Christ's Sin Offering Makes Us All Priests

The Sin Offering

Leviticus 6:24-30:

²⁴ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁵ “Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying, ‘This is the law of the sin offering: in the place where the burnt offering is slain the sin offering shall be slain before the Lord; it is most holy. ²⁶ The priest who offers it for sin shall eat it. It shall be eaten in a holy place, in the court of the tent of meeting. ²⁷ Anyone who touches its flesh will become consecrated; and when any of its blood splashes on a garment, in a holy place you shall wash what was splashed on. ²⁸ Also, the earthenware vessel in which it was boiled shall be broken; and if it was boiled in a bronze vessel, then it shall be scoured and rinsed in water. ²⁹ Every male among the priests may eat of it; it is most holy. ³⁰ But no sin offering of which any of the blood is brought into the tent of meeting to make atonement in the holy place shall be eaten; it shall be burned with fire.

Thoughts on the Passage

Today this first verse was another reminder to me that God does speak to His people. He did it in Moses’ time and I believe He does it today. While He still speaks, it is us that are too busy or to unconnected with Him to listen. I have found that when I do sense God speaking, and I am otherwise occupied either physically or mentally, I will not get the message, and worse still, I will not obey. Later, I find myself saying, “God doesn’t speak to me.” At other times, when I sense God speaking, and I am sitting quietly at my desk or in my easy chair, with no other distractions, I hear His words. And if I make a point of obeying them (my choice) or not obeying them (my loss), I find myself saying more often, “Yes, God does speak to me.”

As I read this passage with all its detailed instructions of how the Sin Offering was to be observed, especially by the priests, I wondered, “God, what is in this passage for me, besides the thought you gave me above?”  Well, thank God for commentators who can help us out with that question.  Matthew Henry answered my question in this manner:

“. . . the apostle [the majority of scholars consider it to be Paul] infers the advantage we have under the gospel above what they had under the law; for though the blood of Christ was brought into the tabernacle, to reconcile within the holy place, yet we have a right by faith to eat of the altar (Heb. 13:10-12), and so to take the comfort of the great propitiation.” Amen.

Jesus Christ was our Sin Offering once and for all (Hebrews 10:14) – so now, by faith, we can partake and eat at the altar of His sacrifice, whereas in the time of the Israelites, only the priests could partake of the meat of the killed animal. But now we are all conciliated unto God and are all priests because of His Sacrifice.

It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.