Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Prayer Meeting Lesson Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/pm/pm20071128.htm
THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION
Leviticus: Fellowship With A Holy God
Part I: Acceptable Relationship With A Holy God, Leviticus 1:1-7:38
F. Clarifications Of The Offerings, Leviticus 6:8-7:38
3. Clarification Of The Sin Offering: The Need To Live Carefully To Avoid Sins Of Weakness
(Leviticus 6:24-30)
- Introduction
- Believers are often susceptible to performing specific kinds of sins due to human weakness, a reality Paul addressed in Galatians 6:1 where he urged stronger believers to help the weak.
- However, those easily overtaken with a fault have a responsibility to live vigilantly with regard to their realm of weakness; God expects us all to live carefully so as to avoid sin, Ephesians 5:14-15.
- This truth is illustrated in God's clarifications of the sin offering in Leviticus 6:24-30 as follows:
- Clarification Of The Sin Offering: The Need To Live Carefully To Avoid Sins Of Weakness.
- We learned in a past lesson that fellowship with God included the need for the believer to confess his sins of human weakness to God, or non rebellious sins that are done either unintentionally or out of a lack of self-control, cf. Leviticus 4:1-5:13; Bible Knowledge Commentary, Old Testament, p. 180.
- In further clarifying the handling of the sacrifice involved for this matter, Leviticus 6:24-30 reveals God pressed the priests to take meticulous care to avoid additional lapses in contamination that would only add to the initial trespass of human weakness that had produced the sacrifice itself:
- God wanted the priests to show care as to where they slew the sin offering: He wanted the sin offering for unintentional sins or sins of human weakness slain in the same place where the animal for the burnt offering was killed -- by the courtyard altar, Lev iticus 6:24-25. The great holiness of this sin offering sacrifice demanded it be associated with the coming cross of Christ, the only place where God's atonement for sin effectively covers man's sins, Acts 4:10-12.
- God wanted the priests to show care in how they ate the sin offering, Leviticus 6:26, 30 et al.:
- The priest that offered the sin offering was himself to eat the priestly share of the offering in the holy place of the courtyard of the tabernacle, Leviticus 6:26.
- However, if the sin offering was made for the serious trespass of a priest or the entire congregation where some of the sacrificial blood was taken into the tabernacle itself (cf. Leviticus 4:3-12, 13-21), no priest could eat of the priestly share; rather, all of it was to be burned upon the altar unto the Lord, Lev. 6:30. This revealed the dramatic effects of even unintentional sins of the congregation as a whole or of a spiritual leader, implying the need to try to avoid them!
- God wanted the priests to show meticulous care in every move they made with the sin offering carcass, taking precautions to emphasize the need to try to avoid circumstances that led to such sins, 6:27-28:
- If any object was even mistakenly touched by the sin offering carcass itself, that object would be affected by that encounter before God, and had to be handled accordingly, Leviticus 6:27a.
- For example, if any of the sin offering's blood happened to spatter on a piece of the priest's clothing in the process of his preparing the offering, it had to be washed in a holy place, Leviticus 6:27b. This would impress the priest to be careful in handling the sacrifice to save himself extra cleansing!
- Then, if the priest's share of the sin offering sacrifice was boiled in a clay pot, it had to be shattered never to be used again (Leviticus 6:28a); boiling it in a bronze pot required the pot to be scoured and rinsed in water before it could be used again, Leviticus 6:28b.
- Thus, God illustrated that His people were to live carefully, trying to avoid putting themselves into the position where they could be tempted with sins that readily entrapped them, cf. Ephesians 5:14-15 et al.!
Lesson: God's meticulous clarification of how the sin offering was to be handled reveal that THOUGH He UNDERSTANDS His people have WEAKNESSES for certain sins, He STILL EXPECTS them to use CARE in TRYING to AVOID CIRCUMSTANCES where they can be TEMPTED to FAIL in them!
Application: May we walk CAREFULLY, trying to AVOID having to FACE CIRCUMSTANCES where we are especially vulnerable to certain sins. In so doing, God will guide and bless us in the effort!