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| This is the New King James text of the passages. |
Leviticus 5-7 Listen 
Notice the outline in the box to the right of the screen to view the five categories of sacrifices explained in Leviticus 1-7.
And these three sins need a sacrifice too (Leviticus 5:1-13)
This is a continuation of the sin offering which began in Leviticus 4:1 (see notes).
1 “If a person sins in hearing the utterance of an oath, and is a witness, whether he has seen or known of the matter—if he does not tell it, he bears guilt.
2 ¶ “Or if a person touches any unclean thing, whether it is the carcass of an unclean beast, or the carcass of unclean livestock, or the carcass of unclean creeping things, and he is unaware of it, he also shall be unclean and guilty.
3 Or if he touches human uncleanness—whatever uncleanness with which a man may be defiled, and he is unaware of it—when he realizes it, then he shall be guilty.
4 ¶ “Or if a person swears, speaking thoughtlessly with his lips to do evil or to do good, whatever it is that a man may pronounce by an oath, and he is unaware of it—when he realizes it, then he shall be guilty in any of these matters.
5 ¶ “And it shall be, when he is guilty in any of these matters, that he shall confess that he has sinned in that thing;
6 and he shall bring his trespass offering to the LORD for his sin which he has committed, a female from the flock, a lamb or a kid of the goats as a sin offering. So the priest shall make atonement for him concerning his sin.
7 ¶ “If he is not able to bring a lamb, then he shall bring to the LORD, for his trespass which he has committed, two turtledoves or two young pigeons: one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering.
8 And he shall bring them to the priest, who shall offer that which is for the sin offering first, and wring off its head from its neck, but shall not divide it completely.
9 Then he shall sprinkle some of the blood of the sin offering on the side of the altar, and the rest of the blood shall be drained out at the base of the altar. It is a sin offering.
10 And he shall offer the second as a burnt offering according to the prescribed manner. So the priest shall make atonement on his behalf for his sin which he has committed, and it shall be forgiven him.
11 ¶ “But if he is not able to bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons, then he who sinned shall bring for his offering one-tenth of an ephah of fine flour as a sin offering. He shall put no oil on it, nor shall he put frankincense on it, for it is a sin offering.
12 Then he shall bring it to the priest, and the priest shall take his handful of it as a memorial portion, and burn it on the altar according to the offerings made by fire to the LORD. It is a sin offering.
13 The priest shall make atonement for him, for his sin that he has committed in any of these matters; and it shall be forgiven him. The rest shall be the priest’s as a grain offering.’ ”
If you lived in Israel back then, you might discover that you sinned without really meaning to, or inadvertently. So here's some sacrificial solutions that really continue from Leviticus 4:27-33 (see notes) for regular ol' Hebrew people.
These first 13 verses deal with three categories of inadvertent sin:
Verses 5-13 explain the procedure for sacrificing for inadvertent sin. If you sin, you confess it and bring your sacrifice to the priest, a female lamb or goat. But what if you are too poor to bring a lamb or a goat? Well, then bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons. But what if you can't afford to even bring doves or pigeons? Then bring some fine flour; the priest will burn a handful of fine flour on the altar if that's all you have. We see more about this "sin offering" in Leviticus 6:24-30 (see below).
I should point here that this inadvertent sin has no direct correlation for the Christian. A Christian's walk with God is a product of being led by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit leadership in one's life keeps him from sin. The formal definition of sin for the Christian is found in James 4:17 (see notes), "Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin." So, for the Believer, sin is when we are led by the Holy Spirit to do (or not do) one thing, and we rebel against the Holy Spirit's leadership. There's nothing inadvertent about that.
And finally, the guilt offering (Leviticus 5:14-6:7)
The Guilt Offering
14 ¶ Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying:
15 “If a person commits a trespass, and sins unintentionally in regard to the holy things of the LORD, then he shall bring to the LORD as his trespass offering a ram without blemish from the flocks, with your valuation in shekels of silver according to the shekel of the sanctuary, as a trespass offering.
16 And he shall make restitution for the harm that he has done in regard to the holy thing, and shall add one-fifth to it and give it to the priest. So the priest shall make atonement for him with the ram of the trespass offering, and it shall be forgiven him.
17 ¶ “If a person sins, and commits any of these things which are forbidden to be done by the commandments of the LORD, though he does not know it, yet he is guilty and shall bear his iniquity.
18 And he shall bring to the priest a ram without blemish from the flock, with your valuation, as a trespass offering. So the priest shall make atonement for him regarding his ignorance in which he erred and did not know it, and it shall be forgiven him.
19 It is a trespass offering; he has certainly trespassed against the LORD.”Leviticus 6:1 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying:
2 “If a person sins and commits a trespass against the LORD by lying to his neighbor about what was delivered to him for safekeeping, or about a pledge, or about a robbery, or if he has extorted from his neighbor,
3 or if he has found what was lost and lies concerning it, and swears falsely—in any one of these things that a man may do in which he sins:
4 then it shall be, because he has sinned and is guilty, that he shall restore what he has stolen, or the thing which he has extorted, or what was delivered to him for safekeeping, or the lost thing which he found,
5 or all that about which he has sworn falsely. He shall restore its full value, add one-fifth more to it, and give it to whomever it belongs, on the day of his trespass offering.
6 And he shall bring his trespass offering to the LORD, a ram without blemish from the flock, with your valuation, as a trespass offering, to the priest.
7 So the priest shall make atonement for him before the LORD, and he shall be forgiven for any one of these things that he may have done in which he trespasses.”
This offering relates to restitution, or compensation, that has to be paid because of some misappropriation of property or failure in regard to material things. Here, the offender is guilty of some lack of integrity or honesty in his dealings with either the priests or his neighbors. Whatever the damage incurred here, it has to be restored and compensated with a 20% penalty in addition to the sacrifice of a male sheep. Additional instructions are found in Leviticus 7:1-7 (see below).
Now...how about those priests? (Leviticus 6:8-7:36)
This section of scripture outlines the requirements of the priests regarding these sacrifices.
We saw the five categories of offerings in the first five chapters of Leviticus.
These chapters served as the framework of instruction for the people of Israel to know what to do when they sin. Now we're going to see these same categories listed from the priest's perspective. In other words, what is the priest's responsibility when the people come to him with these sacrifices?
What the priest does with the burnt offering (Leviticus 6:8-13)
8 ¶ Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
9 “Command Aaron and his sons, saying, ‘This is the law of the burnt offering: The burnt offering shall be on the hearth upon the altar all night until morning, and the fire of the altar shall be kept burning on it.
10 And the priest shall put on his linen garment, and his linen trousers he shall put on his body, and take up the ashes of the burnt offering which the fire has consumed on the altar, and he shall put them beside the altar.
11 Then he shall take off his garments, put on other garments, and carry the ashes outside the camp to a clean place.
12 And the fire on the altar shall be kept burning on it; it shall not be put out. And the priest shall burn wood on it every morning, and lay the burnt offering in order on it; and he shall burn on it the fat of the peace offerings.
13 A fire shall always be burning on the altar; it shall never go out.
The Brazen Altar
Picture courtesy of BiblePlaces.com
Let's review the specifications of the Brazen Altar here in the courtyard of the tabernacle. You will recall that it stands about 4.5 feet tall and is about 7.5 feet square on it's surface. Now consider this. the fire had to be hot enough to completely consume whatever was laid upon it. But wait! There's more! We see here that this fire had to burn 24 hours each day, seven days each week. Every morning one of the priests had to put on his priestly garment and go empty the ashes of the Brazen Altar. After removing the ashes, he changed clothes before he carried the ashes outside the camp to a clean place. This priest refueled and stoked the fire in this process, and the ashes were removed while the fire was burning.
What the priest does with the meat (grain) offering (Leviticus 6:14-23)
14 ¶ “This is the law of the grain offering: The sons of Aaron shall offer it on the altar before the LORD.
15 He shall take from it his handful of the fine flour of the grain offering, with its oil, and all the frankincense which is on the grain offering, and shall burn it on the altar for a sweet aroma, as a memorial to the LORD.
16 And the remainder of it Aaron and his sons shall eat; with unleavened bread it shall be eaten in a holy place; in the court of the tabernacle of meeting they shall eat it.
17 It shall not be baked with leaven. I have given it as their portion of My offerings made by fire; it is most holy, like the sin offering and the trespass offering.
18 All the males among the children of Aaron may eat it. It shall be a statute forever in your generations concerning the offerings made by fire to the LORD. Everyone who touches them must be holy.’ ”
19 ¶ And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
20 “This is the offering of Aaron and his sons, which they shall offer to the LORD, beginning on the day when he is anointed: one-tenth of an ephah of fine flour as a daily grain offering, half of it in the morning and half of it at night.
21 It shall be made in a pan with oil. When it is mixed, you shall bring it in. The baked pieces of the grain offering you shall offer for a sweet aroma to the LORD.
22 The priest from among his sons, who is anointed in his place, shall offer it. It is a statute forever to the LORD. It shall be wholly burned.
23 For every grain offering for the priest shall be wholly burned. It shall not be eaten.”
These instructions are essentially a repeat of those found in Leviticus 2:1-16 (see notes) with a couple of additions. First of all, the priests are told in this passage how they are to eat their portion of this sacrifice brought by the people. Secondly, we find instructions regarding this sacrifice when it is brought by the priests themselves on the day of their anointing for the priesthood. On this occasion, this sacrifice is not eaten, but wholly offered and consumed on the Brazen Altar.
Instructions for eating the sin offering (Leviticus 6:24-30)
24 ¶ Also the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
25 “Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying, ‘This is the law of the sin offering: In the place where the burnt offering is killed, the sin offering shall be killed before the LORD. It is most holy.
26 The priest who offers it for sin shall eat it. In a holy place it shall be eaten, in the court of the tabernacle of meeting.
27 Everyone who touches its flesh must be holy. And when its blood is sprinkled on any garment, you shall wash that on which it was sprinkled, in a holy place.
28 But the earthen vessel in which it is boiled shall be broken. And if it is boiled in a bronze pot, it shall be both scoured and rinsed in water.
29 All the males among the priests may eat it. It is most holy.
30 But no sin offering from which any of the blood is brought into the tabernacle of meeting, to make atonement in the holy place, shall be eaten. It shall be burned in the fire.
This is the offering we saw in Leviticus 4:1-5:13 (see notes). It would appear from these verses that one of the big sights to see in the outer court area of the Tabernacle was a bunch of the priests feasting on the sin offerings brought to them by the people; these meals had to be eaten there. Notice that NO blood from these sacrifices could leave this sacred area - not even on clothing. Everything had to be thoroughly washed of this sacrificial blood. There was even a concern that a residue of this offering might remain on the ceramic pots used for cooking, so they were to be broken after use. Apparently for this reason, metal pots were preferred instead.
Instruction to the priests regarding the guilt (trespass) offering (Leviticus 7:1-10)
1 “Likewise this is the law of the trespass offering (it is most holy):
2 In the place where they kill the burnt offering they shall kill the trespass offering. And its blood he shall sprinkle all around on the altar.
3 And he shall offer from it all its fat. The fat tail and the fat that covers the entrails,
4 the two kidneys and the fat that is on them by the flanks, and the fatty lobe attached to the liver above the kidneys, he shall remove;
5 and the priest shall burn them on the altar as an offering made by fire to the LORD. It is a trespass offering.
6 Every male among the priests may eat it. It shall be eaten in a holy place. It is most holy.
7 The trespass offering is like the sin offering; there is one law for them both: the priest who makes atonement with it shall have it.
8 And the priest who offers anyone’s burnt offering, that priest shall have for himself the skin of the burnt offering which he has offered.
9 Also every grain offering that is baked in the oven and all that is prepared in the covered pan, or in a pan, shall be the priest’s who offers it.
10 Every grain offering, whether mixed with oil or dry, shall belong to all the sons of Aaron, to one as much as the other.
These are further instructions to the priests regarding the offering we saw in Leviticus 5:14-6:7 (see above). We notice here that, not only do the priests eat this food there on the premises, the priest that assisted in the sacrifice gets to keep the skin (verse 8). It would seem to me that an accumulation of skins could be a significant enhancement to one's wealth.
And finally...the peace offering (Leviticus 7:11-36)
11 ¶ “This is the law of the sacrifice of peace offerings which he shall offer to the LORD:
12 If he offers it for a thanksgiving, then he shall offer, with the sacrifice of thanksgiving, unleavened cakes mixed with oil, unleavened wafers anointed with oil, or cakes of blended flour mixed with oil.
13 Besides the cakes, as his offering he shall offer leavened bread with the sacrifice of thanksgiving of his peace offering.
14 And from it he shall offer one cake from each offering as a heave offering to the LORD. It shall belong to the priest who sprinkles the blood of the peace offering.
15 ¶ “The flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offering for thanksgiving shall be eaten the same day it is offered. He shall not leave any of it until morning.
16 But if the sacrifice of his offering is a vow or a voluntary offering, it shall be eaten the same day that he offers his sacrifice; but on the next day the remainder of it also may be eaten;
17 the remainder of the flesh of the sacrifice on the third day must be burned with fire.
18 And if any of the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offering is eaten at all on the third day, it shall not be accepted, nor shall it be imputed to him; it shall be an abomination to him who offers it, and the person who eats of it shall bear guilt.
19 ¶ “The flesh that touches any unclean thing shall not be eaten. It shall be burned with fire. And as for the clean flesh, all who are clean may eat of it.
20 But the person who eats the flesh of the sacrifice of the peace offering that belongs to the LORD, while he is unclean, that person shall be cut off from his people.
21 Moreover the person who touches any unclean thing, such as human uncleanness, an unclean animal, or any abominable unclean thing, and who eats the flesh of the sacrifice of the peace offering that belongs to the LORD, that person shall be cut off from his people.’ ”
22 ¶ And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
23 “Speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘You shall not eat any fat, of ox or sheep or goat.
24 And the fat of an animal that dies naturally, and the fat of what is torn by wild beasts, may be used in any other way; but you shall by no means eat it.
25 For whoever eats the fat of the animal of which men offer an offering made by fire to the LORD, the person who eats it shall be cut off from his people.
26 Moreover you shall not eat any blood in any of your dwellings, whether of bird or beast.
27 Whoever eats any blood, that person shall be cut off from his people.’ ”
28 ¶ Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
29 “Speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘He who offers the sacrifice of his peace offering to the LORD shall bring his offering to the LORD from the sacrifice of his peace offering.
30 His own hands shall bring the offerings made by fire to the LORD. The fat with the breast he shall bring, that the breast may be waved as a wave offering before the LORD.
31 And the priest shall burn the fat on the altar, but the breast shall be Aaron’s and his sons’.
32 Also the right thigh you shall give to the priest as a heave offering from the sacrifices of your peace offerings.
33 He among the sons of Aaron, who offers the blood of the peace offering and the fat, shall have the right thigh for his part.
34 For the breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the heave offering I have taken from the children of Israel, from the sacrifices of their peace offerings, and I have given them to Aaron the priest and to his sons from the children of Israel by a statute forever.’ ”
35 ¶ This is the consecrated portion for Aaron and his sons, from the offerings made by fire to the LORD, on the day when Moses presented them to minister to the LORD as priests.
36 The LORD commanded this to be given to them by the children of Israel, on the day that He anointed them, by a statute forever throughout their generations.
In verses 12-18 we see three kinds of occasions when a person might bring a peace offering:
We find separate regulations for the first (12-15), but the last two are dealt with together (16-18).
These offerings were eaten by laymen. Rules for guarding their sacredness were therefore needed (verse 19). They must be kept clean. An unclean person must absolutely not eat of the sacred meal (verse 20). In verses 28-36 we see the parts of the fellowship offering that belonged to the priest - the breast (verse 30) and the right thigh (verse 33).
You'll notice some pretty strong warnings against touching unclean animals or eating unclean food. The phrase "cut off from his people" in these verses is much debated among scholars. Most do not think this means they were executed, but obviously some differentiation was made in their status after such an occasion, and it obviously wasn't a good differentiation. And whatever you do, DON'T EAT FAT OR BLOOD! According to verse 25-27, that carried the same severe penalty as well.
Finally...the wrap up (Leviticus 7:37-38)
37 ¶ This is the law of the burnt offering, the grain offering, the sin offering, the trespass offering, the consecrations, and the sacrifice of the peace offering,
38 which the LORD commanded Moses on Mount Sinai, on the day when He commanded the children of Israel to offer their offerings to the LORD in the Wilderness of Sinai.
I can't resist putting this into perspective the same way I do so frequently. For those Believers who still believe they are obligated to keep the Law of Moses, what about these? These sacrificial laws are just as important in the Law of Moses as any other law. Take note of what verse 36 says with regard to the expiration date for these laws of sacrifice, "...by a statute forever throughout their generations."
Here's the good news: Jesus Christ fulfilled the requirements of the law on the cross. He said so in Matthew 5:17-18 (see notes). Reason with this in mind: If he didn't fulfill all of the requirements of the Law of Moses on the cross, he didn't' fulfill any of them. Therefore, either keep them all or keep none of them, but don't pick and choose to keep only the ones that are convenient.
