The 2 Types of Sin Offerings

After a two-part introduction on why we should study the offertory system (1, 2), I now want to kick off the series with a basic overview of the structure of the system and the primary purpose of each offering. The details of how to perform the 5 main offerings are presented in Leviticus 1-7, and this forms the core of the system. In this post and the next, I will give the main distinctive qualities of each offering and suggest both their Old and New Covenant significance. Also, I would like to present them in a different order than they appear in Leviticus, beginning with the sin offerings.

Offerings for Sin

The single biggest distinction in the different types of offerings is that 3 of them - the burnt, grain, and peace offerings - have nothing to do with sin! Only 2 of them - the sin offering and the guilt offering - deal with forgiveness. For this reason, those 3 are all described as "a sweet aroma to the LORD." Although it is God's great pleasure to extend mercy and grace to us when we have sinned and ask forgiveness, it is a sweet aroma to Him when we come before Him blameless to offer praise and worship. That is why, in order for one or more of these 3 sweet-aroma offerings to be given, one of the 2 types of sin offering was always made first: so that the offerer of the sweet aroma would come before God blameless, having been forgiven because of the sin offering, and the worship or praise would then be acceptable to God.

#1 - The Sin Offering

The sin offering, described in Leviticus 4, required the death of an animal in every possible variation allowed. This establishes a fundamental concept: the forgiveness of sins requires the loss of life through the shedding of blood. Even from the time of Adam and Eve, God established that the result of sin was death (Genesis 2:16-17), but nowhere in the bible up to this point is the idea of forgiveness for sin mentioned! 

You shall not eat the blood of any flesh, for the life of all flesh is its blood. Whoever eats it shall be cut off. (Leviticus 17:14) 

Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. (Hebrews 9:22)

The sin offering was God's revealed wisdom, showing firstly that sin COULD be forgiven, but that this forgiveness required that the penalty of death be paid in place of the sinner. God designed the sin offering with the divine knowledge that the only way to reconcile mankind was by shedding the blood of His Son in the flesh. In the New Covenant, Jesus Christ is the only sin offering, being offered once for the sins of all, and His sacrifice is applied to our particular sins whenever we repent before God.

#2 - The Guilt/Trespass Offering

The guilt or trespass offering is found in Leviticus 5:14-6:7. It also allowed for the forgiveness of sins, but was specifically offered when there was an opportunity to restore what the sinner had fallen short in. Therefore, it's primary focus is not on forgiveness of sin - though it accomplished that feat - but instead it emphasizes repaying what was damaged because of sin. The guilt offering is divided into transgression against God - such as if someone had failed to tithe properly - and transgression against man - such as if someone stole something. It required that, in addition to the offering itself, the person also had to repay the value of what was stolen or neglected and add a fifth to that value. 

In the New Covenant, the spirit of this commandment is for us to devote ourselves to serving God in greater measure than we have previously devoted ourselves to serving sin. This is not to earn forgiveness: the death of the animal, typifying Christ, brings forgiveness. But the offerer also paid the price of what was stolen/neglected with a fifth added, and this represents us fulfilling our duty to God because it is what we owe Him. 

The Sin Offerings Prepare us to Offer Sweet Aromas to God!

Paul says in Romans 8:8, "those who are in the flesh cannot please God." Just as the sweet-aroma offerings were never presented until the sin offerings had been made first, so also no one's righteous works can be accepted by God today until they have been reconciled by the perfect Sin Offering of Jesus Christ! And further still, if we do not go on to live with the mindset of making restitution to God - living more zealously for Him in the Spirit than we have for sin in the flesh - then we will fall short of our duty before God and we will not be acceptable to Him.

The beautiful truth is that forgiveness of sin is not the end of the offertory system, but merely the beginning! In the next installment, I'll provide similar overviews of the 3 sweet-aroma offerings.