Leviticus 4 – The Sin Offering: Atonement for Unintentional Sin
Leviticus 4 marks a shift from voluntary worship to required atonement. The sin offering was God’s provision for unintentional sins—actions done in ignorance or without intent to rebel, yet still defiling. It taught that all sin requires atonement, whether intentional or not.
Mercy for the Mistaken
Leviticus 4 reveals God’s justice and mercy in perfect balance. Even sins done in ignorance are not overlooked—but neither are they left without remedy. The sin offering teaches us that God takes sin seriously, but also makes a way to restore purity and fellowship through substitution and blood.
✔ The offering varied depending on who sinned: priest, leader, congregation, or individual.
✔ The animal was to be without blemish.
✔ The blood was applied inside the sanctuary—symbolizing the seriousness of sin.
✔ The fat was burned on the altar; the rest of the animal was burned outside the camp.
📖 Key Verse: “And the priest shall make an atonement for them, and it shall be forgiven them.” – Leviticus 4:20
🔎 God’s mercy flows wherever repentance and sacrifice meet.
Leviticus Chapter 4 Overview
Leviticus 4:1–12 – Sin of the Anointed Priest
📖 Leviticus 4:3 – “If the priest that is anointed do sin… then let him bring for his sin… a young bullock without blemish.”
🔎 Higher calling, greater accountability:
🔹 The priest’s sin polluted the sanctuary and required a more intense atonement.
🔹 Blood was sprinkled seven times before the veil—highlighting its sacredness.
🔹 The fat was burned on the altar; the rest taken outside the camp—a picture of shame and removal.
➡️ Christ Connection: Jesus, our perfect High Priest, suffered “outside the camp” to bear our sin and shame (Hebrews 13:12).
Leviticus 4:13–21 – Sin of the Whole Congregation
📖 Leviticus 4:14 – “The congregation shall offer a young bullock… and the elders shall lay their hands…”
🔎 Corporate responsibility:
🔹 When the whole assembly sinned unknowingly, collective repentance was required.
🔹 The elders represented the people in laying hands on the animal—transferring guilt.
🔹 Blood was again applied inside the sanctuary, showing national defilement.
➡️ Faith Insight: God calls entire communities to confess and correct hidden wrongs—not just individuals.
Leviticus 4:22–26 – Sin of a Ruler
📖 Leviticus 4:22 – “When a ruler hath sinned, and done somewhat… and is guilty…”
🔎 Leadership under scrutiny:
🔹 Leaders were accountable for influencing others, and their sin had broad consequences.
🔹 Their offering was a male goat, still without blemish.
🔹 Blood was not taken inside the sanctuary—but still applied to the altar, showing a lesser but still serious defilement.
➡️ Spiritual Insight: Leadership requires humility and regular self-examination—because others follow where you step.
Leviticus 4:27–35 – Sin of an Individual
📖 Leviticus 4:27 – “If any one of the common people sin through ignorance…”
🔎 Atonement for all:
🔹 God made provision for everyone—from priest to peasant.
🔹 The offering was a female goat or lamb—symbolizing life, nurture, and innocence.
🔹 The same process applied: laying on of hands, killing the sacrifice, applying the blood.
➡️ Faith Insight: God cares deeply for every soul. Sin matters, but grace is available to all who come by faith.
Leviticus Chapter 4 - Deeper Study
Overview: Atonement for the Unaware
🔹 Theme: God provides atonement even for sins done unknowingly.
🔹 Focus: Mercy through substitutionary sacrifice.
🔹 Outcome: Forgiveness is given when repentance meets God’s prescribed way.
Living the Sin Offering Today
🔎 The sin offering points to our deep need for ongoing cleansing—even when our sins are unintentional or unknown.
🔹 We no longer offer bulls or goats, but we come to God through the blood of Jesus, our perfect substitute.
🔹 We ask the Holy Spirit to search our hearts and reveal hidden faults (Psalm 139:23–24).
🔹 Confession becomes a daily rhythm, not a rare event—keeping our walk close and our hearts clean.
🔹 We extend grace to others because we recognize how much grace has been given to us.
📖 “Cleanse thou me from secret faults.” – Psalm 19:12
📖 “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins…” – 1 John 1:9
➡️ Modern Application: Let the sin offering remind us to stay sensitive, stay humble, and stay under the blood.
Key Takeaways
🔑 Even unintentional sins require atonement.
🔑 The higher the position, the greater the accountability.
🔑 Blood is the means of forgiveness and purification.
🔑 God offers grace to individuals and communities alike.
Prophetic Patterns & Dual Fulfillment
🔮 Jesus fulfilled the sin offering—He bore our sins whether known or unknown (Isaiah 53:6).
🔮 His blood was sprinkled in the true heavenly sanctuary (Hebrews 9:12).
🔮 Like the sin offering, Christ was taken outside the city and crucified in shame (Hebrews 13:12–13).
Historical & Cultural Context
📜 Sanctuary Defilement – Unintentional sin still corrupted worship and required purification.
📜 Outside the Camp – Burning the remains outside the camp represented separation from the holy and the need to remove sin from the community.
📜 Confession and Awareness – Sin was addressed when discovered, showing the importance of teaching, awareness, and responsiveness.
Final Reflection: Forgiveness for the Unseen
Leviticus 4 reminds us that God’s justice never ignores sin, but His mercy never withholds a way back. Whether leader or layperson, God provides a path of cleansing—and it always begins with humble repentance and a substitute bearing the cost.
📌 Do you ask God to reveal hidden sins in your heart?
📌 Are you quick to repent when error comes to light?
📌 Do you rejoice in the Lamb who bore even what you didn’t know you carried?
🚀 Come to the altar—even for the unseen. Forgiveness flows where truth and mercy meet.
Laws for Sin Offerings
Lev 4:1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
Lev 4:2 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If a soul shall sin through ignorance against any of the commandments of the LORD concerning things which ought not to be done, and shall do against any of them:
Lev 4:3 If the priest that is anointed do sin according to the sin of the people; then let him bring for his sin, which he hath sinned, a young bullock without blemish unto the LORD for a sin offering.
Lev 4:4 And he shall bring the bullock unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the LORD; and shall lay his hand upon the bullock’s head, and kill the bullock before the LORD.
Lev 4:5 And the priest that is anointed shall take of the bullock’s blood, and bring it to the tabernacle of the congregation:
Lev 4:6 And the priest shall dip his finger in the blood, and sprinkle of the blood seven times before the LORD, before the vail of the sanctuary.
Lev 4:7 And the priest shall put some of the blood upon the horns of the altar of sweet incense before the LORD, which is in the tabernacle of the congregation; and shall pour all the blood of the bullock at the bottom of the altar of the burnt offering, which is at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.
Lev 4:8 And he shall take off from it all the fat of the bullock for the sin offering; the fat that covereth the inwards, and all the fat that is upon the inwards,
Lev 4:9 And the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, which is by the flanks, and the caul above the liver, with the kidneys, it shall he take away,
Lev 4:10 As it was taken off from the bullock of the sacrifice of peace offerings: and the priest shall burn them upon the altar of the burnt offering.
Lev 4:11 And the skin of the bullock, and all his flesh, with his head, and with his legs, and his inwards, and his dung,
Lev 4:12 Even the whole bullock shall he carry forth without the camp unto a clean place, where the ashes are poured out, and burn him on the wood with fire: where the ashes are poured out shall he be burnt.
Lev 4:13 And if the whole congregation of Israel sin through ignorance, and the thing be hid from the eyes of the assembly, and they have done somewhat against any of the commandments of the LORD concerning things which should not be done, and are guilty;
Lev 4:14 When the sin, which they have sinned against it, is known, then the congregation shall offer a young bullock for the sin, and bring him before the tabernacle of the congregation.
Lev 4:15 And the elders of the congregation shall lay their hands upon the head of the bullock before the LORD: and the bullock shall be killed before the LORD.
Lev 4:16 And the priest that is anointed shall bring of the bullock’s blood to the tabernacle of the congregation:
Lev 4:17 And the priest shall dip his finger in some of the blood, and sprinkle it seven times before the LORD, even before the vail.
Lev 4:18 And he shall put some of the blood upon the horns of the altar which is before the LORD, that is in the tabernacle of the congregation, and shall pour out all the blood at the bottom of the altar of the burnt offering, which is at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.
Lev 4:19 And he shall take all his fat from him, and burn it upon the altar.
Lev 4:20 And he shall do with the bullock as he did with the bullock for a sin offering, so shall he do with this: and the priest shall make an atonement for them, and it shall be forgiven them.
Lev 4:21 And he shall carry forth the bullock without the camp, and burn him as he burned the first bullock: it is a sin offering for the congregation.
Lev 4:22 When a ruler hath sinned, and done somewhat through ignorance against any of the commandments of the LORD his God concerning things which should not be done, and is guilty;
Lev 4:23 Or if his sin, wherein he hath sinned, come to his knowledge; he shall bring his offering, a kid of the goats, a male without blemish:
Lev 4:24 And he shall lay his hand upon the head of the goat, and kill it in the place where they kill the burnt offering before the LORD: it is a sin offering.
Lev 4:25 And the priest shall take of the blood of the sin offering with his finger, and put it upon the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and shall pour out his blood at the bottom of the altar of burnt offering.
Lev 4:26 And he shall burn all his fat upon the altar, as the fat of the sacrifice of peace offerings: and the priest shall make an atonement for him as concerning his sin, and it shall be forgiven him.
Lev 4:27 And if any one of the common people sin through ignorance, while he doeth somewhat against any of the commandments of the LORD concerning things which ought not to be done, and be guilty;
Lev 4:28 Or if his sin, which he hath sinned, come to his knowledge: then he shall bring his offering, a kid of the goats, a female without blemish, for his sin which he hath sinned.
Lev 4:29 And he shall lay his hand upon the head of the sin offering, and slay the sin offering in the place of the burnt offering.
Lev 4:30 And the priest shall take of the blood thereof with his finger, and put it upon the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and shall pour out all the blood thereof at the bottom of the altar.
Lev 4:31 And he shall take away all the fat thereof, as the fat is taken away from off the sacrifice of peace offerings; and the priest shall burn it upon the altar for a sweet savour unto the LORD; and the priest shall make an atonement for him, and it shall be forgiven him.
Lev 4:32 And if he bring a lamb for a sin offering, he shall bring it a female without blemish.
Lev 4:33 And he shall lay his hand upon the head of the sin offering, and slay it for a sin offering in the place where they kill the burnt offering.
Lev 4:34 And the priest shall take of the blood of the sin offering with his finger, and put it upon the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and shall pour out all the blood thereof at the bottom of the altar:
Lev 4:35 And he shall take away all the fat thereof, as the fat of the lamb is taken away from the sacrifice of the peace offerings; and the priest shall burn them upon the altar, according to the offerings made by fire unto the LORD: and the priest shall make an atonement for his sin that he hath committed, and it shall be forgiven him.
Date Written
1445–1405 BC
Written By
Moses
Language
Hebrew
Verses
35