And if any one of the people of the land sin through inadvertence, that he do [somewhat against] any of the commandments of Jehovah [in things] which should not be done, and be guilty;
Leviticus 4 works down a ladder. It starts with the anointed priest, then the whole congregation, then a ruler. Last comes the ordinary Israelite, with no office and no standing. Two questions press on this last case. How can a man be guilty of a sin he never noticed? Does a cheaper animal mean a smaller pardon?
This man sins "unintentionally." He had no idea at the time. That does not make it harmless, because the measuring rod is not his awareness.
Suppose we have gone wrong as worshippers, and without knowing it we do one of the things God forbids. Here is sin, though we did not know it. The holiness of God is not limited by our conscience.
Some might read the provision for unintentional sin as God going easy. Commentators press the opposite reading.
As we saw in Leviticus 4, God neither ignored sins of ignorance nor passed them over lightly. He provided for them in the most solemn way possible. Scripture does not mention sins of ignorance or carelessness in a spirit of indulgence.
The verse states guilt first; the next verse brings the discovery. What happens when the sin comes to light?
He is guilty; the sin comes to his knowledge. And then God meets him at once with the offering. The moment he confesses and takes his place before God as a guilty one, there is the offering to meet him... The moment a person owns his guilt before God, he takes his true place as a repentant sinner who deserves hell. Whose company does he find himself in? The Saviour Himself.
A priest brought a bull; a ruler a male goat; here a female goat. Why does the offering shrink?
It is clear, then, that we find a graduated scale in these different instances. Why? Because of a most solemn principle. The gravity of sin depends on the position of the one who sins. ... How often man would shield the offence of a great person, if he could! The same man might be hard on the poor, friendless, and despised. Their life at least seems of no great account. It is not so with God, nor should it be in the minds and judgment of His saints. And God allows only one of the common people to bring a female lamb instead of a goat.
The smaller offering is not a smaller interest on God's side. The wording itself warms as the ladder goes down.
The LORD would have the lowliest soul among His people feel that He shared his concern about this sin. The man did it without knowing. Now that he knows, it troubles him... Even more striking is the comfort given to the poor Israelite in verse 31. There God assures him alone that the fat the priest burns on the altar is "for a pleasing aroma to the LORD."
For the priest and the whole congregation, the blood went into the holy place. For this man it goes only on the altar outside. One writer draws a lesson from that difference in reach.
The effect of individual sin could not extend beyond individual conscience. The sin of "a ruler," or of "one of the common people," could not reach "the altar of incense" — the place of priestly worship... We must never raise a question of personal sin or failure in the place of priestly worship, or in the assembly. We must settle it in the place of personal approach.
Commentators differ on what the smaller offering shows. One reads it as a mark of rank. Another sees a weaker grasp of grace. The outcome does not change.
For the least as for the greatest, atonement must be the same... On one side, we may learn what it costs to fall short in grasping God's grace. On the other, we learn that grace will still show itself as grace. God does not measure His acceptance of us, after all, by our grasp of it. He measures it by His own estimate of the value of the work of His beloved Son.
The chapter ends each case with the same promise: "he shall be forgiven." Older translations word it "it shall be forgiven him." That promise, not the offerer's feelings, settled the matter.
How did he know that the sin he brought his sacrifice for was forgiven? Because God had said, "it shall be forgiven him." His peace of heart about that sin rested on the testimony of the God of Israel, and on the blood of the victim... For him not to know his sin was forgiven would be to make God a liar. It would be to treat the blood of the sin offering God Himself appointed as nothing.
- Standard. God's holiness fixes guilt, not what your conscience happened to notice.
- Rank. The sliding scale of animals shows that position raises the gravity of sin. God will not shield the great or overlook the unknown.
- Care. The lowest offerer gets the warmest words. God calls the fat on his altar "a pleasing aroma," and lets him bring a lamb if a goat is beyond him.
- Place. Settle personal failure alone with God. Never carry it into the assembly's worship.
- Certainty. God sets the offering's worth, not the offerer. So "he shall be forgiven" is the ground of peace. To doubt it calls God a liar.
if his sin, which he hath sinned, come to his knowledge, then he shall bring his offering, a goat, a female without blemish, for his sin which he hath sinned.
The sin offering in Leviticus 4 works down through four cases: the anointed priest, the whole assembly, a ruler, and last the ordinary Israelite. This verse belongs to the lowest of them. Two things stand out. The offering waits until the sin is made known, and the animal must be a female goat.
One commentator hears tenderness in the repeated phrase "for his sin which he has committed."
The Lord wanted the lowliest soul among His people to feel that He shared his concern about his sin. The sin was done unknowingly, and it troubled him once he knew of it. So He would press this home when the man brought the unblemished female goat. Even then the stress falls on "for his sin which he sinned." The gracious effect of the offering is felt all the more when the sin is felt too.
The offering is for sin done without knowing it. So when does the guilt begin?
The Sin Offering was required for sins committed in ignorance against any of the commandments of the Lord. The offerer was held guilty, whether he knew of the sin or not. Indeed "a sin of ignorance" supposed no knowledge of the offence. An offering presented supposed later enlightenment.
Another writer notes that the first case in the chapter leaves this clause out, and draws a lesson from that. (Older translations read "if his sin come to his knowledge.")
When the high priest had sinned (Leviticus 4) it is not said, "If his sin … come to his knowledge," as in verses 14, 23, 28. In proportion to our nearness to God, so does the Holy Spirit, acting by the Word upon our conscience, make us aware of the least sin, without any need of human help to point it out to us.
One commentator compares this case with the ruler's.
The instructions were just the same as for a ruler, except that a female animal was required, and also that either a sheep or a goat was acceptable. The female was fitting for a subject, because the female speaks of an inward character, rather than an outward one, as in the case of a ruler. The goat is typical of Christ as Substitute, the lamb speaking of His lowly submission in sacrifice.
Another writer puts it in the first person, and ties it to restoration.
A female offering presents the work of Christ manward; "Christ died for me" we can say. It is my sin, my relief, my peace and my restoration, that is in view. God wants us to be consciously free from that sin and to know that Christ has died to cleanse us and to restore us.
Other offerings in Leviticus scale down to fit the offerer's poverty. This one does not.
There is no suggestion that the man may not have an offering. In other offerings it does suggest that he may not have a bullock, so he can bring a sheep. It also suggests he may not have a sheep, so he can bring a goat. If he has no goat, he can bring a bird. Even if he cannot bring a bird, he can bring a handful of fine flour. It is as though God would say: there is no excuse whatsoever, there is always something there to bring, the offering is always available. But here, in the sin offering for a common man, there is to be only one possible offering.
Is the ordinary Israelite being offered something cheaper? He is not.
Little needs to be added about the sin of "one of the people of the land." We need only note that the offerer brings a female goat or sheep, which shows a weaker grasp of Christ than the ruler has. But let no one think this means his sin is more easily atoned for. Nothing less than the full value of the death of Christ could atone for it.
One writer weighs what a small grasp of grace costs, and what it does not.
For the least as for the greatest, atonement must be the same… On the one hand we may realise the consequence of falling short in grasping divine grace. On the other we learn that that grace will still show itself as grace. God's actual acceptance of us is not measured, after all, by our grasp of it, but by His own estimate of the value of the work of His beloved Son.
- Guilt — the sin was real while it was still unknown. The verse starts where knowledge starts, not where guilt starts.
- Knowledge — the nearer we walk with God, the sooner we see it. The Spirit uses the Word to show even a small sin, with no one else to point it out.
- Substitute — the goat speaks of Christ taking the offender's place. The female turns it inward, so the offerer can say, "Christ died for me."
- No discount — this case allows only one offering. A weaker grasp of Christ never buys a cheaper atonement.
- Acceptance — God measures us by His own estimate of His Son's work. The lowliest Israelite stands on the same ground as the high priest.