Leviticus 4:1-22 …. the unintended sin

4:1 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

² 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:

• Korban Chata’t = Sin Offering.  According to the scriptures it not the animal that made the sacrifice an act of contrition, it was the heart of the one offering the sacrifice. The innocent blood of the animal was the propitiation for the blood of one offering the sacrifice.

We can see, from the prophet Isaiah, that YHWH got tired of their rote practices.

Isaiah 1:11 “To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the Lord: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats.”

⁴ 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.

⁵ And the priest that is anointed shall take of the bullock’s blood, and bring it to the tabernacle of the congregation:

⁶ And the priest shall dip his finger in the blood, and sprinkle of the blood seven times before the Lord, before the vail of the sanctuary.

⁷ And the priest shall put some of the blood upon the horns of the altar of sweet incense before the Lord, which is in the tabernacle of the congregation; and shall pour all the blood of the bullock at the bottom of the altar of the burnt offering, which is at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.

⁸ And he shall take off from it all the fat of the bullock for the sin offering; the fat that covereth the inwards, and all the fat that is upon the inwards,

⁹ And the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, which is by the flanks, and the caul above the liver, with the kidneys, it shall he take away,

¹⁰ As it was taken off from the bullock of the sacrifice of peace offerings: and the priest shall burn them upon the altar of the burnt offering.

¹¹ And the skin of the bullock, and all his flesh, with his head, and with his legs, and his inwards, and his dung,

¹² Even the whole bullock shall he carry forth without the camp unto a clean place, where the ashes are poured out, and burn him on the wood with fire: where the ashes are poured out shall he be burnt.

¹³ And if the whole congregation of Israel sin through 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;

¹⁴ When the sin, which they have sinned against it, is known, then the congregation shall offer a young bullock for the sin, and bring him before the tabernacle of the congregation.

¹⁵ And the elders of the congregation shall lay their hands upon the head of the bullock before the Lord: and the bullock shall be killed before the Lord.

¹⁶ And the priest that is anointed shall bring of the bullock’s blood to the tabernacle of the congregation:

¹⁷ And the priest shall dip his finger in some of the blood, and sprinkle it seven times before the Lord, even before the vail.

¹⁸ 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.

¹⁹ And he shall take all his fat from him, and burn it upon the altar.

²⁰ 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.

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.

Looking at the scriptures we see the definition of sin as being the transgression of the law. This is our need to be a disciple, one who studies with deep desire.

• 1 John 2:1 “My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:”
• 1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
• Hebrews 10:8 “Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law”

It is the attitude of the one bringing the offering and not the offering itself. The offering became the propitiation of our conforming heart. Once we have committed our lives to YHWH recognizing our lives are no longer our own (Korban Olah). Once we have, in light of this, surrendered our claim of title to our possessions and the produce of our labors to Him (Korban Minchah). Then, once we have submitted all our dealings with others to Him (which means that we have forgiven all offences committed against us, and  made restitution for all the offenses we have inflicted upon others Korban Sh’lem). We now have the appropriate context for the Korban Chata’t offering.

²² When 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;

Matthew 6:13a “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil”