Five Levitical Sacrifices – The Sin & Guilt Offerings

Levitical Sacrificial Offerings

This study is about the sin and guilt offerings. It is the third part in our series. Before I begin, I want to review the five Levitical sacrificial offerings. What we pointed out in the past is that the burnt offering is essentially in Leviticus 1. In chapter 2, we find the grain or meal offering. Chapter 3 describes the peace offering. Chapter 4 to chapter 5, verse 13 describes the sin offering. Then chapter 5 verse 14 through chapter 6, verse 7, is the guilt offering.

We have already looked at the first three offerings. The point we made last time was that the burnt offering speaks of the atonement of Christ which makes it possible for us to have our sins forgiven. It is the most frequently mentioned offering in Scripture. It is also the first offering that appears in the pages of Scripture and is a type of Christ or symbolic of the death of Christ.

The grain or meal offering speaks of dedication. As we have already pointed out, it was a voluntary offering. It was the only offering that did not require an animal to be sacrificed. That is why it is called the grain offering. We discovered that you could present it in different ways: You could bake it in an oven, grill it, or fry it. It was your choice how you prepared it and represented your dedication to God. It was a type of Christ’s dedication to the Father. As a result, He came to earth in submission to the Father. We saw that in Hebrews, chapter 10, Jesus said He came to do the will of the Father. It was prophesied, and Jesus repeated those words a number of times in the Gospels.

Then the peace offering speaks of reconciliation or peace with God. Romans 5:1 tells us as a result of Christ’s sacrifice on Calvary, we can have peace with God. We saw that the peace offering is also a type of Christ that is symbolic of what He can do for us. He can bring us peace and reconciliation with God the Father.

The Sin and Guilt Offerings Are Required

When we come to the sin and the guilt offerings, these are not voluntary. The first three are voluntary and speak of Christ. The last two, the sin and guilt offerings are required offerings. The burnt offering occurs in seventeen verses. The grain or meal offering is described in sixteen verses. The peace offering is described in seventeen verses.

However, the sin offering takes thirty-eight verses to describe it. The guilt offering is thirteen verses. Think about it: the sin offering is at least double, in the number of verses for its description, compared to the other offerings. Now why did God take twice as many verses to describe the sin offering than the other offerings. It tells us sin is a major issue.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee said:

“Where the burnt offering leaves off, the sin offering begins. The burnt offering tells who Christ is. The sin offering tells what Christ did. I will repeat that. The burnt offering tells who Christ is. The sin offering tells what Christ did. In the burnt offering, Christ meets the demands of God’s high and holy standard. In the sin offering Christ meets the deeper and desperate needs of man. In the burnt offering we see the preciousness of Christ. In the sin offering we see the hatefulness of sin.”¹

I thought that was great. It is a good description of the burnt offering versus the sin offering. The burnt offering speaks of Christ, His perfection, His holiness, His preciousness. The sin offering speaks of our desperate need, our sin, God’s hatred of sin. That is the message.

We will begin with Leviticus 4:1-2.

Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘If a person sins unintentionally in any of the things which the LORD has commanded not to be done, and commits any of them … Leviticus 4:1-2 (NASB)

We learn in verse two is that the sin offering is for somebody who sins unintentionally. I think most of us understand the idea of unintentional. You sinned but you did not mean to do that. You did not want to do that, but you did it anyway. The sin offering falls into two camps. There are two types of sin offerings.

Sins of Commission and Omission

There are sin offerings for acts or sins of commission. There are also sin offerings for sins of omission. So the sin offering would be offered for sins of commission or omission. Each sin is actually unintentional. That is a key statement. The sin offering is for sins that are unintentional. One is for sins you did or committed. Sins of omissions are sins where you did not do something that you should have done.

Maybe you were talking to somebody and misrepresented a situation. You lied but did not mean to lie. That would be an unintentional sin that you committed – a sin of commission. An example of a sin of commissions might be that you had an opportunity to share Jesus Christ. We have been commanded to do that, and you did not do it. That would be a sin of omission. You did not do but should have done it. That is a sin of omission. In other words, you omitted it, you did not include it, you did not do it.

So the sin offering was for sins that were unintentional. That is, you did not purposefully do it. All the sin offerings are for sins that are unintentional, whether they are sins of commission or omission.

What this revealed is that God holds us responsible for unintentional sins, whether it’s a sin of commission or omission. Have you ever thought that because you did not know about it, you were not responsible before God? What we are learning in chapters 4 and 5 is that we are responsible for unintentional sins. Why is that true?

First, the word for “sin” in the Hebrew is hata. Hata means “to miss, to err, to go astray, to wander, or to stagger.” Those are all interchangeable concepts with little nuances that help us understand what sin means in this passage. The noun form means “error” or “mistake.” So that is the first point. The message is every one of us sins. We know that is true because in Ecclesiastes, chapter 7, verse 29, Solomon was writing, and he said:

…God made men upright, but they have sought out many devices. Ecclesiastes 7:29 (NASB)

The message is, we do not act upright. We sin all the time. We are familiar with Romans 3:23 which says,

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, Romans 3:23 (NASB)

Jesus, in John, chapter 8, verse 24, said:

… you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins. John 8:24 (NASB)

This verse is referring to the fact that He is the great I AM. So Jesus makes the point that all of us are sinners. All of us commit sin. All of us go astray, so why is it we are responsible for unintentional sins? The reason is because we do not measure up to God’s holiness.

Jesus said in Matthew 5:48 we are to be perfect as the Father in heaven is perfect.

Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. Matthew 5:48 (NASB)

So if we err, we fall short, but we are to be as perfect as the Father is perfect. We are not there! Jesus said to the rich young ruler:

“There is only One who is good; …” Matthew 19:17 (NASB)

It is not us. He says it is God. In one of the other gospels, He actually included the statement that

”…No one is good except God alone.” Mark 10:18 (NASB)

It is very clear that we are not good. One of the proofs that we are not as perfect as the Father is perfect is the fact that we commit sins that we do not even mean to commit. The proof is that we commit unintentional sins. That is the proof that we are not perfect, and that can send us to hell.

… ’If a person sins unintentionally in any of the things which the LORD has commanded not to be done, and commits any of them, ….Leviticus 4:2 (NASB)

Moses is talking about sins that are unintentional. He is now going to talk about different categories of people who commit unintentional sin.

Sins of the High Priest

The first one is the anointed priest. He says,

if the anointed priest sins, so as to bring guilt on the people, then let him offer to the LORD a bull without defect as a sin offering for the sin he has committed. Leviticus 4:3 (NASB)

So the first kind of unintentional sin is a sin that the anointed priest commits and brings guilt upon the people. I thought this was tremendous. This proves to us that when you have a spiritual leader who commits sin, it is going to impact the congregation.

This says “the anointed priest.” The anointed priest is the high priest. So “if the anointed priest sins so as to bring guilt on the people, then let him offer a bull without defect as a sin offering for the sin that he has committed.”

So the message is if your high priest commits a sin, it is going to affect the congregation. He brings guilt on the people. What is he supposed to do? He is supposed to offer a bull. Now we saw last time that a bull is a male and the most expensive animal that he could have offered. It has to cost him something. David said that he would not offer a sacrifice to the Lord if it did not cost him something. In other words, this was not something that was supposed to be cheap. He could not say, “Oh, I sinned, so I can get rid of my sin by offering something that is easy for me to offer.” That would also reflect on Christ, because Christ was hardly something that was cheap, if I may put it that way.

Now verse 4:

He shall bring the bull to the doorway of the tent of meeting before the LORD, and he shall lay his hand on the head of the bull and slay the bull before the LORD. Leviticus 4:4 (NASB)

Now, we have seen that before. So the bull is brought to the doorway of the tent of meeting, he puts his hand on the bull, and then kills it. We made the point before that it is a ritual killing, where he is actually able to drain all the blood out of the animal. I do not mean ritual in a sadistic way, but it was ritual in the sense that he was able to drain the blood. Then we are told:

Then the anointed priest is to take some of the blood of the bull and bring it to the tent of meeting, and the priest shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle some of the blood seven times before the LORD, in front of the veil of the sanctuary. The priest shall also put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of fragrant incense… Leviticus 4:5-7a (NASB)

This would be the altar of incense.

… which is before the LORD in the tent of meeting; and all the blood… Leviticus 4:7b (NASB)

That is, all the rest of the blood of the bull that has not been sprinkled or put on the horns.

… he shall pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering which is at the doorway of the tent of meeting. Leviticus 4:7c (NASB)

It is a pretty bloody and gory description. Most of us would not be too thrilled about taking our finger, sticking it in blood, and going into the tent and sprinkling blood before the veil. What we are told is that the high priest was to dip his finger in the blood, and sprinkle some of it seven times in front of the Lord, in front of the veil. He puts blood on the horns of the altar of incense. Then he takes the rest of the blood and pours it at the base of the altar for burnt offerings.

Tabernacle Tent – Used by permission Crossway

Click this link to see some charts that will be helpful (particularly the Tabernacle Tent, #6 illustrated below). Remember that the tabernacle was like a rectangle that was longer than it was wide, and the worshiper (in this case, the high priest) was going to come to the doorway of the tent of meeting. We are told in verse 4 that he is to bring the bull to the doorway of the tent of meeting. Then he is to lay his hand on it and to kill it.

He would then take some blood and walk into the tabernacle itself, the tabernacle proper. On the north side was a table of shew bread. On the south side was the candlestick, today often called the menorah. The Golden lamp stand is another term used for the menorah. Then there was the altar of incense. All these items were in the Holy Place—the table of shew bread, the menorah and the altar of incense. Then there was a veil that separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies. So that was essentially the tabernacle.

The high priest would come to the doorway of the tent of meeting, he would put his hand on the bull, he would slay it, and take the blood. Then he would go past the altar of burnt offering, past the laver, go through the external veil – not the veil that is being described here in Leviticus 4. He would pass the table of shew bread, go past the altar of incense, and sprinkle blood before the veil. Then the high priest would turn around and put blood on the horns of the altar of incense. The high priest would come back out of the tent, and pour the rest of the blood at the altar of burnt offering. It is very interesting to think about the different steps that he went through. It was a ritual, but with deep meaning to every step of the ritual.

Verse 8:

He shall remove from it all the fat of the bull of the sin offering: the fat that covers the entrails, and all the fat which is on the entrails, and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them, which is on the loins, and the lobe of the liver, which he shall remove with the kidneys (just as it is removed from the ox of the sacrifice of peace offerings),…Leviticus 4:8-10a (NASB)

Moses is referring back to the peace offering, which is the last offering we read about in the previous lesson.

…and the priest is to offer them up in smoke on the altar of burnt offering. Leviticus 4:10b (NASB)

That was the process of offering the sacrifice. Now verse 11 is very interesting. We are told:

But the hide of the bull, and all its flesh with its head and its legs and its entrails, and its refuse, …Leviticus 4:11 (NASB)

What is refuse? Refuse is excrement.

… that is, all the rest of the bull, …Leviticus 4:12a (NASB)

All of the bull that is left over after the sacrifice has been burned. That would be bones or whatever else is left.

… he is to bring out to a clean place outside the camp where the ashes are poured out, and burn it on wood with fire; where the ashes are poured out, it shall be burned. Leviticus 4:12b (NASB)

He takes whatever is left over of the bull outside the camp. He puts it on wood and burns it until it is all gone. Now every time I have read this in the past, I have to admit I have wondered why is this being described? Why are we even being told about this? First of all, it is being described because it is not part of the sacrifice.

I want to show you another reason why we are being told this. Sometimes we think that what is recorded in Scripture is not important, that we do not need to know why; or it is unimportant information that is being given to us. It is like extraneous information, who cares? Look at Hebrews, chapter 13, verse 11. This will be a surprise. It says:

For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the Holy Place by the high priest … Hebrews 13:11 (NASB)

Remember we are talking about the high priest.

… as an offering for sin, are burned outside the camp. Hebrews 13:11 (NASB)

Where is it burned? Outside the camp. That is what we were just told in Leviticus, chapter 4.

Therefore Jesus also, … Hebrews 13:12 (NASB)

Here is the connection to Christ. This is really interesting.

… that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered outside the gate. Hebrews 13:12 (NASB)

Where did Jesus die? Outside the gate, outside Jerusalem, on a hill named Golgotha.

So, let us go outside to Him outside the camp,… Hebrews 13:13

Now the author of Hebrews is being figurative. He is connecting back to the sin offering in Leviticus, chapter 4. So there is the connection! Jesus, figuratively, pictured this refuse. This stuff symbolizes Jesus: the hide, all the flesh, its head, its legs, its entrails, its refuse. All this stuff that is going to be taken outside the camp is symbolic of Christ. Why is it symbolic of Christ? Turn to 1 Peter, chapter 2, and then look at verse 24. I love this passage which says:

And He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed. 1 Peter 2:24 (NASB)

What happened to Christ when He was on the cross? He took all of our sins. See the connection? He took all of our sins on Himself. What did He become? Can I say it this way? Scripture does not say it this way, but let me say it for you. He figuratively became all the stuff nobody wanted when He was taken “outside the camp” to Calvary and crucified.

In Leviticus, chapter 4, the refuse is taken outside the camp. Why? It looked forward to when Jesus would take on our sins on Calvary. That must have been a horrible moment when that happened on the cross. No wonder He said:

” MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?” Matthew 27:46 (NASB)

The relationship between Him and the Father was broken at that point; He became like “garbage.” This is really meaningful to a Christian. Jesus took all your junk. Jesus took all the sin, all your sin, on Himself. He became like refuse. Jesus became our sin offering.

Sins of a Whole Congregation

Leviticus 4:13 is another kind of sin offering. It says:

Now if the whole congregation of Israel commits error … Leviticus 4:13 (NASB)

So now it is the whole congregation.

… and the matter escapes the notice of the assembly, and they commit any of the things which the LORD has commanded not to be done, and they become guilty; when the sin which they have committed becomes known, …Leviticus 4:13-14 (NASB)

So initially they do not know about the sin. Somebody realizes that sin has been committed, and then we are told:

… then the assembly shall offer a bull of the herd for a sin offering and bring it before the tent of meeting. Then the elders of the congregation shall lay their hands on the head of the bull before the LORD, and the bull shall be slain before the LORD. Leviticus 4:14-15 (NASB)

And the rest of the description is the same as what we just read with regard to the sin of the high priest.

Sins of a Leader

If you go to verse 22, now it is another sin. This time it is the leader who commits the sin, and this time the offering is a little different—, but only slightly. It says:

‘When a leader sins and unintentionally does any one of all the things which the LORD his God has commanded not to be done, and he becomes guilty, if his sin which he has committed is made known to him, he shall bring for his offering a goat, a male without defect. Leviticus 4:22-23 (NASB)

What was the requirement for the high priest and for the whole congregation? A bull,. In this case, it is a male goat, so it is less costly.

He shall lay his hand on the head of the goat and slay it….”Leviticus 14:24

Then the basic process previously described is continued. What happens this time, though, is that the blood is offered only at the altar of burnt offering. Blood is not taken and sprinkled before the veil, and it is not put on the horns of the altar of incense; so there are some changes. But again, it is an animal, so there are a few changes to the sin offering in this case.

Sins of the Common People

The next offering is described in verse 27.

’Now if any one of the common people sins unintentionally in doing any of the things which the LORD has commanded not to be done, and becomes guilty, if his sin which he has committed is made known to him, then he shall bring for his offering a goat, a female without defect, …Leviticus 14:27-28 (NASB)

Now this is really interesting to think about what God has just done. We have gone from a bull, to a male goat, now to a female goat. What is significant about moving to a female goat? It is less costly. It is not as costly. There are a lot more female goats than there are male goats. There are fewer bulls than there are male goats, and there are more female goats. So the offering for this sin is not as costly as the others. This is for the common person.

What does that mean? Think about it. There is a lesser requirement for the offering of a common person. In other words, the price for forgiveness is greater for the high priest, for the leaders, and for the whole congregation. For the common people, the demand is less. From our perspective, Christ is still the symbol for the sin offering. What this is saying, though, is that the sin of the high priest, the sin of the leadership, and the sin of the whole congregation is much more severe, because of the position that they had. For the common people, the sin offering is still required. The sin offering is still required, but his sin has less impact on everybody else.

Verse 29:

He shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering….Leviticus 4:29 (NASB)

And the description continues like the previous offerings. So this time it is a female goat, and otherwise the description is essentially the same.

If you look down at verse 32, we are told:

But if he brings a lamb as his offering for a sin offering, he shall bring it, a female without defect. Leviticus 4:32 (NASB)

So now there is a change. The sin offering could either be a female goat or it could be a lamb, and it is a female lamb; so again it is less costly. Very interesting that it is not a male lamb. We have been seeing male offerings except for the peace offering. And here for the common person, it is a female offering. I think God was also taking into consideration that they were the common people.

He shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering, … Leviticus 4:33 (NASB)

And the description goes on, essentially the same as for the other sin offerings. This speaks of God’s consideration for us as common people.

The Guilt Offering

When you read chapter 5, if your Bible is like mine, it says guilt offering. I actually think it is still the sin offering. Some of your Bibles will say sin offering, so in some of your Bibles, chapter 5, verses 1-13 are either described as the guilt offering or as the sin offering. I want you to be aware of that. So there are two different kinds of descriptions.

One of the reasons there is some confusion, as you read through these thirteen verses, you are going to see that sometimes it refers to a guilt offering, and sometimes it refers to a sin offering. You are going to see the word “guilt” show up a lot and you are also going to see “sin” show up a lot. There is a lot of crossover in these thirteen verses. But what you are going to see when you get to verse 14 is that the guilt offering finally is described in chapter 5, verse 14 through chapter 6, verse 7. What is amazing about the guilt offering is that the only animal that is required, and the only animal that is accepted, is a ram. Every time, it is a ram that is required for the guilt offering.

Chapter 5 describes an unintentional sin that is an act of omission. In other words, something should have been done that was not done. In other words, a sin is something that you failed to do, that you should have done. In chapter 4 it was all sins of commission. Now chapter 5 describes unintentional sins of omission.

Now, if a person sins after he hears a public adjuration to testify when he is a witness, whether he has seen or otherwise known, if he does not tell it, then he will bear his guilt. Leviticus 5:1 (NASB)

Now, it is not too clear in this verse that this is a sin of omission, but keep reading.

Or if a person touches any unclean thing, whether a carcass of an unclean beast or the carcass of unclean cattle or a carcass of unclean swarming things, though it is hidden from him and he is unclean, then he will be guilty. Or if he touches human uncleanness, or whatever sort his uncleanness may be with which he becomes unclean, and it is hidden from him, and then he comes to know it, he will be guilty. Leviticus 5:2-3 (NASB)

So you have these different sins. You have a dishonest witness. You have somebody who touches an unclean thing. In verse 3 it is somebody who touches an unclean person. Perhaps the person is leprous, and they do not know it. In verse 4 it is somebody who swears falsely, and verse 5 describes the offering that is to be offered. It says:

So it shall be when he becomes guilty in one of these, that he shall confess that in which he has sinned. Leviticus 5:5 (NASB)

So in this case he has to confess sin when he offers the offering.

Verse 6:

He shall also bring his guilt offering to the LORD for his sin which he has committed, a female from the flock, a lamb or a goat as a sin offering. So the priest shall make atonement on his behalf for his sin. Leviticus 5:6 (NASB)

Verse 7 is an offering of birds if a person could not afford a lamb or goat. Or in verse 11, if you did not have a lot of money, you could offer a tenth of an ephah of fine flour. An ephah was about six gallons, so it is a tenth of six gallons of fine flour. No oil, nor incense is required, so this is really an inexpensive offering. God is taking into consideration the financial situations of all the persons who committed sin.

Those are the sin offerings. Now I want you to notice something important. Return to Leviticus 4:20. We did not previously read this verse, but I want to summarize it with this:

He shall also do with the bull just as he did with the bull of the sin offering; thus he shall do with it. So the priest shall make atonement for them, and they will be forgiven. Leviticus 4:20 (NASB)

Is that not amazing? God says, “and they will be forgiven.” We saw in the last study that in Romans 3:24-25, God said that He overlooked the sins of the past. So the animals were offered, the sacrifices were offered, the sin of the person who was guilty was covered until the time of Christ when it was effectively forgiven when Christ finally died on the cross. I used the illustration last time of a credit card. In the Old Testament, people’s sins were forgiven like it was charged to a credit card, and Jesus paid it off when He died on a cross. And so when it says they were forgiven, it was forgiven looking forward to the fact that Jesus would die on a cross – once for all! (Hebrews 7:27).

All of these sins were due to unfaithfulness. It gets a little confusing. In fact, when I read some commentators, it is very clear that there is confusion here at the end of chapter 5. But what is truly unclear is the word “unfaithful.” Watch the word “unfaithful.”

Then the LORD spoke to Moses saying, “If a person acts unfaithfully and sins unintentionally against the LORD’S holy things, …Leviticus 5:14-15 (NASB)

What are holy things? They are the things in the tabernacle. So this is an act of unfaithfulness. Apparently, they have done something unfaithful, and in the process of committing this “unfaithful sin,” they commit the sin that is unintentional. A sacrifice is then required. I am going to read the first required sacrifice, because this is very instructive for us. It says:

… a ram without defect from the flock, according to your valuation in silver by shekels,… Leviticus 5:15 (NASB)

So apparently, he damages some of the Lord’s holy things in the tabernacle. There is a value to it, so what the offerer had to do was offer a ram that had the same value. That is what it means by “your valuation in silver by shekels.” A shekel was a weight, so it was a certain amount of weight in silver.

… in terms of the shekel of the sanctuary, for a guilt offering. Leviticus 5:15 (NASB)

So now this is a guilt offering.

He shall make restitution for that which he has sinned against the holy thing, and shall add to it a fifth part of it… Leviticus 5:16 (NASB)

There was a tax of 20 percent (an additional fifth part). So not only did he have to pay in order to have it repaired or replaced, but there was also a tax. He could not just give something of equal value—it had to be of equal value plus a tax of 20 percent.

… The priest shall then make atonement for him with the ram of the guilt offering, and it shall be forgiven him. Leviticus 5:16 (NASB)

Verse 17 introduces another sin.

“Now if a person sins and does any of the things which the LORD has commanded not to be done, … Leviticus 5:17 (NASB)

Apparently, this is still in the context of the tabernacle or the temple, but this time it is not a holy thing. It is something that he did. It is still an unintentional sin in this case. Again, he is to offer a ram.

Unintentional Versus Intentional Sin

We will soon go to chapter 6 in Leviticus. Chapter 6 is still the guilt offering. However, in Leviticus, the only thing that is said is that he is unfaithful. Apparently this is a sin that is intentional. To understand the relationship between unfaithful and intentional, I want you to first look at Numbers 15. Verse 22 is the beginning of this section, and it continues through verse 31. I am going to skip the beginning of the section and start with verse 27, which says:

’Also if one person sins unintentionally, then he shall offer a one year old female goat for a sin offering. The priest shall make atonement before the LORD for the person who goes astray when he sins unintentionally, making atonement for him that he may be forgiven. Numbers 15:27-28 (NASB)

We already saw that earlier in Leviticus 4. Numbers 15:29-30 says:

You shall have one law for him who does anything unintentionally, for him who is native among the sons of Israel and for the alien who sojourns among them. But the person who does anything defiantly, whether he is native or an alien, that one is blaspheming the LORD; and that person shall be cut off from among his people. Numbers 15:29-30 (NASB)

What is contrasted to unintentional sins? Somebody who acts defiantly. Have you ever intentionally sinned? You knew you should not do it, but you did it anyway. Do you realize how your sin is described here? It is described as defiant sin.

So in Leviticus 6:1-2 when it says:

Then the LORD spoke to Moses saying, “When a person sins and acts unfaithfully… Leviticus 6:1-2 (NASB)

Apparently, it is not an unintentional sin. It is in defiance.

… acts unfaithfully against the LORD, and deceives his companion in regard to a deposit or a security entrusted to him, or through robbery, or if he has extorted from his companion, or has found what was lost and lied about it and swore falsely, so that he sins in regard to any one of the things a man may do; Leviticus 6:2-3 (NASB)

Moses continues talking about this, and said:

then it shall be, when he sins and becomes guilty, that he shall restore what he took by robbery or what he got by extortion, or the deposit which was entrusted to him or the lost thing which he found, or anything about which he swore falsely; he shall make restitution for it in full and add to it one-fifth more. … Leviticus 6:4-5a (NASB)

That is the 20 percent tax (one-fifth more). One of the things that is in common with the guilt offering is this tax that had to go along with the intentional sin offering. I was wondering how did they handle a tax where a person lied and swore that something was true? Perhaps this was a legal case. A person swore falsely and lied. How did they apply a tax to that? It is not explained.

… He shall give it to the one to whom it belongs on the day he presents his guilt offering. Then he shall bring to the priest his guilt offering to the LORD, a ram without defect from the flock, according to your valuation, for a guilt offering, Leviticus 6:5b-6 (NASB)

So there are some things that were not explained here, but that is the guilt offering. The guilt offering was given for things that were done because of unfaithfulness (or intentional sins). 1 John:1:9 is a very familiar verse. It says:

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9 (NASB)

What does this verse say? If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us. We confess sins when we know about them. If you commit a sin unintentionally, you could learn about it later. Are there sins that you have committed and to this day do not know you have committed them? The answer is yes, we have all committed sins that we did not know we committed. Someone might bring it to our attention; though it is rare that would happen.

This is talking about somebody who later becomes aware of the sin that they have committed. There may be many sins that you have committed of which you are unaware. What we just read about were sacrifices for sins that a person committed unintentionally; guilt offerings, some of them for unintentional sins, and some of them for intentional sins. The intentional sin a person did knowingly and so was unfaithful. So at the point that a person knows about it, this verse says that if we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins.

A sacrifice for those sins is no longer required because Jesus is our sacrifice. He already died so that our sins could be forgiven. All we have to do is confess it, and it is forgiven. I like the fact that it says if we confess it, He is going to forgive us. Why? Because He is faithful, and to not forgive us would mean He is not righteous. But positively, because He is faithful and because He is righteous, He is going to forgive us.

He is going to forgive us because it depends on His character, not on you. All you have to do is admit. The word “confess” here means “admit.” You admit to God that you sinned. You do not have to beg for forgiveness.

Now, you might do that, but all this says is that if you agree with God, you admit to God that you sinned, and because He is faithful and righteous, He is going to forgive you. Done deal. Now look at the rest of the verse:

… and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9 (NASB)

What is that? All the sins you committed unintentionally of which you are not unaware. In Leviticus it became obvious that God sets a higher standard for leadership when it comes to sin. It is obvious that God takes into consideration the common people. But what is also obvious in Leviticus is that we commit unintentional sin and we often do not realize that even unintentional sin is important to God.

All of Leviticus 4 and almost all of chapter 5 was about unintentional sin, even including some unintentional sin in the guilt offering. Leviticus 6: 1-7 described the sins that were intentional. That tells us that God is really concerned about our sin, and we should also be concerned.

Conclusion

I want to close with one last passage. Turn to Psalm 32. In this passage David has committed sin. He has gone to bed with Bathsheba. We are familiar with the story. I will start with verse 5. David said:

I acknowledge my sin to You,
And my iniquity I did not hide;
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD”;
And you forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah. Psalm 32:5 (NASB)

Have you seen in this lesson how often the word “guilt” shows up? David acknowledged that he was guilty. Do you know what I think David means when he says “guilt of my sin”? I think that reveals that David knew exactly what he was doing. This was an intentional sin on David’s part. Then David said that God forgave him.

The sins that we often really struggle with are the sins that are intentional sins. We know we should not do them, but we do them anyway. Then we often really struggle with being forgiven. David said, “Yes, I had her husband killed. Yes, I brought her to my palace. Yes, we had illicit sex. I did all these things, Lord. I am guilty before you, but Lord, I thank you for forgiving me.” Our God is a forgiving God.