This fourteenth lecture on the Sin Offering examines the collective responsibility of the church and the graded levels of accountability for its leaders and members. We move from the personal to the communal, answering the question: What is Sin Offering when it involves an entire assembly? This study highlights God’s profound mercy—tailoring the requirements of repentance to each person’s “measure of faith.”
2. The Sin Offering of the Whole Assembly
Next, is concerned with the sin offering when the whole people of God commit sins before God. Leviticus 4:13 says, “Now if the whole congregation of Israel commits error and the matter escapes the notice of the assembly, and they commit any of the things which the Lord has commanded not to be done, and they become guilty.” This case is when the church as a whole sins.
What does it mean that a church sins as a whole?
Sometimes the congregation may become divided because of a pastor, or an elder or senior deaconess, and then the factions bring disputes or conflicts to the church. Then the church members come to have conflicts and quarrels, so finally, they have enmity against one another and the church becomes divided. Some people in the church say we belong to this elder, that senior deaconess, or this pastor.
At the time of the apostle Paul, the Corinthian church members said, “I follow Paul,” or “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Peter,” or “I follow Christ.” But the apostle Paul warned them that all the people of the church should follow only Christ. If factions are formed and quarrels are present in the church, most members are likely to be involved in the quarrels and come to complain or slander one another. In this way the whole church commits a great sin in the sight of God and builds up a barrier of sin against Him.
In cases, church leaders gather together, stand against the pastor, and finally drive him out. In view of truth, it is impossible even to imagine such things. It is never acceptable to God for the flock to drive out the pastor with wickedness although the pastor may be lacking in many things.
But this kind of thing happens a lot nowadays. If a strong elder agitates the members, members would gather and expel the pastor. But this kind of thing does not exist in our denomination. Of course, it must never happen. A pastor belongs to God. He is a servant of God, so the decision is up to the Lord. The congregation cannot decide matters about the pastor anymore. You may pray this way so that the Lord Himself will take care of the matter. You should not do anything from your side. This would be a great wall of sin. You can only pray.
In the Old Testament we see David received the great love from God and was anointed as the next king to succeed King Saul. But David did not try to kill King Saul, though Saul tried to kill him. Saul was wicked and had already been forsaken by God. Yet David still did not try to kill him because Saul had been anointed as the king of Israel. The Bible records this in detail because this is the truth. The Bible has many records like this in such complete detail.
Saul had already been forsaken by God. That is why evil spirits went into him and he suffered. Also, knowing that David was anointed as the next king, he was chasing David to kill him. That was completely standing against God. He also killed many of God’s priests. He had to be put to death. He could not be saved. But even though David had many chances to kill Saul, he did not. Why? Although Saul was forsaken by God, he was also an anointed servant of God. David didn’t try to kill Saul even though he was forsaken by God.
The lesson in this today is that you must remember that God Himself manages His servants in the church. If there is a problem in the church, you should solve it in goodness according to the law of the church. You should solve it in goodness without any evil thought or action. But, if instead you find fault with others and blame them, finally, the whole assembly of the church is involved in sins.
You can have the answer to any problem in the church if you meditate on the Bible. God tells us to love even our enemies. But many complain about their brothers in Christ and hate them. They see the speck in others’ eyes without seeing the plank in their own eyes. God says, “Humble yourself. Serve others. Follow peace and holiness with everybody.” Nonetheless, if there are conflicts between a pastor and the flock or among church brothers, how embarrassing it would be before God!
1 John 3:10 says, “By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother.” Thus, if the whole assembly of the church commits sins, the church is not in the protection of God and faces various trials and difficulties.
The growth of the church stops or it collapses. The families and businesses of church members fall into difficulties. In this case, they must realize their sins quickly and destroy the wall of sin by repenting their sin thoroughly. Only then, will all kinds of trials and hardships leave the church and the church will have good fellowship with God.
Then, how is the sin of the whole people of the church forgiven?
Leviticus 4:14-15 says, “When the sin which they have committed becomes known, then the assembly shall offer a bull of the herd for a sin offering and bring it before the tent of meeting. ‘Then the elders of the congregation shall lay their hands on the head of the bull before the LORD, and the bull shall be slain before the LORD.” You must give a great offering to be forgiven of the sin of the whole assembly of the church. So, you must bring a young bull as a sin offering for the assembly.
By the way, considering that a young bull was given as a sin offering for a priest, just like the case of sin offering for the whole assembly of the church, we should realize how great the responsibility of a pastor is. God gives His power and authority to His anointed servants, but punishment is greater if they sin against truth than when church leaders or members sin.
Thus, ministers must keep themselves from sins and live holier lives than anyone else.
Elders lay their hands on the head of the bull as sin offering on behalf of all people.
Actually, each person must lay his hand, but elders put their hands on its head on behalf of all people because everybody cannot lay his hands. In the same way, when we anoint elders in the church today, we must anoint those who are proper to be representatives of the church. And they should take the responsibilities of the church. If the whole assembly sins, elders should first take the responsibility and repent more thoroughly and earnestly than anyone else repents. Of course not only the elders but also all people must repent their sins. But church leaders like elders are at important positions of the church.
The rest of the procedure for the sin offering of the congregation is the same with that of sin offering for priests. Like the Old Testament sin offering for priests, a priest should dip his fingers into its blood, sprinkle the blood before the curtain of the sanctuary seven times and put it on the horns of the altar. He takes the fat of inner parts and burns it over the fire on the altar. Then, he takes all parts of a young bull outside the camp and burns them there. The spiritual meaning of these procedures for today is “You must leave and turn from sins completely.”
So, we must pray for repentance in the name of Jesus Christ and in the work of the Holy Spirit so that our repentance can be acceptable to God. The whole assembly must not commit the same sins again after they repent with one heart. After the sin offering for the priest and the whole assembly, the sin offering for leaders and common people follow.
3. Sin offering of leaders and members
Leviticus 4:22-24 says, “When a leader sins and unintentionally does any one of all the things which the LORD his God has commanded not to be done, and he becomes guilty, if his sin which he has committed is made known to him, he shall bring for his offering a goat, a male without defect. ‘He shall lay his hand on the head of the male goat and slay it in the place where they slay the burnt offering before the LORD; it is a sin offering.”
A leader is in charge of other members and although the position is lower than that of a priest, it is a position set apart in the community. Therefore, they give a male goat that is smaller than a bull for a priest, but bigger than a female goat for common people.
In today’s church, a leader refers to cell leaders, team leaders or teachers. They are not ministers but they are appointed separately from layman members before God. Therefore, even if they commit the same sin, they have to give to God a bigger fruit of repentance than ordinary members. It says a leader has to give a male goat for sin offering when he commits a sin.
Let’s review here a moment. In the sin offering for a priest, the sacrifice shouldn’t just be a bull, but a bull without any defect. In the same way, a leader has to give a male goat without defect. Also, as we will see later, the sacrifice for a member of the community has to be a female goat without defect. What should be done about the sin offering for the congregation? They should give a bull, but does it have to be without defect? As said in Leviticus 4:14, “When they become aware of the sin they committed, the assembly must bring a young bull as a sin offering,” it does not mention that the bull has to be without defect.
Why is the expression ‘without defect’ missing only for the community?
This is not by coincidence but there is a reason. Our sacrifice to God must obviously be without defect. Namely, we should not give unwillingly with complaints in our minds or be forced to give, but give perfect offering of repentance with thanks and joy. But when the community commits a sin, if God tells us to give a sacrifice without defect, it is not easy at all. It’s because it means each and every one of the congregation has to give with whole heart with one mind. Just think about today’s church. When the whole church has committed a sin and wants to repent before God, there are people with little faith or some others who do not want to repent. Therefore, if God accepts only when everybody from ministers to new-believers repent with one mind, it is very difficult.
Let us say the whole congregation of a church sinned against God and we have to repent all together. Let us say God commanded the whole congregation to fast for 3 days. Then, it won’t be easy for everybody to do it. Some may not have enough faith to fast for 3 days. Some may think, “What kind of sin did I commit? I have nothing to do with this,” and then they do not fast. Some may say, “I cannot work without eating,” and they do not fast. Some may think, ‘I cannot fast fully for 3 days. I will eat one meal a day.’ Let’s suppose God commanded our 10,000 members here to repent together. But some of us disobeyed. Then, what will happen? It is not acceptable to God. That is why God gives this condition for the community.
So in this case, although some members of the congregation do not repent with all their heart, God shows His mercy and gives forgiveness to the whole congregation when most of the members repent. That is why God does not tell us to give a sacrifice ‘without defect’. God receives the repentance of most of the members and forgives the whole congregation even if there is a person who commits evil like Judas Iscariot or people with weak faith who will not repent before God. But when it is a priest, a leader, or a member who has to solve the problem of his own sin himself, the kind of animal for the sacrifice is different, it has to be without defect to be accepted by God.
Leviticus 4:25-26 says, “Then the priest is to take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering; and the rest of its blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering. ‘All its fat he shall offer up in smoke on the altar as in the case of the fat of the sacrifice of peace offerings. Thus the priest shall make atonement for him in regard to his sin, and he will be forgiven.”
The Altar of Burnt Offering, like the Altar of Incense, is the altar to burn the sacrifice acceptable to God. Putting the blood on the horns of that altar is the symbol of God’s acceptance of the repentance. By admitting one’s sin officially, and repenting before God, it is sealed that God accepted that repentance.
Now there is a difference between a leader and a priest. In the sin offering of a priest or the community, they had to dip their fingers in the blood and sprinkle it seven times in front of the curtain of the sanctuary, but it is not the case with a leader or a member. Sprinkling the blood seven times is to repent and turn away completely and not to commit the sin again, because the number 7 is the number of perfection.
Why is it then, there is no sprinkling in the sin offering of a leader or a member?
This is by the mercy of God. The reason why God did not include the ‘seven times’ is that He accepts repentance and forgives according to each one’s measure of faith. What does this mean?
So far, I told you that the atonement processes for a priest, a division leader, and the congregation are equivalent to that of a minister, group leader, and church lay-workers. But this is not only about the positions themselves but also about the measure of faith for each one. A minister obviously must have the level of sanctified faith to lead the members. The senior leaders of the church, although they are not fully sanctified, must have different levels of faith than laymen members of the church. It is the same with other positions of the church as well.
An elder has to be sanctified, become an example to other members, and clearly realize God’s word so that he can teach other members.
Parish pastors and grand parish pastors nominate those who are chosen to become elders. You have to nominate those who are qualified before God. Even when we select a small group leader, there are seven categories to be met. Elders must be above the standard in those seven categories. The Bible clearly explains it to us.
It talks about overseers and supervisory positions. If you nominate those who are not qualified by the prescribed standards and who do not live by the word, the church will be put in difficult situations. Also, you will have to account for your nomination before God.
Senior deaconesses or deacons must have appropriate qualifications as well. Because ministers, leaders, and laymen have different measures of faith, even if they apparently commit the same sin, the level of the sin is different, and the level of repentance must also be different.
For example, if a person standing on the rock of faith at the third level of faith committed a sin by talking about another person’s faults, he must repent thoroughly and not repeat it. But, if a person at the 1st or the 2nd level of faith talks about others’ faults, we cannot say he has gotten rid of those things completely even after he repents and turns away. Of course, he has to try to throw that sin away completely, but he might talk about untruthful things again because he hasn’t thrown this sin away completely yet.
God knows that people with little faith might commit the same sin again, but if they humble themselves and repent at that moment, God accepts their repentance according to their levels of faith. But those who stand on the rock of faith or who are at higher level should tear their heart and repent thoroughly if they have found their evil, and not commit the same sin again. They should not even commit it again by mistake. Only then will their repentance be accepted by God as true repentance.
For example, let us say a 3-year-old child has made a mistake and his mother is scolding him. If this child regrets it and says that he is sorry, the mother should forgive him. But there is no guarantee that this child will never make the same mistake again. He might forget everything he went through and make the same mistake again later, but since he is truly repenting for that moment, his mother has mercy on him and forgives him. But when an adult son makes the same mistake even after he was forgiven by his mother once, what should his mother think? When an adult aged son, who is able to reason, makes the same mistakes again and again knowing that it would hurt his mother, his previous repentance cannot be recognized as true repentance.
Considering the case of the Israelites who escaped from Egypt, even if they did not believe in God, and complained and spoke against Him, He forgave them and let them experience the miracles through Moses’ prayers. Before they crossed the Red Sea, God forgave them of their complaining. He didn’t punish them from the beginning. Also, after they crossed the Red Sea, they danced happily, but when they had no water to drink, they complained again. God still forgave them.
When they were at the 1st or the 2nd level of faith, God forgave them. When they had witnessed many signs and wonders of God, their faith grew up. When they then stood against God again, He did not forgive them any more. Also, God did not forgive the leaders and elders among the people. So, when they continued complaining against Moses and committed sins before God, even after experiencing many works of God, they were punished.
So ministers, lay-workers and senior leaders of the church should obviously have greater faith, become holy, and not commit sins. Even if they sin unintentionally, when they realize it, they should repent with their whole heart and not sin any more.
But, because even the leaders might have faith that is not fully sanctified, God did not tell them to sprinkle the blood seven times and gives another chance to repent again even if they sin again later by mistake.
But it does not mean that you can just repent with the kind of thought that says, “I don’t have perfect faith yet, so God will forgive me next time also.” Also, you must not sin, knowing that it is sin thinking, “God will forgive me because I don’t have that much faith yet.”
Hebrews 10:26-27 says, “For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries.”
The kind of repentance that is acceptable to God is not the repentance for the sin that you commit deliberately that you know it is sin, thinking, “I will repent for it later.” It is the kind of sin that you commit unintentionally, realize it later, and repent of it. Also, if you sinned and repented once, God accepts that repentance fully when you try the best not to commit the same sin again with fervent prayer. But for those who have grown-up faith, like ministers or elders, there should be no sinning for the reason that they do not know the truth. They should also never keep on sinning after repenting.
As our merciful God allowed different sacrifices for the sin offerings according to the measure of each one’s faith. But if the leaders or members of community realize this love of God, they should try their best not to sin again.
Lastly, we will consider the sin offering of common people of the community.
Leviticus 4:27-31 says, “Now if anyone of the common people sins unintentionally in doing any of the things which the LORD has commanded not to be done, and becomes guilty, if his sin which he has committed is made known to him, then he shall bring for his offering a goat, a female without defect, for his sin which he has committed. ‘He shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and slay the sin offering at the place of the burnt offering. ‘The priest shall take some of its blood with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering; and all the rest of its blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar. ‘Then he shall remove all its fat, just as the fat was removed from the sacrifice of peace offerings; and the priest shall offer it up in smoke on the altar for a soothing aroma to the LORD. Thus the priest shall make atonement for him, and he will be forgiven.”
The process of giving the offering for forgiveness of a member of the community is the same with that of a leader. A member of the community in the Old Testament is equivalent to a layman member of the church today. As they don’t sprinkle some of the blood of the sin offering for a leader, they don’t have to sprinkle some of the blood seven times but just pour the blood out at the base of the altar. Since they have little faith, they are likely to sin again, but when they deeply regret, tear their heart, and repent, at that moment God has mercy on them and forgives them. Also, the sacrifice is to be a female goat, so it is easier to be forgiven by God than the case where they had to give a male goat or a young bull. However, it does not mean that they don’t have to repent with whole heart.
No matter how weak the faith is, one has to repent before God making up his mind truly not to commit the same sin again to be forgiven by God. When people with little faith realize their sin, repent, and try the best not to do it again, the frequency of committing the same sin will be reduced from ten times to five, two, or one time and finally he can get rid of that sin completely. God accepts the repentance only when we bear the fruit of repentance in this way. If one just says he is sorry only with his lips but not turns away from his heart, even a new-believer cannot be forgiven of his sins. Also, if a new-believer has his sin revealed and he can get rid of it at once, God will be pleased so very much.
If His children, who are new in faith, obey as they realize the word of God and throw away sins diligently, God will love them so much. That is why even a new-believer receives answers to their prayers and are full of testimonies when they are passionate being full of the Holy Spirit in their Christian life. If the passion of the first love does not cool down but keeps on increasing without changing in the middle, you can quickly become a spiritual warrior.
Some children, even though they are physically young, become mature and obey their parents because they love them. Then, how much more lovable would those little children be to their parents? The parents would be even more pleased than when grown-up children obey them. It is the same with God. If His children, who are new in faith, obey as they realize the word of God and throw away sins diligently, God will love them so much.
That is why even a new-believer receives answers to their prayers and are full of testimonies when they are passionate and full of the Holy Spirit in their Christian life. If the passion of the first love does not cool down but keeps on increasing without changing in the middle, you can quickly become a spiritual warrior. Not only about repenting sins, but in all the aspects of your life, if you don’t decide that you will only do just so much because you only have so much faith to work with to accomplish God’s works, but try to do more than what you can do. Then you can receive God’s love and blessings abundantly.
When you listen to the testimonies of those who are healed of diseases or who received answers to their problems, they repented of their sins with tears before they received the prayer. Because they turned away from sin and broke the wall with God, the enemy devil and Satan went away and God’s grace fell upon them.
Luke 11:24-26 says, “When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order. Then it went and returned with seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first.”
What does this mean? Demons fear water, namely the word of God. It says that the demon goes through arid places. It is because it is trying to stay away from God’s word. But when it went back to the one in which it was dwelling before, it could go back in again because there was no water in that person. And this time, it went with seven other spirits more wicked than itself not to be driven out next time, so the final condition of that man is worse than the first.
When people receive God’s grace they should no longer live just like worldly people committing sins, but they should begin to fill their hearts with God’s word and live within the truth and light so that the enemy devil and Satan cannot work in them again. So far you have learned how to repent before God through sin offerings. What you have to remember is that there has to be following fruit of repentance in true repentance. The purpose of sin offering is not just to be forgiven of the sin, solve the problem and receive the answer just that one time. The true purpose of sin offering, once we met God and were forgiven of our sins, is to stay away from sins as children of God, receive blessings on this earth, and finally enter heavenly kingdom.
I pray in the name of the Lord that you will realize the true meaning of sin offering through this session and become God’s true children who are holy and right in His sight.