TWO KINDS OF SIN OFFERINGS
There are two kinds of sin offerings. One is for the priest who did wrong unwittingly, as well as for the whole congregation that did wrong unwittingly. For this sin offering, the blood must be brought into the sanctuary. But the blood of the sin offering for a ruler or for one of the common people need not be brought into the sanctuary. It was only necessary to put the blood on the four corners of the burnt offering altar to show forth the power and effectiveness of the blood as well as its redeeming and cleansing power. All the rest of the blood was then poured out at the bottom of the altar. Why is there the difference in these two sin offerings? In the first sin offering, the blood must be brought into the sanctuary to be sprinkled in the presence of God, but with the second, this was not necessary; the blood only needed to be put on the four horns of the burnt offering altar. This difference is because the first sin offering was for a congregation, but the second was for an individual. A congregation needs something of a more serious nature than an individual. No priest had the right to eat the first kind of sin offering; the whole offering was for God. But the priests did have the right to eat of the second kind of sin offering.
THE BODY OF THE SIN OFFERING
Now we must see something of the body of the sin offering. “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, and the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, which is by the flanks, and the net above the liver, with the kidneys, it shall he take away. 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. And the skin of the bullock, and all his flesh, with his head, and with his legs, and his inwards, and his dung, 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. 4:8-12, lit.).
These verses tell us clearly that the fat must be burned on the burnt offering altar as a sweet incense to God. This is for God’s satisfaction. Then the whole body, including the skin, the inwards, and the dung is brought out of the camp to a clean place where the ashes are put. There the whole sin offering is burned. The fat must be burned on the burnt offering altar, but the rest of the body was burned outside the camp in a clean place where the ashes were put. There is a difference in the fat and the rest of the body because the fat is for God’s satisfaction; therefore, it was burned on the altar. But the body is for God’s righteous judgment, so it was burned in a place of judgment outside the camp.
The body of the sin offering for the congregation was absolutely God’s portion. Nothing was for anyone else. But the sin offering for the individuals did leave a portion for the ministering priest. This shows us that Christ is so sufficient. He is sufficient to meet all the needs of the congregation, and He is more than sufficient to meet the need of individuals. As an individual, we can never exhaust Christ’s sufficiency, so there is a portion left for the priests. If the sin offering is for the congregation, all is for God. But if the sin offering is for individuals, because individuals can never exhaust Christ, there is a part for others to enjoy.
THE WAY TO ENJOY THE SIN OFFERING
What is the way that the ministering priest enjoyed the portion of the sin offering? This is seen clearly in Leviticus 6:25-27a (lit.): “Speak unto Aaron and to his sons, saying, This is the law of the sin offering: In the place where the burnt offering is killed shall the sin offering be killed before the Lord: it is most holy. The priest that offereth it for sin shall eat it: in the holy place shall it be eaten, in the court of the tent of meeting. Whatsoever shall touch the flesh thereof shall be holy.” First of all, it is clear that he could not enjoy the portion of the sin offering in his home. It must be enjoyed in the court of the tent of meeting. This kind of enjoyment of Christ belongs to the Body, the church; it is not an individual matter. You may enjoy Christ by yourself in a certain sense, but you can never enjoy Christ as the sin offering to God. This must be enjoyed in the court of the tent of meeting, and it must be enjoyed in a holy way.
(Christ as the Reality, Chapter 20, by Witness Lee)
