Leviticus 5:12
Then shall he bring it to the priest, and the priest shall take his handful of it, even a memorial thereof, and burn it on the altar, according to the offerings made by fire unto the LORD: it is a sin offering. Then shall he bring it to the priest, and the priest shall take his handful of it, even a memorial thereof, and burn it on the altar, according to the offerings made by fire unto the LORD: it is a sin offering.
The sinner brings his offering to the priest, who takes a handful of it as a memorial and burns it on the altar, and by this ministry makes atonement so the sinner is forgiven and freed from his iniquity. Before the offering is made the sin must be confessed over the substitute victim with restitution where required, acknowledging guilt and the penalty sin requires. Through its blood the confessed sin is carried into the sanctuary in figure, where it remains until the yearly cleansing on the Day of Atonement. These repeated individual offerings point to and are fulfilled in Jesus Christ, whose sacrifice bears human sin and whose atonement as High Priest in the heavenly sanctuary brings forgiveness. Justice is mingled with mercy in grading the cost to the offerer, so that even a handful of flour from the poorest brings full forgiveness and places him in the same relation to God as one who brings a bullock, yet every sinner must bring something real.
The Offering and Ritual
Leviticus 5:12 belongs to the ceremonial law, which was instituted in consequence of sin and gives instruction for individual sin and trespass offerings. The trespass offering was similar to the sin offering and provided forgiveness for an individual's sin, and these offerings were among the daily offerings brought year-round by individuals for particular sins as part of the priests' service in the earthly sanctuary. Before the offering could be made the person had to confess the sin and make restitution where required. The sinner confessed over an unblemished animal by placing a hand on it as a substitute, whose death acknowledged guilt and whose blood represented its life, and the offering was then presented and slain.
The person brings the offering to the priest, and the priest takes a handful of it as a memorial and burns it on the altar as a sin offering. The priest makes atonement for the sinner through this sanctuary ministry with the offering, rather than by slaying the sacrifice himself, and with its blood the person is forgiven and freed from that iniquity. Through this service the sinner's sin was represented as transferred to the sacrificial victim and, through its blood, into the sanctuary. When the blood was not carried into the sanctuary, the priest ate the offering's flesh in the holy place as the means by which the sin was transferred.
The soul that confesses sin, brings an offering, and makes amends is a being that acts, rather than an inherently immortal part of a person.
Atonement Foreshadowed in Christ
The detailed laws of sacrifice and offering have their meaning fulfilled in the sacrifice, life, and work of Jesus Christ. They belong to the instructions for Israel's offerings and show that sin required a penalty, with their offerings and types pointing forward to their fulfillment in Christ. The individual offerings brought by people burdened with sin expressed faith in the coming Redeemer, and their repeated presentation kept sin in remembrance in the sanctuary while pointing forward to Christ.
The sinner who has sinned brings the offering to the priest, who takes a handful of it as a memorial and burns it on the altar as a sin offering. The surrounding instructions in Leviticus 4-5 repeatedly declare that the priest shall make atonement for the sinner, which the priest accomplishes through his sanctuary ministry with the offering rather than by slaying the sacrifice himself. That priestly making of atonement is a type of Christ making atonement as High Priest in the heavenly sanctuary.
By this process the one who had borne his iniquity brought a sin offering to the priest, and after it was presented and slain the priest made atonement with its blood so that the person was forgiven and freed from that iniquity. The blood of the offering conveyed the iniquity into the sanctuary, where it was later cleansed through the application of blood. Thus the confessed sin of the repentant sinner was represented as transferred to the sanctuary by the blood of the sacrifice or by the priest's ministry, and being forgiven was left there in figure until the yearly Day of Atonement.
Provision was made for the poorest sinner so that one unable to bring a lamb or even to capture two wild doves could bring a small portion of fine flour, and that offering brings full forgiveness, placing the sinner in just the same relation to God as one able to bring a bullock. The crushed grain of that flour typifies the broken body of Christ. The handful burned on the altar corresponds to the burning of the fat and typifies the final destruction of sin, while the remainder eaten by the priest typifies Christ bearing human sins.
Justice, Mercy, and Duty
The sin offering mingles justice with mercy by grading its cost, requiring the rich to bring the most costly animals and the poor what is of least price. If unable to bring a bullock or heifer, goat or sheep, a person could bring a calf, kid, or lamb, and if too poor for these a turtledove or young pigeon, and in extreme poverty even a little meal or fine flour was accepted as a sufficient oblation. This brought the benefits of sacrificial service within reach of the poorest of the poor, since every person however low could provide a tenth part of an ephah, about three quarts, of meal to make an offering for the soul unto the Lord, including one unable to bring a lamb or even to capture two wild doves.
The poorest person's flour offering brings full forgiveness, placing that sinner in just the same relation to God as one able to bring a bullock. Yet every person must bring something because every person has sinned, and the offerings and types show that sin required a penalty and point to their fulfillment in Jesus Christ.
A sin offering cost the offerer something real, with the cost varying with the wealth or position of the one making it, as seen in the law for sin offerings, peace offerings, and thank offerings whose names describe their purpose. True worship therefore requires tangible giving, and no one can profess religion for years while contributing nothing. Sin remains sin even when a person does not recognize it or has good intentions, and once recognized it must be confessed, repented of, and put away.