Leviticus 6:25, commentary and pictures

This is the law of the sin offering, one of the five appointed offerings, to be slain before the Lord in the same place as the burnt offering, and it is most holy. That place was in the court just north of the altar of burnt offering which stood before the door of the tabernacle, where burnt, sin, and trespass offerings were all slain. After confession and laying the hand on its head to transfer guilt, the victim was slain and its sin-bearing blood and flesh were carried into the first apartment, either by bringing blood into the holy place or by the priest eating the flesh to bear the iniquity for atonement. By this daily ministration through the year the sins of the people were lodged in figure in the sanctuary, requiring its cleansing on the tenth day of the seventh month in a round typical of Christ's entire priesthood. The slain innocent standing in the sinner's place was a shadow fulfilled in Jesus Christ, who alone truly bears and removes sin so that typical offerings ceased, and the priest eating to bear sin represented Christ ministering for His people before God.

Ritual Law and Setting

Leviticus 6:25 gives the law of the sin offering, which is one of five kinds of offerings — burnt, meal, peace, sin, and trespass — each with its own purpose and manner of offering to be clearly defined and compared. It directs that the sin offering was to be killed before the Lord in the same place where the burnt offering was killed, and declares that it is most holy. It belongs to the prescribed sanctuary services for individual sins, brought by worshipers burdened with sin.

That place of slaughter was in the court just north of the altar of burnt offering. That altar stood in the court before the door of the tabernacle of meeting and was reached first on entering through the door into the court, and burnt offerings, sin offerings, and trespass or guilt offerings were all slain there. The law here concerns the offering for a ruler or one of the common people for sin of ignorance. Unlike the offering for the priest and for the whole congregation, whose blood was brought into the holy place and whose bodies were burned without the camp, the blood of this offering was poured out at the base of the altar and its flesh was eaten by the priests in the place of the sanctuary. Eating it was given to them to bear the iniquity of the congregation, to make atonement for them before the Lord, and where the priest himself was concerned in the sin he was not permitted to eat of the offering.

The verse belongs to the instructions in Leviticus 1 to 7 describing the main features of the sanctuary service, which reveals God's way, His power, and His glory. That service was given as an object-lesson to teach about the temple of God in heaven and Christ's priestly service therein as High Priest and Minister of the heavenly sanctuary. Leviticus 1 to 16 gives the complete round of service performed every year in the wilderness sanctuary built by Moses and later continued in the temple. The verse belongs to the ceremonial law, which was instituted in consequence of sin. Calling the sin offering most holy does not establish that the offering is holier than the Sabbath, since the two are not being compared and the Sabbath's holiness is not expressed in degrees.

Sin Transferred to Sanctuary

Leviticus 6:25 gives part of the law for the individual sin offerings presented during the year, belonging to the daily service in the holy place, the first grand division of the ministration in the two-holy-place earthly sanctuary that patterns the true tabernacle in heaven and is the example and shadow of Christ's ministry there, performed by the Levitical priesthood. The sin offering was a most holy offering, to be killed before the Lord in the same place where the burnt offering was killed, at the altar outside the tabernacle. In these individual offerings made through the year, the sinner laid the hand upon the head of the victim to transfer sin to it by confession over the offering, acknowledging that transgression of the divine law made him worthy of death. The victim was then slain, and its blood, bearing the sin and guilt, with its fat burned upon the altar and its sin-bearing body disposed of by the priests, conveyed the received sin into the first apartment of the sanctuary.

Sin was transferred to the sanctuary in the daily service in one of two ways: by the priest eating the flesh of offerings whose blood was not taken into the sanctuary in the holy place, or by bringing some of the blood into the holy place and sprinkling it before the ark. Leviticus 6:25 concerns a sin offering whose blood was not taken into the sanctuary, whose flesh was eaten by the priests in the holy place, and through that eaten flesh the sin was figuratively brought into the sanctuary just as it was brought in by blood in offerings whose blood was taken there. When the priest sprinkled the blood upon the altar before the ark he left there in figure the forgiven sins of the people of God. In this way a sinner in faith transferred sin in figure to the sanctuary through the blood of the sacrifice or the person of the priest.

By this daily ministration throughout the year the sins of God's people were lodged in figure in the sanctuary, making necessary its cleansing on the tenth day of the seventh month. The confessed sin thus brought into the tabernacle of God awaited its final disposition on the great day of atonement. This transferring work went on through the year together with the daily offering until the cleansing of the sanctuary on the tenth day of the seventh month, completing a round of service typical of Christ's entire priesthood.

Fulfilment in Christ's Work

The sacrifices commanded for sin declare God's hatred of sin and that sin demands its penalty, and they are shadows whose meaning is fulfilled in the sacrifice, life, and work of Jesus Christ. The law of the sin offering belongs to the instructions for the offerings in Leviticus 1-7 and to the complete yearly round of service in Leviticus 1-16 performed in the wilderness sanctuary and later continued in the temple. That sanctuary with its building, appointments, priesthood, and service was typical of Christ and His priesthood in the heavenly sanctuary, which He began when He ascended on high, so that the yearly earthly round, including the law that the sin offering was to be killed before the Lord in the same place as the burnt offering and was most holy, typified in each year the service of Christ which was once for all. The individual sin offering brought by worshipers burdened with sin, killed at the same place as the burnt offering before the Lord and counted most holy, expressed faith in the coming Redeemer and typified the work of Jesus Christ.

In the service for sin an innocent animal stood in the sinner's place, the sinner's sins were confessed over it, it was slain in the place where the burnt offering was killed before the Lord, its flesh or blood was brought into the sanctuary, and the sinner was forgiven. These sacrifices involving the slaughter of an animal were types of Christ's sacrifice and pointed to Christ, whose sacrifice fulfilled them. The blood of animals itself could not truly take away sin, but Christ alone removes sin by bearing it and offering Himself. After Christ's sacrifice these typical sin offerings were no longer required.

The law that the sin offering was most holy required that the priest who offered it eat part of its flesh, a symbolic act by which he took the people's sins upon himself to make atonement for them. That eating represented Christ bearing their infirmities and ministering for them before God. The holiness of the sin offering killed before the Lord where the burnt offering was killed, and of contact with its blood, illustrates how Christ's blood sanctifies those who submit themselves to God. Their offering is accepted through the merits of Jesus' blood, which serves as the antitypical altar that sanctifies what is placed upon it.