5
📚“And if a person who is a witness sins, when he hears he is sworn in to testify about something he has either seen or known, by not telling it, then he shall bear his guilt.2 📚“Or if a person touches any unclean thing, whether it is the carcass of an unclean animal, or the carcass of unclean livestock, or the carcass of an unclean creeping thing, even though he is unaware of it, he also shall be unclean 📖, and guilty.
3 📚“Or if he touches the uncleanness of man, whatever uncleanness it may be that defiles a man, and he is unaware of it, when he knows of it, then he shall be guilty.
4 📚“Or if a person swears thoughtlessly with his lips to do evil or to do good, if he is unaware of whatever it is that he has thoughtlessly sworn, when he comes to know of it, then he shall be guilty in either case.
5:1-4 It seems that the sins indicated here could be either intentional or not. Both kinds of sin need atonement (Lev 4:1-2).🪶
5 📚“And it shall be, when he is guilty in one of these things, that he shall confess that he has sinned in that matter, 6 📚and he shall bring his trespass offering to the LORD for his sin which he has committed, a female from the flock, a lamb or a young goat, for a sin offering; and the priest shall make atonement for him for his sin.
5:6 Note on atonement at Ex 29:33.🪶
7 📚“And if he is not able to bring a lamb, then he shall bring to the LORD his trespass offering for his sin which he has committed, two doves or two young pigeons, one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering. 8 📚And he shall bring them to the priest, who shall first offer what is for the sin offering, and wring off its head from its neck, but shall not sever it completely, 9 📚and he shall sprinkle some of the blood of the sin offering on the side of the altar, and the rest of the blood shall be drained out at the bottom of the altar. It is a sin offering. 10 📚And he shall offer the second one as a burnt offering, according to the regulation. Thus the priest shall make atonement for him for his sin which he has committed, and it will be forgiven him.
11 📚“But if he is not able to bring two doves or two young pigeons, then the one who sinned shall bring for his offering a tenth of an ephah of fine flour as a sin offering. He shall put no oil on it, nor shall he put any frankincense on it, for it is a sin offering. 12 📚Then he shall bring it to the priest, and the priest shall take his handful of it, its memorial, and burn it on the altar, on the offerings made by fire to the LORD. It is a sin offering. 13 📚Thus the priest shall make atonement for him for his sin that he has committed in one of those matters, and it will be forgiven him. And the rest of the offering shall belong to the priest, like the grain offering”.
5:11-13 Some were perhaps so poor that they could not buy even two doves. Only in such an extreme case would a sin offering without blood be permitted. But the flour was to be burned on the altar on top of the offerings that had been blood sacrifices. It mingled with them and so could be regarded as making atonement (see Lev 17:11; Heb 9:22). Notice that no oil or incense was to be put on it. This was because it signified Christ in the place of sinners. The sin and trespass offerings were not offerings with a pleasing aroma (Lev 1:9). The sinner does not have the Holy Spirit, and to God there is no fragrance in his life. Remember that in the sin and guilt offerings Christ is the sinner’s substitute. “Tenth of an ephah” (v 11) – probably about 2 liters.🪶
Trespass offering
14 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 15 📚“If a person acts unfaithfully and sins, through ignorance, in regard to the holy things of the LORD, then he shall bring his trespass offering to the LORD, a ram without blemish from the flocks, its value set by you in silver shekels according to the sanctuary shekel 📖, for a trespass offering, 16 📚and he shall make restitution for what he failed to do in regard to the holy things, and shall add a fifth part to it, and give it to the priest. And the priest shall make atonement for him with the ram of the trespass offering, and it will be forgiven him.
5:15-16 Here the holy things of the Lord may mean tithes, offerings and first fruits. See Lev 22:14-16. God demands restitution when it was possible for it to be made. See also Lev 6:4-6. In these verses we have the first mention of the guilt offering. It could be translated “trespass offering”. The guilt offering and sin offering were very similar and there was one law for both (Lev 7:7). The difference between them was that the guilt offering was for those offenses that required restitution, the sin offering was for other types of sin. This suggests that the guilt offering had to do with the outward results of sin and the sin offering had to do with sin itself. Christ fulfilled what both these offerings signify. He died in the place of sinners, was made sin for us. He also died for our sins, and for the results of our sins.🪶
17 📚“And if a person sins by doing any of these things which the LORD has commanded not to be done, even though he is unaware of it, he is still guilty, and shall bear his guilt. 18 📚And he shall bring to the priest a ram from the flock, one without blemish, its value set by you, for a trespass offering. And the priest shall make atonement for him for his error done in ignorance while he was unaware of it, and it will be forgiven him. 19 📚It is a trespass offering. He was certainly guilty against the LORD”.
5:17-19 Every one of us has sinned against God, at times without knowing it. Sin done unknowingly is still sin and we are responsible for it and it requires atonement. Thank God, Christ died for all our sins, known and unknown.🪶