The Grammar of Forgiveness Text: Leviticus 4:32-35
Introduction: The Offense of a Bloody Gospel
We live in a tidy, sanitized, and sentimental age. Our therapeutic culture wants a god who is more like a cosmic guidance counselor than the sovereign Judge of all the earth. We want forgiveness to be a gentle feeling, a quiet moment of self-acceptance, a therapeutic release. We want a gospel without gore, a cross without blood, and a salvation without sacrifice. And when we come to a passage like this one in Leviticus, the modern mind recoils. It seems primitive, messy, and frankly, a bit barbaric. Slaughtering a lamb, handling its blood, burning its fat, this all seems very distant and very strange.
But this is a feature, not a bug. God is deliberately offending our tidy sensibilities. He is forcing us to confront the nature of reality. Sin is not a polite misstep. It is a violent, treasonous rebellion against the Holy One of Israel. It is an offense that incurs a debt that can only be paid with a life. Forgiveness, therefore, is not a cheap sentiment. It is not God simply looking the other way. That would make Him an unjust judge. No, forgiveness is a costly, bloody, substitutionary transaction. It is a legal declaration, purchased at the highest possible price. What we have here in Leviticus is the grammar of forgiveness. It is the ABCs of atonement. And if we do not learn this grammar here, amidst the smoke and blood of the tabernacle, we will never be able to read the glorious prose of the cross aright.
This passage is not about an arbitrary ritual for an ancient tribe. It is a divinely crafted portrait, a detailed schematic, of the work of Jesus Christ. Every action, every element, is saturated with theological meaning, pointing forward to the one, final, and perfect sacrifice of the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
The Text
‘But if he brings a lamb as his offering for a sin offering, he shall bring it, a female without blemish. And he shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and slaughter it for a sin offering in the place where they slay the burnt offering. And 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 all the rest of its blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar. Then he shall remove all its fat, just as the fat of the lamb is removed from the sacrifice of the peace offerings, and the priest shall offer them up in smoke on the altar, on the offerings by fire to Yahweh. Thus the priest shall make atonement for him in regard to his sin which he has committed, and he will be forgiven.’
(Leviticus 4:32-35 LSB)
A Perfect Substitute (v. 32)
The instruction begins with the specific animal required for the sin of a common person.
"‘But if he brings a lamb as his offering for a sin offering, he shall bring it, a female without blemish.’" (Leviticus 4:32)
Notice first that this provision is for the common man. The previous verses in the chapter deal with the sins of priests and rulers, which required a bull, a more expensive sacrifice. But God's economy of grace extends to everyone. The way back to God is not reserved for the elite. An ordinary Israelite, with an ordinary sin, has a prescribed, accessible path to forgiveness.
He is to bring a lamb. This is not arbitrary. Throughout Scripture, the lamb is the quintessential sacrificial animal. From the Passover lamb whose blood protected Israel from the angel of death, to the prophetic vision of Isaiah's suffering servant who was "led like a lamb to the slaughter," this imagery is being carefully cultivated. It all culminates in the declaration of John the Baptist upon seeing Jesus: "Behold, the Lamb of God!" (John 1:29). This Levitical lamb is a type, a shadow, a stand-in, waiting for the true substance to arrive.
And the lamb must be "without blemish." This is a non-negotiable requirement. The substitute must be perfect. A sick, lame, or scarred animal would be an insult to God and would accomplish nothing. You cannot substitute one flawed thing for another and expect a perfect outcome. This requirement shouts from the pages of the Old Testament the profound problem of our sin. We are all blemished. We have nothing in ourselves to offer. This requirement is a signpost pointing to the desperate need for a truly perfect substitute, one who is holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners. As Peter tells us, we were redeemed not with perishable things, but "with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ" (1 Peter 1:19).
Identification and Execution (v. 33)
The next step is a powerful, personal, and visceral act of transference and judgment.
"And he shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and slaughter it for a sin offering in the place where they slay the burnt offering." (Leviticus 4:33 LSB)
The laying on of the hand is a formal, legal act. This is not a gentle pat of affection. This is the sinner identifying with his substitute. By this action, he is publicly confessing, "I am the guilty one. This animal now stands in my place. My sin, my guilt, and the penalty I deserve are hereby transferred to this lamb." This is the doctrine of imputation in living color. This is precisely what happened at the cross. God the Father laid on His Son the iniquity of us all (Isaiah 53:6). Our sin was legally credited to His account.
And then, the text says that the sinner himself, the "he" who brought the lamb, is the one to "slaughter it." This is a brutal but necessary education. Sin is not an abstract violation of some ethereal code. It is a capital offense. It has bloody, fatal consequences. God wants the sinner to feel the weight of this. He must look his substitute in the eye, feel the life drain away, and understand with gut-wrenching clarity: "This is what my sin deserves. My rebellion put the knife to this innocent throat." We must never forget this. We were not passive observers at Calvary. It was for our transgressions He was pierced. Our iniquities crushed Him. We are the ones who slaughtered the Lamb of God.
The Mediating Blood (v. 34)
Once the penalty is paid, the evidence of that payment must be brought before God by the proper mediator.
"And 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 all the rest of its blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar." (Leviticus 4:34 LSB)
The sinner slaughters, but the priest handles the blood. This is a critical distinction. We are responsible for the death of the substitute, but we are utterly incapable of making that death effective for our forgiveness. We cannot mediate for ourselves. We need a priest, an authorized go-between, to represent us before God. The Levitical priest is a placeholder for our great High Priest, Jesus Christ. After offering Himself, He did not remain in the grave, but ascended into the true tabernacle in heaven, presenting His own blood as the basis for our eternal forgiveness (Hebrews 9:24).
The blood is applied to the horns of the altar. The horns symbolized the power and authority of the altar. This is where the judgment of God was focused. To place the blood on the horns was to meet the demands of God's justice at its very point of power. The blood satisfies the wrath of God. It is a shield that turns aside the condemnation we deserve. The rest of the blood is poured out at the base, signifying the total and complete life-for-a-life payment. The foundation of the altar, the very place of judgment, is now drenched in the blood of atonement. This is why the Scripture is so emphatic: "without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness" (Hebrews 9:22).
The Pleasing Aroma and the Final Verdict (v. 35)
The final actions at the altar bring the ritual to its glorious conclusion.
"Then he shall remove all its fat... and the priest shall offer them up in smoke on the altar, on the offerings by fire to Yahweh. Thus the priest shall make atonement for him in regard to his sin which he has committed, and he will be forgiven." (Leviticus 4:35 LSB)
The fat was always considered the richest, the best portion, and was reserved exclusively for God. By burning the fat on the altar, the sacrifice becomes an "offering by fire to Yahweh." This signifies that the transaction is not merely a negative removal of sin, but a positive act of worship that is a pleasing aroma to God. The death of Christ was not just a grim necessity; it was an act of perfect obedience and love that brought immense pleasure to the Father. Paul says that Christ "gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma" (Ephesians 5:2). The cross both satisfies God's justice and delights His heart.
And so the priest makes atonement. The Hebrew word is kipper, which means "to cover." The sin is covered by the blood of the substitute. When God looks upon the sinner, He no longer sees the sin, but rather the finished work of the sacrifice He Himself provided.
This leads to the most beautiful phrase in the chapter: "and he will be forgiven." This is not a "maybe." It is not a "we hope so." It is a declarative promise. It is an objective, legal verdict handed down from the courtroom of heaven. Because the substitute was perfect, because the sin was transferred, because the life was taken, because the blood was applied, because the offering was pleasing to God, the result is certain. Forgiveness is accomplished. The sinner who came to the tabernacle burdened with guilt and shame now walks away free. His account is clear. He is forgiven.
The Gospel According to Leviticus
This entire ritual is the gospel in miniature. It is a drama that teaches us the deepest truths of our salvation. We are the sinner, guilty and without excuse. The lamb without blemish is Christ, the perfect Son of God. The laying on of hands is our faith, by which we confess our sin and cling to Him as our only hope. The slaughter is the crucifixion, for which we are responsible.
The priest is Christ our mediator, who takes His own blood and pleads our case before the Father. The blood on the altar is the satisfaction of divine justice. The fragrant aroma is the pleasure the Father takes in the obedient sacrifice of His Son. And the final verdict, "he will be forgiven," is the glorious reality of justification by faith alone.
This bloody, ancient ritual is not irrelevant. It is the foundation of everything we believe. It reminds us that our forgiveness was not cheap. It was purchased with the precious blood of the Lamb of God. The question for each of us, then, is simple. Have you come to God on His terms? Have you abandoned all attempts to justify yourself? Have you laid your hand, by faith, on the head of Jesus Christ, confessing that He is your substitute? For it is only then that you can hear those glorious words spoken over you: Atonement has been made. You are forgiven.