Leviticus Lessons: Offerings VI

Good Morning Fam,

How is everyone doing today?  I hope very well!  We are nearing the end of our study on offerings from Leviticus.  I will not delay so lets dive into the Trespass Offering, which as you will discover is quite similar to the Sin Offering.  The scriptures from which we will be working are Leviticus 5:14-19 and 6:1-7.

If you recall last week, we talked about the Sin Offering as one where no restitution or repayment was required.  Well if you guessed correctly, the Trespass (or Guilt) offering is the one where a fine or repayment is required.  The two are so similar in that "the Trespass Offering and the Sin Offering have some degree of overlap, where 'Sin' might be considered to be our sinful nature and 'Trespass' as a sinful deed, a wrongdoing, a trespass."¹

Lev. 5:14-19 discusses those unintentional sins against the Holy Things of the Lord and this is where it overlaps with the sin offering.  The Lord's instruction directs the person to bring forth "a ram from the flock, one without defect and of the proper value in silver, according to the sanctuary shekel" and "[h]e must make restitution for what he has failed to do in regard to the holy things, add a fifth of the value to that and give it all to the priest, who will make atonement for him with the ram as a guilt offering, and he will be forgiven." (see Lev. 5:15-16). 

Lev. 6:1-7 talks about what happens to someone who intentionally or knowingly sins.  I encourage you to read it at your leisure, but if I had to paraphrase this is what I would say - these verses discuss how to make atonement for a person sinning by violating God's law against people and/or their possessions. With that being said, you are liable for the repayment of that possession and/or in a monetary value.  In the same way, the sinner must bring a ram without defect and of the correct value so that the priest can make atonement for them.

The Trespass Offering is pretty straight forward, but the key to understand is that its focus is on the sinner who knowingly did wrong.  While there is some overlap with the sin offering, the focus is more so on the deed rather than the sinful nature.  At the end of the day, a sin is a sin is a sin and I guess that's why they are so lumped together in the Bible.

Be blessed gang and have a good one.

~Antoine


¹"Trespassing Offering". The Offerings (Leviticus Chapters 1 to 7).