Scripture Daily

Context No. 1420 of 4322 · Leviticus

Context · Reflection

Leviticus 4:13-21: in context

13“‘If the whole congregation of Israel sins, and the thing is hidden from the eyes of the assembly, and they have done any of the things which the LORD has commanded not to be done, and are guilty; 14when the sin in which they have sinned is known, then the assembly shall offer a young bull for a sin offering, and bring it before the Tent of Meeting. 15The elders of the congregation shall lay their hands on the head of the bull before the LORD; and the bull shall be killed before the LORD. 16The anointed priest shall bring some of the blood of the bull to the Tent of Meeting. 17The priest shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle it seven times before the LORD, before the veil. 18He shall put some of the blood on the horns of the altar which is before the LORD, that is in the Tent of Meeting; and the rest of the blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering, which is at the door of the Tent of Meeting. 19All its fat he shall take from it, and burn it on the altar. 20He shall do this with the bull; as he did with the bull of the sin offering, so he shall do with this; and the priest shall make atonement for them, and they shall be forgiven. 21He shall carry the bull outside the camp, and burn it as he burned the first bull. It is the sin offering for the assembly.

This law addresses a particular case: what happens when the whole congregation of Israel sins unintentionally, doing something God had forbidden without realizing it, and the guilt is hidden from them until the sin later becomes known. The remedy is prescribed. When the sin is recognized, the assembly brings a bull as a sin offering; the elders lay their hands on its head, representing the whole community; the blood is sprinkled before the veil and put on the altar; atonement is made, and, the text says, they shall be forgiven.

Two things stand out in this provision. The first is that sin committed in ignorance is still real sin that needs dealing with. The congregation had done what God forbade without knowing it, in good conscience, unaware; and yet, when the sin came to light, it could not simply be shrugged off as innocent because it had been unintentional. It was real, and it required atonement. This is a sobering thought, that we can be genuinely guilty of things we did not realize were wrong, sins of ignorance and blindness that are no less real for being unrecognized at the time. But the second thing is the greater mercy: God provides for exactly this. He does not leave the community crushed when they discover they have been wrong all along; he gives a way for the hidden sin, once known, to be atoned for and forgiven. And notice the response the law prescribes when the sin becomes known: not to hide it, not to defend or excuse it, but to bring it openly before God for cleansing. There is a pattern here for the moments when we discover, individually or together, that we have been wrong in something we never questioned. The discovery is not meant to drive us to despair or denial but to bring the newly seen sin to God, who has provided for it, and to receive the forgiveness he offers. When we learn we have been wrong, the way forward is not to hide it but to bring it to God and be forgiven.

When I discover that I have been wrong in something I never questioned, a sin of ignorance now brought to light, do I hide or excuse it, or do I bring it openly to God, who has provided atonement, and receive the forgiveness he offers?

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