from us. Whether a lamb or a goat, God's grace makes it possible for all of us to come to Him through the sacrifice. Christ has become the "propitiation for our sins." God is willing to accept the offeror who brings the appropriate offering.
As I picture it, these different people come with their sin offerings; I wonder if they come with fear and trembling. I probably would have, because I would not have been forgiven if the offering were unacceptable. The priest who offers the sacrifice knows what will be given to God and how the blood will be applied. When it comes to the priest and the congregation who brought the bullock, we know the entire animal was taken outside the camp and burned, except for the fat and the blood. Regarding the ruler or the ordinary people, we see what God received and where the lifeblood was poured out. As for the rest of the animals, we are not told what happened to them. God knows who we are and how much we understand His redemptive work.
At the start of our Christian life, all we really knew was, "I am a guilty sinner, but Jesus died for me." And from that, God received what He desired because He knew what we could offer. Now, as individuals and as a community of believers, we learn and grow in grace and knowledge—the more we understand, the more is rightly expected of us.
In our gatherings to share the Gospel, we can plainly tell people, "Christ died for the ungodly." In the Church, we know we have been bought "with the blood of His own." As individuals, we respond with gratitude to "the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me." When I think of someone who had brought his offering, and his sense of guilt weighed heavily on his conscience, now on his way home, there would be the relief and gratitude that "the priest made atonement for him, for his sin which he hath sinned, and it hath been forgiven him." How grateful and joyful he must have been! Forgiven!