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Leviticus
3:1-17 “And if his oblation be a
sacrifice of peace offering, if he offer it of the herd; whether it
be a male or female, he shall offer it without blemish before the LORD. 2
And
he shall lay his hand upon the head of his offering, and kill it at the
door of the tabernacle of the congregation:
and Aaron’s sons the priests shall sprinkle the blood upon the altar
round about. 3
And
he shall offer of the sacrifice of the peace offering an offering made by fire
unto the LORD; the fat the covereth the
inwards, and all the fat that is upon the inwards, 4
and
the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, which is by the
flanks, and the caul above the liver, with the kidneys, it shall he take away. 5
And
Aaron’s sons shall burn it on the altar upon the burnt sacrifice, which is
upon the wood that is on the fire:
it is an offering made by fire, a sweet savour unto the LORD. 6
And
if his offering for a sacrifice of peace offering unto the LORD be of the
flock; male or female, he shall offer it without blemish. 7
If
he offer a lamb for his offering, then shall he offer it before the LORD. 8
And
he shall lay his hand upon the head of his offering, and kill it before the
tabernacle of the congregation: and
Aaron’s sons shall sprinkle the blood thereof round about upon the altar. 9
And
he shall offer of the sacrifice of the peace offering an offering made by fire
unto the LORD; the fat thereof, and the
whole rump, it shall he take off hard by the backbone; and the fat that
covereth the inwards, and all the fat that is upon the inwards, 10
and
the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, which is by the
flanks, and the caul above the liver, with the kidneys, it shall he take away. 11
And
the priest shall burn it upon the altar:
it is the food of the offering made by fire unto the LORD.
12 And
if his offering be a goat, then he shall offer it before the LORD. 13
And
he shall lay his hand upon the head of it, and kill it before the tabernacle of
the congregation: and the sons of Aaron
shall sprinkle the blood thereof upon the altar round about. 14
And
he shall offer thereof his offering, even an offering made by fire unto
the LORD; the fat that covereth the
inwards, and all the fat that is upon the inwards, 15
and
the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, which is by the
flanks, and the caul above the liver, with the kidneys, it shall he take away. 16
And
the priest shall burn them upon the altar:
it is the food of the offering made by fire for a sweet
savour: all the fat is the LORD’s. 17
It
shall be
a perpetual statute for your generations throughout all your dwellings, that ye
eat neither fat nor blood.” Introduction [Audio version: https://resources.ccphilly.org/detail.asp?TopicID=&Teaching=WED566] “Leviticus chapter 3, we come to
the peace offering, we began last week looking at these five offerings that are
brought before us, the burnt offering, the meal [or grain] offering, the peace
offering, the sin offering, the trespass offering, and the fact that there are
types and shadows in all of them. All of
them reflect Christ and his sacrifice in some way, there are aspects of
that. And again, imagine God the Father,
who is not bound by time, the One whom in his counsels, it says the Lamb was
slain before the foundation of the world.
And in the fulness of time his Son would come and die on the cross. But the Father, longing to communicate to
generations, a thousand generations before that took place historically, the
truth of his love and what he was willing to give, how he would bring an
individual with a blood sacrifice, and make that person understand the death of
an innocent substitute in their place, to bring some impression upon their
heart from the Holy Spirit, of his great love, of atonement, of the Messiah
that would one day come. And how these
chapters in Leviticus describe those things, and the impressions that must have
been made on the hearts of the worshippers, and that even then, though Hebrews
tells us it’s impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sin,
still a worshipper could come genuinely, confessing their sin, their struggle,
or come to freshly dedicate their life to God in a freewill offering, realizing
that there was blood atonement involved, that ‘Yes, LORD, I’m imperfect, and
yet I love you, I want to consecrate my life.
LORD, I’ve sinned, or I’ve committed
trespass, and LORD, yet you’ve given
some means in your Law for us to experience forgiveness.’ And a worshipper could come with a genuine heart and
exercise those things in faith. And
certainly that was all that God longed for as he met with the worshipper. And again, the worshipper was never examined,
it was always the sacrifice that was examined.
The worshipper by his coming with a sacrifice was acknowledging his own
sin, his own problem, and having the sacrifice lamb, the ox, the turtledove,
whatever, examined, that one that would die and make atonement, substitutionary
atonement was the one that needed to be without blemish and without spot. So, just incredible pictures brought before
us. And this third offering, the peace
offering is the third of the freewill offerings. The sin offering and the trespass offering
were mandatory. If you sinned, you
committed a trespass, you had to offer those things. But you didn’t have to offer a burnt
offering, it came from your heart. And
again, that’s why it’s so important to realize, someone would bring an ox and
offer that in a freewill offering. There
are whole provisions in the Law, if you let someone else’s ox be injured,
because most people would only have one ox, it was like owning a tractor. For someone to come in a freewill offering to
offer an ox to God, freely, it was a sacrifice in many ways. And then a lamb, and then of course the meal
offering next, the first an expression of love, the second expression of
service to serve the LORD with joy, and now
this third offering, freewill, a peace offering, and it’s an interesting
reflection of the fruit of the Spirit, love, joy, peace that should be in our
lives through God’s work. But here, this
offering, the peace offering. And we’re
going to find out that it has some characteristics that we haven’t seen, very
interesting picture. The
Peace Offering, Of An Ox, or Lamb It says, “And if his oblation be
a sacrifice of peace offering, if he offer it of the herd; whether it
be a male or female, he shall offer it without blemish before the LORD.” (verse 1) And the peace offering everywhere in the Old
Testament, except in one place in Amos, is always plural, the offerings of
peace, there’s something plural about this before the heart of God. “if his oblation be a sacrifice of
peace offering, if he offer it of the herd;” now notice, for the
first time, “whether it be a male or female, he shall offer it
without blemish before the LORD.” without some acquired
injury, don’t bring a three-legged lamb is the idea, before the LORD. “And he shall lay his hand upon the head
of his offering, and kill it at the door of the tabernacle of the
congregation: and Aaron’s sons the
priests shall sprinkle the blood upon the altar round about.” (verse 2) Again, the worshipper is the one who
would slit the throat and kill it at the door of the tabernacle of the
congregation. So we’re headed back into
more of this, you’ll learn anatomy here, the liver, the caul, the kidneys as we
go through these things, but this interesting picture of a peace offering. Now, as we get to the 7th chapter,
verses 15 and verse 34 tell us that the peace offering, the most inward parts,
we’re going to see this evening, are offered to the LORD. The shoulder and part of the ribs are
offered, given to the priests as a heave and a wave offering. And the rest of the animal is eaten by the
offerer. So the peace offering or fellowship
offering, interesting here, the LORD takes a part of it,
the priests, the sons of Aaron get a part of it as part of their sustenance,
and those who come to worship then have a part of this to barbeque, to cook, to
enjoy, and you know, it wasn’t every day in this culture that you would sacrifice
certainly an ox, it wasn’t every day that you would sacrifice a sheep or a
goat. It was costly, and usually meat
was held for a feast, some special occasion.
So when this offering was made, this offerer was coming, he wasn’t
demanded to come, he didn’t have to come, he was coming to offer his heart, the
deepest things of his being before God, to have peace with God, communion with
God, and the priest would feast off of that, the worshipper would feast off of it,
and part of it was offered to God, and it was going to say it was his food that
he would feast off of that. It’s
interesting, we’re told in 1st Kings chapter 8, that when Solomon
dedicated the Temple, that part of the sacrifices he made that day, now the
peace offerings, he offered other offerings, but he offered peace offerings,
22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep, 142,000 animals he offered in peace
offerings. And it says the whole nation
feasted for two weeks. That’s a lot of
prime rib and rack of lamb. But it says,
between the other offerings, the burnt offerings and so forth, and the peace
offerings, they had to set aside parts of the outer court, it couldn’t all be
done around the brazen altar, there was so many sacrifices, there was so much
going on. But just imagine that, 142,000
animals offered just in peace offerings at the dedication of the Temple. And the whole nation gathered in
feasting. I think it’s hard for us to
imagine sometimes these scenes, you have over 2 million people in the camp of
Israel. What was it like, that
Tabernacle court was a bloody place. Sometimes
I think the cloud must have picked up and moved just because the LORD couldn’t stand the
smell there anymore, just imagine what it was like sacrificing all of those
animals and pouring out their blood into the sand at the bottom of the
altar. And some of the blood on certain
offerings, we’ll see tonight, was sprinkled inside the holy place before the
vail and the altar of incense. So, this
is an incredible scene, I think again we can take it for granted, we forget,
even looking at the high priest and the Tabernacle, all of the beauty, all of
the majesty of his garments, and then it says when he’s ready to be dedicated
into the priesthood, then they sprinkled, they splattered blood all over this,
you know what it’s like to get a spot on your shirt at dinner and you’re
embarrassed, the older you get the more chance that nothing’s going to fall
straight on the floor, it’s going to hit you somewhere on the way down. But you know, the high priest, he’s got these
grease marks, they sprinkle him with oil, these beautiful garments made by
anointed workers, the workmanship like nothing we’ve ever seen, and then blood
sprinkled all over those garments, the high priestly garments, then all over
the Tabernacle itself, then the sacrifices they’re making there. Again, this was a remarkable scene. Not just for us to go ‘EEW Yuck,’ but
it all reflected the coming of Christ, and his blood, because he was the Lamb
of God without spot or blemish, he was holy, without reproach. And his blood is worth the blood of billions
of sacrifices that will never measure up to what took place at Calvary, outside
the camp. So in these sacrifices there
are reflections of that. This offerer
comes out to offer a peace offering, or a fellowship offering to God. There’s the burnt offering where ‘I’m
giving everything LORD,’ then there’s the meal
offering, ‘LORD, my service, I’m
putting that before you, I’m going to serve you with joy.’ And here’s the peace offering where a worshipper
might just say ‘LORD, you know, just, I
lack peace, I know I’m not going to find it as Club Med, I’m not going to find
it here or there LORD, I want to get close
to you, I want to come before you LORD, I want to come with
a sacrifice, make atonement, and draw my heart close to you.’ He lays his hand upon the head of the sacrifice,
again, the picture of transference, of sin and so forth, and then he cuts the
throat at the door of the Tabernacle of the congregation. “and Aaron’s sons
the priests shall sprinkle the blood upon the altar round about. And he shall offer of the sacrifice of the
peace offering an offering made by fire unto the LORD;” now here’s what’s
offered to the LORD, “the fat the covereth the
inwards, and all the fat that is upon the inwards, and the two kidneys,
and the fat that is on them, which is by the flanks, and the caul
above the liver, with the kidneys, it shall he take away.” (verse 2b-4) Now imagine this, what do you dream about
this night when you go home? The picture
here is of the worshipper who is offering to God the deepest things, the
deepest things. When this fat was put
onto the fire, the flames shot up into the air, and it’s going to tell us it
was a sweet savour to the LORD, because this
worshipper is offering in this culture the bowels where the deepest part of
being, and the fat, the richest things, and the deepest things, the worshipper
is realizing, belong to the LORD. I won’t have peace with God unless I’m
willing to offer him the deepest things of my being. And you know what that’s like, as a
Christian. People can look at the
outward and think you’re doing great, but you know, you know when you lay your
head down on the pillow at night, ‘I know what I’m saying Lord, sorry Lord,
I blew it today, I wasn’t a good testimony Lord. Lord, I want to do better tomorrow.’ And you hear him speaking to your heart,
you know that what he wants is the deepest things, he wants the heart. Because the heart of the problem is always
the problem of the heart. And if he has
the deepest part of our being, he has everything, he’s got it all. He can’t have your heart, he can’t have the
deepest part of your being and not get the rest of it also. So, here this interesting picture, the fat
that’s here, the fat that’s above the liver, the fat that’s by the kidney, and
the kidneys, the deepest part, that’s all taken away, the deepest things. “And Aaron’s sons shall burn it on the
altar upon the burnt sacrifice, which is upon the wood that is on
the fire: it is an offering made
by fire, a sweet savour unto the LORD.” (verse 5) A savour of rest, coming up into God’s presence,
something that he smells that gives him rest.
Ah, Psalm 63 says ‘My soul shall be satisfied as
with marrow and fatness, and my mouth shall praise thee with joyfulness,’ ‘my
soul shall be satisfied, LORD, like I’ve come before
you with a peace offering, an offer of the marrow, the fatness and deepest
things, LORD, it satisfies my soul, LORD.’ And look, anybody here whose walked with the
Lord for any length of time understands that, because peace is a funny
thing. You know, first of all, we go
through these things, worldly people, unsaved people go through these things ‘I
need peace, if I had this I’d have peace, if I have that I’ll have peace, if my
circumstances change, then I’ll have peace.’
And then the circumstance come where they think they’re where they
need to be, and they still don’t have peace, and then they go and they blame
somebody else, and ultimately they blame God, who they don’t believe in, they
say. But peace is something vastly
different, that comes when the deepest part of our being is brought before the
Lord. And it isn’t dependent on
circumstances. And it’s easy for
me to sit here and say that, because I have peace right now. There are circumstances that have come to my
life, and I’m sure will come, when my peace disintegrates and falls apart, and
I have to regroup, and get my heart before him again, and say ‘Lord forgive
me, Lord forgive me, I still have you, I still have your promises, I still have
hope, I still have a future. Whatever
happens in this world, I have eternity.’
I have to regather myself as it were before him, and not withhold
the deepest things of my heart because I’m struggling and straining, but still
be willing to give the deepest part of my being to him. “And if his offering for a sacrifice of
peace offering unto the LORD be of the
flock; male or female, he shall offer it without blemish. If he offer a lamb for his offering, then
shall he offer it before the LORD. And he shall lay his hand upon the head of
his offering, and kill it before the tabernacle of the congregation: and Aaron’s sons shall sprinkle the blood
thereof round about upon the altar. And
he shall offer of the sacrifice of the peace offering an offering made by fire
unto the LORD;” and here it is, “the fat
thereof, and the whole rump, it shall he take off hard by the backbone;”
and what a picture probably of Christ being scourged, “and the fat that
covereth the inwards, and all the fat that is upon the inwards, and the
two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, which is by the
flanks, and the caul” the layer of fat “above the liver, with the
kidneys, it shall he take away. And the
priest shall burn it upon the altar:” notice, “it is the food of
the offering made by fire unto the LORD.” (verses 6-11) The priests will be eating part of it, the
worshipper will be eating part of it, it says God is feasting on this, the
deepest parts are offered, the deepest things in the being will come up before
him in a burnt sacrifice, the inward things being consecrated, it says “it is
the food of the LORD.” The
Peace Offering, of Goats There’s
“The Peace of God” & “The Peace With God” “And if his offering be a
goat, then he shall offer it before the LORD. And he shall lay his hand upon the head of
it, and kill it before the tabernacle of the congregation: and the sons of Aaron shall sprinkle the
blood thereof upon the altar round about.
And he shall offer thereof his offering, even an offering made by
fire unto the LORD;” you guys ready to say
this? you should have it memorized by
now, “the fat that covereth the inwards, and all the fat that is upon
the inwards, and the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, which is
by the flanks, and the caul above the liver, with the kidneys, it shall he take
away. And the priest shall burn them
upon the altar: it is the food of
the offering made by fire for a sweet savour:
all the fat is the LORD’s.” (verses 12-16) the deepest
things. Aren’t you glad, that if tonight
or tomorrow you’re saying “I just need to come to peace with you again,” you
don’t have to go out and cut it’s throat, dismember it, and get the fat above
the liver and caul and kidneys. You know
we can offer, it tells us in Psalm 116, the sacrifice of
thanksgiving, and Hebrews 13 says we can offer the sacrifice of praise, there
are things that are acceptable before him that we offer of the deepest part of
our being without going through all of this.
Now this can be done, even in Israel, as it can be now, it could have
been done in a presumptuous way. You
remember then in the Book of Proverbs, chapter 7, where it talks about the
strange woman that comes to seduce, and the young man’s being warned about
her? She says ‘I even now have my
peace offerings, I’ve done this, I’ve done that, come and lie with me,’ she’s
doing the spiritual talk, ‘I’ve made peace with God, everything with man and
God is cool, come on, let’s go to bed, I’m cool with God, he loves me.’ And there is a presumption to that, and
God never honours that, he didn’t honour that in Israel of old. God didn’t just want a pile of, now look,
he’s God, you think he just wanted a pile of fat and kidneys and that made him
happy? It was what they pictured, it’s
when the heart came along with them, it’s when the worshipper looked how those
deepest things were combustible, how they incinerated, how the smoke went up,
that worshipper was saying ‘LORD, that’s what I want,
I want the deepest part of my being to be a burnt offering, just to go up LORD, before you, before
your presence.’ It’s when the
worshipper was genuine that those things meant something. And just like today, people can go to church
and be presumptuous, it happened then, and God didn’t want somebody just saying the stuff and offering
any offering without the heart, that never meant anything to him. He just didn’t need a big bloody spot out in
the desert, that wasn’t what it was all about for him, he was drawing human
hearts, he was putting before a generation his Son Jesus Christ generations
before he would come, he was making them look at the necessity of the shedding
of blood, and making them see so many different facets. [Comment: but as Moses observed and related
to Joshua in Numbers 11:14-29, especially verse 29, “And Moses said unto him
[Joshua], Enviest thou for my sake?
would God that all the LORD’s people were
prophets, and that the LORD would put his Spirit
upon them!” i.e. by this direct statement of Moses to
Joshua, Moses is admitting to Joshua that out of the entire nation of Israel,
minus Joshua, Caleb, himself, maybe his brother Aaron, and these seventy
elders, no one else had the indwelling Holy Spirit, they were spiritually
ignorant, their understanding of spiritual things was darkened. As Ezekiel would reveal to the Jews much
later, their time of spiritual awakening will happen after a great resurrection
back to physical life (read Ezekiel 37:1-14, this concept is explored more
fully at https://unityinchrist.com/plaintruth/battle.htm).] It says here “It shall be a
perpetual statute for your generations throughout all your dwellings, that ye
eat neither fat nor blood.” (verse 17) So
those things offered to the LORD, these peace
offerings. Look, there is, and we learn
in the New Testament, there is “the peace of God,” and “there is peace with
God,” those are two different things.
Chapters 4 and 5 they talk to us about the sin offering and the trespass
offering, that’s where we have “peace with God,” there’s no peace with God
without the sin offering, without the blood of Christ. It’s through the blood of Jesus that we have
peace with God. Now the “peace of God”
ruling in our hearts is an experience, it’s subjective. Peace with God is objective, if you believe
that Jesus died for your sins, and you’ve trusted him, you have peace with
God. God has imputed to you the
righteousness of his Son, and we grow in grace and the knowledge of who he
is. So we have “peace with God” through
the completed work of Christ. But many
of us, though we have peace with God, don’t have the peace of God in our
hearts, because of compromise sometimes, because we haven’t gotten alone with
him, because we haven’t sat long enough, and just said ‘Lord, speak to me,’ or
‘open your Word to me.’ But we
want both of those, and they’re both there for us. We have “peace with God” through the blood of
Christ and his sacrifice, God has made peace for the sinner and a holy God
through the Saviour. And then we want to
have the “peace of God” also in our lives, the peace of God. And you and I have all known Christians who
have just blown our minds, because, they’re just peaced-out, you like to get
around them, hoping some of it’s going to spill over on you, you’re going to
get some for free. It’s wonderful to be
around someone like that.” [Also, both
the “peace of God,” subjective, and “the peace with God,” objective, come to us
as believers through the blood sacrifice of Jesus Christ. The peace of God, shed abroad in our hearts,
only comes to us through the indwelling of God’s Holy Spirit, which was only
made available to believers 50 days after Jesus’ blood sacrifice. So the peace offerings, also a blood
sacrifice, pictures what it took to bring us that “peace of God.” Thus the peace offering was also showing,
picturing in advance, that blood had to be shed to bring “the peace of God,”
much later on through the blood of Jesus Christ.] Leviticus
4:1-35 “And the LORD spake unto Moses,
saying, 2 Speak unto the children of
Israel, saying, If a soul shall sin through ignorance against any of the
commandments of the LORD concerning things
which ought not to be done, and shall do against any of them: 3
if
the priest that is anointed do sin according to the sin of the people; let him
bring for his sin, which he hath sinned, a young bullock without blemish unto
the LORD for a sin offering. 4
And
he shall bring the bullock unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation
before the LORD; and shall lay his hand upon the
bullock’s head, and kill the bullock before the LORD. 5
And
the priest that is anointed shall take the bullock’s blood, and bring it to the
tabernacle of the congregation: 6
and
the priest shall dip his finger in the blood, and sprinkle of the blood seven
times before the LORD, before the vail of
the sanctuary. 7 And the priest shall
put some of the blood upon the horns of the altar of sweet incense
before the LORD, which is in the
tabernacle of the congregation; and shall pour all of the blood of the bullock
at the bottom of the altar of the burnt offering, which is at the door
of the tabernacle of the congregation. 8
And
he shall take off from it all the fat of the bullock for the sin offering; the
fat that covereth the inwards, and all the fat that is upon the inwards,
9 and the two kidneys, and the fat
that is upon them, which is by the flanks, and the caul above the
liver, with the kidneys, it shall he take away, 10
as
it was taken off from the bullock of the sacrifice of peace offerings: and the priest shall burn them upon the altar
of the burnt offering. 11 And the skin of the
bullock, and all his flesh, with his head, and with his legs, and his inwards,
and his dung, 12 even the whole
bullock shall he carry forth without the camp unto a clean place, where the
ashes are poured out, and burn him on the wood with fire: where the ashes are poured out shall he be
burnt. 13 And if the whole congregation of
Israel sin through ignorance, and the thing be hid from the eyes of the
assembly, and they have done somewhat against any of the commandments of
the LORD concerning things which
should not be done, and are guilty; 14
when
the sin, which they have sinned against it, is known, then the congregation
shall offer a young bullock for the sin, and bring him before the tabernacle of
the congregation. 15 And the elders of the
congregation shall lay their hands upon the head of the bullock before the LORD: and the bullock shall be killed before the LORD. 16
And
the priest that is anointed shall bring of the bullock’s blood to the
tabernacle of the congregation: 17
and
the priest shall dip his finger in some of the blood, and sprinkle it
seven times before the LORD, even before
the vail. 18 And he shall put some of
the blood upon the horns of the altar which is before the LORD, that is in
the tabernacle of the congregation, and shall pour out all the blood at the
bottom of the altar of the burnt offering, which is at the door of the
tabernacle of the congregation. 19
And
he shall take all of his fat from him, and burn it upon the altar. 20
And
he shall do with the bullock as he did with the bullock for a sin offering, so
shall he do with this: and the priest
shall make an atonement for them, and it shall be forgiven them. 21
And
he shall carry forth the bullock without the camp, and burn him as he burned
the first bullock: it is a sin
offering for the congregation. 22 When a ruler hath
sinned, and done somewhat through ignorance against any of the
commandments of the LORD his God concerning
things which should not be done, and is guilty; 23
or
if his sin, wherein he hath sinned, come to his knowledge; he shall bring his
offering, a kid of the goats, a male without blemish: 24
and
he shall lay his hand upon the head of the goat, and kill it in the place where
they kill the burnt offering before the LORD: it is a sin offering. 25
And
the priest shall take of the blood of the sin offering with his finger, and put
it upon the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and shall pour out his
blood at the bottom of the altar of burnt offering. 26
And
he shall burn all of his fat upon the altar, as the fat of the sacrifice of
peace offerings: and the priest shall
make an atonement for him concerning his sin, and it shall be forgiven him. 27
And
if any one of the common people sin through ignorance, while he doeth somewhat
against any of the commandments of the LORD concerning things
which ought not to be done, and be guilty; 28
or
if his sin, which he hath sinned, come to his knowledge: then he shall bring his offering, a kid of
the goats, a female without blemish, for his sin which he hath sinned. 29 And he shall lay his
hand upon the head of the sin offering, and slay the sin offering in the place
of the burnt offering. 30 And the priest shall
take of the blood thereof with his finger, and put it upon the horns of
the altar of burnt offering, and shall pour out all the blood thereof at the
bottom of the altar. 31 And he shall take away
all the fat thereof, as the fat is taken away from off the sacrifice of the
peace offerings; and the priest shall burn it upon the altar for a sweet
savour unto the LORD; and the priest shall
make an atonement for him, and it shall be forgiven him. 32
And
if he bring a lamb for a sin offering, he shall bring it a female without
blemish. 33 And he shall lay his hand upon
the head of the sin offering, and slay it for a sin offering in the place where
they kill the burnt offering. 34 And the priest shall
take of the blood of the sin offering with his finger, and put it upon
the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and shall pour out all the blood
thereof at the bottom of the altar: 35
and
he shall take away all the fat thereof, as the fat of the lamb is taken away
from the sacrifice of the peace offerings; and the priest shall burn them upon
the altar, according to the offerings made by fire unto the LORD: and the priest shall make an atonement for
his sin that he hath committed, and it shall be forgiven him.” “As we go into chapter 4 and 5,
now the sin offering and the trespass offering, that’s a picture of “peace with
God.” And these are not freewill
offerings, these are not offered because of something on your heart, these are
offered because you’re willing to acknowledge you have sinned, you have
trespassed, and you realize because of your sin and because of your trespass,
it’s mandatory for there to be the death of an innocent substitute. Isn’t it interesting? When we preach the Gospel, so often we like,
some people start with hell-fire and brimstone, with ‘You’re a sinner!’ and those things are central, and it’s
very sad today to see major parts of the Church [greater Body of Christ] move
away from them. But when God puts a
sacrificial system in front of us, he starts with love, he starts with a burnt
offering, he starts with us coming with our hearts willingly, he starts with a
picture of the meal offering, our service offered willingly with joy, he starts
with a picture of the freewill offerings, the peace offering, that we would
come and sit with him and offer the deepest things. [Comment:
and that starts out by coming to know who Jesus Christ is, Immanuel, God
with us, the first element of the Gospel, the first major point of the Gospel,
out of five points (see https://www.unityinchrist.com/misc/WhatIsTheGospel%20.htm).] But certainly, he comes then in chapters 4
and 5, chapter 6, verse 8, with these pictures of the sin and trespass
offering, and nine times you’re going to read “and his sin shall be forgiven,”
nine times. God puts it in front of
Israel and says “When you sin, when you commit trespass, I’m not just going to
rain fire down from heaven and smoke you, I want the sinner to know, and I want
the person who makes trespass to know that there is a means of
forgiveness.” It was God’s message
throughout all eternity, it’s his message to us tonight.” And so many of us struggle, because no one’s
every loved us that way before. You
know, everything’s got strings attached, and you know that in your family. Your grandmother gives you a mirror, it’s the
ugliest mirror in the world, but you can’t get rid of it because she gave it to
you. She didn’t really give it to you,
because there’s all kinds of strings attached.
So you keep it in your basement and whenever she comes over you hang it
on the wall, because if you don’t she’s going to say ‘Where’s that mirror I
gave you?’ We’re used to people
giving with strings attached. He’s God
who gives completely graciously, completely.
And sometimes as Christians we go on for years and struggle because no one
loved us that way before. And ultimately
we have to step out of the boat onto the water, if we’re going to receive all
of the fullness of it and say ‘Lord, I surrender, I’m a sinner saved by
grace. Lord, just put a Zero on the
back,’ what a relief. It’s a bummer
trying to be a Christian. It’s wonderful
to be a Christian because we are on fire, because we love Jesus. But we love him because he first loved
us. And nine times now, relative to sin
and trespass he’s going to say “and his sin shall be forgiven him” or
her, sin shall be forgiven, very important.
The
Sin Offering: The Sin Offering For The
Priest Sin offering. “And the LORD spake unto Moses,
saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If a soul shall sin through
ignorance” that’s
me, I’m ignorant all the time, “against any of the commandments of the LORD concerning things
which ought not to be done, and shall do against any of them:” (verses 1-2) and then in verse 3
we’re going to go to the priest first.
Sinning against the LORD ignorantly, Psalm
19 says this to us, it says, ‘Who can understand his errors,
cleanse thou me from secret faults.’
Those who are true worshippers, it’s not ignorance of the sin, it’s
ignorance of a violation of the Law, they didn’t carry Old Testaments around
with them. And they’re learning the Law. The first thing it’s going to do is talk
about the priests. Well Aaron knew this
well. “If you sin and cause the
people to sin” people who are in leadership, their sin effects to a
greater degree other people. Well Aaron
had made the golden calf, Moses up on the mountain getting the description of
the Tabernacle, the beautiful garments that Aaron was going to wear,
remarkable, for Aaron and his sons.
Aaron’s down there having a party, making a golden calf. That’s why the LORD says ‘When you
dedicate this guy, splash some blood on him, would you please.’ Aaron’s going to be the first one to
learn that he needs atonement for his sin.
It’s going to tell us in the Book of Hebrews, no one takes an office in
ministry to him, but it says even the priests had to first offer for himself,
before he offered for the people. So
there is sin that is committed and sometimes and you go back and say ‘Lord,
I can’t believe I did that,’ or ‘Lord, I wish I hadn’t have done that,’ or
‘Lord, I didn’t realize when this happened it was going to turn out this
way.’ There were sins in Israel that
there were no sacrifices for, if you committed adultery you were put to death,
you were stoned. In the Old Testament
adultery was a capital offense, that’s how serious God took marriage. If you committed murder, the first degree, it
was a capital offense, you were put to death.
David, when he commits adultery and murder, after a year of trying to
keep that secret, talk about his bones drying up, and his spirit just
crumbling, and how he was tortured internally, and finally when he says he
confesses his sin, God was renewing him, he says “Sacrifice and offering
thou hast not desired,” because there was no sacrifice and there was no
offering for adultery or for murder. “Sacrifice
and offering thou hast not desired, but a broken and contrite spirit thou wilt
not despise,” David realized that when repentance was genuine and it
was in the heart, that God acknowledged it, that God acknowledged it. So there were some sins in the Law there
weren’t sacrifices for, and there were others there were. Here it’s talking about the kind of sin that
someone might commit that was not deserving of the death penalty, where then
there would be a sacrifice, it begins with the priests. “if the priest that is anointed do sin
according to the sin of the people; let him bring for his sin, which he hath
sinned, a young bullock without blemish unto the LORD for a sin offering.”
(verse 3) Now King James says “according to the sin of
the people” the Hebrew says “he sins as to cause the people to sin,”
ah, terrible thing, if you’ve been through a church split, where a pastor has
fallen into sin. I would beg all of you
to be praying for Kathy and I and for the pastors here at church, because we’re
targets in a special way, and we’re made of the same stuff that you are. And you know how hard it is, if you’ve been
through a church split where a pastor’s fallen, it’s almost like a child going
through a divorce, sometimes you never learn to trust again, because you feel
like your trust was violated, and it’s huge, and it’s important. Because God asks a spiritual leader, we’re
going to read about the political leader of the nation, God does care about
moral character, God does care that they take a stand. Because he says, when they sinned it effects
the people. I know a pastor in Colorado
Springs who got involved with his secretary, and ended up leaving his wife. Told the congregation it was never the Lord’s
will from the beginning to be with his wife.
And within several months there were a dozen marriages in that church
that dissolved, because he gave them all a license through his own stupidity
and his own lie, his own sin. That’s the
stupidest thing I ever heard. [This
happened in a whole denomination, and it did cause a ton of marriages to
dissolve (see https://unityinchrist.com/wwcofg/wwcofgod.html). This situation put me on a winding spiritual
journey, but with the basic authority of this denomination being brought into
question by people who were trying to destroy the foundational core beliefs of this denomination, many
marriages did dissolve as a direct or indirect result, mine included. My weird spiritual journey is detailed on
this site’s “About the Author” section (see https://unityinchrist.com/author.htm).] As time went on he lost his son, suicide,
couldn’t handle all the repercussions.
In our sin and our selfishness we never sin unto ourselves. It effects others. I’m so thankful that God is gracious, and he
says even here, the priest’s sin, this is the sin offering that’s to be
offered, this is the sin offering that’s to be offered. He says, ‘if he sin, the priest, and
it’s a sin that causes the people to sin,’ “if the priest that is anointed
do sin according to the sin of the people; let him bring for his sin, which he
hath sinned, a young bullock without blemish unto the LORD for a sin offering.”
(verse 3)
the most expensive of the sacrifices, “And he shall bring the bullock unto
the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the LORD; and shall lay his
hand upon the bullock’s head, and kill the bullock before the LORD. And the priest that is anointed shall take
the bullock’s blood, and bring it to the tabernacle of the congregation: and the priest shall dip his finger in the
blood, and sprinkle of the blood seven times before the LORD, before the vail of
the sanctuary.” (verses 4-6) Now the
priest when he sinned, and he was the only who was allowed into the holy place,
and then once a year on the Day of Atonement behind the vail, he would take
that blood and he would sprinkle it seven times there before the Altar of
Incense. And no doubt as time went on
that ground there was turned red. And
then it’s going to say he takes the blood and puts it on the horns of the Altar
of Incense, not the Altar of Sacrifice, which is outside. This is a place where he’s going to see it,
it has to be visible. Because one of the
things we all need when we do make a mistake, when we do sin, we want God to
keep before us the fact that when Christ died he said “It is finished,
Tutelisti, paid in full.” And
that if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us, and to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness. And
that priest would take that blood and sprinkle it on the ground before the vail
where he alone would see it, and then he put the blood on the four corners, on
the horns of the altar, where it would be visible to him, it would be a
reminder. It says “And the priest
shall put some of the blood upon the horns of the altar of sweet incense
before the LORD, which is in the
tabernacle of the congregation; and shall pour all of the blood of the bullock at
the bottom of the altar of the burnt offering, which is at the door of
the tabernacle of the congregation. And
he shall take off from it all the fat of the bullock for the sin offering; the
fat that covereth the inwards, and all the fat that is upon the inwards,”
and
you guys should know this by now, “and the two kidneys, and the fat that is
upon them, which is by the flanks, and the caul above the liver, with
the kidneys, it shall he take away, as it was taken off from the bullock of the
sacrifice of peace offerings: and the
priest shall burn them upon the altar of the burnt offering.” and notice, “And the skin of the bullock, and all his
flesh, with his head, and with his legs, and his inwards, and his dung, even
the whole bullock shall he carry forth without the camp unto a clean place,” it’s
a picture of Christ who died without the gate, “where the ashes are poured
out, and burn him on the wood with fire:
where the ashes are poured out shall he be burnt.” (verses 7-12) And what a picture in some ways of hell,
that is. This is a four to five mile
journey from the Tabernacle to the edge of the camp. Imagine, making that journey, with the skin,
with the head, with the legs. You know,
the most inward parts were burnt on the altar, and the rest of this animal
lugged outside the camp to a clean place where the ashes had been dumped from
the other sacrifices, and it’s a place that is black, it’s a picture of hell, a
place of continual burning, where Christ suffered outside the gate of the city,
and for three hours he was in that darkness, three hours there, something
transpired there that we can hardly imagine, that he suffered there
eternally. Because it says in Revelation
chapter 14, the smoke of their torment ascends forever and forever, there he
took the cup of God’s wrath, ‘Father, if there is any way, let this cup
pass, not my will but thy will be done.’
Interesting picture. The
Sin Offering For The Whole Congregation Now look at this, there can be a
national sin, a nation can be in sin, and boy oh boy have we proved that, as a
nation. “And if the whole
congregation of Israel sin through ignorance, and the thing be hid from the
eyes of the assembly, and they have done somewhat against any of the
commandments of the LORD concerning things
which should not be done, and are guilty; when the sin, which they have sinned
against it, is known, then the congregation shall offer a young bullock for the
sin, and bring him before the tabernacle of the congregation. And the elders of the congregation shall lay
their hands upon the head of the bullock before the LORD: and the bullock shall be killed before the LORD.” (verses 13-15) No doubt, one of the
leaders shall kill it. Here’s an
interesting picture, there’s national sin, and sometimes in national sin the
nation isn’t realizing it’s in sin until somehow it comes before the nation. So it’s very interesting for me during 9/11
to watch so many of our liberal politicians standing on the steps of the
Capitol, scared out of their wits, singing ‘God Bless America, Land That I
Love.’ You know, the God they didn’t
want to talk about any other time, the God they want to take out of the pledge
of allegiance, now all of a sudden there’s an awakening. And I believe that was a warning shot that
God fired across our bow, standing there acknowledging, ‘Yes Lord, yes Lord,
we are mortal, we are temporary, what we thought could never happen has
happened here,’ very interesting.
And it says when there’s national sin, the leaders, I mean, how amazing
would it be for the leaders in the center of the nation, putting their hands on
the head of the bullock and confessing their sins, and then having to watch
that blood flow, realizing we’re supposed to be the leaders, we’re supposed to
set the standard, we’re supposed to legislate things that are righteous and
upright, we’re supposed to have moral fiber and character. For us to say as a nation that the morality
of our leaders doesn’t matter, it’s something of their private lives, it’s
insanity and it's blindness, because it’s a reflection of their character, and
God cares about it all the way through the Bible, all the time, with his nation
and with his people. And it says here,
that the leaders, “And the elders of the congregation shall lay their hands
upon the head of the bullock before the LORD: and the bullock shall be killed before the LORD. And the priest that is anointed shall bring
of the bullock’s blood to the tabernacle of the congregation: and the priest shall dip his finger in
some of the blood, and sprinkle it seven times before the LORD, even before
the vail.” The
closest place to God again, “And he shall put some of the blood upon
the horns of the altar which is before the LORD, that is in
the tabernacle of the congregation,” this is again the Altar of
Incense of the congregation, “and shall pour out all the blood at the bottom
of the altar of the burnt offering, which is at the door of the
tabernacle of the congregation. And he
shall take all of his fat from him,” you guys ready? he’s saving us
some time now, “and burn it upon the altar. And he shall do with the bullock as he did
with the bullock for a sin offering, so shall he do with this: and the priest shall make an atonement for
them, and it shall be forgiven them.” (verses 15-20) “them” plural, please
notice, “and it shall be forgiven them,” plural, God recognizes national
repentance. Would to God we’d see
this. And let me tell you something, it
won’t start with the unbelievers in this nation, it’s “If my people, who
are called by my name will humble themselves and pray, and turn from their
wicked ways, and seek my face, then will I hear from heaven, and I will heal
their land.” If it doesn’t start
with me and you, if we’re not offering the deepest part of our being to the
Lord. We can play the game and say ‘Hey,
I have my peace offerings, I have done this,’ like this immoral person in
the Book of Proverbs, and do religious stuff.
And you know, we all know people who have their God-speak down, they all
have their God-speak, and you say ‘What’s going on in your life?’ ‘Hey, let him who is without sin cast the
first stone,’ they have their own favourite verses. I’m just fruit inspecting, I’m not judging,
you got bad fruit, baby. But God
acknowledges national repentance, “their sin,” plural, “shall be forgiven
them.” What a remarkable thing that God
is saying to that nation, to our nation, to any nation, “I will forgive their
sin.” “And he shall carry forth the
bullock without the camp, and burn him as he burned the first bullock: it is a sin offering for the
congregation.” (verse 21) The
Sin Offering For The Ruler & The Common Person “When a ruler hath sinned, and
done somewhat through ignorance against any of the commandments
of the LORD his God concerning things which
should not be done, and is guilty; or if his sin, wherein he hath sinned, come
to his knowledge; he shall bring his offering, a kid of the goats, a male
without blemish:” it
doesn’t have to be an ox this time, “and he shall lay his hand upon the head
of the goat, and kill it in the place where they kill the burnt offering before
the LORD:
it is a sin offering. And
the priest shall take of the blood of the sin offering with his finger, and put
it upon the horns of the altar of burnt offering,” that’s the altar
outside, and again, that blood is to be visible to the person whose coming,
repenting, as a reminder, God’s grace making it visible, “and shall pour out
his blood at the bottom of the altar of burnt offering. And he shall burn all of his fat upon the
altar, as the fat of the sacrifice of peace offerings: and the priest shall make an atonement for
him concerning his sin, and it shall be forgiven him.” (verses 22-26) How wonderful, “it shall be forgiven
him.” “And if any one of the common
people sin through ignorance, while he doeth somewhat against any of the
commandments of the LORD concerning things
which ought not to be done, and be guilty; or if his sin, which he hath sinned,
come to his knowledge: then he shall
bring his offering, a kid of the goats, a female without blemish, for his sin
which he hath sinned. And he shall lay
his hand upon the head of the sin offering, and slay the sin offering in the
place of the burnt offering.” again, now he’s the one whose the offerer, he’s the
executioner, “And the priest shall take of the blood thereof with his
finger, and put it upon the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and
shall pour out all the blood thereof at the bottom of the altar.” now look,
the horns on the altar, horns were a symbol of power, and on the four corners
of the altar of incense there were these little raised horns, little raised
portions on the corners, and the big altar of burnt offering outside on its
four corners there were these horns, these raised portions. The horns anywhere in prophetic scenes were
always a picture of authority and power.
The sinner was to see the blood of the innocent substitute who died in
his place upon the horns, it would mean “this is authoritative, there’s power
here, in this forgiveness, in this atonement, there is authority, the authority
of God is behind this, and wonderfully he’d be reminded, she’d be reminded of
that. And some of us, we sin, we make
mistakes, somehow we need to be reminded that the authority of Almighty God is
behind our forgiveness. If we confess
our sins, he is faithful, but he is also just, he’s justified in forgiving
us. If we confess our sins he’s faithful
and just to forgive us, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Here it says again, the blood was taken, it
was put on the horns of the altar, “And he shall take away all the fat
thereof, as the fat is taken away from off the sacrifice of the peace
offerings; and the priest shall burn it upon the altar for a sweet
savour unto the LORD; and the priest shall
make an atonement for him, and it shall be forgiven him.” what wonderful words. “And if he bring a lamb for a sin offering,
he shall bring it a female without blemish.
And he shall lay his hand upon the head of the sin offering, and slay it
for a sin offering in the place where they kill the burnt offering. And the priest shall take of the blood of the
sin offering with his finger, and put it upon the horns of the altar of
burnt offering, and shall pour out all the blood thereof at the bottom of the
altar: and he shall take away all the
fat thereof, as the fat of the lamb is taken away from the sacrifice of the
peace offerings; and the priest shall burn them upon the altar, according to
the offerings made by fire unto the LORD: and the priest shall make an atonement for
his sin that he hath committed, and it shall be forgiven him.” (verses 27-35) “and it shall be forgiven him,” that refrain,
repeated over and over. Leviticus
5:1-19 “And if a soul sin, and hear the
voice of swearing, and is a witness, whether he hath seen or known of
it; if he do not utter it, then he shall bear his iniquity. 2
Or
if a soul touch any unclean thing, whether it be a carcase of an unclean
beast, or a carcase of unclean cattle, or the carcase of unclean creeping
things, and if it be hidden from him; he also shall be unclean, and
guilty. 3 Or if he touch the uncleanness of
man, whatsoever uncleanness it be that a man shall be defiled withal,
and it be hid from him; when he knoweth of it, then he shall be guilty. 4
Or
if a soul swear, pronouncing with his lips to do evil, or to do good,
whatsoever it be that a man shall pronounce with an oath, and it be hid
from him; when he knoweth of it, then he shall be guilty in one of
these. 5 And it shall be, when he shall be
guilty in one of these things, that he shall confess that he hath sinned
in that thing: 6 and he shall bring his
trespass offering unto the LORD for his sin which he
hath sinned, a female from the flock, a lamb or a kid of the goats, for a sin
offering; and the priest shall make an atonement for him concerning his sin. 7
And
if he be not able to bring a lamb, then he shall bring for his trespass, which
he hath committed, two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, unto the LORD; one for a sin
offering, and the other for a burnt offering. 8
And
he shall bring them unto the priest, who shall offer that which is
for the sin offering first, and wring off his head from his neck, but shall not
divide it asunder: 9 and he shall sprinkle
of the blood of the sin offering upon the side of the altar; and the rest of
the blood shall be wrung out at the bottom of the altar: it is a sin offering. 10
And
he shall offer the second for a burnt offering, according to the
manner: and the priest shall make an
atonement for him for his sin which he hath sinned, and it shall be forgiven
him. 11 But if he be not able to bring
two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, then he that sinned shall bring for his
offering the tenth part of an ephah of fine flour for a sin offering; he shall
put no oil upon it, neither shall he put any frankincense thereon: for it is a sin offering. 12
Then
shall he bring it to the priest, and the priest shall take his handful of it, even
a memorial thereof, and burn it on the altar, according to the offerings
made by fire unto the LORD: it is a sin offering. 13
And
the priest shall make an atonement for him as touching his sin that he hath
sinned in one of these, and it shall be forgiven him: and the remnant shall be the priest’s,
as a meat [grain] offering. 14 And the LORD spake unto Moses,
saying, 15 If a soul commit a trespass, and
sin through ignorance, in the holy things of the LORD; then he shall bring
for his trespass unto the LORD a ram without blemish
out of the flocks, with thy estimation by shekels of silver, after the shekel
of the sanctuary, for a trespass offering: 16
and
he shall make amends for the harm that he hath done in the holy thing, and
shall add the fifth part thereto, and give it unto the priest: and the priest shall make an atonement for
him with the ram of the trespass offering, and it shall be forgiven him. 17
And
if a soul sin, and commit any of these things which are forbidden to be done by
the commandments of the LORD; though he wist it
not, yet he is guilty, and shall bear his iniquity. 18
And
he shall bring a ram without blemish out of the flock, with thy estimation, for
a trespass offering, unto the priest:
and the priest shall make an atonement for him concerning his ignorance
wherein he erred and wist it not, and it shall be forgiven him. 19
It
is a trespass offering: he hath
certainly trespassed against the LORD.” The
Trespass Offerings “And if a soul sin, and hear the
voice of swearing, and is a witness, whether he hath seen or known of
it; if he do not utter it, then he shall bear his iniquity.” (verse
1) ‘I swear to God,’ he puts himself under
an oath, remember Peter said when they asked him ‘Surely you’re one of his
disciples,’ and he swore ‘I don’t know what your talking about,’ and
the Lord said ‘Before the cock crows you’re going to deny me three
times.’ And Peter swore three
times, and it says the last time, with an oath, and what he said is ‘Let me
be eternally damned,’ he pronounced an anathema upon himself with an
oath. As soon as he said that he heard
the cock crowing, you know the way it goes.
And then it says the Lord turned and looked at him…with his eyes filled
with compassion, the broken heart of a loving Lord that knew the pain that
Peter was in right then as he realized what he had done, he was about to go to
the cross and pay for that also, he was going to pay for that also. So, you’re sware, you make an oath, “and is
a witness, whether he hath seen or known of it; if he do not utter it,
then he shall bear his iniquity. Or if a
soul touch any unclean thing, whether it be a carcase of an unclean
beast, or a carcase of unclean cattle, or the carcase of unclean creeping
things, and if it be hidden from him; he also shall be unclean, and
guilty.” (verses 1-2) just because he didn’t realize it doesn’t mean there
isn’t guilt, there’s still guilt even though did this unknowingly, God’s Word
of course points us to holiness. “Or
if he touch the uncleanness of man, whatsoever uncleanness it be that a
man shall be defiled withal, and it be hid from him; when he knoweth of it,
then he shall be guilty. Or if a soul swear,
pronouncing with his lips to do evil, or to do good, whatsoever it be
that a man shall pronounce with an oath, and it be hid from him; when he
knoweth of it, then he shall be guilty in one of these. And it shall be, when he shall be guilty in
one of these things, that he shall confess that he hath sinned in that thing:
and he shall bring his trespass
offering unto the LORD for his sin which he
hath sinned, a female from the flock, a lamb or a kid of the goats, for a sin
offering; and the priest shall make an atonement for him concerning his sin.”
(verses 3-6) Now this is in regards
to specific trespasses. Here's the
interesting thing, where it says in 1st John, “If we confess
our sins, he’s faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness.” If we confess,
homologao, to say the same thing, homo, the same, logao,
to speak, it isn’t enough to say “I’m sorry, I blew it,” that’s not what this
is about, what confession is about. You
know, if you sin against someone in the congregation, or even your children or
your wife, someone in your family, it’s not enough to say “I’m sorry,” what you
need to say is “forgive me,” that says something completely different. You’re acknowledging that you crossed a line,
there’s been a trespass, there’s a line that the LORD drew, it says as a
husband you should never step over this line, and when you step over that line
husbands, and I did it once just to see what it was like, 1973. You step over that line, I wasn’t married
till ’78, but I was practicing, you step over that line, you’ve trespassed
them. So, there has to be confession,
not just ‘Oh, I’m sorry,’ it’s ‘Forgive me, I’ve transgressed
something.’ Confessing our sins, homologao,
is we finally agree ‘Lord, I’ve been in sexual sin, Lord, I’ve been doing
this, Lord I’ve been bitter, Lord I’ve been unforgiving,’ it’s finally
saying the same thing that God’s Word and the Holy Spirit has been saying to
us, bringing us under conviction, we finally get in step with him, that’s what
confession is. And if that confession is
real, then he’s both faithful and just to forgive, and to cleanse, to catharize
us, to drain all of the poison that we can’t drain out of our system, to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness, he’s active once we’ve cooperated. And here with the trespass offering, the
person has stepped across some line, “and he shall bring his trespass
offering unto the LORD for his sin which he
hath sinned, a female from the flock, a lamb or a kid of the goats, for a sin
offering; and the priest shall make an atonement for him concerning his
sin. And if he be not able to bring a
lamb, then he shall bring for his trespass, which he hath committed, two
turtledoves, or two young pigeons,” he’s impoverished, he can’t
afford to bring a lamb, “unto the LORD; one for a sin
offering, and the other for a burnt offering.
And he shall bring them unto the priest, who shall offer that
which is for the sin offering first, and wring off his head from his
neck, but shall not divide it asunder:
and he shall sprinkle of the blood of the sin offering upon the side of
the altar; and the rest of the blood shall be wrung out at the bottom of the
altar: it is a sin offering. And he shall offer the second for a
burnt offering, according to the manner:
and the priest shall make an atonement for him for his sin which he hath
sinned, and it shall be forgiven him.” (verses 6-10) How wonderful.
If he’s so poor that he can’t bring two turtledoves, “But if he be
not able to bring two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, then he that sinned
shall bring for his offering the tenth part of an ephah of fine flour for a sin
offering; he shall put no oil upon it, neither shall he put any frankincense
thereon: for it is a sin
offering.” (verse 11) an ephah was about 21 quarts of grain or flour, a
tenth part was about two quarts of flour.
God made even for the poorest people in Israel an opportunity to offer a
trespass offering. “Then shall he
bring it to the priest, and the priest shall take his handful of it, even
a memorial thereof, and burn it on the altar, according to the offerings
made by fire unto the LORD: it is a sin offering. And the priest shall make an atonement for
him as touching his sin that he hath sinned in one of these, and it shall be
forgiven him: and the remnant
shall be the priest’s, as a meat [grain] offering.” (verses 12-13) Let’s finish this chapter. Trespass
Offering For Doing Something Sacrilegious To The Holy Things “And the LORD spake unto Moses,
saying, If a soul commit a trespass, and sin through ignorance, in the holy
things of the LORD; then he shall bring
for his trespass unto the LORD a ram without blemish
out of the flocks, with thy estimation by shekels of silver, after the shekel
of the sanctuary, for a trespass offering:
and he shall make amends for the harm that he hath done in the holy thing,”
he’s
done something sacrilegious, “and shall add the fifth part thereto, and give
it unto the priest: and the priest shall
make an atonement for him with the ram of the trespass offering, and it shall
be forgiven him.” (verses 14-16) “it
shall be forgiven him.” boy that has such a nice ring to it. “And if a soul sin, and commit any of
these things which are forbidden to be done by the commandments of the LORD; though he wist it
not,” he
didn’t know it, “yet he is guilty, and shall bear his iniquity.” though
he didn’t know it, he’s not guiltless,
“And he shall bring a ram without blemish out of the flock, with thy estimation,
for a trespass offering, unto the priest:
and the priest shall make an atonement for him concerning his ignorance
wherein he erred and wist it not, and it shall be forgiven him. It is a trespass offering: he hath certainly trespassed against the LORD.” (verses 17-19) So, read ahead, I’d hoped to journey a little
bit into chapter 6, but we got too busy with the caul and the fat above the
liver, the fat around the kidneys, those were important things for us to
realize what they meant. Look, in all of
this, I guarantee you, it’s probably a portion of Scripture that you wouldn’t
read, if you sit alone with this, for me at least, many places in the prophets,
Genesis, in the New Testament, the Gospels, so much lies on the surface. There’s so much to feast on right on the
surface. And the danger for me there is,
because I’m lazy, that I won’t dig, because there’s also so much below than
what lies on the surface, that’s amazing, that’s to be feasted upon. The danger in the Old Testament in a place
like this, there’s nothing laying on the surface in some ways. And the problem is, I’m lazy, and it’s where
I know I need to dig, and it’s easier for me to just move on to somewhere where
the stuff’s laying on the surface. But
you hit living water when you dig. There’s
so much wealth that God gives to the heart, there’s so much communion that
takes place with the inmost part of our being, when we take the time to sit
before him, even in these things, even in these things. My encouragement to you, read ahead, next
Wednesday night if the Lord tarries we’ll start in chapter 6 and march
onward. Familiarize yourself with what
you’re unfamiliar with, and we’ll look at those things together. Let’s have the musicians come, we’ll stand,
we’ll pray. Certainly, if you don’t know
Christ, if you don’t know God’s forgiveness, if you’ve never thought about
these things, we’d love for you to stop down after the service, love to pray
with you, give you an opportunity to repent, to turn to the Lord, to realize he
shed his blood for you, that he died for you, love to give you a copy of the
Scripture, some things to read. Isn’t
Leviticus fun? Let’s pray…[transcript of
a connective expository sermon on Leviticus 3:1-17, Leviticus 4:1-35 and
Leviticus 5:1-19, given by Pastor Joe Focht, Calvary Chapel of Philadelphia,
13500 Philmont Avenue, Philadelphia, PA
19116] related links: If you’ve been through a church
split where a pastor’s fallen, it’s almost like a child going through a
divorce, sometimes you never learn to trust again, because you feel like your
trust was violated. This happened in a
whole denomination, and it did cause a ton of marriages to dissolve. See https://unityinchrist.com/wwcofg/wwcofgod.html This situation put me on a winding spiritual
journey, but with the basic authority of this denomination being brought into
question by people who were trying to destroy the foundational core beliefs of this denomination, many
marriages did dissolve as a direct or indirect result, mine included. My weird spiritual journey is detailed on
this site’s “About the Author” section, see https://unityinchrist.com/author.htm Audio version: https://resources.ccphilly.org/detail.asp?TopicID=&Teaching=WED566 |