LEVITICUS 10


     We have been looking at the sin offering in the last few lessons.
We saw that the sin offering for the priest was the same offering as
the offering for the whole church. In this lesson we will look at the
sin offering of a ruler, and the sin offering of the common people. We
could relate this to our governors, mayors, senators, representatives,
or even the president.  We will find that their offering is different.
Perhaps this is because the ruler affects the lives of all the people
he represents. A good ruler will carry out the will of God, while he
is in office. We find most politicians not seeking God's will, but the
will of those who put him in office. Little do they realize that the
powers that be, are there because God put them there, not the people.

     Now let us begin in 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;"

     In this verse above, we see that this ruler believed in God; {the
Lord his God}. We must, also, see that this is not a deliberate sin,
but a sin through ignorance. The third thing we must see is that he
really did sin and he is guilty.

     Leviticus 4:23 "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:"

     When I see a goat, it reminds me of the separation of the sheep
and goats in heaven. Perhaps, the offering of this goat here tells us
that the ruler is a ruler in worldly things, not so much the spiritual
things. He is possibly not of the sheepfold. The sheep follow the
great Shepherd Jesus Christ. This above is a male goat which has
horns. The horns, of course denote strength. A goat's horns would
denote world power. We see that, possibly, this is a sin against the
world and not of the congregation.

     Leviticus 4:24 "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."

     We see that the goat is to be killed just inside the tabernacle
of the congregation at the bronze altar. This ruler, even though he
rules in things of the world, is still answerable to God for the way
he governs. There is no one on this earth, who does not have to answer
to a higher power. The most powerful king in all the world has to
answer to God for his actions. This sin offering then is, possibly,
for his sins in regard to the way he governs.

     Leviticus 4:25 "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."
     One of the most apparent differences in this offering is that the
blood is not carried into the presence of God, as the other 2 were. I
see in this, that this is a worldly matter, not a heavenly matter. We
see in the other offerings that the blood was taken to the veil of
separation and sprinkled 7 times before the Lord. This was to make
mankind able to go into the presence of the Father. This is not done
in this instance. The blood is applied to the horns where the burnt
offering is made. This, then, would indicate that this offering is for
the outer court. Blood on the horns indicates the power of this ruler,
in dealing with the people, is ordained of God. This was not for man
to go to heaven, but had to do with this earth. I cannot help but
think that this has to do with the thousand year reign of Jesus Christ
on the earth. He will reign as King of kings and Lord of lords, here
on the earth for 1000 years. Revelation 17:14 "These shall make war
with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of
lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him [are] called, and
chosen, and faithful." Revelation 19:16 And he hath on [his] vesture
and on his thigh a name written," KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS."
Revelation 20:6 "Blessed and holy [is] he that hath part in the first
resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall
be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand
years."

     Leviticus 4:25 "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."

     Without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sin. We
see the blood not only applied on the horns of the altar, but poured
out at the base of the altar on the ground. We still see the
substitute of the goat's blood for the sin of the ruler. Jesus shed
His blood for the whole earth. We see this in the blood being poured
out at the foot of the altar and being absorbed in the earth. Horns
denote strength, and we see by this that the strength here is from
God.

     Leviticus 4:26 "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."

     This fat burned, is a sweet savour to God. We see that this
offering is accepted by God. We know that this offering does not open
the veil into the most holy place, as in the other offering. It
appears that this offering is for blessings of this earth, since the
blood was not sprinkled 7 times before the veil. God accepts this
offering and the one who offered is forgiven. Blessings from God can
be two- fold. The right hand blessing was always a spiritual blessing
and was really a promise of eternal life in heaven. The left hand
blessing was a blessing for the earth. The patriarchs blessed their
children and grandchildren in this manner. Possibly, the two sons of
Abraham, Isaac and Ishmael were the best example of this. Isaac was
known as the son of the spirit and Ishmael was the son of the flesh.
Both were blessed, but Isaac's blessing was for all generations of
believers in the Spirit. Ishmael's blessings were just for the earth.

     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;"

     Common, in the Scripture above, means country, earth, grounds,
world, or wilderness. This seems strange, but it gives meaning to this
Scripture. The people mentioned in the Scripture above then would be
earthly people. They are Israelites, however, since these are Israel's
descendents who left Egypt headed for the promised land. We might
think of these, in our day, of people who say they are Christians, but
really are not interested in God's purpose for life. They are caught
up in the world so much that their belief in Christ is secondary to
them. They would not find it necessary to study God's Word, or to get
personally involved in His work. It would be real easy for them to sin
without knowing they were sinning, since they had not studied the
Bible very much.

     Leviticus 4:28 "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."

     Notice, in these sin offerings, how the priest was required to
bring the most offering. Then notice the congregation, who knew the
will of God was required to bring the next best offering. The ruler
brought a lesser gift than the priest, and now the common people
brought an even lesser offering. The ruler's offering had to be more,
because his sin affected more people that just the common people. A
female animal had less strength than a male animal, and would
therefore be correct to bring in this instance, since the ruler was
stronger than the common people. Regardless of how poor a person was,
he still must bring an offering to the Lord. The shedding of blood was
required for a sin offering always. Even though this goat is a female,
the shed blood of this animal cleansing from sin still shadowed the
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is not necessary for a shadow to be
the exact same as the one it shadowed. It must just remind us of the
one being shadowed. Notice, also, that even this lesser offering must
be without blemish.

     Leviticus 4:29 "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."

     We see, one more time, the transfer of the sin to the animal, by
the laying of the hand upon its head. The shed blood is the price to
be paid for the sin of the person.

     Leviticus 4:30 "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."

     This is the same as the offering for the ruler. The power is in
the blood.

     Leviticus 4:31 "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."

     This offering, again, is the same as the offering for the ruler.
God accepts this fat burned as a sweet savour to God.

     Leviticus 4:32 "And if he bring a lamb for a sin offering, he
shall bring it a female without blemish."

     This, again, is just showing that these common people were not
required to bring as valuable a gift as was required for the ruler.
We, also, can look and see that there were fewer restrictions on the
common people, than on the ruler. To rule requires self denial and a
stricter way of life than for the common people.

     Leviticus 4:33 "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."  Leviticus 4:34 "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:"  Leviticus 4:35 "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."

     In each of these verses about the offerings of the common people,
the offering is the same, except a female goat or sheep could be
offered, whereas for the ruler, it must be a male goat. We do not see
instructions in this to take the animal outside of town to burn the
meat, as we did in the case of the congregation's and the priest's
offering.














                             Questions 10

1.  How did the sin offering for the priest differ from the sin
    offering for the congregation?
2.  Describe a good ruler.
3.  Who in our society today could we relate the ruler to?
4.  Who do most politicians today try to please?
5.  In verse 22, what tells us that this ruler believes in God?
6.  His sin must not be a deliberate sin, but a sin of __________.
7.  He has not been falsely accused, he is _______.
8.  What is the sin offering the ruler should bring?
9.  What dies the author believe shows that his rule is a worldly
    rule?
10. Horns denote what?
11. A goat's horns then would denote what?
12. Are rulers in high authority exempt from worshipping God?
13. Where does the priest put the blood of the animal?  2 places
14. What is one of the most apparent differences with this offering
    and the offering of the priest and the congregation?
15. Blood on the horns indicate that this ruler's power comes from
    where?
16. How many years will Jesus reign on the earth?
17. What will be His title then, when He comes to reign?
18. Who are the blessed and holy in verse 6 of Revelation chapter 20?
19. Without the shedding of _____, there is no remission of sin.
20. What was to be burned on the altar of the sin offering of the
    ruler?
21. What kind of blessing was the right hand blessing?
22. What kind of blessing was the left hand blessing?
23. In the Old Testament, what 2 sons were a good example of the right
    and left hand blessing?
24. What does the word, common, mean in Leviticus chapter 4 verse 27?
25. How can we relate the common people here and the people of our
    day?
26. What was the offering the common people could bring?
27. How is it permissible for this female goat's blood to shadow the
    blood of Jesus?
28. What is done by the person offering the goat that shows the
    transfer of the person's sin to the goat?
29. Who was to put the blood of the animal on the horns of the altar?
30. For the common people, what type of lamb was permissible to bring?
31. What instructions had been omitted in the sin offering for the
    ruler and common people that had been included in the sin offering
    for the priest and the congregation?