Leviticus 4:17-3517And the priest shall dip his finger in some of the blood, and sprinkle it seven times before the Lord, even before the vail. 18And 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. 19And he shall take all his fat from him, and burn it upon the altar. 20And 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. 21And 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. 22When 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; 23Or 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: 24And 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. 25And 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. 26And he shall burn all his fat upon the altar, as the fat of the sacrifice of peace offerings: and the priest shall make an atonement for him as concerning his sin, and it shall be forgiven him. 27And 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; 28Or 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. 29And he shall lay his hand upon the head of the sin offering, and slay the sin offering in the place of the burnt offering. 30And 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. 31And he shall take away all the fat thereof, as the fat is taken away from off the sacrifice of peace offerings; and the priest shall burn it upon the altar for a sweet savor unto the Lord; and the priest shall make an atonement for him, and it shall be forgiven him. 32And if he bring a lamb for a sin offering, he shall bring it a female without blemish. 33And 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. 34And 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: 35And 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. (Leviticus 4:17‑35)
We notice that collective worship was interrupted by the sin of the whole congregation (as it was by the sin of a priest) and so the blood had to be sprinkled before the veil in the holy place seven times. So perfect is the work of Christ that the moment sin is dealt with according to the Word of God, collective worship is perfectly restored. Then the blood must also be sprinkled on the horns of the altar of incense, showing that it is only through a deep realization of the awfulness of sin, and of the infinite value of the blood of Christ, that collective communion is restored. When a case of sin arises in an assembly, let us remember that each individual in the assembly should be exercised about it. Just as in the case of Achan’s sin, we read, “Israel hath sinned,” and again, “all Israel stoned him with stones” (Joshua 7:11, 2511Israel hath sinned, and they have also transgressed my covenant which I commanded them: for they have even taken of the accursed thing, and have also stolen, and dissembled also, and they have put it even among their own stuff. (Joshua 7:11)
25And Joshua said, Why hast thou troubled us? the Lord shall trouble thee this day. And all Israel stoned him with stones, and burned them with fire, after they had stoned them with stones. (Joshua 7:25)). Such things are not to be just the concern of two or three, but of the whole assembly, when sin is in their midst.
Sin of a Ruler
Next we come to the sin of a ruler. It is a serious thing to be a leader; or to have a position of influence among the people of God, for we are reminded in James, “My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation.” One who takes the place of a leader acquires a certain amount of influence, and if he sins, it is more serious than those who do not have such a place. The ruler therefore was to bring a male goat for his sin offering. We notice, however, that in the case of a ruler, as in the case of the common people who sinned, the blood was only sprinkled on the horns of the altar of burnt offering and not on the altar of incense, nor before the veil, because collective communion and worship are not broken (though they are hindered) by such individual sin. Personal communion and worship is broken, however, and that is why the blood must be put on the horns of the altar of burnt offering. Nor was the body of the animal in this case burned outside the camp because the blood was not brought into the tabernacle in this case. We find, however, that the priest ate the flesh of it in the holy place, and how this reminds us of the Lord Jesus, our Great High Priest, who made our guilt His own and met our individual need when He bore our sins on Calvary. He is also concerned on our behalf even now, as our Great High Priest above, though He settled our account forever at the cross, Oh that we, too (for now every believer is a priest), felt the sins of others according to God, and were more concerned to intercede for other failing believers according to His heart. Only the Lord Jesus — our Great High Priest — could bear sin’s penalty, but we can have His thoughts and interests on our hearts even here.
Nothing Passed Over
The offering for the sins of one of the common people was the same, as to its order, as the sin of a ruler, except that a female animal would be accepted. This reminds us once again that we are responsible according to our place and privilege before God, but let us remember whether our privileges be few or many, sin is sin before God, and nothing is passed over. The moment, however, that the sacrifice appointed by God had been offered, the sin was forgiven, and as we now rest upon the infinite value of the precious blood of Christ, our souls have peace.
For Further Meditation
1. How did the sacrifice for one of the common people differ from the sacrifice for a ruler?
2. A misunderstanding of grace suggests that sin isn’t very important to us since Christ has died to take away the sins of the believer. How do these offerings show that sin must be treated as a very serious thing by a believer?
3. When we have accepted what God has said about sin and about us as sinners, then we are more ready to accept His deliverance. If you’ve been thinking along these lines, you might benefit from the booklet Freedom From Sin: What Is It? by G. Cutting.