Sacrifices For Sin
March 18, 2020
Commentary
The Lord said: When someone offers a sacrifice to give thanks to me, the priests from Aaron’s family must bring it to the front of the bronze altar (v. 14), where one of them will scoop up a handful of the flour and oil, together with all the incense on it (v. 15). Then, to show that the whole offering belongs to me, he will lay all of this on the altar and send it up in smoke with a smell that pleases me. The rest of it is to be baked without yeast and eaten by the priests in the sacred courtyard of the sacred tent (vv. 16-17).
Only the men in Aaron’s family are allowed to eat this bread, and they must go through a ceremony to be made holy before touching it. This law will never change (v. 18). The Lord spoke to Moses (v. 19) and told him what sacrifices the priests must offer on the morning and evening of the day they are ordained (v. 20):It is the same as the regular morning and evening sacrifices a pound of flour mixed with olive oil and cooked in a shallow pan (v. 21). The bread must then be crumbled into small pieces and sent up in smoke with a smell that pleases me. Each of Aaron’s descendants who is ordained as a priest must perform this ceremony and make sure the bread is completely burned on the altar (vv. 22-23). None of it may be eaten!
The Lord told Moses (v. 24) how the priests from Aaron’s family were to offer the sacrifice for sin: This sacrifice is very sacred, and the animal must be killed in my presence (v. 25). The priest who offers this sacrifice must eat it in the sacred courtyard of the sacred tent (v. 26), and anyone or anything that touches the meat will be holy ( v. 27). If the meat was cooked in a clay pot, the pot must be destroyed, but if it was cooked in a bronze pot, the pot must be scrubbed and rinsed with water (v. 28). This sacrifice is very holy, and only the priests may have any part of it (v. 29). None of the meat may be eaten from the sacrifices for sin that require blood to be brought into the sacred tent. These sacrifices must be completely burned (v. 30).
Application
This passage helps me remember what Jesus did for us on the cross as He gave His life to save us.
Leviticus 6:14– 30 (NET)
14 “‘This is the law of the grain offering. The sons of Aaron are to present it before the Lord in front of the altar, 15 and the priest must take up with his hand some of the choice wheat flour of the grain offering and some of its olive oil, and all of the frankincense that is on the grain offering, and he must offer its memorial portion up in smoke on the altar as a soothing aroma to the Lord. 16 Aaron and his sons are to eat what is left over from it. It must be eaten unleavened in a holy place; they are to eat it in the courtyard of the Meeting Tent. 17 It must not be baked with yeast. I have given it as their portion from my gifts. It is most holy, like the sin offering and the guilt offering. 18 Every male among the sons of Aaron may eat it. It is a perpetual allotted portion throughout your generations from the gifts of the Lord. Anyone who touches these gifts must be holy.’”
19 Then the Lord spoke to Moses: 20 “This is the offering of Aaron and his sons which they must present to the Lord on the day when he is anointed: a tenth of an ephah of choice wheat flour as a continual grain offering, half of it in the morning and half of it in the evening. 21 It must be made with olive oil on a griddle and you must bring it well soaked, so you must present a grain offering of broken pieces as a soothing aroma to the Lord. 22 The high priest who succeeds him from among his sons must do it. It is a perpetual statute; it must be offered up in smoke as a whole offering to the Lord. 23 Every grain offering of a priest must be a whole offering; it must not be eaten.”
24 Then the Lord spoke to Moses: 25 “Tell Aaron and his sons, ‘This is the law of the sin offering. In the place where the burnt offering is slaughtered the sin offering must be slaughtered before the Lord. It is most holy. 26 The priest who offers it for sin is to eat it. It must be eaten in a holy place, in the courtyard of the Meeting Tent. 27 Anyone who touches its meat must be holy, and whoever spatters some of its blood on a garment must wash whatever he spatters it on in a holy place. 28 Any clay vessel it is boiled in must be broken, and if it was boiled in a bronze vessel, then that vessel must be rubbed out and rinsed in water. 29 Any male among the priests may eat it. It is most holy. 30 But any sin offering from which some of its blood is brought into the Meeting Tent to make atonement in the sanctuary must not be eaten. It must be burned up in the fire.
Illustration: Vietnam Wall Memorial in Washington DC
Consider the Vietnam Wall in Washington, DC. When people visit the wall, they remember the events that took place when we were fighting in Vietnam. Even those who weren’t alive at the time are moved as they see name after name of individual soldiers who laid down their lives fighting for our nation. That wall serves as a memorial, when we look at it we remember the sacrifices made. That’s what the Lord’s Supper is meant to do. He went to the cross because we are sinners. He died there for us. (Tim Richards – Sermon Central)