Ceremonially Unclean

Leviticus 4:2-3,11-12,32-5:6 – “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, 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…But the skin of the bull and all its flesh, with its head, its legs, its entrails, and its dung—all the rest of the bull—he shall carry outside the camp to a clean place, to the ash heap, and shall burn it up on a fire of wood. On the ash heap it shall be burned up...“If he brings a lamb as his offering for a sin offering, he shall bring a female without blemish and lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and kill it for a sin offering in the place where they kill the burnt offering. Then the priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering and pour out all the rest of its blood at the base of the altar. And all its fat he shall remove as the fat of the lamb is removed from the sacrifice of peace offerings, and the priest shall burn it on the altar, on top of the Lord's food offerings. And the priest shall make atonement for him for the sin which he has committed, and he shall be forgiven. “If anyone sins in that he hears a public adjuration to testify, and though he is a witness, whether he has seen or come to know the matter, yet does not speak, he shall bear his iniquity; or if anyone touches an unclean thing, whether a carcass of an unclean wild animal or a carcass of unclean livestock or a carcass of unclean swarming things, and it is hidden from him and he has become unclean, and he realizes his guilt; or if he touches human uncleanness, of whatever sort the uncleanness may be with which one becomes unclean, and it is hidden from him, when he comes to know it, and realizes his guilt; or if anyone utters with his lips a rash oath to do evil or to do good, any sort of rash oath that people swear, and it is hidden from him, when he comes to know it, and he realizes his guilt in any of these; when he realizes his guilt in any of these and confesses the sin he has committed, he shall bring to the Lord as his compensation for the sin that he has committed, a female from the flock, a lamb or a goat, for a sin offering. And the priest shall make atonement for him for his sin.

Numbers 9:13 – But if anyone who is clean and is not on a journey fails to keep the Passover, that person shall be cut off from his people because he did not bring the Lord's offering at its appointed time; that man shall bear his sin.

Isaiah 6:5 – And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”

Application:

• ·         The New Testament issues grave warnings concerning the abuse or misuse of the celebration of the Lord’s Supper.
• ·         As soon as an anointed priest became aware of unintentional sin, he was to bring his sin offering to the Lord. On the other hand, should the priest remain unaware of unintentional sin, this lack was atoned for on the Day of Atonement.
• ·         Isaiah was dismayed because anyone who saw God expected to die immediately.
• ·         The distinction between clean and unclean was a matter of ritual or religious purity, not a concern for physical cleanliness.

All Scripture verses taken from ESV

Offering

Leviticus 4:2-3,22-31 – “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, 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. ..“When a leader sins, doing unintentionally any one of all the things that by the commandments of the Lord his God ought not to be done, and realizes his guilt, or the sin which he has committed is made known to him, he shall bring as his offering a goat, a male without blemish, and shall lay his hand on the head of the goat and kill it in the place where they kill the burnt offering before the Lord; it is a sin offering. Then the priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger and 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 of burnt offering. And all its fat he shall burn on the altar, like the fat of the sacrifice of peace offerings. So the priest shall make atonement for him for his sin, and he shall be forgiven. “If anyone of the common people sins unintentionally in doing any one of the things that by the Lord's commandments ought not to be done, and realizes his guilt, or the sin which he has committed is made known to him, he shall bring for his offering a goat, a female without blemish, for his sin which he has committed. And he shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and kill the sin offering in the place of burnt offering. And the priest shall take some of its blood with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering and pour out all the rest of its blood at the base of the altar. And all its fat he shall remove, as the fat is removed from the peace offerings, and the priest shall burn it on the altar for a pleasing aroma to the Lord. And the priest shall make atonement for him, and he shall be forgiven.

Exodus 32:30 – The next day Moses said to the people, “You have sinned a great sin. And now I will go up to the Lord; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.”

Genesis 8:21 – And when the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma, the Lord said in his heart, “I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man's heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done.

Application:

• ·         Although the burnt, grain and fellowship offerings were voluntary, the sin offering was compulsory. As soon as an anointed priest became aware of unintentional sin, he was to bring his sin offering to the Lord.
• ·         Moses would make atonement for Israel’s sin by making urgent intercession before God, as the mediator God had appointed between Himself and Israel. Jesus Christ, the great Mediator, offered Himself on the cross to make atonement for His people.
• ·         Smelled the pleasing aroma was a figurative way of saying that the Lord takes delight in his children’s worship of Him. It may be that the Lord pledged never to add curse upon curse as he had in regard to Cain.

All Scripture verses taken from ESV

Male Goat

Leviticus 4:2-3,11-12,21-24 – “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, 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…But the skin of the bull and all its flesh, with its head, its legs, its entrails, and its dung—all the rest of the bull—he shall carry outside the camp to a clean place, to the ash heap, and shall burn it up on a fire of wood. On the ash heap it shall be burned up…And he shall carry the bull outside the camp and burn it up as he burned the first bull; it is the sin offering for the assembly. “When a leader sins, doing unintentionally any one of all the things that by the commandments of the Lord his God ought not to be done, and realizes his guilt, or the sin which he has committed is made known to him, he shall bring as his offering a goat, a male without blemish, and shall lay his hand on the head of the goat and kill it in the place where they kill the burnt offering before the Lord; it is a sin offering.

Leviticus 16:5 – And he shall take from the congregation of the people of Israel two male goats for a sin offering, and one ram for a burnt offering.

Application:

• ·         As the bull was taken outside the camp, so also Jesus was crucified outside Jerusalem.
• ·         The one goat was killed, its blood sprinkled in the Most Holy Place and its body burned outside the camp, symbolizing the payment of the price of Christ’s atonement. The other goat, sent away alive and bearing the sins of the nation, symbolized the removal of sin and its guilt.
• ·         The final perfect sacrifice for the sins of God’s people was the crucified Christ, who was without any moral defect.

All Scripture verses taken from ESV

Horns

Leviticus 4:5-10 – And the anointed priest shall take some of the blood of the bull and bring it into the tent of meeting, and the priest shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle part of the blood seven times before the Lord in front of the veil of the sanctuary. And the priest shall put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of fragrant incense before the Lord that is in the tent of meeting, and all the rest of the blood of the bull he shall pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering that is at the entrance of the tent of meeting. And all the fat of the bull of the sin offering he shall remove from it, the fat that covers the entrails and all the fat that is on the entrails and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them at the loins and the long lobe of the liver that he shall remove with the kidneys (just as these are taken from the ox of the sacrifice of the peace offerings); and the priest shall burn them on the altar of burnt offering.

Exodus 24:8 – And Moses took the blood and threw it on the people and said, “Behold the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.”

Exodus 30:1 – “You shall make an altar on which to burn incense; you shall make it of acacia wood.

Exodus 32:6 – And they rose up early the next day and offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings. And the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.

Application:

• ·         Only after the people agreed to obey the Lord could they participate in His covenant with them.
• ·         Incense’s fragrant smoke symbolized the prayers of God’s people.
• ·         The four horns of the altar were symbols of the atoning power of the sin offering.

All Scripture verses taken from ESV

Blood

Leviticus 4:2-6,11-12 – “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, 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. He shall bring the bull to the entrance of the tent of meeting before the Lord and lay his hand on the head of the bull and kill the bull before the Lord. And the anointed priest shall take some of the blood of the bull and bring it into the tent of meeting, ⁶ and the priest shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle part of the blood seven times before the Lord in front of the veil of the sanctuary.

Leviticus 17:11 – For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life.

Hebrews 13:13 – Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured.

Leviticus 5:1-6 – “If anyone sins in that he hears a public adjuration to testify, and though he is a witness, whether he has seen or come to know the matter, yet does not speak, he shall bear his iniquity; or if anyone touches an unclean thing, whether a carcass of an unclean wild animal or a carcass of unclean livestock or a carcass of unclean swarming things, and it is hidden from him and he has become unclean, and he realizes his guilt; or if he touches human uncleanness, of whatever sort the uncleanness may be with which one becomes unclean, and it is hidden from him, when he comes to know it, and realizes his guilt; or if anyone utters with his lips a rash oath to do evil or to do good, any sort of rash oath that people swear, and it is hidden from him, when he comes to know it, and he realizes his guilt in any of these; when he realizes his guilt in any of these and confesses the sin he has committed, he shall bring to the Lord as his compensation for the sin that he has committed, a female from the flock, a lamb or a goat, for a sin offering. And the priest shall make atonement for him for his sin.

Application:

• ·         One type of sin offering was not eaten. The fat, kidneys and covering of the liver were burned on the great altar, but all the rest was burned outside the camp. Our parallel to this sin offering was Jesus, who suffered outside the city gate.
• ·         Practically every sacrifice included the sprinkling or smearing of blood on the altar or within the tabernacle, thus teaching that atonement involves the substitution of life for life.
• ·         All high priests sinned except the high priest Jesus Christ. The final perfect sacrifice for the sins of God’s people was the crucified Christ, who was without any moral defect.
• ·         The distinction between clean and unclean was a matter of ritual or religious purity, not a concern for physical cleanliness.
• ·         As Christ died in disgrace outside the city, so the readers of Hebrews should be willing to be disgraced by turning unequivocally from Judaism to Christ.
• ·         The offerer had to acknowledge his sin to God in order to receive forgiveness.

All Scripture verses taken from ESV

Without Defect

Leviticus 4:2-3 – “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, 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 16:3,5 – But in this way Aaron shall come into the Holy Place: with a bull from the herd for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering…And he shall take from the congregation of the people of Israel two male goats for a sin offering, and one ram for a burnt offering.

Exodus 12:5-6 – Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats, and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs at twilight.

Hebrews 9:13-14 – For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.

1 Peter 1:17-19 – And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.

Application:

• ·         The final perfect sacrifice for the sins of God’s people was the crucified Christ, who was without any moral defect.
• ·         Before Aaron could minister in the Most Holy Place for the nation, he himself had to be cleansed; not so Christ, who is our high priest and Aaron’s antitype.
• ·         No single offering could fully typify the atonement of Christ.
• ·         Jesus was like a lamb without blemish or defect.
• ·         Christ was the one who offered the sacrifice, and He was the sacrifice itself.
• ·         Christ is the Passover lamb, who takes away the sin of the world.

All Scripture verses taken from ESV

Unintentionally

Leviticus 3:12-4:3,5-6,12 – “If his offering is a goat, then he shall offer it before the Lord and lay his hand on its head and kill it in front of the tent of meeting, and the sons of Aaron shall throw its blood against the sides of the altar. Then he shall offer from it, as his offering for a food offering to the Lord, the fat covering the entrails and all the fat that is on the entrails and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them at the loins and the long lobe of the liver that he shall remove with the kidneys. And the priest shall burn them on the altar as a food offering with a pleasing aroma. All fat is the Lord's. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations, in all your dwelling places, that you eat neither fat nor blood.” And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “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, 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…And the anointed priest shall take some of the blood of the bull and bring it into the tent of meeting, and the priest shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle part of the blood seven times before the Lord in front of the veil of the sanctuary…But the skin of the bull and all its flesh, with its head, its legs, its entrails, and its dung—all the rest of the bull—he shall carry outside the camp to a clean place, to the ash heap, and shall burn it up on a fire of wood. On the ash heap it shall be burned up.

Leviticus 17:11 – For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life.

Numbers 15:30 – 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.

• ·         As soon as an anointed priest became aware of unintentional sin, he was to bring his sin offering to the Lord. On the other hand, should the priest remain unaware of unintentional sin, this lack was atoned for on the Day of Atonement.
• ·         The blood of the Old Testament sacrifice pointed forward to the blood of the Lamb of God, who obtained for His people eternal redemption.
• ·         Unlike unintentional sins, for which there are provisions of God’s mercy, one who sets his hand defiantly to despise the word of God and to blaspheme His name must be punished.
• ·         By bringing a sin offering, a faithful Israelite under conviction of sin sought restoration of fellowship with God.
• ·         As the bull was taken outside the camp, so also Jesus was crucified outside Jerusalem.

All Scripture verses taken from ESV

On The Altar As Food

Leviticus 3:1-11 – “If his offering is a sacrifice of peace offering, if he offers an animal from the herd, male or female, he shall offer it without blemish before the Lord. And he shall lay his hand on the head of his offering and kill it at the entrance of the tent of meeting, and Aaron's sons the priests shall throw the blood against the sides of the altar. And from the sacrifice of the peace offering, as a food offering to the Lord, he shall offer the fat covering the entrails and all the fat that is on the entrails, and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them at the loins, and the long lobe of the liver that he shall remove with the kidneys. Then Aaron's sons shall burn it on the altar on top of the burnt offering, which is on the wood on the fire; it is a food offering with a pleasing aroma to the Lord. “If his offering for a sacrifice of peace offering to the Lord is an animal from the flock, male or female, he shall offer it without blemish. If he offers a lamb for his offering, then he shall offer it before the Lord, lay his hand on the head of his offering, and kill it in front of the tent of meeting; and Aaron's sons shall throw its blood against the sides of the altar. Then from the sacrifice of the peace offering he shall offer as a food offering to the Lord its fat; he shall remove the whole fat tail, cut off close to the backbone, and the fat that covers the entrails and all the fat that is on the entrails and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them at the loins and the long lobe of the liver that he shall remove with the kidneys. And the priest shall burn it on the altar as a food offering to the Lord.

Exodus 29:20 – “You shall take the other ram, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram, and you shall kill the ram and take part of its blood and put it on the tip of the right ear of Aaron and on the tips of the right ears of his sons, and on the thumbs of their right hands and on the great toes of their right feet, and throw the rest of the blood against the sides of the altar.

Leviticus 21:17 – “Speak to Aaron, saying, None of your offspring throughout their generations who has a blemish may approach to offer the bread of his God.

Application:

• ·         Right ears were symbolizing sensitivity to God and His word. Right hands and right feet were symbolizing a life of service to others on God’s behalf.
• ·         Fellowship was involved in the fellowship offering because the offerer, on the basis of the sacrifice, had fellowship with God and with the priest, who also ate part of the offering.
• ·         Like the sacrifices that had to be without defect, the priests were to typify Christ’s perfection.

All Scripture verses taken from ESV

Fellowship Offering

Leviticus 2:13-3:1 – You shall season all your grain offerings with salt. You shall not let the salt of the covenant with your God be missing from your grain offering; with all your offerings you shall offer salt. “If you offer a grain offering of firstfruits to the Lord, you shall offer for the grain offering of your firstfruits freshears, roasted with fire, crushed new grain. And you shall put oil on it and lay frankincense on it; it is a grain offering. And the priest shall burn as its memorial portion some of the crushed grain and some of the oil with all of its frankincense; it is a food offering to the Lord. “If his offering is a sacrifice of peace offering, if he offers an animal from the herd, male or female, he shall offer it without blemish before the Lord.

Numbers 15:20 – Of the first of your dough you shall present a loaf as a contribution; like a contribution from the threshing floor, so shall you present it.

Jeremiah 14:12 – Though they fast, I will not hear their cry, and though they offer burnt offering and grain offering, I will not accept them. But I will consume them by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence.”

Exodus 32:6 – And they rose up early the next day and offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings. And the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.

Leviticus 7:16 – But if the sacrifice of his offering is a vow offering or a freewill offering, it shall be eaten on the day that he offers his sacrifice, and on the next day what remains of it shall be eaten.

Exodus 12:5-6 – Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats, and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs at twilight.

Application:

• ·         Firstfruits is a symbol that all blessing is from the Lord and all produce belongs to Him.
• ·         Sacrifice is to no avail when unaccompanied by repentance.
• ·         Fellowship was involved in the fellowship offering because the offerer, on the basis of the sacrifice, had fellowship with God and with the priest, who also ate part of the offering.
• ·         Israel tended toward idolatry.
• ·         A vow was a solemn promise to offer a gift to God in response to a divine deliverance or blessing.
• ·         Jesus was like a lamb without blemish or defect.

All Scripture verses taken from ESV

Firstfruits

Leviticus 2:3-12 – But the rest of the grain offering shall be for Aaron and his sons; it is a most holy part of the Lord's food offerings. “When you bring a grain offering baked in the oven as an offering, it shall be unleavened loaves of fine flour mixed with oil or unleavened wafers smeared with oil. And if your offering is a grain offering baked on a griddle, it shall be of fine flour unleavened, mixed with oil. You shall break it in pieces and pour oil on it; it is a grain offering. And if your offering is a grain offering cooked in a pan, it shall be made of fine flour with oil. And you shall bring the grain offering that is made of these things to the Lord, and when it is presented to the priest, he shall bring it to the altar. And the priest shall take from the grain offering its memorial portion and burn this on the altar, a food offering with a pleasing aroma to the Lord. But the rest of the grain offering shall be for Aaron and his sons; it is a most holy part of the Lord's food offerings. “No grain offering that you bring to the Lord shall be made with leaven, for you shall burn no leaven nor any honey as a food offering to the Lord. As an offering of firstfruits you may bring them to the Lord, but they shall not be offered on the altar for a pleasing aroma.

Genesis 8:21 – And when the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma, the Lord said in his heart, “I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man's heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done.

Exodus 23:19 – “The best of the firstfruits of your ground you shall bring into the house of the Lord your God. “You shall not boil a young goat in its mother's milk.

Numbers 15:20 – Of the first of your dough you shall present a loaf as a contribution; like a contribution from the threshing floor, so shall you present it.

Application:

• ·         Smelled the pleasing aroma was a figurative way of saying that the Lord takes delight in his children’s worship of Him.
• ·         The offering of firstfruits was an acknowledgment that the harvest was from the Lord and belonged wholly to Him
• ·         This concept of the firstfruits is a symbol that all blessing is from the Lord and all produce belongs to Him.

All Scripture verses taken from ESV