Leviticus 4:27–29: “If anyone of the common people sins unintentionally by doing something against any of the commandments of the LORD in anything which ought not to be done, and is guilty, or if his sin which he has sinned comes to his knowledge, then he shall bring as his offering a kid of the goats, a female without blemish, for his sin which he has committed. And he shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering, and kill the sin offering in the place of the burnt offering.”

December 18th, 2022 by Pastor Ed in devotional

The use of the word unintentionally in this verse sets the stage for the entire chapter. These are the formal procedures that were followed when making a sin offering for a priest, a ruler, the whole congregation, or individuals who had sinned while trying to live correctly. The intended Hebrew meaning is “to stray into a sinful situation” but not necessarily to be taken completely by surprise. These are sins of omission that a person falls into inadvertently.

As parents it bothers us greatly when we see a child look us in the eye and defy us. That kind of sin is easy to see and clearly offensive to most people. But this chapter is dealing with sin in its more passive form. In other words, the child who says, “No!” is no more sinful than the child who says he will obey, but then in reality doesn’t. God is saying that the person or child who resists to get their own way isn’t any more sinful than the child who gives in only to get what they want.

Leviticus is teaching us that to stray into sin is still simply sin. The painfully dissected truth here is that sins abound in every life. Truly “all have sinned and [fallen] short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). Thank God that the sin sacrifice of God the Son cleanses all sins, both those that are deliberate as well as those that are inadvertent.

“LORD, please apply the blood of Jesus Christ to our sins this day we ask in Jesus’ name.”