A sin offering in the Bible was a sacrifice made to atone for unintentional sins committed by individuals or the community as a whole. It was one of several types of sacrifices prescribed by God in the Old Testament law to deal with different kinds of sins and impurities.
The purpose of the sin offering was to purify people and objects from defilement associated with sin. By sacrificing an animal as a substitute, the sinner symbolically transferred their guilt onto the animal, which was then killed. The blood of the animal was sprinkled or smeared on the altar to make atonement before God.
There were different regulations for sin offerings depending on whether the sin was committed by a priest, the community, a ruler, or a common person. The type of animal sacrificed also varied based on the status of the sinner. For the common people, female goats or lambs were most often used. For the high priest or community as a whole, a bull calf would be sacrificed.
The sin offering ritual is first instituted in Leviticus 4-5, with additional regulations spelled out in other parts of Leviticus and Numbers. According to Leviticus 4:2, the sin offering applies when someone sins unintentionally “against any of the commandments of the Lord.” This distinguishes it from sacrifices for intentional, defiant sins.
Some examples of sins requiring a sin offering include:
– Touching something unclean (Lev 5:2)
– Deceiving one’s neighbor (Lev 6:2)
– Discovering one has made a rash vow (Lev 5:4)
– Failing to testify after being a witness (Lev 5:1)
– Committing theft through deceit (Lev 6:2-3)
So the sin offering covered a fairly broad range of transgressions against God’s law, but was limited to sins committed in ignorance, error or negligence, rather than deliberately. This points to the need for atonement even for sins not committed intentionally.
The steps of the ritual for an individual’s sin offering were:
1. The sinner brought the animal to the entrance of the tent of meeting (Lev 4:3-4). For community offerings, the elders laid hands on the animal to represent the whole congregation (Lev 4:13-15).
2. The sinner laid hands on the animal and confessed the sin over it, identifying with the animal as their substitute (Lev 4:4, 15, 24, 29).
3. The animal was slaughtered (Lev 4:4).
4. For common person or ruler’s offering, the priest dipped his finger in blood and put it on the altar horns, then poured the rest at the altar base (Lev 4:25, 30, 34).
5. For high priest or community offering, blood was sprinkled 7 times in front of the veil and put on the altar horns (Lev 4:5-7, 17).
6. Fat portions of the animal were burned on the altar (Lev 4:8-10, 19, 26, 31).
7. Remainder of the animal was taken away from the camp/sanctuary and burned (Lev 4:11-12, 21). The ashes were disposed of in a ceremonially clean place.
8. The priest made atonement for the person’s sin and they were forgiven (Lev 4:20, 26, 31, 35).
There were some unique regulations for the sin offering when the high priest or whole Israelite community sinned. The blood had to be brought inside the Holy Place and sprinkled 7 times in front of the veil and smeared on the incense altar horns (Lev 4:6, 17). This signified that the sin affected the priest’s ministry before God in the tabernacle and required atonement to purge the sanctuary.
The burning of the animal outside the camp symbolized the removal of impurity and sins from God’s dwelling place. It graphically illustrated the costly nature of atonement. The sinner deserved to be cut off, but instead the animal bore the punishment of death in their place.
The sin offering applied not just to moral faults, but to ritual impurities connected with the tabernacle that could bar people from worship. For instance, a woman who gave birth had to offer a sin offering after her period of purification (Lev 12:6-8). The high priest offered a bull calf as a sin offering whenever he entered the Most Holy Place on the annual Day of Atonement (Lev 16:3, 6, 11). Even consecrating the altar at the tabernacle required offerings for purification from sin (Lev 8:14-17).
All of these cases point to the seriousness of sin barring access to God’s presence. The offerings provided symbolic cleansing from sin’s corruption and pollution. Of course, the sacrifices could not provide complete cleansing from sin (Heb 10:4). They pointed forward to the ultimate, perfect sacrifice of Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (Heb 10:1-14; Jn 1:29).
When we survey the regulations for the Old Testament sin offering, several truths stand out:
1. God is holy and cannot dwell with sinful humanity on our own merits. We need atonement and purification from sins in order to approach Him.
2. Even sins committed unintentionally have serious consequences and require sacrifice for atonement. We can’t just say “oops” and move on.
3. Substitutionary sacrifice is necessary, with the life and blood of an animal standing in for the life of the sinner. This points to Christ’s substitutionary death for us.
4. Our sins, like the remainder of the animal, must be removed from God’s presence and “burned outside the camp.” Again, this foreshadows Christ taking our sins upon Himself on the cross outside Jerusalem’s walls.
5. God takes sins seriously, yet provides a means of atonement, forgiveness and cleansing. No matter how grievous the sin, God stands ready to forgive the humble, repentant sinner who presents the required offering.
In summary, the Old Testament sin offering ritual provided temporary cleansing from defilement through the blood of an animal substitute. It foreshadowed the once-for-all sacrifice of Christ that fully atoned for sins and made eternal purification possible for all who put their faith in Him (Heb 9:11-14). Though we no longer follow the ritual regulations, they paint a vivid picture of the seriousness of sin, need for sacrifice and God’s abundant grace in providing atonement.