In looking at the chapter regarding the sin offering, yesterday's passage told us what a priest must do when he realizes he has sinned. Today the Lord tells Moses what the people must do when they realize they have sinned as a community.
What constitutes a sin that the entire company of the Israelites could make? Has there ever been a time when every member of their society committed the same sin together at the same time? It's hard to know but we've already witnessed an occasion when a large number of them went astray and made a golden calf and bowed down to it. There are going to be times when they make unwise alliances with the pagan people of the promised land. There are going to be times when they become overconfident and get ahead of the Lord and go into battles they are not ready to fight. I don't think every single individual has to commit the same sin at the same time in order for the Lord to call it an occasion when "the whole Israelite community sins". If enough people sin at once, or if the leadership of the nation sins, the entire community is pulled into the unpleasant circumstances caused by this sin.
In the Old Testament we'll find the prophets praying to the Lord for mercy for national sins. The prophets themselves haven't committed the sin of idolatry, for example, but they cry out to the Lord for mercy and identify themselves with the idolaters by saying in their prayers, "We have sinned." A lot of wicked and ungodly things take place in our nation every day. Even though we ourselves may not have committed the specific sin for which we're praying, we can follow the prophets' examples and say to the Lord, "Have mercy on us. We have sinned and gone astray." Whether or not we've committed the national sins that are heavy on our hearts, we are all sinners and have all fallen short of perfection.
"If the whole Israelite community sins unintentionally and does what is forbidden in any of the Lord's commands, even though the community is unaware of the matter, when they realize their guilt and the sin they committed becomes known, the assembly must bring a young bull as a sin offering and present it before the tent of meeting." (Leviticus 4:13-14) Yesterday we discussed how it's possible to sin without realizing it at the time. Our lives are so busy and we often have to make decisions in a split second. We don't always have much time to think about a situation before we react to it. Later in the stillness of the night we may finally have enough peace and quiet to reflect on our day and to realize we didn't handle everything in a way that represents who we are in Christ. Or we may realize one day that we've been deceived somehow and that we've been operating under some untrue assumptions. There are all sorts of ways in which we might say or do the wrong thing or maintain a wrong attitude and not be aware of it at the time, especially if we are keeping ourselves too busy to get alone with the Lord. If we never take time to get quiet before the Lord then we're in danger of failing to realize the Holy Spirit is trying to bring something to our attention.
As soon as the people realize they've made an error they are to bring a sin offering to the tabernacle. Only one bull is required, no matter how many people were caught up in the sin. "The elders of the community are to lay their hands on the bull's head before the Lord, and the bull shall be slaughtered before the Lord." (Leviticus 4:15) It would be too time consuming for every person in the community to walk by and place their hand on the bull's head so only the elders perform this symbolic action. The elders represent the entire community when they place their hands on the bull's head to signify the transference of the people's sin onto the sacrificial animal.
"Then the anointed priest is to take some of the bull's blood into the tent of meeting. He shall dip his finger into the blood and sprinkle it before the Lord seven times in front of the curtain. He is to put some of the blood on the horns of the altar that is before the Lord in the tent of meeting. The rest of the blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering at the entrance to the tent of meeting." (Leviticus 4:16-18) As the Apostle Paul said, "The law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness." (Hebrews 9:22) If we get blood on our clothing we consider it a stain. If it won't wash out we throw the garment away, so it's difficult for us to understand how blood cleanses anything. But we have to look at it from God's perspective. Because we are sinners we are under the sentence of death. We owe our own blood as the penalty for our sins and we deserve the eternal separation of our souls from the presence of a holy God. But the Lord was willing to accept other blood in place of our own, and that blood canceled out our debt and washed the slate clean so that we don't have to experience eternal separation from Him. It wiped away the record of our wrongs. In the Old Testament this was accomplished by shedding the blood of animals, which temporarily wiped the slate clean. But in the New Testament it was accomplished by shedding the blood of Christ, which is capable of forever keeping our record clear.
"He shall remove all the fat from it and burn it on the altar, and do with this bull just as he did with the bull for the sin offering." (Leviticus 4:19-20a) The priest follows the same procedure with the bull for community sin as he did with the bull for his own sin, as we studied in our passage yesterday.
"In this way the priest will make atonement for the community, and they will be forgiven. Then he shall take the bull outside the camp and burn it as he burned the first bull. This is the sin offering for the community." (Leviticus 4:20b-21) The Apostle Paul spoke of man's need for someone better than a mere human priest to make atonement for our sins. An Old Testament priest had to "offer sacrifices for his own sins, as well as for the sins of the people". (Hebrews 5:3) But Christ, who never sinned and therefore never had to make a sacrifice for His own sins, was able to make an atonement for man that lasts forever and "He became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey Him". (Hebrews 5:9)
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