Leviticus 4:13-21: a reflection

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 passage provides for something we might not expect: atonement for the sin of the whole community. If the whole congregation of Israel sins unintentionally, the law says, and the matter is hidden from the assembly, when the sin becomes known, the assembly is to bring an offering, and atonement is made for them, and they are forgiven. God made provision not only for individual sins, but for the corporate sin of the whole community, including sin done without their even realizing it.

Notice that the community as a whole could sin, even unwittingly, and needed atonement. We tend to think of sin as an individual matter; but here is provision for the sin of the whole assembly, the shared guilt of a community, including wrongs done that were hidden even from those who did them. There is such a thing as corporate sin, the sin we share in as part of a community or a people, often without fully realizing it; and it too needs atonement.

That is a sobering and important truth. We share in the sins of our communities and our society, wrongs we participate in or benefit from, often without realizing our part in them; and such shared, corporate guilt is real before God. It is not enough to consider only our individual sins; we do well to acknowledge, too, the corporate wrongs we share in, and to seek God's mercy for them. Acknowledge not only your individual sins, but the shared, corporate wrongs of which you are a part, often unaware; and seek atonement for these as well. And take heart that the atonement Christ made covers even the sins we share in corporately and the wrongs we do without realizing; his sacrifice is sufficient for all our sin, individual and corporate, known and unknown.

Lord, this passage provides atonement even for the sin of the whole community, including sin done unwittingly, hidden from the assembly; you made provision not only for individual sins, but for the corporate guilt of a people. Teach me that sobering truth. I tend to think of sin as an individual matter; but there is such a thing as corporate sin, the sin I share in as part of a community or society, wrongs I participate in or benefit from, often without realizing my part in them; and such shared guilt is real before you. Help me not to consider only my individual sins, but to acknowledge, too, the corporate wrongs I share in, and to seek your mercy for them. And thank you that the atonement Christ made covers even the sins I share in corporately and the wrongs I do without realizing; his sacrifice is sufficient for all my sin, individual and corporate, known and unknown. Help me acknowledge my part in shared wrongs, and rest in the fullness of Christ's atonement that covers it all.