Key Verses: Leviticus 5:5, 5:11, 5:15
The instructions on the sin offering continue with specific cases: failing to testify, touching something unclean, or making a rash oath. In these, the offender must “confess the sin he has committed,” and the offering is graded to his means — a lamb or goat, or, if he is poor, two birds, or, if he is very poor, a portion of fine flour without oil or frankincense, so that no one is shut out from forgiveness by poverty. The chapter then introduces the guilt (or reparation) offering, the asham, for a “breach of faith” involving the holy things of the LORD, requiring a ram together with restitution plus a fifth added.
Two truths stand out. First, atonement is joined to confession: the sinner must name and own his sin, not merely perform a ritual. Second, God’s provision reaches the poorest — the same forgiveness is available to the one who can bring only a handful of flour as to the one who brings a ram, a grace that reappears when Mary and Joseph, too poor for a lamb, bring two birds at Jesus’ presentation (Luke 2:24). The guilt offering’s demand for restitution shows that true repentance repairs the wrong where it can, while still needing the blood that no repayment can supply.
Key Terms & Words:
- אָשָׁם (asham) - Leviticus 5:15 - “Guilt offering” or “reparation offering”; for wrongs against holy things, joined to restitution
- וְהִתְוַדָּה (vehitvaddah) - Leviticus 5:5 - “He shall confess”; atonement joined to spoken confession of sin
- מַעַל (ma’al) - Leviticus 5:15 - “A breach of faith,” an act of treachery against the LORD
Cross-References:
- Leviticus 5:11 - The poor may bring fine flour, so none are excluded by poverty
- Luke 2:24 - Mary and Joseph bring the poor person’s offering of two birds
- 1 John 1:9 - “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive”
- Isaiah 53:10 - The Servant’s life made “an offering for guilt” (asham)
Discussion Questions:
- Why does God attach confession to the sin offering, and what does that teach about repentance?
- What does the graded offering, reaching down to a handful of flour, reveal about God’s grace to the poor?
- How does Isaiah’s description of the Servant as a guilt offering deepen your understanding of the cross?