UNROLL
Dusk in the tabernacle court: the closed, embroidered entrance curtain of a low dark tent, a faint glow of lamplight at its edges, and a thin line of smoke from the bronze altar to one side.

The Book of

Leviticus 4

Even sins no one meant to commit needed covering, from the high priest down to the least of the people.

35 verses≈ 8 minBSB

Images are artistic interpretations.

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Where we are

  1. 1–7The offeringsHow sinners draw nearChapter 4
  2. 8–10The priestsOrdained, and a warning
  3. 11–15Clean and uncleanLife before a holy God
  4. 16The Day of AtonementSins carried away
  5. 17–27A holy peopleBe holy, for I am holy

Laws for Sin Offerings

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites to do as follows with one who sins unintentionally against any of the LORD’s commandments and does what is forbidden by them:

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God
Courtyard · 100 × 50 cubitsNGate · EastTent of MeetingBronze altarBasinThe tent, enlarged · 30 × 10 cubitsArkTableLampstandIncense altarVeilScreenMost Holy PlaceHoly Place

Plan to scale in cubits · north at the top

Where the blood went

Blood brought inside

For the anointed priest’s sin, and for the whole congregation’s, the priest carried some of the blood past the screen into the Holy Place. He sprinkled it “seven times before the LORD, in front of the veil,” and put it on the horns of the gold incense altar. The rest he poured out at the base of the bronze altar in the court. For a leader or one of the people, the blood went no further than the bronze altar’s horns.

The law

The fat on the altar, the rest outside

  1. Remove the fat, kidneys and liver lobe

    Then he shall remove all the fat from the bull of the sin offering—the fat that covers the entrails, all the fat that is on them, both kidneys with the fat on them near the loins, and the lobe of the liver, which he is to remove with the kidneys—

  2. On the altar

    Burned as with the peace offering

    just as the fat is removed from the ox of the peace offering. Then the priest shall burn them on the altar of burnt offering.

  3. Outside the camp

    All the rest of the bull

    But the hide of the bull and all its flesh, with its head and legs and its entrails and dung— all the rest of the bull—he must take outside the camp to a ceremonially clean place where the ashes are poured out, and there he must burn it on a wood fire on the ash heap.

Dusk beyond the edge of the camp: past the last dark goat-hair tents, a fire burns low on bare ground, its smoke drifting into an amber sky.

Reflect

Sins I didn’t see

This whole chapter is about one who sins “unintentionally”: wrong done without knowing, or seen only later. God did not shrug at those sins, and He did not leave His people stuck with them either. He gave a way for each one to be covered. Are there ways you may have wronged God or someone else without meaning to? Write down one that has come to light, and bring it to Him. Lord, cleanse me from the faults I cannot see.

In the gray before sunrise inside the tabernacle court, a ring of old bearded men in heavy wool cloaks, seen from behind and the side, each lays a hand on the broad head of one young bull; a priest in white linen waits.

Now if the whole congregation of Israel strays unintentionally and the matter escapes the notice of the assembly so that they violate any of the LORD’s commandments and incur guilt by doing what is forbidden, when they become aware of the sin they have committed, then the assembly must bring a young bull as a sin offering and present it before the Tent of Meeting. The elders of the congregation are to lay their hands on the bull’s head before the LORD, and it shall be slaughtered before the LORD. Then the anointed priest is to bring some of the bull’s blood into the Tent of Meeting, and he is to dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle it seven times before the LORD in front of the veil. He is also to put some of the blood on the horns of the altar that is before the LORD in the Tent of Meeting, and he must pour out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar of burnt offering at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. And he is to remove all the fat from it and burn it on the altar.

0:53

Narrated by Bob Souer · BSB audio, public domain

He shall offer this bull just as he did the bull for the sin offering; in this way the priest will make atonement on their behalf, and they will be forgiven. Then he is to take the bull outside the camp and burn it, just as he burned the first bull. It is the sin offering for the assembly.

A strong male goat with long ridged horns stands tethered beside the corner of the bronze altar in the court; a fringed wool cloak and a staff lie at the edge of the frame.

The law

When a leader sins

  1. A leader sins unintentionally

    When a leader sins unintentionally and does what is prohibited by any of the commandments of the LORD his God, he incurs guilt.

  2. A male goat without blemish

    When he becomes aware of the sin he has committed, he must bring an unblemished male goat as his offering.

  3. Hand on its head, at the altar

    He is to lay his hand on the head of the goat and slaughter it at the place where the burnt offering is slaughtered before the LORD. It is a sin offering.

  4. Blood on the bronze altar’s horns

    Then the priest is to take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger, put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and pour out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar.

  5. The fat burned; he is forgiven

    He must burn all its fat on the altar, like the fat of the peace offerings; thus the priest will make atonement for that man’s sin, and he will be forgiven.

Pray

Forgive my hidden faults

Priest, people, leader: no one in this chapter was above needing forgiveness, and no one was left without a way to receive it. Thank God that Jesus offered Himself once for all, for the sins you know and the sins you don’t. Ask Him to show you what you have missed, to forgive it, and to make you quick to own it.

And if one of the common people sins unintentionally and does what is prohibited by any of the LORD’s commandments, he incurs guilt. When he becomes aware of the sin he has committed, he must bring an unblemished female goat as his offering for that sin.

He is to lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and slaughter it at the place of the burnt offering. Then the priest is to take some of its blood with his finger, put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and pour out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar. Then he is to remove all the fat, just as it is removed from the peace offering, and the priest is to burn it on the altar as a pleasing aroma to the LORD.

In this way the priest will make atonement for him, and he will be forgiven.

Leviticus 4:31

The law

If he brings a lamb

  1. An unblemished female lamb

    If, however, he brings a lamb as a sin offering, he must bring an unblemished female.

  2. Hand on its head

    And he is to lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and slaughter it as a sin offering at the place where the burnt offering is slaughtered.

  3. Blood on the altar’s horns

    Then the priest is to take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger, put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and pour out the rest of its blood at the base of the altar.

  4. The fat burned with the offerings

    And he shall remove all the fat, just as the fat of the lamb is removed from the peace offerings, and he shall burn it on the altar along with the food offerings to the LORD.

  5. Atonement made; he is forgiven

    In this way the priest will make atonement for him for the sin he has committed, and he will be forgiven.

Question

Quick question

Each kind of sinner in this chapter brought a different animal.

What did a leader bring when he sinned unintentionally?

Who brought what

Anointed priesta young bull · bloodinsideWholecongregationa young bull · bloodinsideA leadera male goat · blood onthe altarOne of thepeoplea female goat or alambThe same endatonement made,forgiven

Whiteboard

The higher the office, the costlier the offering; the same forgiveness for all. For the priest and the whole people, the blood went inside the tent; for a leader or anyone else, onto the horns of the bronze altar in the court. Each ends the same way: “he will be forgiven.”

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Leviticus 4

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A verse to carry with you

In this way the priest will make atonement for him, and he will be forgiven.

Leviticus 4:31

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