Commentary - Leviticus 4:1-12

Bird's-eye view

In Leviticus 4, we come to the regulations for the sin offering, or what should be done when a person sins unintentionally. This is a crucial chapter because it deals with the problem of sin after the covenant has been established. The previous offerings, the ascension and peace offerings, dealt with consecration and communion. But what happens when the consecrated communion is broken by sin? This chapter provides the answer. The structure of the chapter is straightforward, dealing with four classes of people: the anointed priest (vv. 3-12), the whole congregation (vv. 13-21), a ruler (vv. 22-26), and a common person (vv. 27-35). Our text deals with the first of these, the sin of the high priest, which carried the most extensive ritual because his sin brought guilt upon the entire nation. The central lesson is that sin is a defilement that must be cleansed by blood, and the higher the office, the more potent the defilement and the more extensive the remedy required.

This entire system is a magnificent audio-visual aid, a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ. Every detail, from the type of animal to the placement of the blood to the disposal of the carcass, points forward to the one true sacrifice for sin, the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the anointed priest who became the sin offering, whose blood cleanses the true sanctuary, and who was cast "outside the camp" for our sakes. Without Leviticus, we would be hard-pressed to understand what Hebrews is talking about.

Outline

Context In Leviticus

Leviticus is the book of worship. It answers the question posed at the end of Exodus: God has come to dwell in the Tabernacle, but who can approach Him? Leviticus lays out the system of sacrifices, priesthood, and purity laws that make fellowship with a holy God possible. The first three chapters detailed offerings of dedication (burnt offering) and fellowship (peace offering). Now, chapter 4 introduces the offerings that deal with the breach of fellowship caused by sin. This is not about "getting saved" over and over. The Israelites were already God's covenant people. This is about maintaining fellowship within that covenant. The sin offering, therefore, is a means of cleansing and restoration, what we might call familial forgiveness, distinct from the forensic justification that is once for all.

Key Issues

Verse by Verse Commentary

v. 1 Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

As always, this is divine revelation. These are not Moses' clever ideas for how to manage a society's religious anxieties. This is God Himself dictating the terms of fellowship. The entire sacrificial system is from Him, for us, and points to the ultimate sacrifice He would one day provide in His Son. This is God's law, not man's religion.

v. 2 Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘If a person sins unintentionally in any of the things which Yahweh has commanded not to be done, and he does any one of them,

The key qualifier here is "unintentionally." The Hebrew word is shegagah, which means to err, to go astray through ignorance or inadvertence. This is not for high-handed, defiant rebellion (Num. 15:30-31), for which there was no sacrifice but rather the penalty of being "cut off." This distinction is crucial. It teaches us that sin is not just about intent; it is an objective violation of God's standard. You can be guilty even if you didn't mean it. If you back over your neighbor's mailbox by accident, you still owe him a mailbox. Sin creates objective guilt and defilement that must be dealt with, regardless of the state of your heart at the moment of the infraction. This is a category our modern therapeutic culture has entirely lost. We think sincerity is everything, but God's holiness is an objective reality.

v. 3 if the anointed priest sins so as to bring guilt on the people, then let him bring near to Yahweh a bull from the herd without blemish as a sin offering for the sin he has committed.

The first case is the high priest, the "anointed priest." His sin is the most serious because of his representative office. When he sins, he brings guilt "on the people." He is their head, their mediator. His sin implicates everyone. This is the principle of federal headship, which we see in Adam and in Christ. Because the consequences are so far-reaching, his sacrifice is the most costly: a young bull, the most valuable of the sacrificial animals. And it must be "without blemish," a constant reminder that the sacrifice must be perfect. This pointed directly to Christ, our great high priest, who was truly without blemish and who, unlike the Levitical priests, did not have to offer a sacrifice for His own sins first.

v. 4 Then he shall bring the bull to the doorway of the tent of meeting before Yahweh, and he shall lay his hand on the head of the bull and slaughter the bull before Yahweh.

Here we have the central act of substitution. The priest lays his hand on the bull's head. This is not a gentle pat. This is a leaning, a symbolic transfer of identity. He is identifying with the animal, and in so doing, he is confessing his sin and symbolically transferring his guilt to the bull. The bull is now standing in his place. It is reckoned to be the sinner. And so, the bull is slaughtered. The wages of sin is death, and that wage is paid right there, "before Yahweh." This is imputation in living color. Our sin was imputed to Christ, and He was slaughtered in our place.

v. 5 Then the anointed priest shall take some of the blood of the bull and bring it to the tent of meeting,

The life of the flesh is in the blood (Lev. 17:11), and so the blood represents a life poured out in death. This blood, representing the penalty paid, is now the instrument of cleansing. For the priest's sin, the blood is not just handled at the bronze altar in the courtyard; it is brought inside the Holy Place, into the Tent of Meeting itself. This shows the gravity of the sin. It has defiled the sanctuary at a deeper level.

v. 6 and the priest shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle some of the blood seven times before Yahweh in front of the veil of the sanctuary.

The blood is sprinkled seven times, the number of perfection or completion, before the veil. The veil separated the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place, where the presence of God dwelt above the ark. The sin of the high priest has created a barrier that reaches right up to the very door of God's throne room. The sprinkled blood is a testimony that a death has occurred, that the penalty has been paid, and it serves to cleanse that space and reopen the way of access.

v. 7 The priest shall also put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of fragrant incense which is before Yahweh in the tent of meeting; and all the blood of the bull he shall pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering which is at the doorway of the tent of meeting.

Next, the blood is applied to the horns of the golden altar of incense. The horns represent power and authority. This altar was where the prayers of the saints were offered up, symbolized by the rising incense. The priest's sin has corrupted the people's access to God in prayer. The blood on the horns purifies that access, sanctifying the prayers of the people once more. The remainder of the blood is poured out at the base of the main altar outside, where the animal was killed. The death happened there, and the evidence of that death, the blood, is returned there. It all starts and ends with a substitutionary death.

v. 8-10 Then he shall raise up from it all the fat of the bull of the sin offering... and the priest shall offer them up in smoke on the altar of burnt offering.

The fat portions, considered the richest and best part of the animal, are offered to God on the altar. This is God's portion. Even in a sin offering, where the focus is on judgment and cleansing, God is still honored. The fat represents the choicest parts, the energy and richness of the life. In offering it, the priest is acknowledging that all good things belong to God and that the purpose of this atonement is to restore the ability to offer our best to Him. This is the same procedure as with the peace offering, linking the restoration from sin to the restoration of fellowship.

v. 11-12 But the hide of the bull and all its flesh... all the rest of the bull, he shall bring out to a clean place outside the camp... and he shall burn it on wood with fire...

This is the most striking part of the ritual. The rest of the bull, the flesh, the hide, the entrails, everything, is not eaten, nor is it burned on the altar. It is carried completely outside the camp to a clean place where the ashes from the altar are disposed of, and it is burned there. The bull has become sin. It is ritually unclean, bearing the guilt of the priest. Therefore, it cannot remain in the holy camp where God dwells. It must be utterly removed and destroyed. The author of Hebrews makes the connection explicit: "For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin are burned outside the camp. Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered outside the gate" (Heb. 13:11-12). Christ, bearing our sin, was cast out of the holy city and executed, bearing the full curse and defilement of our guilt. He became the refuse so that we might become the righteousness of God.

Application

First, we must take sin seriously, even our "unintentional" sins. Sin is an objective offense against a holy God, and it always defiles. We live in an age that wants to psychologize all guilt away, but the Bible insists that our sin creates a real problem that requires a real, bloody solution. We cannot simply "move on." We must deal with sin God's way, which is through confession and cleansing.

Second, we should be profoundly grateful for the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Every detail of this messy, bloody, and intricate ritual was designed to make us long for the reality. Christ is our anointed priest and our unblemished bull. He laid His own hands on His own head, so to speak. His blood was brought into the true heavenly sanctuary, not just the earthly copy, and it cleanses us from all sin. He was made sin for us and was cast "outside the camp" to bear our shame. This system shows us the mechanics of the gospel. It is not a vague feeling; it is a substitutionary transaction.

Finally, the principle of representation should shape how we think about our leaders and ourselves. The sin of a leader has devastating consequences for the people. We should pray for our pastors and elders, that they would walk in holiness. And in our own spheres of influence, as fathers, mothers, or employers, we must remember that our sin never affects just us. It brings guilt and defilement on those under our care. Let us therefore walk carefully, and when we sin, let us run quickly to the cross, where the blood of the true sin offering cleanses us and restores our fellowship with the Father.