For a video presentation of this material, see:
Modern Christians tend to tie the Sin Offering into their
understanding of the forgiveness of sins.
They do so by relying almost entirely on Paul’s writings in the New
Testament and then read their understanding of forgiveness into the Sin
Offering. An examination of Paul’s
writings is beyond the scope of this book.
But, I would like to remind Christians of the warning Peter gives
concerning Paul.
2 Peter 3:15-18
15 And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation;
even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him
hath written unto you;
16 As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things;
in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned
and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own
destruction.
17 Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before,
beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from
your own stedfastness.
18 But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour
Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.
Peter tells Christians that Paul’s writings are difficult to properly
understand and many Christians, even in his day were misinterpreting Paul and
creating false doctrines. Peter says
that, instead, they should focus on what Jesus taught. If any of your doctrines relies almost
entirely on Paul’s writings, then you should probably reexamine it. That is why I occasionally quote Paul, but I
try to always try to form the key components of my understanding of a particular
doctrine from other parts of the Bible.
Now, let’s look at what the Bible actually says about the Sin
Offering.
Many Christians misunderstand the Sin Offering because they study
it through the filter of their church’s teachings rather than directly from the
Bible. For example, one writer described
the Sin Offering this way:
The most important part of the daily
ministration was the service performed in behalf of individuals. The repentant
sinner brought his offering to the door of the tabernacle, and, placing his
hand upon the victim’s head, confessed his sins, thus in figure transferring
them from himself to the innocent sacrifice. By his own hand the animal was
then slain, and the blood was carried by the priest into the holy place and
sprinkled before the veil, behind which was the ark containing the law that the
sinner had transgressed. By this ceremony the sin was, through the blood,
transferred in figure to the sanctuary. In some cases the blood was not taken
into the holy place; [See appendix, note 6.] but the flesh was then to be eaten
by the priest, as Moses directed the sons of Aaron, saying, “God hath given it
you to bear the iniquity of the congregation.” [355] Leviticus 10:17. Both
ceremonies alike symbolized the transfer of the sin from the penitent to the
sanctuary.[1]
This statement presents two misrepresentations of the Sin
Offering. The first we will look at is
whether or not the blood is taken into the Sanctuary. The paragraph starts off by clearly stating
that it is discussing individuals who brought the sin offering.
When the sin offering was for the priest or the entire
congregation, some of the blood was sprinkled on the veil that separated the
Holy Place from the Most Holy Place.
Leviticus 4:2-6, 13-17
2 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If a soul shall
sin through ignorance against any of the commandments of the Lord concerning things which ought not
to be done, and shall do against any of them:
3 If the priest that is anointed do sin according to the sin
of the people; then let him bring for his sin, which he hath sinned, a young
bullock without blemish unto the Lord
for a sin offering.
4 And he shall bring the bullock unto the door of the
tabernacle of the congregation before the Lord;
and shall lay his hand upon the bullock's head, and kill the bullock before the
Lord.
5 And the priest that is anointed shall take of the bullock's
blood, and bring it to the tabernacle of the congregation:
6 And the priest
shall dip his finger in the blood, and sprinkle of the blood seven times before
the Lord, before the vail of the
sanctuary.
………………………………………………………………………………….
13 And if the whole congregation of Israel sin through
ignorance, and the thing be hid from the eyes of the assembly, and they
have done somewhat against any of the commandments of the Lord concerning things which should not
be done, and are guilty;
14 When the sin, which they have sinned against it, is known,
then the congregation shall offer a young bullock for the sin, and bring him
before the tabernacle of the congregation.
15 And the elders of the congregation shall lay their hands
upon the head of the bullock before the Lord:
and the bullock shall be killed before the Lord.
16 And the priest that is anointed shall bring of the bullock's
blood to the tabernacle of the congregation:
17 And the priest
shall dip his finger in some of the blood, and sprinkle it seven times before
the Lord, even before the vail.
However, when an individual brought a sin offering, the blood was
poured out at the base of the altar.
None of the blood was brought into the sanctuary. Not one drop.
Leviticus 4:27-30
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;
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.
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.
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.
The author above clearly stated that it was for the repentant
sinner. In other words, someone who had
chosen to do wrong, not someone who had sinned through ignorance. How can someone sin through ignorance? One example would be a Jewish man who goes to
a restaurant and orders a baked potato.
Halfway through eating the potato he finds out that there were bacon
bits on the potato. The Torah (Mosaic
Law) forbids eating pork in any form. He
has broken the Law through ignorance. He
did not intend to eat the pork. Another
example would be a man who wakes up one morning and goes out into the field to
work. Then his neighbor reminds him that
it is the Sabbath. He has broken the
Sabbath laws by working on it because he forgot that it was the Sabbath. Let’s see what the Bible says about what
kinds of sins the Sin Offering was for.
Numbers 15:22-31
|
22
|
And if ye have erred, and not
observed all these commandments, which the Lord
hath spoken unto Moses,
|
|
23
|
Even all that the Lord hath commanded you by the hand of Moses, from the day
that the Lord commanded Moses,
and henceforward among your generations;
|
|
24
|
Then it shall be, if ought be committed
by ignorance without the knowledge of the congregation, that all the
congregation shall offer one young bullock for a burnt offering, for a sweet
savour unto the Lord, with his
meat offering, and his drink offering, according to the manner, and one kid
of the goats for a sin offering.
|
|
25
|
And the priest shall make an atonement for
all the congregation of the children of Israel, and it shall be forgiven
them; for it is ignorance: and they shall bring their offering,
a sacrifice made by fire unto the Lord,
and their sin offering before the Lord,
for their ignorance:
|
|
26
|
And it shall be forgiven all the congregation
of the children of Israel, and the stranger that sojourneth among them; seeing
all the people were in ignorance.
|
|
27
|
And if any soul sin through ignorance,
then he shall bring a she goat of the first year for a sin offering.
|
|
28
|
And the priest shall make an atonement for
the soul that sinneth ignorantly, when he sinneth by ignorance before
the Lord, to make an atonement
for him; and it shall be forgiven him.
|
|
29
|
Ye shall have one law for him that sinneth
through ignorance, both for him that is born among the children of
Israel, and for the stranger that sojourneth among them.
|
|
30
|
But the soul that doeth ought presumptuously, whether he be born in the land,
or a stranger, the same reproacheth the Lord;
and that soul shall be cut off from among his people.
|
|
31
|
Because he hath despised the word of the Lord, and hath broken his commandment,
that soul shall utterly be cut off; his iniquity shall be upon him.
|
You
can see from these few verses that the Bible completely refutes what Christians
commonly teach about the sin offering.
Christians teach that an Israelite was required to bring the sin
offering every time he sinned. Verse 22
specifically states that this is regarding the Law spoken to Moses. This is not the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments were spoken directly to
the people and God himself wrote them on tables of stone. They were not simply spoken to Moses. This passage clearly states that the sin
offering was reserved exclusively to breaking the Mosaic Law through ignorance. They did not choose to break the Law. It was an accident. If someone decided to rob a bank, this would
not be a sin of ignorance. This would be
choosing to sin. Verses 30 and 31 make
it clear that this person would be cut off from the people and bear their
iniquity on themselves. They could not
bring a sin offering. Leviticus chapters
4, 5 give a much more lengthy discussion on the sin offering. You will notice that it repeatedly states
that these are for unintentional sins only.
With
this simple examination of the Bible, it has been shown that the author quoted
above directly contradicted the Bible both on the kinds of sins the Sin
Offering was brought for and when the blood was sprinkled on the veil. This makes it an un-Biblical teaching.
Now,
some of you may be wondering why I chose to quote the passage from Numbers
15. I quoted that passage because it is
short and also clearly states that those who chose to sin bore their own guilt. They could not bring a Sin Offering. However, the Sin Offering is given its most
thorough treatment in Leviticus 4-5.
Here they are in their entirety so you can see for yourself what the
Bible really says.
Leviticus
4
1 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
2 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If a
soul shall sin through ignorance against any of the commandments
of the Lord
concerning things which ought not to be done, and shall do against any of them:
3 If the priest that is anointed do sin according
to the sin of the people; then let him bring for his sin, which he hath sinned,
a young bullock without blemish unto the Lord for a sin offering.
4 And he shall bring the bullock unto the door of
the tabernacle of the congregation before the Lord; and shall lay his hand upon the bullock's
head, and kill the bullock before the Lord.
5 And the priest that is anointed shall take of
the bullock's blood, and bring it to the tabernacle of the congregation:
6 And the priest shall dip his finger in the
blood, and sprinkle of the blood seven times before the Lord, before the vail of the sanctuary.
7 And the priest shall put some of the blood upon
the horns of the altar of sweet incense before the Lord, which is in the tabernacle of the
congregation; and shall pour all the blood of the bullock at the bottom of the
altar of the burnt offering, which is at the door of the tabernacle of the
congregation.
8 And he shall take off from it all the fat of
the bullock for the sin offering; the fat that covereth the inwards, and all
the fat that is upon the inwards,
9 And the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon
them, which is by the flanks, and the caul above the liver, with the kidneys,
it shall he take away,
10 As it was taken off from the bullock of the
sacrifice of peace offerings: and the priest shall burn them upon the altar of
the burnt offering.
11 And the skin of the bullock, and all his flesh,
with his head, and with his legs, and his inwards, and his dung,
12 Even the whole bullock shall he carry forth
without the camp unto a clean place, where the ashes are poured out, and burn
him on the wood with fire: where the ashes are poured out shall he be burnt.
13 And if the whole congregation of Israel sin through ignorance, and
the thing be hid from the eyes of the assembly, and they have
done somewhat against any of the commandments of the Lord concerning things which should not be done,
and are guilty;
14 When the sin, which they have sinned against
it, is known, then
the congregation shall offer a young bullock for the sin, and bring him before
the tabernacle of the congregation.
15 And the elders of the congregation shall lay
their hands upon the head of the bullock before the Lord: and the bullock shall be killed before the Lord.
16 And the priest that is anointed shall bring of
the bullock's blood to the tabernacle of the congregation:
17 And the priest shall dip his finger in some of
the blood, and sprinkle it seven times before the Lord, even before the vail.
18 And he shall put some of the blood upon the
horns of the altar which is before the Lord, that is in the tabernacle of the
congregation, and shall pour out all the blood at the bottom of the altar of
the burnt offering, which is at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.
19 And he shall take all his fat from him, and
burn it upon the altar.
20 And he shall do with the bullock as he did with
the bullock for a sin offering, so shall he do with this: and the priest shall
make an atonement for them, and it shall be forgiven them.
21 And he shall carry forth the bullock without
the camp, and burn him as he burned the first bullock: it is a sin offering for
the congregation.
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;
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:
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.
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.
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.
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;
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.
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.
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.
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.
32 And if he bring a lamb for a sin offering, he
shall bring it a female without blemish.
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.
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:
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.
Leviticus
5
Verse
1 does expand the sin offering to include people who are afraid to testify as a
witness of a crime. I just want to
mention it to point out that the person did not go out and decide to do
something wrong. They were just scared
to come forward and testify.
1 And if a soul sin, and hear the voice of
swearing, and is a witness, whether he hath seen or known of it; if he do not
utter it, then he shall bear his iniquity.
2 Or 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.
3 Or 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 knoweth of it, then he shall be guilty.
4 Or 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 knoweth of it, then he
shall be guilty in one of these.
5 And it shall be, when he shall be guilty in one
of these things, that he shall confess that he hath sinned in that thing:
6 And he shall bring his trespass offering unto
the Lord for his
sin which he hath 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.
7 And if he be not able to bring a lamb, then he
shall bring for his trespass, which he hath committed, two turtledoves, or two
young pigeons, unto the Lord; one
for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering.
8 And 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:
9 And 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.
10 And he shall offer the second for a burnt
offering, according to the manner: and the priest shall make an atonement for
him for his sin which he hath sinned, and it shall be forgiven him.
11 But if he be not able to bring two turtledoves,
or two young pigeons, then he that sinned shall bring for his offering the
tenth part of an ephah of fine flour for a sin offering; he shall put no oil
upon it, neither shall he put any frankincense thereon: for it is a sin
offering.
12 Then 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.
13 And the priest shall make an atonement for him
as touching his sin that he hath sinned in one of these, and it shall be
forgiven him: and the remnant shall be the priest's, as a meat offering.
14 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
15 If a soul commit a trespass, and sin
through ignorance, in the holy things of the Lord; then he shall bring for his trespass unto the
Lord a ram
without blemish out of the flocks, with thy estimation by shekels of silver,
after the shekel of the sanctuary, for a trespass offering.
16 And he shall make amends for the harm that he
hath 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.
17 And 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.
18 And he shall bring a ram without blemish out of
the flock, with thy 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.
19 It is a trespass offering: he hath certainly trespassed against the
Lord.
The
common Christian teaching mixes truth with the lie that they were required to
bring this for every sin. The sin
offering could only purify someone from accidentally breaking the Torah. The death of the sin offering could never
bring forgiveness for intentional sins.
However,
Christians mix the truth that there was a sin offering with the lie that the
sin offering was given whenever they sinned.
This makes the lie very believable.
And you may not spot it unless you actually read the entire text, which
most Christians never do.
The sin offering could not be given to bring
forgiveness for anyone who chose to sin.
It could only purify the people from uncleanness and unintentionally
breaking the Law.
The
word translated as “sin offering” in the Old Testament is חַטָּאָה (chatta'ah). It is derived from the word חָטָא (chata),
which Strong’s defines as “A primitive root; properly, to miss;
hence (figuratively and generally) to sin; by inference, to forfeit, lack,
expiate, repent, (causatively) lead astray, condemn -- bear the blame, cleanse,
commit (sin), by fault, harm he hath done, loss, miss, (make) offend(-er),
offer for sin, purge, purify (self), make reconciliation, (cause, make)
sin(-ful, -ness), trespass.” We can see from this that its primary meaning
is “to miss”, as in missing the target, not intentionally sinning. It is also used in the context of purging and
purifying.
In
order to understand the Biblical understanding of the sin offering better, we
should look at some of the other ways it is used in the Bible. It was also used for:
1. Consecrating
and purifying the priests and the altar in the sanctuary (Exodus 29:1,14, 36)
1 And this is the thing that thou shalt do unto them to hallow them,
to minister unto me in the priest's office: Take one young bullock, and two
rams without blemish,
……………………………………………………………
14 But the flesh of the bullock, and his skin, and his dung, shalt
thou burn with fire without the camp: it is a sin offering.
…………………………………………………………………………
36 And thou shalt offer every day a bullock for a sin offering for
atonement: and thou shalt cleanse the altar, when thou hast made an atonement
for it, and thou shalt anoint it, to sanctify it.
2. Purifying a
woman after she gave birth (Leviticus 12: 6, 8).
6 And when the days of her purifying are fulfilled, for a son, or for
a daughter, she shall bring a lamb of the first year for a burnt offering, and
a young pigeon, or a turtledove, for a sin offering, unto the door of the
tabernacle of the congregation, unto the priest:
……………………………………………….
8 And if she be not able to bring a lamb, then she shall bring two
turtles, or two young pigeons; the one for the burnt offering, and the other
for a sin offering: and the priest shall make an atonement for her, and she
shall be clean.
3. Purification
after recovering from leprosy (Leviticus 14:2, 13, 19, 22, 31)
2 This shall be the law of the leper in the day of his cleansing: He
shall be brought unto the priest:
………………………………………………….
13 And he shall slay the lamb in the place where he shall kill the sin
offering and the burnt offering, in the holy place: for as the sin offering is
the priest's, so is the trespass offering: it is most holy:
……………………………………………..
19 And the priest shall offer the sin offering, and make an atonement
for him that is to be cleansed from his uncleanness; and afterward he shall
kill the burnt offering:
…………………………………………………
22 And two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, such as he is able to
get; and the one shall be a sin offering, and the other a burnt offering.
……………………………………………
31 Even such as he is able to get, the one for a sin offering, and the
other for a burnt offering, with the meat offering: and the priest shall make
an atonement for him that is to be cleansed before the Lord.
4. Make atonement
for a man’s bodily discharge (Leviticus 15:13-15)
13 And when he that hath an issue is cleansed of
his issue; then he shall number to himself seven days for his cleansing, and
wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in running water, and shall be clean.
14 And on the eighth day he shall take to him two
turtledoves, or two young pigeons, and come before the Lord unto the door of the tabernacle of the
congregation, and give them unto the priest:
15 And the priest shall offer them, the one for a sin offering, and
the other for a burnt offering; and the priest shall make an atonement for him
before the Lord for his issue.
5. Make atonement
for a woman’s menstruation. Notice that
this says that the Sin Offering makes atonement for a woman’s menstruation,
just as the previous quote concerned a man’s discharge. If
Christians are correct when they say that an atoning sacrifice brought
salvation, what does this say about menstruation? Are Christians really
understanding the words “sin” and “atonement”, or are they reading something
into the text? (Leviticus 15:19, 29-30)
19 And if a woman have an issue, and her issue in her flesh be blood,
she shall be put apart seven days: and whosoever toucheth her shall be unclean
until the even.
……………………………….
29 And on the eighth day she shall take unto her
two turtles, or two young pigeons, and bring them unto the priest, to the door
of the tabernacle of the congregation.
30 And the priest shall offer the one for a sin offering, and the
other for a burnt offering; and the priest shall make an atonement for her
before the Lord for the issue
of her uncleanness.
6. Celebrating the
Feast of Weeks (Leviticus 23:15-19)
15 And ye shall count unto you from the morrow
after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering;
seven sabbaths shall be complete:
16 Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath
shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the Lord.
17 Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave
loaves of two tenth deals; they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baken
with leaven; they are the firstfruits unto the Lord.
18 And ye shall offer with the bread seven lambs
without blemish of the first year, and one young bullock, and two rams: they
shall be for a burnt offering unto the Lord, with their meat offering, and their drink
offerings, even an offering made by fire, of sweet savour unto the Lord.
19 Then ye shall sacrifice one kid of the goats for a sin offering,
and two lambs of the first year for a sacrifice of peace offerings.
7. Purifying a
Nazarite who accidentally touched a dead body (Numbers 6:9-11)
9 And if any man die very suddenly by him, and he
hath defiled the head of his consecration; then he shall shave his head in the
day of his cleansing, on the seventh day shall he shave it.
10 And on the eighth day he shall bring two
turtles, or two young pigeons, to the priest, to the door of the tabernacle of
the congregation:
11 And the priest shall offer the one for a sin offering, and the
other for a burnt offering, and make an atonement for him, for that he sinned
by the dead, and shall hallow his head that same day.
8. Completing the
Nazarite vow (Numbers 6:13-14)
13 And this is the law of the Nazarite, when the
days of his separation are fulfilled: he shall be brought unto the door of the
tabernacle of the congregation:
14 And he shall offer his offering unto the Lord,
one he lamb of the first year without blemish for a burnt offering, and one ewe
lamb of the first year without blemish for a sin offering, and one ram without
blemish for peace offerings,
9. Purifying a
Levite to work in the sanctuary (Numbers 8: 6-8)
6 Take the Levites from among the children of
Israel, and cleanse them.
7 And thus shalt thou do unto them, to cleanse
them: Sprinkle water of purifying upon them, and let them shave all their
flesh, and let them wash their clothes, and so make themselves clean.
8 Then
let them take a young bullock with his meat offering, even fine flour mingled
with oil, and another young bullock shalt thou take for a sin offering.
From
looking at the larger context of the Sin Offering, we can see that its primary
purpose is purification. That is why it
can purify someone from unintentionally breaking the Law, but it cannot bring
forgiveness for choosing to break the Law.
But,
what would happen if someone did bring a sin offering for a sin they
intentionally committed, like many Christians claim they did? Let’s see what the Bible says.
Proverbs 21:27
27 The sacrifice of the wicked is abomination: how
much more, when he bringeth it with a wicked mind?
This
says that the sacrifice of a wicked person (someone who intentionally sins) is
an abomination. Bringing it with a
wicked mind makes it more of an abomination, which means it is automatically an
abomination, even if the intentions are good.
How does this affect the common teaching that a wicked person must claim
Jesus as their sacrifice in order to be forgiven? Should we view Jesus’s death as a punishment
for the sins of the wicked?
But, how
can a wicked person be forgiven, if not through sacrifice? Doesn’t the Bible say that sacrifices are
necessary and required for forgiveness?
Psalm
40:6
6 Sacrifice
and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened: burnt offering
and sin offering hast thou not required.
Psalm 51:16-19
16 For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I
give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering.
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a
broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
18 Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion: build
thou the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices
of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering: then shall they
offer bullocks upon thine altar.
The
above passages plainly state that God does not require sacrifices for the
forgiveness of intentional sins. God
requires a broken and contrite heart. In
other words, true repentance. In fact,
it goes on to clarify that it is the sacrifices of the righteous that God is
pleased with. This is exactly what the
Torah says about the sin offering. It
was for righteous people who accidentally broke one of the Mosaic Laws. It was not for those who intentionally
sinned.
Micah 6:6-8
6 Wherewith shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the high God? shall I
come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old?
7 Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten
thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the
fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
8 He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and
what doth the Lord require
of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?
This
passage plainly states that even the sacrifice of thousands of rams, or one
person dying for another, will not bring forgiveness for transgressions
(intentional sins). It says that a
wicked person must do justly, and love mercy, and walk humbly with God.
Isaiah
1:10-19
10 Hear the word of the Lord,
ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah.
11 To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me?
saith the Lord: I am full of the
burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the
blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats.
12 When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at
your hand, to tread my courts?
13 Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto
me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with;
it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting.
14 Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth:
they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them.
15 And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes
from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full
of blood.
16 Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings
from before mine eyes; cease to do evil;
17 Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed,
judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.
18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be
as wool.
19 If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the
land:
Here, Isaiah
is addressing wicked people symbolized by Sodom and Gomorrah. They have tried to please God through their
sacrifices and offerings and rituals.
God says He is tired of it. He
does not want any more of it. God tells
these wicked people what they must do.
They must put away their evil actions.
They must start to do good things like relieving the oppressed, seeking
judgment, and pleading for the widows.
Their sins will become white as snow if they are willing and obedient.
One of the
central claims of Penal Substitution is that God is so righteous he must punish
someone for our sins. He cannot simply
forgive. He must bring punishment for
sin. He cannot simply pardon and pass
over our sins. What does the Bible say?
Micah 7:
18-20
18 Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and
passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not
his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy.
19 He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will
subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the
sea.
20 Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to
Abraham, which thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old.
Notice that
none of the passages about forgiveness in the Old Testament mention of God
punishing someone else at a future time for our sins. That concept is completely absent from the
conversation. Search through the entire
Tanakh (Old Testament) for every discussion on forgiveness of sin. You will find many passages that talk about
how God is merciful and forgives sin.
You will find no mention of God punishing someone at a future date for
the sins of the people. It is simply not
there. Even the famous story of
Abraham’s sacrifice in Genesis 22 doesn’t make any mention of sin or
forgiveness for sin, despite the fact that Christians always read those
concepts into it. The central ideas
presented are obedience to God and trusting God. Isaac lives because he and his father trust
God and are willing to suffer the same death the ram experiences.
There
are a few things we need to address.
Isaiah 53 is commonly seen as a messianic prophecy. Verse 5 says, “he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities”. And verses 11 and 12 mention him bearing the
iniquities and sins of the people. We
will use the Apostles and the Bible to interpret these verses.
First, we will look at what it means
to bear someone’s sins and iniquities. The
apostle Matthew wrote:
Matthew
8:16-17
16 When the even was come, they brought unto him many
that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and
healed all that were sick:
17 That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias
the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses.
Did Jesus become sick with the
diseases and demon possession of the people he healed? No, of course not. So, what does Matthew mean when he says that
Jesus bore our sickness? Obviously,
Matthew sees the bearing of sickness as a metaphor for curing their
sickness. This is not my
interpretation. This is the interpretation
provided in the Bible by one of the 12 Apostles.
This provides us with valuable
insight into what the New Testament authors meant by bearing our sins. Here we have positive evidence that they may
have understood bearing sins to be a metaphor for curing our sins. Since “sin is the transgression of the law”
(1 John 3:4), curing us from our sin would involve stopping us from
transgressing the law, becoming like Jesus and following in his footsteps. The larger context of that verse seems to
indicate as much.
1 John 3:4-11
4 Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin
is the transgression of the law.
5 And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins;
and in him is no sin.
6 Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath
not seen him, neither known him.
7 Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness
is righteous, even as he is righteous.
8 He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil
sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested,
that he might destroy the works of the devil.
9 Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed
remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.
10 In this the children of God are manifest, and the children
of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that
loveth not his brother.
11 For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning,
that we should love one another.
If this is the correct
interpretation, then we would expect to see it in Jesus’s teaching. When we look at Jesus’s teaching about his
death, we find reference to this very thing.
Notice that Jesus mentions drawing people to him and making them like
him through his death. He doesn’t say
anything about them believing he is punished for their sins. Christians often assume it is implied, but it
is not actually stated. It has to be read into the text.
John 12:23-33
23 And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, that the
Son of man should be glorified.
24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall
into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth
much fruit.
25 He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth
his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.
26 If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am,
there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.
27 Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save
me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour.
28 Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from
heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.
29 The people therefore, that stood by, and heard it, said that
it thundered: others said, An angel spake to him.
30 Jesus answered and said, This voice came not because of me,
but for your sakes.
31 Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of
this world be cast out.
32 And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men
unto me.
33 This he said, signifying what death he should die.
The Septuagint is an ancient Greek
translation of the Old Testament made by Jewish scribes a few centuries before
Jesus. It is very important to
understanding the New Testament because the majority of Old Testament quotes in
the New Testament are made from the Septuagint.
Interestingly, Matthew’s quote here is a little different than what is
found in the Septuagint.
Isaiah 53:4
|
οὗτος τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἡμῶν φέρει καὶ περὶ ἡμῶν ὀδυνᾶται
|
Obviously, Matthew favored the
translation he used, but the fact that it could be translated as bearing sins
shows that it is relevant to our understanding of bearing sins. Most importantly, Matthew has shown us that
the New Testament authors understood bearing something to mean bearing away or
curing, not taking it on oneself.
Now, if Jesus draws all men unto him
through his death, then they will be delivered from their sinful ways. Their sinful ways will be removed from
them. If we keep in mind what Jesus said
above, then we have the context to properly understand what he said at the Last
Supper.
Matthew 26:28
28 For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many
for the remission of sins.
If we use
Matthew’s interpretation of Isaiah 53:4, we understand that verses 11 and 12
are not talking about the servant being punished for our sins. Instead, bearing our iniquity is a metaphor
for drawing us out of our iniquity and removing our sinful ways.
Now, verse 5 says, “he was
wounded for our transgressions, he was
bruised for our iniquities”. This does
sound a lot like being punished for our sins.
Most translations done by Christians render it this way. Jews say it is a mistranslation. They say that “for” should be “because
of”. The JPS (Jewish Publication
Society) translation renders this phrase “But he was wounded because of our
transgressions, he was crushed because of our iniquities”. This slight difference of wording
significantly changes the way it reads.
This means that the servant was not punished for our transgressions,
instead it is more a cause and effect.
Naturally, the Jews will push for a
translation that undermines the Christian interpretation of this chapter. Also, Christians will always push for a translation
that supports their claims. I don’t want
to just simply take one side or the other’s word for it. Fortunately, we have a neutral authoritative
party we can go to. The Septuagint. This translation was made by Jews who spoke
Hebrew natively who lived before Jesus was born. This provides us with a window into how they
understood it. Did they think it meant
“for” or “because of”?
Isaiah 53:5
|
5
|
But he was wounded on
account of our sins, and was bruised because of our iniquities:
the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and by his bruises we were
healed.[3]
|
αὐτὸς δὲ ἐτραυματίσθη διὰ τὰς ἀνομίας ἡμῶν καὶ μεμαλάκισται διὰ τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἡμῶν· παιδεία εἰρήνης ἡμῶν ἐπ᾿ αὐτόν, τῷ μώλωπι αὐτοῦ ἡμεῖς ἰάθημεν.
|
Here, we can see that the Jews
before Jesus was born translated it very similarly to how modern Jews
translated it. Their understanding of it
has not changed. More importantly, the
Septuagint was heavily used by both the New Testament authors and the early
Christians. What it says helps to inform
us on what the New Testament authors meant.
Back to the sacrifices, I should
address the Trespass Offering (Leviticus 6:1-7). This is a sacrifice given after certain
intentional wrongdoings such as lying and cheating someone out of an agreement. Some would say that this shows that the
sacrifice could be given for intentional sins.
However, this sacrifice doesn’t help the case for penal
substitution. This passage requires the
sinner to pay the person he has wronged everything he owes him plus 20%. Only after the sinner has completely paid the
price himself can he bring the trespass offering to the sanctuary. There is no way to get penal substitution out
of this sacrifice if the sinner is completely punished for the offence before
he brings the sacrifice. This sacrifice
functions more like a fine imposed by God’s court.
This is meant to be a brief study on
what the Bible actually says about the Sin Offering. A full study into forgiveness of sins is
beyond the scope of this work. I would
encourage you to study what the Bible actually says. Read the Biblical passages in their
entirety. And remember, the New
Testament was written by people and for people who were reared on the Old
Testament. Therefore, the New Testament
must be interpreted through the lens of the Old Testament and not the other way
around.
[1] White, Ellen G.
(2010-12-05). Patriarchs and Prophets (Conflict of the Ages) (Kindle Locations 5408-5415). Copyright ©
2010, Ellen G. White Estate, Inc.. Kindle Edition.
[2] Brenton, Sir
Lancelot C. L. (2014-03-27). LXX Septuagint: An English Translation of the
Greek Old Testament (Kindle Locations 36383-36384). . Kindle Edition.
[3]
Brenton, Sir Lancelot C. L. (2014-03-27). LXX Septuagint: An English
Translation of the Greek Old Testament (Kindle Locations 36385-36386). . Kindle Edition.
