CHAPTER 5

(1490 B.C.)

THE TRESPASS OFFERING

¹And if a soul sin, and hear the voice of swearing, and is a witness, whether he has seen or known of it; if he do not utter it, then he shall bear his iniquity (the Trespass Offering was provided to atone for trespass against God, and trespass against man; in trespass against God, Sacrifice came first and restitution afterwards; in trespass against man, this order was reversed).

²Or if a soul touch any unclean thing, whether it be a carcase of an unclean beast, or a carcase of unclean cattle, or the carcase of unclean creeping things, and if it be hidden from him; he also shall be unclean, and guilty (the carcass insinuates death; death is caused by original sin; so, if a dead animal or dead human being was touched, the person doing so was rendered unclean, and had to go through a particular ceremony to once again be clean; these are constant reminders in the old Law of sin and its effect).

³Or if he touch the uncleanness of man, whatsoever uncleanness it be that a man shall be defiled withal, and it be hid from him; when he knows of it, then he shall be guilty (pertains to touching a leper or a dead body).

⁴Or if a soul swear, pronouncing with his lips to do evil, or to do good, whatsoever it be that a man shall pronounce with an oath, and it be hid from him; when he knows of it, then he shall be guilty in one of these (we should learn from all this that there are no little sins in the eyes of God; there is not a Christian on Earth, however eminent, who does not, every day he lives, accumulate guilt enough to ruin him forever, were it not that he has An Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous [I Jn. 2:1-2]).

⁵And it shall be, when he shall be guilty in one of these things, that he shall confess that he has sinned in that thing (Seiss says: With all his efforts, prayers, joys, and consecration, the best Christian is still very faulty. He goes on to say: Christ has taught us to pray daily, Forgive us our trespasses; but why continue praying for forgiveness, if we have not continual trespasses to be forgiven? I know and preach that the Blood of Jesus Christ cleanses from all sin. That is a precious Truth to me. But did He not continue a Priest forever, daily presenting His Atoning Blood anew on our behalf, we should most certainly come into condemnation. It is only because He continues ever, that He is able to save them to the uttermost who come unto God by Him, seeing He ever lives to make intercession for them. If He did not ever live to make intercession for us, we could not stand for a single day [Heb. 7:25]):

⁶And he shall bring his Trespass Offering unto the LORD for his sin which he has sinned, a female from the flock, a lamb or a kid of the goats, for a Sin Offering; and the Priest shall make an Atonement for him concerning his sin (once again, the only answer for sin is the Cross).

⁷And if he be not able to bring a lamb, then he shall bring for his trespass, which he has committed, two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, unto the LORD; one for a Sin Offering, and the other for a Burnt Offering (as is obvious here, provision was made for the poorest of the poor; turtledoves and pigeons were very inexpensive; and yet, if sin was committed, sacrifice had to be offered, irrespective as to who the person might be; the first pigeon or turtledove was a Sin Offering, which required the shedding of blood, and the second was a Burnt Offering, symbolizing satisfaction to God by perfect obedience to Him in making Atonement; both symbolized the Perfect Obedience of Christ as mans Substitute).

⁸And he shall bring them unto the Priest, who shall offer that which is for the Sin Offering first, and wring off his head from his neck, but shall not divide it asunder (if it was divided, considering the smallness of the turtledove or pigeon, blood might be spilled, and there would not be enough to apply to the Altar; this tells us of the effectiveness and necessity of the Blood):

⁹And he shall sprinkle of the blood of the Sin Offering upon the side of the Altar; and the rest of the blood shall be wrung out at the bottom of the Altar: it is a Sin Offering. (As the Christian advances in this Divine life, he becomes conscious that those sins that he has committed are but branches from a root, streams from a fountain; and, moreover, that sin in his nature is that fountain that root. This leads to a far deeper exercise which can only be met by a deeper insight into the Work of the Cross. In a word, the Cross will need to be apprehended as that in which God Himself has condemned sin in the flesh [Rom. 8:3].)

¹⁰And he shall offer the second (second Offering) for a Burnt Offering, according to the manner: and the Priest shall make an Atonement for him for his sin which he has sinned, and it shall be forgiven him. (In the Burnt Offering, we are conducted to a point beyond which it is impossible to go, and that is the Work of the Cross, as accomplished under the immediate Eye of God, and as the expression of the unswerving devotion of the heart to Christ. In all cases, we begin with the Cross, and end with the Cross.)

¹¹But if he be not able to bring two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, then he who sinned shall bring for his Offering the tenth part of an ephah of fine flour (about two double handfuls) for a Sin Offering; he shall put no oil upon it (this is for the poorest of the poor; but yet sin has to be dealt with; no oil could be applied to this Offering, simply because there was no shedding of blood; the Holy Spirit, of which the oil was a Type, works only within the parameters of the Finished Work of Christ; this means if the Cross is not preached, the Holy Spirit will not work), neither shall he put any frankincense thereon: for it is a Sin Offering (frankincense was not to be added either, because it represented the bitter Life of Christ, which would be given on the Cross in Sacrifice; while the fine flour represented that Perfect Life, due to the fact that no blood was shed, it could not represent the Cross).

¹²Then shall he bring it to the Priest, and the Priest shall take his handful of it, even a memorial thereof, and burn it on the Altar, according to the Offerings made by fire unto the LORD: it is a Sin Offering. (Let it be understood, the non-bloody substitute, namely the flour, being permitted was only an exception for the benefit of the very poor, and only in the cases specified, which does not invalidate the general rule that without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin; the flour was burned on the Altar, and the Altar typified the Cross, which, in this case, sufficed.)

¹³And the Priest shall make an Atonement for him as touching his sin that he has sinned in one of these, and it shall be forgiven him: and the remnant shall be the Priests, as a Meat Offering (about a handful of flour was given to the Priest, with him using it as a Meat Offering; the Meat Offering was not an offering for sin; it was a Thank Offering, in that sin had now been atoned).

¹⁴And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying,

¹⁵If a soul commit a trespass, and sin through ignorance, in the holy things of the LORD (anything pertaining to the Work or the Word of God is considered holy; to be sure, it is very easy to sin in these matters; the flesh so often intrudes [Rom. 8:8]); then he shall bring for his trespass unto the LORD a ram without blemish out of the flocks, with your estimation by shekels of silver, after the shekel of the Sanctuary, for a Trespass Offering (whatever was the worth of the ram, a fifth part of that value was also to be given to the Priest in shekels of silver; the silver represented Redemption).

¹⁶And he shall make amends for the harm that he has done in the holy thing, and shall add the fifth part thereto, and give it unto the Priest: and the Priest shall make an Atonement for him with the ram of the Trespass Offering, and it shall be forgiven him. (We find in the Trespass Offering, by the fifth part being added, that through the Cross, God has not merely received back what was lost, but has actually become a gainer. He has gained more by Redemption than ever He lost by the Fall. He reaps a richer harvest of glory, honor, and praise from the Cross of Redemption than ever He could have reaped from that of Creation.

As it regards the Believer, Faith evidenced in the Cross will give back all that was lost, and more besides [Mk. 9:23]. Concerning this, Mackintosh says: Who could have conceived this? When we behold man, and the creation of which he was lord, laid in ruins at the feet of the enemy, how could we conceive that, from amid those ruins, God should gather richer and nobler spoils than any which our unfallen world could have yielded? Blessed be the Name of Jesus in all of this! It is to Him we owe it all. It is by His precious Cross that ever a truth so amazing, so Divine, could be enunciated. Assuredly, the Cross involved a mysterious wisdom which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory [I Cor. 2:8].)

¹⁷And if a soul sin, and commit any of these things which are forbidden to be done by the Commandments of the LORD; though he wist it not, yet is he guilty, and shall bear his iniquity. (Sins committed in ignorance will have the same negative results as sins committed knowingly. Presently, to the greater extent, this refers to Believers who do not understand the Cross as it refers to Sanctification, and, thereby, attempt to live for God in all the wrong ways. This constitutes sin, because whatsoever is not of faith [Faith in Christ and the Cross] is sin [Rom. 14:23]. This is very confusing to the Believer, especially if he is sincere before the Lord; however, the Lord cannot overlook sin in any fashion. And tragically, the great sin of the modern Church is its ignorance of the Cross, whether knowing or otherwise. The results are catastrophic.)

¹⁸And he shall bring a ram without blemish out of the flock, with your estimation, for a Trespass Offering, unto the Priest: and the Priest shall make an Atonement for him concerning his ignorance wherein he erred and wist it not, and it shall be forgiven him.

¹⁹It is a Trespass Offering: he has certainly trespassed against the LORD. (The expressions, through ignorance and wist it not, or knew it not, dispose of the popular fallacy that sincerity secures Salvation.)