The Sin Offering

Forgiveness for Unintentional Sin

1  And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,   2  “Speak to the people of Israel, saying, If anyone sins unintentionally in any of the LORD’s commandments about things not to be done, and does any one of them,   3  if it is the anointed priest who sins, thus bringing guilt on the people, then he shall offer for the sin that he has committed a bull from the herd without blemish to the LORD for a sin offering.  - Leviticus 4:1-3 ESV

One of the very first things God told Adam, after He completed the creation of the earth, is recorded for us in Genesis 2:15-17, which reads:

 15  The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.   16  And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden,   17  but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”  - Genesis 2:15-17 ESV

We cannot take these words lightly. God was establishing a universal principle by which this new creation was to function. After creating the first man, He determined that voluntary obedience to Him, as God, would be a core principle and building block upon which Adam was to build his life. God was not interested in forced compliance, however, so He placed a forbidden tree in the garden, giving him freedom to disobey, but warned him that doing so would bring death upon him and the creation he enjoyed. 

Adam and his wife Eve chose disobedience and suffered the promised consequences. God, however, was rich in mercy, and while physical, spiritual, and environmental death overcame the world, He did not give up on His creation. He promised that a day would come when a Messiah would appear to set humanity free from the curse of sin. In the meantime, He set up through Moses, a sacrificial system that would appease His anger for individual sins committed by His people.

Until the arrival of this promised Messiah, Israel could appease God’s wrath and receive forgiveness for individual sins through the sacrifice of an animal on an altar. The sinner would place his or her hands on the head of that animal, symbolically transferring their sin to it, and then, that beast would be killed in their place. We can only imagine how many animals died in those days on behalf of those needing forgiveness.

There were two types of sin that could be committed before God. The first was intentional. This was a sin committed in open and willing defiance of God’s command with full knowledge that the act done was contrary to His will and purpose. The second type was unintentional. This was an act committed by mistake, by accident, or without prior knowledge. Let’s take a moment to examine these more particularly.

Intentional Sin

There was no sacrifice provided by the Law of Moses for the forgiveness of a person who deliberately and defiantly acted contrary to the purpose and will of God. Numbers 15:30-31 speaks about this when it says:

 30   But the person who does anything with a high hand, whether he is native or a sojourner, reviles the LORD, and that person shall be cut off from among his people.   31  Because he has despised the word of the LORD and has broken his commandment, that person shall be utterly cut off; his iniquity shall be on him.” - Numbers 15:30-31 ESV

The law recorded here speaks about an individual who does something with a “high hand.” The phrase “high hand” comes from two Hebrew words. The first is  רוּם rūm meaning to raise, exalt, or lift up. The second word is יָד yād and speaks of an open hand. The idea is that these individuals lift up their hands against the Lord God and choose to defy Him and His purpose to do what they want instead. This is someone who intentionally disobeys the command of God.Th

Observe the consequence of being “high handed” and openly defying God’s command, in Numbers 15:30. That person was to be cut off. The word “cut off” in Hebrew is כָּרַת kārath and means to destroy or perish. In other words, the law of Moses demanded the death sentence for anyone who openly and defiantly disobeyed God. This law is repeated in Deuteronomy 17:12 where we read:e

 12  The man who acts presumptuously by not obeying the priest who stands to minister there before the LORD your God, or the judge, that man shall die. So you shall purge the evil from Israel.  - Deuteronomy 17:12 ESV

The writer to the Hebrews refers to this legal sentence when he writes in Hebrews 10:26:

 26  For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,   27   but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. - Hebrews 10:26-27 ESV

If we go on sinning deliberately, knowing the truth, there is no sacrifice available for us. We can only expect judgment and fury.

It was unthinkable for a human being, who received life and breath from their Creator, to willfully and deliberately defy the very God who gave them life. To do so was to perish.

Unintentional Sin

This brings us to the second type of sin. Not all sin and guilt was intentional. Consider for example the words of Leviticus 4:13:

 13   “If the whole congregation of Israel sins unintentionally and the thing is hidden from the eyes of the assembly, and they do any one of the things that by the LORD’s commandments ought not to be done, and they realize their guilt,  - Leviticus 4:13 ESV

God speaks here about unintentional sin. What makes a sin unintentional? The passage tells us that it was hidden from the eyes of the assembly. That is to say, they were unaware that they were sinning in what they did. Have you ever told a lie? There are two types of lies. There are the lies we tell in a deliberate attempt to deceive. Then there are lies we tell thinking we are telling the truth. You tell someone something and then discover later that you were wrong. You did not deliberately attempt to deceive, your intention was to tell the truth, but only discovered later that you were in error. You lied but not intentionally.

Leviticus 22:14 gives us another example of an unintentional sin:

 14   And if anyone eats of a holy thing unintentionally, he shall add the fifth of its value to it and give the holy thing to the priest.  - Leviticus 22:14 ESV

Here in this passage is an individual who eats food without realizing that it had been consecrated for the priest’s use alone, and not intended for the common person. The bread before him looked like any other bread. He did not know he was not to eat it until he finished. The individual concerned was guilty before the Lord for their action but it was not an intentional sin. Ignorance, however, is not an excuse. If you sin without knowing it, you are still guilty and need to confess your sin to God.

Finally, consider the illustration of Deuteronomy 4:41-42:

 41  Then Moses set apart three cities in the east beyond the Jordan,   42  that the manslayer might flee there, anyone who kills his neighbor unintentionally, without being at enmity with him in time past; he may flee to one of these cities and save his life:  - Deuteronomy 4:41-42 ESV

Here we have the case of a man who accidentally killed another human being. Maybe the head of his axe slipped off and struck his co-worker, killing him. Maybe he dropped a rock on him by accident and the man died. Notice that there was no evidence of enmity between them, and the incident was purely accidental. The individual, though guilty, was given an opportunity to flee to a city of refuge where he would be protected from any avenger of blood. On the other hand, however, the person who murdered with intention, was to be put to death.

God understands our weakness and makes provision for this in the law but, deliberate and rebellious defiance is another matter. When you willfully and defiantly reject God and His purpose, what hope do you have? When you reject His Son and turn your back on Him, you sacrifice your only hope. When you resist and defy the Holy Spirit who alone can lead you to Christ, you seal your fate.

Imagine you were sick with a disease for which there was only one cure. What happens if you reject that cure? If there is only one pathway to your desired destination, what happens if you refuse to take that pathway and choose another instead? There is no hope if you reject the solution.

The writer of Hebrews 10:28-29 puts it this way:

 28   Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses.   29  How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace?  - Hebrews 10:28-29 ESV

To deliberately set aside the law of Moses was to perish. That is to say, to reject the law of God in the days of Moses was a sentence of death. If that was what happened to those who refused the law, what would be the result for those who trample underfoot the Son of God, profane the blood of the covenant and outrage the Spirit?

In Matthew 25, Jesus taught a parable about a master who left talents with his servants and went on a journey. When he returned, he expected a return on his investment. The first two servants returned the master's money with interest. The third servant, however, buried his talent and returned only what he had received from the master. Listen to the exchange that took place that day:

 24  He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed,   25  so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours.’   26  But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed?   27  Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest.   28  So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents.   29   For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.   30  And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’  - Matthew 25:24-30 ESV

There are several details from this interaction between the master and the unfaithful servant. 

First, notice the words of the servant in verse 24:

‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed,   25  so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours.’ 

The servant had knowledge of the master and his requirements. He knew that the master expected to reap where he did not sow and gather what he had not scattered. In other words, the master expected him to do the sowing and reaping for him. While this servant knew what was expected of Him, he chose not to do it. He rebelliously buried his money and returned what the master gave him without investing, sowing or reaping. 

Second, note the response of the master in verse 26:

 26  But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed?   27  Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. 

The master called his servant wicked and lazy. Observe that the master reminded him that he knew what he was supposed to do but did not do it. This servant was guilty of intentional sin against his master.

Finally, consider the repercussions for this intentional sin.

 28  So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents.   29   For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.   30  And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

The master stripped the servant of what he had given to him and gave it to the one who had been the most faithful, He then called for the unfaithful and rebellious servant to be cast into a place of utter darkness, where there would be weeping and gnashing of teeth. The most severe punishment was meted out to the servant who committed this intentional sin.

Any offense to God is serious. Even when we do not sin deliberately, we need to seek His pardon. It should be our intention to live with the fear of God in our heart and a passion to honour Him in all that we do. 

I remember talking with an old man in a church I was attending many years ago. He told me that one of his greatest fears was that he would do something that would dishonor His Saviour. May God give us this attitude. May we live each and every day to please Him and bring glory to His holy name.

There is another point we need to make here from Leviticus 4. The chapter begins with God’s words to Moses:

 2  “Speak to the people of Israel, saying, If anyone sins unintentionally in any of the LORD’s commandments about things not to be done, and does any one of them,  - Leviticus 4:2 ESV

Observe that the passage is about unintentional sins and what needed to be done to pardon those sins committed through ignorance, accident, or human error.

Observe that the requirement was not the same for all people. Leviticus 4:3-4 speaks about what needed to take place when the individual committing the unintentional sin was the priest. He was to bring a bull to the tabernacle entrance, lay his hand on it, and kill it before the Lord. Blood was then sprinkled seven times before the veil of the sanctuary. 

The same offering would be required of the whole congregation if they committed an unintentional sin (Leviticus 4:14). As for the priest, the blood of this bull was also sprinkled seven times before the veil of the sanctuary (Leviticus 14:17). What the priest had to sacrifice was equal to what the whole congregation had to sacrifice. 

If, on the other hand, the individual who committed the unintentional sin was a leader of the people (not a priest), he would only have to bring a male goat (Leviticus 4:23). There is no mention of the blood being  sprinkled before the veil at all.

Finally, if it was a common person who sinned, the offering was a female goat (Leviticus 4:28). Once again, there is no reference to having to sprinkle any blood before the veil of the sanctuary. 

The sacrifice for the priest's sin was the same as for the entire nation. The sacrifice of the leader was greater than that of the common person, but not as great as that required from the priest. In other words, what you had to sacrifice depended on who you were, and your calling before God. The sin of the priest, as the teacher and instructor of God’s people, was treated with greater severity than that of the secular leader. The sins of the secular leader were treated with greater severity than the common person. The more responsible you were, the more obligation you had before God and the more serious your sin. Those who should have known better had a greater obligation. 

Jesus told a parable in Luke 12 about servants given charge over the master’s affairs. What is important for us to note are the words of Jesus in verses 47-48 which say:

 47   And that servant who knew his master’s will but did not get ready or act according to his will, will receive a severe beating.   48   But the one who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, will receive a light beating. Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more. - Luke 12:47-48 ESV 

Observe that the servant who knew his master’s will, but did not act upon it would receive a severe beating. On the other hand, the servant who did not know, still received a beating, but it was lighter. Jesus went on to say that those to whom much has been entrusted, much will be required. Two people may commit the same sin, and one will be held more accountable than the other because of their role and responsibility in the kingdom of God. 

Consider what James tells us about this in James 3:1:

 1   Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.  - James 3:1 ESV

The teacher of God’s word will be held to a higher standard, and judged with greater strictness because he has spent time in God’s word and should know better. He is also held up as an example to the flock. 

Paul underlines this point when he writes to the Romans and says:

 21   you then who teach others, do you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal?   22  You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples?   23  You who boast in the law dishonor God by breaking the law.  - Romans 2:21-23 ESV

The truth we have is a precious blessing but to ignore it is a serious matter. The gifts God has given us place us under a more serious obligation. The positions we hold place us under a greater responsibility. The richness of the blessings we have received call us to greater generosity. To whom much is given, much is required. We will one day stand before God to give an account of our lives and what we have done with what He has given us. May we be found faithful.