Bible Talks: The Law of the Sin and Trespass Offerings.

From: Messages of God's Love: 1971

• 2 min. read • grade level: 10

Leviticus 6:24-7:10²⁴And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, ²⁵Speak unto Aaron and to his sons, saying, This is the law of the sin offering: In the place where the burnt offering is killed shall the sin offering be killed before the Lord: it is most holy. ²⁶The priest that offereth it for sin shall eat it: in the holy place shall it be eaten, in the court of the tabernacle of the congregation. ²⁷Whatsoever shall touch the flesh thereof shall be holy: and when there is sprinkled of the blood thereof upon any garment, thou shalt wash that whereon it was sprinkled in the holy place. ²⁸But the earthen vessel wherein it is sodden shall be broken: and if it be sodden in a brazen pot, it shall be both scoured, and rinsed in water. ²⁹All the males among the priests shall eat thereof: it is most holy. ³⁰And no sin offering, whereof any of the blood is brought into the tabernacle of the congregation to reconcile withal in the holy place, shall be eaten: it shall be burnt in the fire. ¹Likewise this is the law of the trespass offering: it is most holy. ²In the place where they kill the burnt offering shall they kill the trespass offering: and the blood thereof shall he sprinkle round about upon the altar. ³And he shall offer of it all the fat thereof; the rump, and the fat that covereth the inwards, ⁴And the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, which is by the flanks, and the caul that is above the liver, with the kidneys, it shall he take away: ⁵And the priest shall burn them upon the altar for an offering made by fire unto the Lord: it is a trespass offering. ⁶Every male among the priests shall eat thereof: it shall be eaten in the holy place: it is most holy. ⁷As the sin offering is, so is the trespass offering: there is one law for them: the priest that maketh atonement therewith shall have it. ⁸And the priest that offereth any man's burnt offering, even the priest shall have to himself the skin of the burnt offering which he hath offered. ⁹And all the meat offering that is baken in the oven, and all that is dressed in the fryingpan, and in the pan, shall be the priest's that offereth it. ¹⁰And every meat offering, mingled with oil, and dry, shall all the sons of Aaron have, one as much as another. (Leviticus 6:24‑7:10)

WE TAKE these two together, because we are told one law is for both (Lev. 7:7⁷As the sin offering is, so is the trespass offering: there is one law for them: the priest that maketh atonement therewith shall have it. (Leviticus 7:7)). Perhaps the first great principle is — “the priest that offereth it for sin shall eat it” (Lev. 6:26²⁶The priest that offereth it for sin shall eat it: in the holy place shall it be eaten, in the court of the tabernacle of the congregation. (Leviticus 6:26)).

The priest had to bear the iniquity of the one who had sinned and who brought the offering. The priest had to perform this solemn and weighty service in order that the full value of the atonement might take effect upon the one who needed it. If the priest failed in this duty, it did not affect the value or the perfection of the offering, but it did affect very seriously the way God in His mercy had provided for meeting the need of His poor failing people.

We, as believers, are at times called on to deal with a sin or trespass in another child of God. If I deal with it as a judge, instead of as a priest, if I do not make the sin my own, I hinder what God has ordered as necessary to fully restore the one who has done wrong. I prevent the full sense of the judgment of sin, and of the mercy and grace found in the cross of Christ, from coming home to the heart of him who has sinned.

How fully and pre-eminently, above all others, did the Lord Jesus answer to this, for though He had no sins of His own, yet did He identify Himself with our sins, confessed them all before God, and in His death He has put them all away. Blessed be His name forever!

The sin offering was “most holy"; yet it was apt to be forgotten. We read of how Eleazer and Ithamar burned the goat instead of eating it in “the holy place.” (Lev. 10:16-20¹⁶And Moses diligently sought the goat of the sin offering, and, behold, it was burnt: and he was angry with Eleazar and Ithamar, the sons of Aaron which were left alive, saying, ¹⁷Wherefore have ye not eaten the sin offering in the holy place, seeing it is most holy, and God hath given it you to bear the iniquity of the congregation, to make atonement for them before the Lord? ¹⁸Behold, the blood of it was not brought in within the holy place: ye should indeed have eaten it in the holy place, as I commanded. ¹⁹And Aaron said unto Moses, Behold, this day have they offered their sin offering and their burnt offering before the Lord; and such things have befallen me: and if I had eaten the sin offering to day, should it have been accepted in the sight of the Lord? ²⁰And when Moses heard that, he was content. (Leviticus 10:16‑20)), and so we may fail to make the sins of a brother our own. It is easy and natural to condemn one, but to identify ourselves with him in confessing and mourning the failure is the privilege of the priestly family, at least of “every male,” that is, of every one strong in faith, whether a brother or sister in Christ.

Then we learn here something very interesting in connection with the burnt offering, which was not told us before. “The priest that offereth any man’s burnt offering,... shall have to himself the skin of the burnt offering which he hath offered.” That skin would ever be a token and remembrance to the priest of the offering he had offered up. And so our blessed Lord has ever before Himself the memorial and display of Himself wholly given up to God for us, an offering and a sacrifice to Him for an sweet savor.

ML-09/19/1971

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