So much sin . . .

 

 

READ Leviticus 13-16

This long reading is mostly about offerings for skin diseases, bodily discharges and burns, and specific instructions regarding their inspection by the priests and how they should be cleansed. Relating them to myself is a challenge. It helps to think of these problems as sin in general. The instructions hint that sin can be a surface problem and once it is brought to the Lord, it is done with. Or sin can run deeper, taking time and much examination to heal. Those of us who battle sin know this reality. Battling the uncleanness in our lives can be a mere skirmish or it can be a life-long war, depending on the depth of the problem. For all though, the solution is the same — bring it to our High Priest Jesus Christ for examination and His resolution. Confess it for what it is and submit to whatever He says must be done.

The last chapter is about the day of atonement, a once-a-year sacrifice to deal with the sins of the people. For this, God gave Aaron specific instructions. He must present a burnt offering for himself and another for the people. This was done once a year on a specific day and again, had specific instructions.

Aaron shall offer the bull as a sin offering for himself and shall make atonement for himself and for his house. Then he shall take the two goats and set them before the Lord at the entrance of the tent of meeting. And Aaron shall cast lots over the two goats, one lot for the Lord and the other lot for Azazel. And Aaron shall present the goat on which the lot fell for the Lord and use it as a sin offering, but the goat on which the lot fell for Azazel shall be presented alive before the Lord to make atonement over it, that it may be sent away into the wilderness to Azazel. Aaron shall present the bull as a sin offering for himself, and shall make atonement for himself and for his house. He shall kill the bull as a sin offering for himself. And he shall take a censer full of coals of fire from the altar before the Lord, and two handfuls of sweet incense beaten small, and he shall bring it inside the veil and put the incense on the fire before the Lord, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is over the testimony, so that he does not die. And he shall take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger on the front of the mercy seat on the east side, and in front of the mercy seat he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times. Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering that is for the people and bring its blood inside the veil and do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull, sprinkling it over the mercy seat and in front of the mercy seat. Thus he shall make atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleannesses of the people of Israel and because of their transgressions, all their sins. And so he shall do for the tent of meeting, which dwells with them in the midst of their uncleannesses. (Leviticus 16:6–16)

One would think that if the people offered sacrifices for their sin all year, why was this once-a-year sacrifice necessary? It seems redundant. However the NT gives an answer. Even though Christ fulfilled all the Old Testament promises as the High Priest and His death and resurrection provides forgiveness and eternal life once and for all, believers are still given this:

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)

Confessing sin that I commit or become aware of keeps open my communication and fellowship with the Lord; unconfessed sin messes with that. Yes, Christ took me from slavery to sin into His kingdom and forever family, but when I sin (and the NT is clear: Christians do sin) I’ve turned away from Him simply because all sin is some form of trusting me instead of Him. The only way to turn back is by confession and repentance.

As this reading reminds me, sin takes various forms. Some of it stems from human weakness, some from deep-seated bad habits, some from inattention, and so on. But for all, the treatment is taking it to my Priest and my Lord for His examination and inviting Him to do what He alone can do — forgive and cleanse it from my life.

 

Forgiven — all of it . . .

 

 

READ Leviticus 1-4

Jesus said that evil comes out of the heart. The psalmist asked God to search his heart and reveal any wicked way that was there. When a person dreams of doing sinful things, is that God’s way of answering that prayer?

I had a dream where I was not doing anything evil, but I was thinking of it, even wishing I could. When I woke up, I felt guilty, as if I had done the awful thing. Thinking of the Cross and what Jesus did there for me helped, but oddly enough, so does today’s reading.

There were seven types of OT sacrificial offerings including sin, guilt, burnt, peace, grain offerings and more. Leviticus 4 focuses on the sin offering and says, “if a person sins unintentionally in any of these things which the Lord has commanded not to be done, and commits any of them,” they must present a sin offering.

The meaning behind this offering could be sinning through ignorance, hurry, want of consideration, or carelessness, but also sinning unintentionally. It is an offering for sins that spring from the weakness of being a sinful human being who means will as distinguished from sins committed in defiance and haughty rebellion against God and His commandments. In contrast, those sinners were cut off from God’s people (see Numbers 15:30-31).

This sin offering was for forgiveness and cleansing from sin’s pollution. It marked the ideas of propitiation and atonement, and presupposed that the person offering it knew they had done wrong. (see 4:14 and 23). The offering included rituals such as the guilty person laying their hands on the offering. This typified that the sin was transferred to the sacrifice and it became sin and suffered the consequences for it. The sprinkling of the blood represented the soul of the sinner brought into fellowship with God’s grace which was required for its atonement. The fat was also burned. According to a Bible dictionary:

“The burning of the fat of the sacrifice upon the altar as an offering made by fire for a soothing aroma unto Jehovah (Leviticus 4:31) was symbolic of the handing over of the better part of the man, the part that is susceptible of renewal, to the purifying fire of the divine holiness and love, in order that the inward man might be renewed from day to day by the Spirit of the Lord and at length be changed into the glory of the children of God.”

The sacrifice offered was regulated by who gave it and the nature of their sin. For instance, a young bull was offered for the sin of a high priest or the sins of the entire congregation. A male goat was offered for the sin of a leader, a female goat for sin by one of the common people, and so on. Without blemish was a common requirement. Regular and special offerings were made in a ritual manner. These rituals also varied with the type and occasion for the offering and included the declaration that “whoever touches them shall become consecrated” and instructions saying what to do with the offering after it was presented.

While an important part of OT covenant, these sacrifices are typology. That is, they point to Christ. The sin offering represents Christ atoning for the guilt of sin. “For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp. So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood.” (Hebrews 13:11–12)

 It portrays Jesus burdened with a believer’s sin, standing in the sinner’s place yet being Himself without blemish and the One “who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf” (2 Corinthians 5:21) The theological words describe these sin offerings as “efficacious and substitutionary and in their expiatory aspect vindicate the law through substitutionary sacrifice” meaning they were effective in taking what sinners deserve and making amends to satisfy the wrath of God against sin.

The sacrificial system was never intended to be complete. As the NT says, “For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second.” (Hebrews 8:7) and “For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.” (Hebrews 9:13–14)

The NT verifies in many places that “if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).

As for that dream, both Leviticus and the NT declare that even had it been an actual sin committed when I was awake, the blood of Jesus Christ is sufficient. He covers all sin — everything that this sinful person might do or dream that is contrary to godliness. I am joyful at the wonder of God’s grace . . . from Leviticus to this present day!