Numbers 7.13-17
His offering was … one male goat for a sin offering.
Whereas in the burnt offering the acceptableness of the sacrifice is transferred to the sinner, in the sin offering the unacceptableness of the sinner is transferred to the sacrifice. Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross achieves both of these things. In John 18.11 Jesus said “Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?” – he is determined to do his Father’s will – that’s the burnt offering; in Mark 14.36 he said: “Take this cup from me” as he shrank in horror at the thought of becoming the sin offering. In the burnt offering we see Christ as the accomplisher of the will of God; in the sin offering we see him as the bearer of man’s sin. The other offerings are all described in the early chapters of Leviticus as ‘an aroma pleasing to the LORD’, but this is not said of the sin offering. God takes no pleasure in dealing with our sin. Part of the sin offering had to be burnt ‘outside the camp’. “As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” We find that in Leviticus more is said about the sin offering than the grain, burnt, and fellowship offerings combined; and it repeatedly talks about sins we weren’t even aware of – God has to open our eyes to the sinfulness we are blind to.
In his spotless soul’s distress
I perceive my guiltiness;
Oh, how vile my low estate,
Since my ransom was so great!
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