Leviticus 6:7
In this way the priest will make atonement for them before the Lord, and they will be forgiven for any of the things they did that made them guilty. (NIV)
Today’s Reading: Leviticus 5:14-6:7
As I’m reading today’s passage, I am seeing a lot of similarities in all of these offerings. Quite honestly, I’m having a hard time telling them apart. So let’s learn about the Guilt Offering today but also see if we can distinguish it from the other offerings.
The Guilt Offering will be the fifth offering God gives to Moses in the book of Leviticus. The five offerings are as follows:
- burnt offering
- grain offering
- peace offering
- sin offering
- guilt offering
Three of these offerings (burnt, sin and guilt) all relate to sin and the effects of that sin. We’ve seen how Jesus fulfills these three types of sin-related sacrifices that reveals the different facets of Christ’s redemptive work on our behalf. Let’s review.
The Burnt Offering involves the animal sacrifice being entirely burned on the Brazen Altar. The priests would offer this sacrifice twice a day so that the sweet smelling aroma would ascend to God at all times. The main purpose of this sacrifice was to reconcile the people to God. Jesus is the Burnt Offering as Paul tells us, “Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God” (Eph 5:2). This offering restores our relationship with God.
The Sin Offering also involves the animal sacrifice being burned on the Brazen Altar but not entirely. Most of the animal was taken outside the camp and burned there. The unique aspect of this sacrifice is that the sacrificial blood was used to cleanse the tabernacle and some of the objects inside. The priest would sprinkle the veil that separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies seven times, and he would also put blood on the horns of the altar of incense.
The focus of the Sin Offering was to cleanse. The symbology in this offering is that our sin pollutes God’s temple and it needs to be cleansed. In other words, our sin doesn’t just stain us but it stains the church too. Jesus is also the Sin Offering as we are told, “Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood” (Eph 13:12). Jesus cleanses us through his blood just like the animal blood cleansed the temple.
So we now get to the Guilt Offering where again we see an animal sacrifice is required. The emphasis of this offering is on the payment. When a wrong has been committed, a payment is required. The sacrifice was brought to make restitution for the sin. We not only needed forgiveness but we need to make things right. We need to pay for our wrongdoing.
Jesus is also our Guilt Offering as we are told by the prophet Isaiah, “Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him;
he has put him to grief;
when his soul makes an offering for guilt,
he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days” (Isa 53:10, ESV).
So if we bring all these together, these three offerings show us the completeness of Jesus’ sacrifice for us on the cross. Because we are sinners, his sacrifice reconciled us with God, cleansed us and paid the debt that we owed to God. Jesus has brought us peace and now we can offer a sacrifice of praise.
Christ in the Old Testament 
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