FOUR CASES in which the sin offering was required are brought before us in this chapter. In each some of the details are different, but all point on to that one blessed sacrifice of Christ. Some of the minute particulars might pass unnoticed by the casual reader, yet in studying them in dependence upon that blessed Spirit, every stroke of the inspired penman becomes precious to us.
All the ofttimes dim and showy lines converge on one grand point — “The Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.” There all find their true and perfect fulfillment. What may be dry and wearisome detail to the unenlightened, is full of beauty and wondrous meaning to the eye of faith which sees how Christ shines in all the Scriptures.
Standing by the brazen altar and watching the sacred fire as it feeds with satisfaction upon the grateful burnt offering, we see, in type, the Lord Jesus presenting to God on our behalf His one precious obedience. “Accepted in the Beloved,” is the truth here.
On the other hand, going “without the camp,” where the angry fire consumes the body of “the bullock for the sin offering,” we see the same blessed One “Charged with the complicated load Of our enormous guilt,” bearing our judgment — meeting the wrath due to us as sinners. “No condemnation” is the teaching here. In the former we have His excellencies, His merits, what is imputed to us, for the sake of which we are counted righteous; in the latter, what was imputed to Christ, for the sake of which “He was numbered with the transgressors.”
The case of the anointed priest comes first (vv. 3-12). If he sinned, which was often the case, he must bring a bullock without blemish unto the Lord for a sin offering. The bullock is the largest clean animal, and the Lord would have him realize that because of his position his was the greatest responsibility.
The high priest represented all the people, so his acts brought not only blessing on them, but also the guilt of his sin. If the anointed priest “sin so as to bring guilt on the people,” seems to be the meaning as given in another rendering.
How blessed in contrast is the High Priest of our confession, a great High Priest, Jesus the Son of God. For though tempted in all respects as we, yet it was apart from sin. In Him was no sin; on the contrary He was holy, harmless, undefiled, separated from sinners, and become higher than the heavens. He needed no offering, for He had no sins of His own, therefore He could become the true sin offering for all His people.
The bullock was brought to the door of the tabernacle, and the high priest placed his hand upon its head. His guilt was, as it were, transferred to the victim, and then the animal was slain before the Lord. How precious to the sinner who believes in Jesus, this act, the token of transferring the guilt to the victim, for faith sees that at the cross all his sins and guilt were transferred to that blessed substitute, who has answered to God for them all. Now they are gone — and gone Forever! “What a Saviour Jesus is! Everlasting praise be His!”
ML-07/11/1971