LEVITICUS
CHAPTER
4
1. The LORD to Moses saying, 2. Speak to the people of Israel, saying; When anyone sins unintentionally in any of the LORD's commandments about things not to be done, and does any one of them;
(Leviticus chapter 4 verses 1 to 2)
Oh God in Your great wisdom You refer to the heart of the problem. As sinners we are always prone to sin, however what makes the difference is our intention. When evaluating ourselves and our actions which is something very healthy to do, I question my intentions both before and after I do this or that. Will my action be of harm to anybody? If yes I think again. At times I find myself focusing on myself instead of taking into consideration the well being of others and this is a big mistake. At times our intentions may appear to be valid, however if they bring us in conflict with others there is something not right and so we need to re evaluate our intentions and decisions.
3. If it is the anointed priest who sins, thus bringing guilt on the people, he shall offer for the sin that he has committed a bull of the herd without blemish as a sin offering to the LORD.
(Leviticus chapter 4 verse 3)
Some of us may think oh God that your priests are either excluded from sin, or that their sins are disregarded as if they were never committed. However this is not so! You are just and merciful in all your ordinances. The greater the sin, the greater the offering to be offered to You God. The greater the role of the offender the greater the offering. Another aspect of the sins of the priest as is the case of sinners is that any sin has an effect on the community thus bringing guilt on them, therefore the people would increase in their sins by talking negatively about the acts of the priest thus the effect would be like the ripples of a wave bringing more harm than good.
4. He shall bring the bull to the entrance of the tent of meeting before the LORD and lay his hand on the head of the bull; the bull shall be slaughtered before the LORD.
(Leviticus chapter 4 verse 4)
As previously mentioned the sins of the priest will be transferred on to the bull which will be offered as a sacrificial animal. Thus is shown the our great need of confessing our sins to You oh God, whatever our status, even if we are priests, we still remain sinners and need to atone for our misgivings and the consequences of our sins on the community. This shows that our sins effect both ourselves and the community at large. At this moment oh God in the name of many of Your priests I ask for their forgiveness in relation to many cases of abuse that are taking place in the world. Please forgive them oh God, for although they are consecrated people, they are still humans with their human positive and negative aspects. I also forgive the priest who almost abused me, had it not been for illumination from You to end the circle that had just begun. Thank You for having saved me from such a sinful act just in time.
5.The anointed priest shall take some of the blood of the bull and bring it into the tent of the meeting. 6. The priest shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle some of the blood seven times before the LORD in front of the curtain of the sanctuary.
(Leviticus chapter 4 verses 5 to 6)
As in the New Testament where even the 'good' sinner is said to sin 7 times in a day, the 'good priest' sprinkles the blood of the bull seven times in front of the tabernacle. Although the number 7 may be symbolical we thank You oh God that You are always ready to forgive our sins even, if we are not the good person or the good priest. May I always oh God feel sorrow and the need to atone in forgiveness for my sins and their consequences on others.
7. The priest shall put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of fragrant incense that is in the tent of meeting before the LORD; and the rest of the blood of the bull he shall pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering, which is at the entrance of the tent of meeting. 8. He shall remove all the fat from the bull of sin offering: the fat that covers the entrails and all the fat that is around the entrails; 9. the two kidneys with the fat that is on them at the loins; and the appendage of the liver, which he shall remove with the kidneys, 10 just as these are removed from the ox of the sacrifice of well-being. The priest shall turn them into smoke upon the altar of burnt offering.
(Leviticus chapter 4 verses 7 to 10)
The fat in the bull can be compared to the presence of sin in us oh God. As an offering the bull had all its fat, blood and internal organs removed from it. Likewise sin has a negative effect on both our body and our soul and likewise we need to repent even for the damage that we inflict on our bodies or that of others as in murder or even over eating. The blood in the bull meant its life, therefore even in our case when we go to confess our sins in the presence of the priest, by means of the sacrament God gives new life to us, a sort of 'blood transfusion' that refreshes both our bodies and our soul making us new persons.
11. But the skin of the bull and all its flesh as well as its head, its legs, its entrails, and its dung-12 all the rest of the bull-he shall carry out to a clean place outside the camp, to the ash heap, and shall burn it on a wood fire; at the ash heap it shall be burned.
(Leviticus chapter 4 verses 11 to 12)
On reflecting on verses 11 to 12, there are parts of the sacrifice that are not worthy to be presented before You oh God. However You accept us as we are as one whole offering. You are understanding and sympathetic to us and our sins, however You can never accept our sins as being just and acceptable. You forgive the sinner but not the sin. Therefore on dying we are to spend time in purgatory where we are refined from our sins, so that then after we have been purified from our sins outside the 'camp' we will be worthy to appear in Your presence and make an eternal experience of Your presence in our heavenly home unless we have chosen to live a negative life, that is a complete rejection of You and Your will.
13. If the whole congregation of Israel errs unintentionally and the matter escapes the notice of the assembly, and they do any one of the things that by the LORD's commandments ought not to be done and incur guilt; 14. when the sin that they have committed becomes known, the assembly shall offer a bull of the herd for a sin offering and bring it before the tent of meeting.
(Leviticus chapter 4 verses 13 to 14)
On reflecting nobody is excused from sin and its consequences, especially if this violates any of the ten commandments given to us by God. There is always the need for the atonement of our sins via the sacrament of reconciliation even if our sins were not done with a bad intention. At times oh God we may try to put in a word with a good intention or seemingly good intention according to our logic, and in the process more harm than good comes out as a result of our intervention. The intention would have been positive but the consequences may have ended up on a negative note and others may have become hurt as a consequence. Therefore in such consequences we still would need to make a confession of our sins.
15. The elders of the congregation shall lay their hands on the head of the bull before the LORD, and the bull shall be slaughtered before the LORD.
(Leviticus chapter 4 verse 15)
As in the case of our priests they are our representatives before God. When absolving us of our sins they lay their hands on us not, to place the guilt and blame on our heads but to impart on us, the love and forgiveness of God and reunite us back into our loving relationship with You.
16. The anointed priest shall bring some of the blood of the bull into the tent of meeting, 17. and the priest shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle it seven times before the LORD, in front of the curtain. 18. He shall put some of the blood on the horns of the altar that is before the LORD in the tent of the meeting; and the rest of the blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering that is at the entrance of the tent of meeting.
(Leviticus chapter 4 verses 16 to 18)
As previously mentioned the priest sprinkles the blood both for his atonement and even for that of the people. The priest also puts blood on the horns of the altar where the sacrificial offerings were tied. Instead of shedding our blood oh God You shed your blood on our behalf every drop of your blood for us. You who was without sin took on yourself all the sins that had been done, that were done and those that were to be done in the future till the end of time, meaning even your and mine.
19. He shall remove all its fat and turn it into smoke on the altar. 20. He shall do with the bull just as is done with the bull of sin offering; he shall do the same with this. The priest shall make atonement for them and they shall be forgiven. He shall carry the bull outside the camp, and burn it as he burned the first bull; it is the sin offering for the assembly.
(Leviticus chapter 4 verses 19 to 20)
As in the case of the atonement of other sins as long as the sin has been done without a bad intention as in the case of vindication or personal vendetta, the priest is able to bring the sins of the sinner before God during the administration of the sacrament of reconciliation where our sins are offered as burn offering and God turns them into smoke or nothing in a spirit of forgiveness.
21. He shall carry the bull outside the camp, and burn it as he burned the first bull: it is the sin offering for the assembly.
(Leviticus chapter 4 verse 21)
Due to the fact that the bull was a sin offering none of the bull was consumed. It was given as a whole offering to God. On the contrary You oh God were given as an offering for our sins, however as an ordinance You left us your body to consume so that we can live by You. However on being resurrected that body which incurred the pain and torture in the passion for our sins which was also taken out of the camp (City) You gave it back to us in a glorified state on having been resurrected. I thank You God for being the sacrifice of sacrifices for my sake and for accepting to be crucified for my sake.
22. When a ruler sins, doing unintentionally any one of all the things that by commandments of the LORD his God ought not to be done and incurs guilt, 23. once the sin that he has committed is made known to him, he shall bring as his offering a male goat without blemish.
(Leviticus chapter 4 verses 22 to 23)
Oh God You are so wise and considerate. Even before Your people were actually ruled by a king You issued the commandment that even the ruler was subject to offer a sacrifice of atonement, thus such people were not excluded from either sinning or compensating for their sins. Moreover this also means that even wise and powerful people such as rulers are subject to sin and therefore we are to offer prayers for them so that God will give them wisdom and insights so that in God's name they manage their people with faith, love, care, justice as based on the Word of God.
On the other hand we are also to pray for those innocent people who are the victim of abuse of authority at the mercy of the decisions of rulers who do not judge according to Your will and subject others to pain harm and anguish that they do not deserve. I invite you to click on the following link and join me in the following prayer for rulers of all nations;-
Prayer for global rulers
24. He shall lay his hand on the head of the goat; it shall be slaughtered at the spot where the burnt offering is slaughtered before the LORD; it is a sin offering.
(Leviticus chapter 4 verse 24)
As in the case of the laity the ruler was subject to the same procedure in ritual offering. This verse gives a hint to the spiritual law versus that of the sate, that are portrayed as both being equally subject to You oh God and not being supreme over the other.
25. The priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and pour out the rest of its blood at the base of the altar of burnt offering.
(Leviticus chapter 4 verse 25)
As in the case of the sins committed by the laity the priest take a sample of the sacrificial offering submitted by the ruler and places it on the horns of the altar in atonement of the ruler and pour the rest of the blood at the base of the altar.
In order to refresh our memories in relation to the structure of this altar please click on the following link:-
The brazen altar
26. All its fat he shall turn into smoke on the altar, like the fat of the sacrifice of well-being. Thus the priest shall make atonement on his behalf for his sin and he shall be forgiven.
(Leviticus chapter 4 verse 26)
Therefore as previously mentioned even in our lives the priest or monk plays a very important role in our life. He is the medium that is powerful enough to obtain our forgiveness from You oh God by acting as a mediator between humanity and yourself. Moreover as found in the New Testament You have given the priest the authority to forgive sins and even to abstain from forgiving them.
27. If anyone of the ordinary people among you sins unintentionally in doing any one of the things that by the LORD's commandments ought not to be done and incurs guilt, 28. when the sin that you have committed is made known to you, you shall bring a female goat without blemish as your offering, for the sin that you have committed.
(Leviticus chapter 4 verses 27 to 28)
Oh God You are so considerate in Your judgement. In the case of those who are great in resources you asked for a costly creature as a mean of reparation however, from those who were not so rich, You declared that the offering would not be as such. However neither the haves or the have nots are spared from making the offering to obtain the atonement of their sins. The most important thing in these verses is that You always make us aware of our sins, either directly or by means of others making part of our inner or outer circles. Thanks for not letting us sink in our sins, but making us aware of our sins in order to confess them and be reunited with You, the sacrificial offering of all offerings.
29. You shall lay your hand on the head of the sin offering; and the sin offering shall be slaughtered at the place of the burnt offering. 30. The priest shall take some of its blood with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and he shall pour out the rest of its blood at the base of the altar. 31. He shall remove all its fat, as the fat removed from the offering of well-being, and the priest shall turn it into smoke on the altar for a pleasing odor to the LORD. Thus the priest shall make atonement on your behalf, and you shall be forgiven.
(Leviticus chapter 4 verses 29 to 31)
In light of the three level of sin that we have been referring to, meaning the sin offering in relation to those sins by the Priest, the laity and the ruler, the Parshat Vajika a Hebrew teacher has the following insights to share with thus showing us the meaning and relationship between the mentioned levels or degrees of sin. I therefore invite you to click on the following link;-
The interpretation
On having listened to the previous interpretation I invite you to keep the mentioned concepts, meaning the sin offered by the priest, the laity and the ruler and compare them to the three levels of consciousness as referred to by Sigmund Freud meaning the Id, the Ego and the Super Ego.
Freud Id Ego and Superego
The further up we go in our level of awareness of our sin as in the level of the laity to that of the priest or vice versa, the more aware of our sin we become until we come to the supreme level of the ruler, where our superego exercise judgement as in the case of the ruler and starts criticising the lower levels of conscious meaning the Id and the Ego and thus creating a state of sin and disharmony for which we must atone from our most inferior level of conscious, which is the selfish state of the Id, to the more realistic that is the Ego and up to the most critical of all stages that is the harsh ruler meaning the Super Ego, the ruler which makes us feel so guilty that we are motivated under the guidance of the Holy Spirit of God towards repentance.
32. If the offering you bring as a sin offering is a sheep, you shall bring a female without blemish. 33. You shall lay your hand on the head of the sin offering; and it shall be slaughtered as a sin offering at the spot where the burnt offering is slaughtered. 34. The priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and pour out the rest of its blood at the base of the altar. 35. You shall remove all its fat, as the fat of the sheep is removed from the sacrifice of well-being, and the priest shall turn it into smoke on the altar, with the offerings by fire to the LORD. Thus the priest shall make atonement on your behalf for the sin that you have committed, and you shall be forgiven.
(Leviticus chapter 4 verses 32 to 35)
In light of verses 32 to 35 which bring us to the end of chapter 4 of the book of Leviticus I wish to end this chapter with the following prayer;-
I pray oh God for forgiveness on all the levels of my being. I confess and plead forgiveness when I have sinned in my inner thoughts, enacted to those by means of my intentions and implemented my intentions by means of my actions both intentionally and even unintentionally. I ask for Your forgiveness for I am a sinner of sinners. I do my best to be aware of myself and my sins, but as a human sinner at times my inner drives get the better of me and I become angry and lose control over my self. I pray oh God that during such moments You anoint me with the power and grace of Your Holy Spirit that I may focus my gaze on You my crucified Saviour and remember what pain You endured for my salvation and thus seek repentance by means of the sacrament or reconciliation whilst always thanking You for the opportunity to turn back and be accepted by You my loving father who condemns my sins but loves me even though I am still by nature a sinner.Thanks for accepting me as I am and for giving me the faith and courage to admit my weakness and seek repentance for my sins. Amen.
I would like to end this chapter by offering a prayer for the victims of the earthquake related to the tremors that place on Mount Everest and other regions. I also offer a prayer for all those Christians who are literally being sacrificed for what they believe. Many Christians are being beheaded and even thrown of boats to drown in open sea because they have not accepted to adore other gods. I pray oh God that you accept their bodies and their souls as an offering before You that supersedes all burn offerings of all the Old Testament. may we follow in their example and remain believers up to the last moment of our lives, especially if we are to testify with our lives as those victims did that we are indeed Christians.
(Leviticus chapter 4 verse 3)
Some of us may think oh God that your priests are either excluded from sin, or that their sins are disregarded as if they were never committed. However this is not so! You are just and merciful in all your ordinances. The greater the sin, the greater the offering to be offered to You God. The greater the role of the offender the greater the offering. Another aspect of the sins of the priest as is the case of sinners is that any sin has an effect on the community thus bringing guilt on them, therefore the people would increase in their sins by talking negatively about the acts of the priest thus the effect would be like the ripples of a wave bringing more harm than good.
4. He shall bring the bull to the entrance of the tent of meeting before the LORD and lay his hand on the head of the bull; the bull shall be slaughtered before the LORD.
(Leviticus chapter 4 verse 4)
As previously mentioned the sins of the priest will be transferred on to the bull which will be offered as a sacrificial animal. Thus is shown the our great need of confessing our sins to You oh God, whatever our status, even if we are priests, we still remain sinners and need to atone for our misgivings and the consequences of our sins on the community. This shows that our sins effect both ourselves and the community at large. At this moment oh God in the name of many of Your priests I ask for their forgiveness in relation to many cases of abuse that are taking place in the world. Please forgive them oh God, for although they are consecrated people, they are still humans with their human positive and negative aspects. I also forgive the priest who almost abused me, had it not been for illumination from You to end the circle that had just begun. Thank You for having saved me from such a sinful act just in time.
5.The anointed priest shall take some of the blood of the bull and bring it into the tent of the meeting. 6. The priest shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle some of the blood seven times before the LORD in front of the curtain of the sanctuary.
(Leviticus chapter 4 verses 5 to 6)
As in the New Testament where even the 'good' sinner is said to sin 7 times in a day, the 'good priest' sprinkles the blood of the bull seven times in front of the tabernacle. Although the number 7 may be symbolical we thank You oh God that You are always ready to forgive our sins even, if we are not the good person or the good priest. May I always oh God feel sorrow and the need to atone in forgiveness for my sins and their consequences on others.
7. The priest shall put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of fragrant incense that is in the tent of meeting before the LORD; and the rest of the blood of the bull he shall pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering, which is at the entrance of the tent of meeting. 8. He shall remove all the fat from the bull of sin offering: the fat that covers the entrails and all the fat that is around the entrails; 9. the two kidneys with the fat that is on them at the loins; and the appendage of the liver, which he shall remove with the kidneys, 10 just as these are removed from the ox of the sacrifice of well-being. The priest shall turn them into smoke upon the altar of burnt offering.
(Leviticus chapter 4 verses 7 to 10)
The fat in the bull can be compared to the presence of sin in us oh God. As an offering the bull had all its fat, blood and internal organs removed from it. Likewise sin has a negative effect on both our body and our soul and likewise we need to repent even for the damage that we inflict on our bodies or that of others as in murder or even over eating. The blood in the bull meant its life, therefore even in our case when we go to confess our sins in the presence of the priest, by means of the sacrament God gives new life to us, a sort of 'blood transfusion' that refreshes both our bodies and our soul making us new persons.
11. But the skin of the bull and all its flesh as well as its head, its legs, its entrails, and its dung-12 all the rest of the bull-he shall carry out to a clean place outside the camp, to the ash heap, and shall burn it on a wood fire; at the ash heap it shall be burned.
(Leviticus chapter 4 verses 11 to 12)
On reflecting on verses 11 to 12, there are parts of the sacrifice that are not worthy to be presented before You oh God. However You accept us as we are as one whole offering. You are understanding and sympathetic to us and our sins, however You can never accept our sins as being just and acceptable. You forgive the sinner but not the sin. Therefore on dying we are to spend time in purgatory where we are refined from our sins, so that then after we have been purified from our sins outside the 'camp' we will be worthy to appear in Your presence and make an eternal experience of Your presence in our heavenly home unless we have chosen to live a negative life, that is a complete rejection of You and Your will.
13. If the whole congregation of Israel errs unintentionally and the matter escapes the notice of the assembly, and they do any one of the things that by the LORD's commandments ought not to be done and incur guilt; 14. when the sin that they have committed becomes known, the assembly shall offer a bull of the herd for a sin offering and bring it before the tent of meeting.
(Leviticus chapter 4 verses 13 to 14)
On reflecting nobody is excused from sin and its consequences, especially if this violates any of the ten commandments given to us by God. There is always the need for the atonement of our sins via the sacrament of reconciliation even if our sins were not done with a bad intention. At times oh God we may try to put in a word with a good intention or seemingly good intention according to our logic, and in the process more harm than good comes out as a result of our intervention. The intention would have been positive but the consequences may have ended up on a negative note and others may have become hurt as a consequence. Therefore in such consequences we still would need to make a confession of our sins.
15. The elders of the congregation shall lay their hands on the head of the bull before the LORD, and the bull shall be slaughtered before the LORD.
(Leviticus chapter 4 verse 15)
As in the case of our priests they are our representatives before God. When absolving us of our sins they lay their hands on us not, to place the guilt and blame on our heads but to impart on us, the love and forgiveness of God and reunite us back into our loving relationship with You.
16. The anointed priest shall bring some of the blood of the bull into the tent of meeting, 17. and the priest shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle it seven times before the LORD, in front of the curtain. 18. He shall put some of the blood on the horns of the altar that is before the LORD in the tent of the meeting; and the rest of the blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering that is at the entrance of the tent of meeting.
(Leviticus chapter 4 verses 16 to 18)
As previously mentioned the priest sprinkles the blood both for his atonement and even for that of the people. The priest also puts blood on the horns of the altar where the sacrificial offerings were tied. Instead of shedding our blood oh God You shed your blood on our behalf every drop of your blood for us. You who was without sin took on yourself all the sins that had been done, that were done and those that were to be done in the future till the end of time, meaning even your and mine.
19. He shall remove all its fat and turn it into smoke on the altar. 20. He shall do with the bull just as is done with the bull of sin offering; he shall do the same with this. The priest shall make atonement for them and they shall be forgiven. He shall carry the bull outside the camp, and burn it as he burned the first bull; it is the sin offering for the assembly.
(Leviticus chapter 4 verses 19 to 20)
As in the case of the atonement of other sins as long as the sin has been done without a bad intention as in the case of vindication or personal vendetta, the priest is able to bring the sins of the sinner before God during the administration of the sacrament of reconciliation where our sins are offered as burn offering and God turns them into smoke or nothing in a spirit of forgiveness.
21. He shall carry the bull outside the camp, and burn it as he burned the first bull: it is the sin offering for the assembly.
(Leviticus chapter 4 verse 21)
Due to the fact that the bull was a sin offering none of the bull was consumed. It was given as a whole offering to God. On the contrary You oh God were given as an offering for our sins, however as an ordinance You left us your body to consume so that we can live by You. However on being resurrected that body which incurred the pain and torture in the passion for our sins which was also taken out of the camp (City) You gave it back to us in a glorified state on having been resurrected. I thank You God for being the sacrifice of sacrifices for my sake and for accepting to be crucified for my sake.
22. When a ruler sins, doing unintentionally any one of all the things that by commandments of the LORD his God ought not to be done and incurs guilt, 23. once the sin that he has committed is made known to him, he shall bring as his offering a male goat without blemish.
(Leviticus chapter 4 verses 22 to 23)
Oh God You are so wise and considerate. Even before Your people were actually ruled by a king You issued the commandment that even the ruler was subject to offer a sacrifice of atonement, thus such people were not excluded from either sinning or compensating for their sins. Moreover this also means that even wise and powerful people such as rulers are subject to sin and therefore we are to offer prayers for them so that God will give them wisdom and insights so that in God's name they manage their people with faith, love, care, justice as based on the Word of God.
On the other hand we are also to pray for those innocent people who are the victim of abuse of authority at the mercy of the decisions of rulers who do not judge according to Your will and subject others to pain harm and anguish that they do not deserve. I invite you to click on the following link and join me in the following prayer for rulers of all nations;-
Prayer for global rulers
24. He shall lay his hand on the head of the goat; it shall be slaughtered at the spot where the burnt offering is slaughtered before the LORD; it is a sin offering.
(Leviticus chapter 4 verse 24)
As in the case of the laity the ruler was subject to the same procedure in ritual offering. This verse gives a hint to the spiritual law versus that of the sate, that are portrayed as both being equally subject to You oh God and not being supreme over the other.
25. The priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and pour out the rest of its blood at the base of the altar of burnt offering.
(Leviticus chapter 4 verse 25)
As in the case of the sins committed by the laity the priest take a sample of the sacrificial offering submitted by the ruler and places it on the horns of the altar in atonement of the ruler and pour the rest of the blood at the base of the altar.
In order to refresh our memories in relation to the structure of this altar please click on the following link:-
The brazen altar
26. All its fat he shall turn into smoke on the altar, like the fat of the sacrifice of well-being. Thus the priest shall make atonement on his behalf for his sin and he shall be forgiven.
(Leviticus chapter 4 verse 26)
Therefore as previously mentioned even in our lives the priest or monk plays a very important role in our life. He is the medium that is powerful enough to obtain our forgiveness from You oh God by acting as a mediator between humanity and yourself. Moreover as found in the New Testament You have given the priest the authority to forgive sins and even to abstain from forgiving them.
27. If anyone of the ordinary people among you sins unintentionally in doing any one of the things that by the LORD's commandments ought not to be done and incurs guilt, 28. when the sin that you have committed is made known to you, you shall bring a female goat without blemish as your offering, for the sin that you have committed.
(Leviticus chapter 4 verses 27 to 28)
Oh God You are so considerate in Your judgement. In the case of those who are great in resources you asked for a costly creature as a mean of reparation however, from those who were not so rich, You declared that the offering would not be as such. However neither the haves or the have nots are spared from making the offering to obtain the atonement of their sins. The most important thing in these verses is that You always make us aware of our sins, either directly or by means of others making part of our inner or outer circles. Thanks for not letting us sink in our sins, but making us aware of our sins in order to confess them and be reunited with You, the sacrificial offering of all offerings.
29. You shall lay your hand on the head of the sin offering; and the sin offering shall be slaughtered at the place of the burnt offering. 30. The priest shall take some of its blood with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and he shall pour out the rest of its blood at the base of the altar. 31. He shall remove all its fat, as the fat removed from the offering of well-being, and the priest shall turn it into smoke on the altar for a pleasing odor to the LORD. Thus the priest shall make atonement on your behalf, and you shall be forgiven.
(Leviticus chapter 4 verses 29 to 31)
In light of the three level of sin that we have been referring to, meaning the sin offering in relation to those sins by the Priest, the laity and the ruler, the Parshat Vajika a Hebrew teacher has the following insights to share with thus showing us the meaning and relationship between the mentioned levels or degrees of sin. I therefore invite you to click on the following link;-
The interpretation
On having listened to the previous interpretation I invite you to keep the mentioned concepts, meaning the sin offered by the priest, the laity and the ruler and compare them to the three levels of consciousness as referred to by Sigmund Freud meaning the Id, the Ego and the Super Ego.
Freud Id Ego and Superego
The further up we go in our level of awareness of our sin as in the level of the laity to that of the priest or vice versa, the more aware of our sin we become until we come to the supreme level of the ruler, where our superego exercise judgement as in the case of the ruler and starts criticising the lower levels of conscious meaning the Id and the Ego and thus creating a state of sin and disharmony for which we must atone from our most inferior level of conscious, which is the selfish state of the Id, to the more realistic that is the Ego and up to the most critical of all stages that is the harsh ruler meaning the Super Ego, the ruler which makes us feel so guilty that we are motivated under the guidance of the Holy Spirit of God towards repentance.
32. If the offering you bring as a sin offering is a sheep, you shall bring a female without blemish. 33. You shall lay your hand on the head of the sin offering; and it shall be slaughtered as a sin offering at the spot where the burnt offering is slaughtered. 34. The priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and pour out the rest of its blood at the base of the altar. 35. You shall remove all its fat, as the fat of the sheep is removed from the sacrifice of well-being, and the priest shall turn it into smoke on the altar, with the offerings by fire to the LORD. Thus the priest shall make atonement on your behalf for the sin that you have committed, and you shall be forgiven.
(Leviticus chapter 4 verses 32 to 35)
In light of verses 32 to 35 which bring us to the end of chapter 4 of the book of Leviticus I wish to end this chapter with the following prayer;-
I pray oh God for forgiveness on all the levels of my being. I confess and plead forgiveness when I have sinned in my inner thoughts, enacted to those by means of my intentions and implemented my intentions by means of my actions both intentionally and even unintentionally. I ask for Your forgiveness for I am a sinner of sinners. I do my best to be aware of myself and my sins, but as a human sinner at times my inner drives get the better of me and I become angry and lose control over my self. I pray oh God that during such moments You anoint me with the power and grace of Your Holy Spirit that I may focus my gaze on You my crucified Saviour and remember what pain You endured for my salvation and thus seek repentance by means of the sacrament or reconciliation whilst always thanking You for the opportunity to turn back and be accepted by You my loving father who condemns my sins but loves me even though I am still by nature a sinner.Thanks for accepting me as I am and for giving me the faith and courage to admit my weakness and seek repentance for my sins. Amen.
I would like to end this chapter by offering a prayer for the victims of the earthquake related to the tremors that place on Mount Everest and other regions. I also offer a prayer for all those Christians who are literally being sacrificed for what they believe. Many Christians are being beheaded and even thrown of boats to drown in open sea because they have not accepted to adore other gods. I pray oh God that you accept their bodies and their souls as an offering before You that supersedes all burn offerings of all the Old Testament. may we follow in their example and remain believers up to the last moment of our lives, especially if we are to testify with our lives as those victims did that we are indeed Christians.
Thank You God
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