Translated From the French. In the books of Leviticus and Numbers we find three aspects of the sin-offering-the great day of atonement (Lev. 16); the sin and the trespass-offerings (Lev. 4:55And the priest that is anointed shall take of the bullock's blood, and bring it to the tabernacle of the congregation: (Leviticus 4:5)); and, lastly, the sacrifice of the red heifer. (Num. 19) Before turning our attention to the last, which is indeed the subject of these pages, let us glance rapidly at the two other kinds of sin-offering.
The Great Day of Atonement Leviticus 16
EV 16God had redeemed Israel at the Passover and the crossing of the Red Sea, sheltering them from judgment, and delivering them from the bondage of Egypt, in order to bring them at last into the land of promise. From the moment they entered the wilderness, the Israelites were the people of God in virtue of redemption; thenceforth God could dwell in their midst. But, in point of fact, Israel was a people in the flesh, defiled by sin, and so the tabernacle of God remained "among them in the midst of their uncleanness." (Lev. 16:1616And he shall make an atonement for the holy place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions in all their sins: and so shall he do for the tabernacle of the congregation, that remaineth among them in the midst of their uncleanness. (Leviticus 16:16)) This is what a holy and righteous God could not tolerate; for He would have denied His own character, and proclaimed that sin did not sunder every relationship between man and Him. Hence God must find a way of receiving Israel before Him, which would maintain His character and not derogate from His glory; a means of purifying the sanctuary, His abode, from the uncleanness contracted from the presence of a defiled people; a means too of assuring to His people the happy certainty that for God the question of sin was settled by removing from the conscience of every Israelite all trace of past guilt before Him. God provided this way for Israel by means of the offerings of the day of atonement.
The first and most important of the four acts which characterized this day was the high priest's entrance into the most holy place with the blood of the bullock for himself, and of the goat of the sin-offering for the people. This blood, placed upon and before the mercy-seat, proclaimed the worth of the offering for the reconciliation of the people to God, and the perfection of its results in permitting Israel to draw nigh to God. The purification of the holy place prefigured the reconciliation of all things (see Col. 1:19,2019For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell; 20And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. (Colossians 1:19‑20)) -the purification of the whole creation defiled by sin, but which, in virtue of the work of Christ, will one day be put in complete harmony with God's character, so that God can dwell among men. (See Rev. 21:33And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. (Revelation 21:3). Compare John 1:2929The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. (John 1:29)) The high priest's coming out from the holy place made known to the people the fact that the work had been accepted, and the question of sin settled between Israel's representative and God; indeed, the iniquities of the people confessed over the head of the scapegoat were borne away into a land not inhabited, and were never to be found again; so that the consciences of the children of Israel were cleansed and delivered from the weight which had hitherto bowed them down in affliction of soul before God.
But the law made nothing perfect. As to the real efficacy of this great day, we know that the blood of bulls and of goats can never take away sins; propitiation, had it been efficacious, would have been so only for a year. Moreover, all that took place on that day testified that the way into the holiest was not open, that the veil was there, and that sinful man was banished from the holy place where God dwells.
Now all that Israel did not know, and of which they could only catch a glimpse in the future through a veil, is at the present time possessed by Christians in perfection. It is the great truth which the epistle to the Hebrews teaches. The offering of the blood of Christ, which is of eternal efficacy, will never be repeated. Christ, the High Priest, is entered, not into the holy places made with hands, but into heaven itself, and has sat down at the right hand of God. The veil is rent, the way is forever open, and the worshipper can go into the holy place with boldness, having no more conscience of sins. The end of Heb. 9* corresponds with the four acts of this solemn day.
(* The whole of this epistle, with the exception of a few details, treats of the offerings of the great day of atonement-a circumstance calculated to bring to light the immense importance for us of this day considered as a type.)
There we find, first, that as the high priest went into the holy place with blood, so Christ, after having offered Himself without spot to God, is gone into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us (v. 24); secondly, that once in the end of the world hath He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself (v. 26)-a putting away which corresponds with the purification of the sanctuary; thirdly, that, as the scapegoat, so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many (v. 28); fourthly, that, like the high priest coming out of the tabernacle, He will appear the second time without sin unto salvation to those that look for Him. (v. 28)
The type then of the great day of atonement has been fully fulfilled in Christ. If as yet we do not see sin put away, we know that the work is accomplished which is the foundation of it. If our High Priest be still hidden in the holy place, we have nevertheless the positive certainty, by the Spirit sent down from heaven, that our relationships with God are definitely and unchangeably established; and we do not need, like Israel, to await the coming out of the High Priest to learn this. And yet, better than Israel could, we await Him without sin unto salvation. In short, if our sins are put away from before God, they are so also from our consciences, and they are carried into a land not inhabited, where even the eye of God will never find them again.
The Sin-Offering Leviticus 4
EV 4In this chapter we have quite a different case to that of the great day of atonement. Here the question is, not how God can dwell in the midst of His people, or rather upon what basis He can establish and keep His relationships with them, but upon what terms either people or individuals can draw nigh to God when communion has been broken by some specific sin. What in fact is striking at the outset in this chapter (as also in the case of the red heifer) is, that the point is not to establish relationships with a God who is still just while justifying the believer, but that it is a question of restoration for each sin which has spoiled the enjoyment of these relationships. This is the reason why the sin-offering follows the peace-offering of chapter 3.
The latter was the type of the believer's communion with God about the sacrifice of Christ. If this communion had been broken by sin, how could it be restored? Chapter 4 gives us the answer.
Before proceeding further, let us remark how little we really know of fellowship with God. It may be defined in few words-having but one mind and one heart with God. About what? do you say? About everything-sin, the world, ourselves-but, above all, about the work and person of Christ. And when we do know something of this communion, how little do we enjoy it, for it is broken by the smallest sin that we commit, even in thought.
The only sins dealt with in Lev. 4 are sins of ignorance-sins which would have been ignored by the people or individuals, had there not been someone intelligent enough to make them known to them.
To argue about ignorance and a state of inability to be aware of a trespass was useless, for ignorance was already a fruit of sin.
It was precisely such trespasses which served to show how abominable sin is in the sight of God. For these sins there must be sacrifice, for they had robbed the Israelite of all possibility of approach to God, either before the veil for worship (chapter 4:6, 17), or at the altar of incense for communion (chapter 4:7, 18), or even at the altar of burnt-offering (chapter 4:25, 34), where the worshipper was individually received before God, according to the perfection of the sacrifice. This being the case, the sinner through ignorance brought a victim who must be identified with him. In certain cases the priest ate the victim, appropriating the sin, so to speak, and removing it from the guilty. The blood of the victim, sprinkled at the very place where the one who had sinned must draw nigh to God, resembled provision made beforehand to permit of his resuming his place. The victim burned outside the camp answered to the righteousness of God acting in judgment; and finally, the fat consumed on the altar showed the full satisfaction which the heart of God found in the sacrifice. Upon every fresh sin of ignorance (or trespass) the offering must be repeated and the victim's blood shed, in order to re-open the way to God and to allow the sinner to draw near. But for a Christian there is nothing of the kind. If he have sinned, he does not come to the blood of Christ to be re-washed, he does not need to await a further shedding of blood to enable him to draw nigh; for the work accomplished on the cross, and which laid the foundation of his reconciliation, has at the same time established once and forever the basis of his communion. He learns that, if he have sinned, Christ is -not will be, the propitiation for his sins; and that if he have been in need of an Advocate with the Father, he may find this Advocate in the person of Jesus Christ, who is the propitiation for his sins. Thus he can approach with boldness. The perfectness of the sprinkling-sevenfold sprinkling -is before God (v. 17) long before the believer is restored. That which this type prefigures is contained in these words: "If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: and He is the propitiation for our sins." (1 John 2:1,21My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: 2And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. (1 John 2:1‑2))
In the application to the Christian of the two preceding types, we have noticed, in the first, reconciliation accomplished and relationship with God established once for all. In the second, the means of restoration-the basis of communion being laid once for all in the blood which admits of the sinner's approach to God. But these types by no means include all that is necessary for the restoration of a soul out of communion. There must be, before it is regained, deep exercise of conscience, with which Num. 19 will occupy us in detail. (To be completed, D.V. in our next number)
H. R.