The Offerings

Notes

1. There were two ways in which the priest bore the sins into the sanctuary, by the blood and by eating the flesh. See "Patriarchs and Prophets," p. 354. Those priests were not permitted to eat their own sin-offering, as the eating of the offering was for the purpose of conveying the sins to the priest, to teach us that Christ actually bore "our sins in His own body"—became "sinful flesh." We, however, can eat our sin-offering, and by so doing become righteous.

2. The distinction between sin and trespass does not seem very clear, hence will bear much study. One writer has said: "In the sin-offering we see Christ offering Himself for us, for what we are in ourselves,—sinful creatures. In the trespass-offering we see Jesus offering Himself for our sins, our trespasses, the fruits and effects of our sinful natures,—what we do."

3. There are two classes of offerings, the sweet savor and the non-sweet savor. The sin and trespass offerings belong to the non-sweet savor, as sin was upon them by imputation. Therefore they could not be burnt upon the brazen altar, which was God's table. Mal. 1:12. However, in order to teach us the preciousness of our giving up our sins, the fat, representing them, is consumed on God's altar, and is called the bread of the Lord, a savor of His rest, as we can not enter into His rest except by ceasing from our own works of sin. Heb. 4:10. All the fat is the Lord's, so all our sins belong to Him, and we should fill Him with the fat of our sacrifices, and not cause Him to serve with our sins. Otherwise our bodies must be burned without the camp in the great burning day. See Ps. 37:20.