Leviticus 4:13 ¶ And if the
whole congregation of Israel sin through ignorance, and the thing be hid from
the eyes of the assembly, and they have done somewhat against any of the
commandments of the LORD concerning things which should not be done, and
are guilty; 14 When the sin, which they
have sinned against it, is known, then the congregation shall offer a young
bullock for the sin, and bring him before the tabernacle of the congregation.
15 And the elders of the
congregation shall lay their hands upon the head of the bullock before the
LORD: and the bullock shall be killed before the LORD. 16 And the priest that is anointed shall bring
of the bullock’s blood to the tabernacle of the congregation: 17 And the priest shall dip his finger in
some of the blood, and sprinkle it seven times before the LORD, even
before the vail. 18 And he shall put some
of the blood upon the horns of the
altar which is before the LORD, that is in the
tabernacle of the congregation, and shall pour out all the blood at the bottom
of the altar of the burnt offering, which is at the door of the
tabernacle of the congregation. 19 And
he shall take all his fat from him, and burn it upon the altar. 20 And he shall do with the bullock as he did
with the bullock for a sin offering, so shall he do with this: and the priest
shall make an atonement for them, and it
shall be forgiven them. 21
And he shall carry forth the bullock without the camp, and burn him as
he burned the first bullock: it is a sin offering for the congregation.
Not only the rulers but the people themselves had a sacrifice that
could have been offered for their sin out of ignorance. We must always remember
that in God’s view there is no remission of sins without the shedding of blood
which in Christ’s case was God’s own blood.
Matthew 26:28 For this is
my blood of the new testament,
which is shed for many for the remission
of sins.
Romans 3:25 Whom God hath
set forth to be a propitiation
through faith in his blood, to
declare his righteousness for the remission
of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;
Hebrews 9:22 And almost
all things are by the law purged with blood;
and without shedding of blood is
no remission.
After Christ there was no need to sacrifice animals so I am just
pointing out the fact that there was a way back for not only the people but the
rulers, a way to be reconciled to God even after killing His Son. Remember
Peter denied Christ three times and there are many admonitions in the New
Testament about denying our Lord but Peter found forgiveness with bitter tears
and repentance.
Matthew 10:32 Whosoever
therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father
which is in heaven. 33 But whosoever
shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in
heaven.
Luke 22:61 And the Lord turned,
and looked upon Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had
said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. 62 And Peter went out, and wept bitterly.
Leviticus 4:22 ¶ When a
ruler hath sinned, and done somewhat through ignorance against
any of the commandments of the LORD his God concerning things which
should not be done, and is guilty; 23 Or
if his sin, wherein he hath sinned, come to his knowledge; he shall bring his
offering, a kid of the goats, a male without blemish: 24 And he shall lay his hand upon the head of
the goat, and kill it in the place where they kill the burnt offering before
the LORD: it is a sin offering. 25
And the priest shall take of the blood of the sin offering with his
finger, and put it upon the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and
shall pour out his blood at the bottom of the altar of burnt offering. 26 And he shall burn all his fat upon the altar,
as the fat of the sacrifice of peace offerings: and the priest shall make an
atonement for him as concerning his sin, and it shall be forgiven him.
Leviticus 4:27 ¶ And if any
one of the common people sin through ignorance, while he doeth somewhat
against any of the commandments of the LORD concerning things which
ought not to be done, and be guilty; 28
Or if his sin, which he hath sinned, come to his knowledge: then he
shall bring his offering, a kid of the goats, a female without blemish, for his
sin which he hath sinned. 29 And he
shall lay his hand upon the head of the sin offering, and slay the sin offering
in the place of the burnt offering. 30
And the priest shall take of the blood thereof with his finger, and put it
upon the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and shall pour out all the blood
thereof at the bottom of the altar. 31
And he shall take away all the fat thereof, as the fat is taken away
from off the sacrifice of peace offerings; and the priest shall burn it
upon the altar for a sweet savour unto the LORD; and the priest shall make an
atonement for him, and it shall be forgiven him. 32 And if he bring a lamb for a sin offering, he
shall bring it a female without blemish. 33
And he shall lay his hand upon the head of the sin offering, and slay it
for a sin offering in the place where they kill the burnt offering. 34 And the priest shall take of the blood of the
sin offering with his finger, and put it upon the horns of the altar of
burnt offering, and shall pour out all the blood thereof at the bottom of the
altar: 35 And he shall take away all the
fat thereof, as the fat of the lamb is taken away from the sacrifice of the
peace offerings; and the priest shall burn them upon the altar, according to
the offerings made by fire unto the LORD: and the priest shall make an
atonement for his sin that he hath committed, and it shall be forgiven him.
We have instructions here for individual sins out of ignorance,
for the congregation, and for the rulers. There is no distinction in our
offerings of prayer and service based on our social status in the church for
responsibility and blessings are distributed equally among male and female,
rich and poor, Jew and Gentile.
Galatians 3:28 There is
neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male
nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.
We can
all come before the throne of God.
Hebrews 4:16 Let us
therefore come boldly unto the throne
of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
We all need to confess to God our secret sins, our sins from
ignorance, and our outright acts of rebellion. You might ask how do we sin out
of ignorance? Paul sinned out of ignorance in his not believing in Christ but
his later faith in Christ was answered by salvation from God.
1Timothy 1:12 ¶ And I thank
Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful,
putting me into the ministry; 13 Who was
before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy,
because I did it ignorantly in
unbelief.n14 And the grace of our Lord
was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. 15 This is
a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into
the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. 16 Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that
in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to
them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting. 17 Now unto the King eternal, immortal,
invisible, the only wise God, be
honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.
To know better and do wrong anyway or to not know better and do
wrong out of ignorance are covered by Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross once and
for all. These passages in Leviticus show that man is accountable for his sin
whether he understands what he did or whether he does not understand or even
believe. Christ made it clear that both sinners are held accountable regardless
with the one knowing better suffering the worst.
Acts 12:47 And that
servant, which knew his lord’s will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with
many stripes. 48 But he that knew not, and did commit things
worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much
required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.
Christ’s
sacrifice on the Cross, though, is sufficient for all sins.
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