The Sin-Offering
“LrrrLE children, these things write i unto tou, that te sin not.
AND IF ANY MAN SIN, WE HAVE AN ADVOCATE WITH THE FATHER, JESUS CHRIST
the righteous; and he is the propitiation for our sins: and not Foa
CUES ONLT, but ALSO FOR THE SINS OF THE WHOLE WORLD.” 1 John U. 1, 2.
Were a scorpion oa our brow, prepared to thrust in its deadly stings while we were unconscious of any danger, surely the friend would deserve our thanks who saw the black scorpion there, and cried aloud to us to sweep it off. Such is a sin of ignorance; and God, who is “a Grod of knowledge,” is the gracious friend. In this character he appears here.
Vers. 1,2. “And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 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.”
The former chapters of this Book have been in substance like the first chapter of John’s first Epistle. We have been shown in type that life eternal which was manifested to us in Christ, the great Atonement. Next, we were shown that the Lord had a claim on all that is ours, and therefore must we give up ourselves and all that is ours to him. This done, we walk in fellowship with him.
70 THE Sm-OPFEEING.
These things have been written to us, in the first three chapters, to the end “that wo sin not” — that we may not live like the dark world around us, but may be drawn to him who draws us with his cords of love — the Lord now speaks again to “the children of Israel” — his “little children.” He points out what is to be done when they come to the knowledge of sin, of which they were not aware before. The cases are understxxxi to be things committed, not mere omissions of duty; and how saddening to find that we grieve the Lord in so many hidden ways. “We have a heart as prone to sin as the body is to weariness.
The sin through ignorance (njj’fi) is the same that David prays against in Psalm xix. 12, “Who can understand his errors (nix’^attj)? cleanse thou mo from secret things I” These are not sins of omission, but acts committed by a person when at the time he did not suppose that what he did was sin.* Although he did the thing deliberately, yet he did not perceive the sin of it. So deceitful is sin, we may be committing that abominable thing which cast angels into an immediate and an eternal hell, and yet at the moment be totally unaware! Want of knowledge of the truth and too little tenderness of conscience hide it from us. Hardness of heart and a corrupt nature cause us to sin unperceived. But here again the form of the Son of man appears! Jehovah, God of Israel, institutes sacrifice for sins of ignorance, and thereby discovers the same compassionate and considerate heart that appears in our High Priest, ^’tcho can have compassion on the ignorant!” (Heb. v. 2.)
JoeL xz. 8, “Who killcth any peraon in ignorance fniStia) and did not know,” i. e., did not know that hin action would have had that effect Cioinp. Deut xix. 4,
Amidst the types of this Tabernacle we recognize the presence of Jesus — it is his voice that shakes the curtains and speaks in the ear of Moses, “J/ a soul should sin through ignorance /” The same yesterday, to-day, and forever!
THE priest’s sin.
Vers. 3, 4. “If the priest that is anointed do sin according to the sin of the people; then let him bring, for his sin which he hath sinned, a young bullock without blemish unto the Lord for a sin-offering. 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.”
The anointed priest must mean the High Priest, for he only was anointed. In ver. 5, the Septuagint have so understood it, for they give “6 ieoevg 6 Xgiatog 6 jsiBXeiu. ftsvog.” Now, the first case is that of the anointed priest sinning. “The law maketh men high priests that have infirmity.” (Heb. vii. ,28.) This sin the priest may have committed in his public services, in the execution of his office. Being invested with office, his sins are peculiarly aggravated, and peculiarly dangerous — their effect upon others may be incalculable. The words, “according to the sin of the people” (orn rscxb) are more properly rendered, “so as to cause the people to sin,” — he sins to the sinning of the people. {Tov lov Xnop AuaqxeXv. Septuag. “Delinquere faciens populum.” Vulg.) The Old Testament ministry involved awful responsibilities, as well as the New. The personal holiness of the priest is provided for by this consideratioP; that if he, because of deficient wisdom, or because he had not faithfully sought help from the sanctuary, were guilty of some mistake in the service, or polluted some of the holy vessels, his sin would injure thousands of souls. It might dertroy the comfort of thousands; it might misrepresent the way of acceptance to thousands, and thereby ruin their souls. It left the sanctuary-door open to Satan. And, on the other hand, in such circumstances, surely the people would learn to pray for the ministering priest, and to feel that, after all, he was no more than an instrument used by God for their sakes. There seems thus to have been, in all ages, the flow of the same sympathies through Christ’s body, the Church. The Church has been ever “compacted by that which every joint supplieth.” But let us proceed.
Hitherto we have seen atonement made by sacrifice, but now we are to see imputation of sin. Atonement is effected by imputation of sin to another. The priest’s sin is to be brought to the altar. He is to bring” a bullock.’’^ This is the very same kind of offering as when the whole congregation sin. As the most bulky and most expensive form of sacrifice was the bullock, the priest must take this form of sacrifice, in order to make more obvious to the eye his concern for his sin. He .spares no cost in bringing his sin to the altar; and the people learn from him to spare no cost in bringing their sins to the atoning blood.
The type, applied to our surety, may be this — that when Christ, our Anointed Priest, took upon him our sin as his own, he had to offer exactly what we should have had to do ourselves, had we been reckoned with in our own persons. If there be sin found upon the priest, then his offering must be no less than the whole congregation’s.
Ver«. 6, 6. “And the prieat that is anointed shall take of the buUock’i Uood, aod 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 veil of the sanctuary.”
The “seven times’^ throughout all Scripture, intimates a perfect and complete action.* The blood is to bo thoroughly exhibited before the Lord — life openly exhibited as taken to honor the law that had been violated. It is not, at this time, taken within the veil, for that would require the priest to enter the Holy of Holies — a thing permitted only once a year. But it is taken very near the mercy-seat — it is taken before the “veil,” while the Lord that dwelt between the Cherubim bent down to listen to the cry that came up from the sin-atoning blood.
Was the blood sprinkled on the veil? Some say not, but only on the floor close to the veil. The floor of the Holy Place was died in blood; a threshold of blood was formed, over which the high priest must pass on the i!ay of atonement, when he entered into the Most Holy, drawing aside the veil. It is blood that opens our way into the presence of God; it is the voice of atoning blood that prevails with him who dwells within. Others, however, with more probability, think the blood was sprinkled on the veil.i It might intimate that atonement was yet to rend that veil. And, as that beautiful veil represented the Saviour’s holy humanity (Heb. x. 20), oh, how
* The “seven times” of some passages, and the “once” of others (Heb. x. 10; 1 Pet. iii. 18), intimate the same thing, viz., so completely done that no more is needed. It is the one action in seven parts, for the satisfaction of all -who see it done. And so the “One Spirit” and the “Seven Spirits.” The Pythagoreans learnt from the Hebrews to account this number very - important in religious cts.
f The Hebrew is doubtful; n3“19 “as hX is put at the close of the sentence. Most probably it is so put, in order to define what “before the Lord,” meant. The Septuagint is” Kara ro KaraTreraBjia” But Aben Ezra has maiB bs nt’’, “he shall sprinkle on the veil.”
expressive was the continual repetition of this blood-sprinkling seven times! As often as the priest offered a sin-offering, the veil was wet again with blood which dropt on the floor. Is this Christ bathed in the blood of atonement? Yes; “through that veil” the way was opened to us — through the flesh of Jesus — through the body that for us was drenched in the sweat of blood.
Yer. 7. “And the priest shall pat some of the blood upon the horns of the altnr of sweet incense before the Lord, which is in tlic tabernacle of the congregation; and shall pour all the blood of the bullock at the bottom of the altar of the burnt-oiTeriiig, which is at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.”
The priest retires a few steps from before the veil. Having gazed solemnly on the seven times sprinkled blood, in the light of the golden candlestick, he is directed to pother act. He is to approach the golden altar — that altar whereon sweet inccnso was presented, hicense being fragrant, represented that which is pleasing, and which has in it acceptability; and when offered along with prayer, praise, or any feeling of the soul, exhibited a type of the merits of the surety enveloping his people’s services. The horns of this altar (said to have been of a pyrainidical shape), represented the power and strength that lay in this mode of approaching Jehovah. The horn is the recognized symbol of power. Incense ascending between the four horns was symbolical of praise, prayer, or any service presented to God, ascending with all-prevailing merit. And bloody placed on these horns,* o.xhibited the strong appeal to God made by atonement. A strong appeal to God is made by the blood thus placed
There is no ineerue burnt on this altar on this occasion, “in order to teach us,” says an old writer, “not to confide in oar prayers for pardon.”
on the horns ot the golden altar. It is like the voice in Rev. ix. 13.
We have seen that the priest first of all sprinkled the blood on the floor, close to the veil, or on the veil, whence it fell in drops to the ground, so that a cry was heard ascending from the holy place itself. And then he sprinkled it on the four horns of the altar of intercession, that an appeal of unbroken strength might go up into the ears of the Lord from the very place of strong crying. He knew that it spoke better things than the blood of Abel. When the anointed priest was thus engaged, was he not a type of Jesus in the act of expiating his people’s guilt? Probably the priest knelt, and then prostrated himself on the ground, as he sprinkled the blood before the veil; and it would be with many tears, and strong crying from the depths of his soul, that he touched the altar’s horns — a type of Jesus in the garden, when he fell on his face, and, being in an agony, prayed more earnestly, and “offered up supplication, with strong crying and tears, to him that was able to save him from death.” (Heb. v. 7.) Although in this case, the priest’s sense of guilt was personal, and therefore was deep and piercing, yet when Jesus took on him our sins, he, too, felt them, and felt them as if they had been his own. He cried, “Mine iniquities have taken hold upon me!” (Pa. xl. 12.) Identifying himself with us, his soul grieved immeasurably for the sin he bore, and his tears dropt on the awful burden which he took up, as sincerely as if it had been altogether his own.
At length the priest comes from the holy place — leaving it, however, filled with the cry of blood! a cry for pardon — and proceeds to the altar of burnt-offering, directly opposite the door. There he pours out the rest of the blood, at the foot of the altar,* his eye looking straight toward the holy place. Within and without the holy place, the voice of atonement was now heard ascending from the blood. What a sermon was thus preached to the people I Atonement is the essence of it — atonement needed for even one sin, and applied as soon as the sin was known. There is no trifling with God. What a ransom for the soul is given! — life — it he life of the seed of the woman! What care to present it — what earnestness! The holy plade is filled with its cry, and the courts without also; and the priest’s soul is intently engaged in this one awful matter! The people, perceiving the whole transaction, must have felt it singularly powerful, 1st, for conviction — “Whosoever shall keep the whole lata, and pel offend in one point, he is guilty of all” {Ja.8. ii. 10); and 2d, for invitation —” To-day, if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.^^
Yen. 8, 9, 10. “And be shall take off from it all the fat of the bullork for the Bin-offering; 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 ia 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 thcni upon the altar of the burnt-offering.”
The same ceremonies as were used in the peace-offerings, are intentionally introduced here. (See iii. 10.) The object seems to be, to show the offerer that he is noxo accepted. It is not in vain that he has sprinkled the blood on the floor of the holy place and its altar of in-
* It is said that, in Jerusalem, there was an underground canal at the altar in the Temple, by which the blood was carried off to the brook Cedron. (Patrick.) oense, and poured out what of the blood remained, in sight of all the people. Grod gives this sign of reconciliation, viz., at this stage of his offering the sacrifice is treated as a peace-offering. The voice of peace now breathes over the sacrifice, and through the courts, as much as if a voice had said, “It is a savor of rest.”
Vers. 11, 12. “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, where the ashes are poured out, and bum him on the wood with fire; where the ashes are poured out shall he be burnt.”
But that the priest, and all present, might go home with an awful conviction of the heinousness even of forgiven sin, other things remained to be done. We are not to forget sin, because it has been atoned for; and we are not to think lightly of sin, because it is washed away. Our God wishes his people to retain a deep and lively sense of their guilt, even when forgiven. Hence the concluding ceremonies in the case of the priest’s sin.
The very skin of the bullock is to be burnt — thus expressing more complete destruction than even in the case of the whole burnt-offering. Here is the holy law exacting the last mite; for the skin is taken, and the whole flesh, the head and legs (i, 8), the intestines, and the very dung — “even the whole bullock /” Unsparing justice, that is, unspotted justice! And yet more. As if the altar were too near God’s presence to express fully that part of the sinner’s desert which consists in suffering torment far off from God, all this is to be done without the camjf — a distance, it is calculated, of four miles from the holy place. In all sacrifices, indeed, this separation from God is represented in some degree by the ashes being carried away out of the camp; but, to call attention still more to this special truth, we are here shown the bullock burnt on the wood, *’ without the camp, where the ashes are wont to be poured out It was over the very ashes that lay poured out there; for, in the last clause of the verse, the particle (b?) is used. “The clean place’’’ is defined to be this place of ashes. It is clean, because, when reduced to ashes by consuming fire, all guilt was away from the victim, as intimated in Ps. XX. 3,” Let him turn thy burnt-sacrifice to ashes” — fi3®”?7> the word used here also.
At this part of the ceremonies there was meant to bo exhibited a type of hell. This burning afar off, away from the holy place, yet seen by the whole congregation, was a terrible glance at that truth, “They shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in presence of the Lamb; and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and ever.” (Rev. xiv. 10.)
It is plain, also, that God took the opportunity which this offering afforded, or rather formed this part of the rites belonging to this offering, in order to show somewhat more of Christ’s death.
In every sacrifice which was of a public nature, or for a public person, the animal was carried without the camp, as we may see, chap. xvi. 27, on the day of atonement. The reason of this was that, in these cases, Christ’s public-sacrifioe, as offered to the whole world, and every creature, and as fulfilling the law’s demands to the last mite, was to be especially prefigured. It is carried “without the camp,” as Jesus was crucified outside of the gates of Jerusalem (Heb. xiii. 12), that it might be in sight of all the camp, as Christ’s one offering is held up to all the world, to be used by whosoever will.
Next, suffering far off from the holy place, with his Father’s face hidden, and all the fire of wrath in his soul, and on his body, Jesus farther fulfilled this type in regard to the entire satisfaction demanded by the law. And, inasmuch as he suffered at Jerusalem, where the ashes of the sacrifices were poured out, he may be said to have fulfilled the type of the “clean place.” For we see him, over these remnafits of typical sacrifice, offering up ike one true and perfect offering. But it was Calvary that was specially a “place of ashes,^^ inasmuch as there the demands of justice were wont to be satisfied, and the bones of victims to human law cast out, Joseph’’ s new tomb hewn out of the very rock of Calvary, is the exact counterpart to the” clean place at the very spot where the ashes of so many dead men were to be found all around.
And 0, what a view of hell does the suffering Saviour give! The face covering between him and his Father — the criminal’s veil hung over him for three hours, the three hours of darkness — away from the holy place — driven from the mercy-seat, and beyond the bounds of the holy city — an outcast, a forsaken soul, a spectacle to all that passed by — wrath to the uttermost within, and his person, even to the eye, more marred than any man, while his cry, “My God! my God! why hast thou forsaken me?” ascended up as the smoke of the sacrifice, to heaven, showing the heat of the unutterable agony, and testifying the unswerving exactness of the holy law. What a contrast to his coming again without sin, and entering Jerusalem again with the voice of the Archangel, in all his glory, bringing with him those whom he redeemed by that death on Calvery!
In one respect his people are to imitate the view of him shown in this type. As he went forth to witness for God’s holy law — went forth without the gate, a spectacle to all the earth; so they, redeemed by him, are to go forth to witness of that death and redemption whioh he has accomplished. (Heb. xiii. 12.) “We are to “go forth unto him;” we are to be constantly, as it were, viewing that spectacle of united love and justice, looking to his cross; though in so doing we make ourselves objects of amazement and contempt to the world, who contemn those whom they see going forth to stand by the side of the Crucified One.
THE CONGREGATION’S SIN.
Ver, 13. “And if the whole congregation of Israel sin throogfa 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.”
The moral law was sometimes broken by the nation at large; as in the matter of the golden calf, and the murmuring at the report of the spies. It is thought by Rashi that a sin like this occurred when “the Sanhedrim did not instruct the people in regard to some ceremonial observance.” Admitting that such cases occarred, yet it is important to notice, that even if the people were led into sin by their priest, they are not excused: they are guilty and suffer the consequences.* The Prophet Hosea, (iv. 6-9,) shows that people are not freed from sin or punishment in such cases.
The proper rendering of “are guilty” sicBSt, is, ra this place, “are mtffering the penalty.” As in Psalm xxxir. 21, 22, “shall be desolate;’ and Isa. xxir. 6.
This, however, is but one way whereby the congregation are led into sin. Often it happened that a man made little use of his knowledge, and so ate holy things, as we find, chap. xxii. 14; and the whole people, in 1 Sam. xiv. 33, eat of the blood. Though they had not despised the priest, nor refused the law at his lips, yet they might let the word slip from their mind; as in Heb. ii. 1, we are told may still occur.
We all know that it is possible for a child of Grod to be cherishing unawares some idol, or indulging, like Eli, a too easy temper. Or he may be rash in his words, and frowning in his looks, where Jesus would only have looked on in grief. He may be cherishing pride like Hezekiah (Isa. xxxix.), or exhibiting blind zeal as the sons of Zebedee. He may be unawares substituting labor for fellowship with Grod, working without love, and suffering without faith in exercise. Prejudice against particular doctrines may be his secret sin; or wrong motives may be influencing him to do right actions. He may contrive to retain the look of greenness when the sap is gone. Even a whole community of believers may be pervaded by some such sin.
But more specially, a whole Church may be in the state of the congregation referred to here. It may be denying some great truth in theory or in practice. Thus, it may make light of the duty which kings and magistrates owe to Christ; as is done by some Churches. It may be suffering “that woman Jezebel to teach and to seduce.” (Rev. ii. 20.) It may be admitting some civil element into the management of its spiritual affairs, as is done in many Protestant Churches. It may be shutting its eyes to some great truth, or winking at some heresy. It may teach error in doctrine; or it may have left its first love. It may have allowed discipline to have become lax and corrupt, as, alas! is too generally true of all the Churches of the Reformation.
These secret sins may be keeping God from blessing the whole people, though he blesses individuals. Somewhere amid these sources is to be found the origin of much of our inefficiency and unprofitableness. At cannot be taken because of the accursed thipg in the camp. The mariners cannot make out the voyage to Tarshish with Jonah on board.
Israel was thus led to constant self-examination and close attention to the revealed will of God.
Ver. 14. “When the sin, which they have sinned against it, is known, then the congregation shall ofl’er a young bullock for the sin, and bring him before the tabernacle of. the congregation.”
Their offering is the same as the priest’s because of their mutual relation. The people’s sin is not overlooked, but is judged with as much severity as the priest’s. Every man must bear his own burden; and God is jealously holy.
Ver. 16. “And the elders of the congregation shall lay tlie’r hand a upon the head of the bullock before the Lord; and the bullock shall be killed before the Lord.”
The elders, in the name of the people, convey the guilt of the people to the head of the victim. It was this class of men — the elders — that put Jesus to death, with the priests. Now here we see that their act was a national act — strictly national — since they were representatives of all Israel. And their cry,” His blood be on us,^^ joining with the multitude, was a national rejection of Jesus. Ah, had they then joined to put their hands on hiin as the acknowledged sacrifice, they might have remained to this day!
The guilt of the whole people was thus made to meet in one point, viz., on the bullock. It is to a scene like this that Isaiah liii. 6, refers: “The Lord made the iniquity of us all to meet on him.” (i::?”’?sn).
Vers. 16, 17, 18, 19, 20. “And the priest that is anointed shall bring of the bullocTPs 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 veil. 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. And he shall take all his fat from him, 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.”
The expression, ver. 20, is to be understood, “He shall do in this case as he has done already,’’^ in the case of a bullock for sin-offering, viz., ver. 3. The declaration,” It shall be forgiven,’’^ seems inserted here because otherwise there is not here, as in the last case, any particular exhibition of peace as in verses 8-10. This declaration, therefore, is made that pardon may be assuredly known.
Ver. 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.”
It is remarkable that after the declaration of forgiveness, these other ceremonies take place. They are intended, no doubt, to impress a horror of sin on the soul, even after it is forgiven. The forgiven man is most capable of seeing the horror of sin; and therefore the
84 THE Sm-OFrERING.
people are first pardoned, and then lead out to see the last mite exacted without the camp. See the same order observed, and for the same reason, we suppose, at vers. 11, 12. None but a pardoned man could have uttered Paul’s cry, “0 wretched man that I am; who shall deliver rae from the body of this death?” (Rom. vii. 24.)
The identity of Christ and his people, also, is taught by their offering being burned exactly ia all respects as the priesls, whose ofl’ering more especially typified Jesus.
THE ruler’s sin.
Verg. 22, 23. “When a ruler hath sinned, and done somewhat throoghigporance against any of the commandments of the Lord his Ood 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.”
“If a ruler has sinned and is suffering’ the
penali]/,^’ as in ver. 13th. The ruler may sin ignorantly, and be led to know his sin by some suffering-^ like Abimelech, in Gren. xx. 3-17; or it might be by some friend’s reproof, or by new circumstances occurring. So ver. 27.
The ruler is such a one as those princes (o’xb:) of the tribes in Numb. vii. It includes all civil magistrates. His high responsibility is here shown just as in Prov. xxix. 12, “If a ruler hearken to lies, all his servants will be wicked.”
It is said, “The Lord his God ;^^ as if to call attention to the duty of publicly recognizing the Lord, and of rulers having the Lord as their own Grod. A ruler is specially bound to bo a man of God. This is taken for granted here, “The Lord his God No casting off of Messiah’s cords here. He that ruleth over men must bo as the Just One, “ruling in the fear of God.”
“A kid of the goats” is his sin-ofFering. It is a different victim from that offered by the priest or congregation in order to show that Grod definitely marks sin. And yet still the essence of atonement is the same, the blood of a victim that dies. Priest or prince must alike be atoned for by blood. The “male without blemish” is the spotless Saviour, the Son of man.
Vers. 24, 25. “And he shall lay his hand upon the head of the goat, and kill it in the place -where they kill the burnt- oflfering 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, and shall pour out his Wood at the bottom of the altar of burnt-oJHfering.”
It seems intentionally twice stated here, that the Altar of Burnt-offering” was to be the place where his sin-offering was to be presented; — it is to be killed where the usual sacrifices for that altar are killed, and its blood is to be sprinkled there. The reason may be this: — The altar of incense in the holy place was peculiarly the scene of the priest’s intercession, and of the people’s prayers as a congregation. The sins in holy things pointed inward, toward the holy place. On the other hand, a ruler’s sin pointed toward the camp. Hence the blood that atones for his sin is sprinkled on the horns of that altar where it would be publicly observed. The cry of the blood on the four horns, — the strong cry, based on all-prevailing atonement, — was to ascend within hearing, as it were, of all his subjects, inasmuch as his sins affected the welfare of the nation.
Ver. 26. “And 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.”
The last clause may be intended to draw attention to the fact, that in this instance the atonement is because of this particular sin, and not simply because he is a sinner in nature and by common actual transgressions. The opportunity is here embraced of impressing on us the need of atonement for particular sins, — for every sin by itself; and for those little regarded sins which we apologize for by saying, “I did not know of it.” Jonathan’s sin in taking a little honey (1 Sam. xiv. 39, 43), and Abimelech’s sin (Gren. xx. 6), show how jealous God is of even what appears sin, especially in public persons.
SINS OF INDIVmUALS.
Vers. 27, 28. “And if any of the common people ain 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 hii sin, which lie hath sinned, come to his knowledge; then he shall bring his oflfering, a kid of the goats, a female without blemiab, for his sin which Ite hath sinned.”
“A female’^ is here offered. Each kind of sin is thus definitely noticed, and each sinner’s case treated by itself. But why is it a female, since Christ is typifted by these offerings? — It is not easy to say. Perhaps it was intended by God that by occasionally taking female sacrifices, Israel should be kept from ever once supposing that atonement was not intended equally for the daughters of Zion. The circumstance that sl female kid is here fixed upon served to take off the impression that the male intimated only the atonement of the men of Israel. Though, however, its being male or female is of use for other lessons, it is nut the chief point to be noticed; the point to be observed is, that the blood is an atonement. The subsidiary ideas are not to be dwelt upon always; but everywhere the principle of atonement by blood is to be kept in the sinner’s view.
“For his sin which he hath sinnedP Lest the man should think that the sin was trifling, because he was a common man, and not a ruler, this emphatic notice is taken of his sin: —
Vers. 29, 30, 31. “And be shall lay his hand upon the head of the sinoflFering, and slay the sin-ofFering in the place of the burnt-oflfering. 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. And he shall take away all the fat thereof, as the fat is taken away fi-om 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.”
The clause, “For a sweet savor unto the Lord,’’”’ occurs here, though omitted in the three preceding cases. The reason may be* to show the worshipper, that though he was a common man, and not a ruler, yei still as much attention is paid to him as to the others. The offering which he presents is- a sweet savor, as much as Noah’s. The full acceptance and full favor shown to every believer alike is immeasurably sweet. One family! all alike accepted! and all alike kept as the apple of his eye! And thus this sin, that unawares was troubling him, is away. And when even one sin, and that a sin of ignorance, is thus completely removed, who can tell how much light may flow into our own cleansed souls? A new window is opened, — a new eye, for the scale has fallen from it.
Ver. 32, 33, 34. “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 boras of the altar of burnt-offering, and shall pour out all the blood thereof at tbu bottom of the altar.”
It might sometimes not be easy to bring a kid. If so, let a lamb be taken. Only blood must be shed. The poor man’s lamb is specially noticed and fully received as the rich man’s oflering. “Like precious faith’^ is the common property of all God’s family, — “Owe Lord one faith
Ver. 86. “And he shall take away all the fat thereof, as the fat of the lamb is taken away from tha sacrifice of the peace-offerings; and the priest shall bum 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 bath committed, and it shall be forgiven him.”
The expression, “according’ to the offerings made by fire,” should be “in addition to (bs) the offerings,” — the daily sacrifice, morning and evening, — or, “upon the offerings,” i. e., over the very remnants of the daily sacrifice. It is exactly like chap. iii. 5. We are there taught that particular sins must be cast upon the one great Atonement; and the cases that occur in this chapter of special guilt are just specific applications of the great truth taught in the daily sacrifice.
Israel was taught that their different offerings were all of one nature in the main with the general burnt-offering ;^-one Saviour only was prefigured, and one atonement. These sin-offerings, presented “upon the daily sacrifice” resemble tributary streams pouring in their waters into one great ocean. “Christ once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, to bring us unto God.” (1 Pet. iii. 18.)* Oh, how anxious is our God to purge us
* In NnmK xxiL 26, another direction is given, viz., in a case where the nation had for a time forsaken the law of Moses. This happened under - several idolatrous kings, such as Manasseh. Ignorance became the sin of from every stain! The priest’s hyssop is introduced into every corner of the building that we may be altogether pure. Well may we join the seraphim in their song, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of Hosts.”
Some have regarded the offences for which satisfaction is made in this chapter as offences of a national kind — offences against the Theocracy, by which an Israelite forfeited the favor of Jehovah as his Theocratic Ruler, and was for a time cut off from his protection. Even when taken in this limited view, how significant are the sacrifices. The offender comes, confessing his sin and bringing a victim to suffer in his stead. The animal is slain in his room; the man is forgiven, and retains his standing as a protected Israelite — remaining under the shadow of the Guardian Cloud. The sacrifice never failed to produce this effect; but nothing else than the sacrifice ever did. “Without shedding of blood there is no remission This principle of the Divine government was engraven on the hearts of Israel, viz., whosoever is pardoned any offence must be pardoned by means of another’s death. “The great multitude” of the saved are all pardoned by one of infinite worth having died for them all. See 2 Cor. v. 14.
the next generation. Perhaps, Josiah’a alarm at the hearing of the law found in the Temple is the kind of case there intended. In ver. 27-29, iiKiividuals are taught to seek personal pardon besides.