Sin offering

Offerings to make atonement for both moral and ritual offences. The NT sees them as foreshadowing the death of Jesus Christ as an offering for human sin.

Occasions when a sin offering was required

Unintentional sins against God's laws: Leviticus 4:2; Hebrews 9:7; Leviticus 5:1–4, Leviticus 4:20 The consequence of the offering is atonement and forgiveness.; Leviticus 12:6–8; Luke 2:24; Leviticus 14:13–31; Mark 1:44; Leviticus 15:15, Leviticus 15:30

The form the sin offering took depended on who committed the sin

Leviticus 4:3 a priest who sins; Leviticus 4:14 the sin of the community as a whole; Leviticus 4:22–23 a leader who sins unintentionally; Leviticus 4:27–35, Leviticus 5:5–6

The ceremony when presenting an animal as a sin offering

The guilty identify themselves with the offering before killing it

Leviticus 4:4, Leviticus 4:15, Leviticus 4:24

Confession

Leviticus 5:5

Blood, representing the victim's lifeblood, is put on the altar

Leviticus 4:25, Leviticus 4:30, Leviticus 4:34

The best parts, being burned on the altar, are offered to God

Leviticus 4:8–10, Leviticus 4:26, Leviticus 4:35

Male members of priestly families may eat what remains

Leviticus 6:26, Leviticus 6:29, Leviticus 10:16–20

Special procedures for the offerings of the poor

Leviticus 5:7–13

The special ceremony for priests and the community presenting a sin offering

Blood is taken into the sanctuary and placed on the altar

Leviticus 4:5–7, Leviticus 4:16–18

The rest of the animal is incinerated, not eaten

Leviticus 4:11–12, Leviticus 4:21 emphasising the identity between the victim and the sin of the community

Significant occasions when sin offerings were made

Leviticus 8:14–17 at the ordination of Aaron and his sons; Leviticus 16:1–34 on the Day of Atonement; 2 Kings 12:16 during Josiah's reformation; 2 Chronicles 29:21–24 at the beginning of Hezekiah's reign; Ezra 6:17 at the dedication of the second temple; Ezra 8:35 when the exiles returned; Ezekiel 40:39, Ezekiel 42:13, Ezekiel 43:19, Ezekiel 43:21

The NT perspective on the sin offering

Jesus Christ was the supreme sin offering

Romans 8:3; 2 Corinthians 5:21 NIV footnote.

For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful man, as an offering for sin. He thus condemned sin in the flesh,

God made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.

Animal sacrifices had limited value

See also Hebrews 9:7–10

The death of Jesus Christ brings full cleansing and forgiveness

Hebrews 9:11–14 See also 1 Peter 1:18–19

But when Christ came as high priest of the good things that have come, He went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not made by hands and is not a part of this creation. He did not enter by the blood of goats and calves, but He entered the Most Holy Place once for all by His own blood, thus securing eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that their bodies are clean, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself unblemished to God, purify our consciences from works of death, so that we may serve the living God!

Unlike earthly priests, Jesus Christ needed no sin offering

Hebrews 7:27 See also Hebrews 5:1–3

Unlike the other high priests, He does not need to offer daily sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the sins of the people; He sacrificed for sin once for all when He offered up Himself.