{Disclaimer: these are my rough teaching notes I use in my Mishkan Katan weekly broadcasts. There will be "typos". Proceed at your own risk, lol.You can find all my Mishkan Katan video teachings on my YouTube channel: genahood2818 . Look on the playlist called Messianic LAMB TV Network.}
Boker Tov! Good morning! Welcome back to Mishkan Katan, for our final installment in this brief 3-part series on offerings. Today we will spend a little more time on the Korban Chatat, and then finish up with the Korban Asham. Both of these offerings were required, whereas the first three categories were voluntary. If you have not watched parts 1 and 2 of this series, I strongly recommend you stop here and go watch those before continuing, for the sake of getting the complete picture. Got your copy of the Scriptures? Let’s go.
When we ended last week, I was teaching about the Torah sacrifice for intentional sin. There was no Torah-prescribed sacrifice for intentional sin. The Lord God, through the Torah, did not want to create the impression a man could buy the freedom to intentionally sin, by having a sin offering ready. This did not mean that intentional sin was to be ignored, or that it could not be forgiven. However, it was not condoned; no space was carved out for it. Rabbi Jonathan Sachs said that since this type of sin cannot be atoned for by an offering at all, for that kind of deliberate, conscious, intentional sin, the only adequate moral response is teshuvah, genuine repentance. A feature of genuine repentance is turning away from that sin, abandoning the practice of it. As we closed last week, read from Leviticus 4:28-30. Listen for a new detail in this passage.
28When he becomes aware of the sin he has committed, he must bring an unblemished female goat as his offering for that sin. 29He is to lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and slaughter it at the place of the burnt offering. 30Then the priest is to take some of its blood with his finger, put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and pour out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar.…
Did you catch the detail I did not mention earlier? In both the korban chatat (sin offering) and the korban asham (guilt offering) the one bringing the unblemished sacrifice was not only required to place his hands on the head of the animal to symbolically transfer his sins to the innocent animal; he was then required to slay it himself. In this life-for-life exchange, God accepted the substitutionary death in place of the sinner, who in sincerity and faith performed these actions.
As my friend Jennifer exclaims when a profound scriptural truth smacks her right between the eyes of her heart...."WHOOOAAAAAA!" I have to stop and tell you a story from my past. In college, I would often attend a church on Sunday nights called Tabernacle Baptist. It was a conservative Baptist church, but it "allowed" some charismatic expression. There was this older man whose nickname was Sunshine. When the preacher made a profound point, he would leave his seat and go running around the sanctuary, whooping and hollering, for a couple of circuits. Then, he'd return to his seat. The joy of the truths of God just overwhelmed him that way. It is amazing how often I think of Sunshine, when I get hit in the heart with God's truth.
Hallelujah! Do you SEE it?
In Torah, just as in the New Testament, there is no forgiveness apart from the shedding of the blood of an innocent substitute (Hebrews 9:22). That verse says this:
22 In fact, according to the Torah, almost everything is purified with blood; indeed, without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.
Blood cleanses the defilement produced by sin and death, removing them from the sinner. However, the substitutionary death of Yeshua HaMashiach goes beyond the Old Testament sacrifices of chatat and asham, which functioned as "a copy and shadow of heavenly things" (Hebrews 8:5). These sacrifices foreshadowed the more perfect sacrifice to come. The blood of bulls or goats or birds could never fully remove our sins, since they did not represent the very life of God Himself, poured out on our behalf! Only Yeshua, God's own one-of-a-kind {"monogenes"* in the Greek) Son could forever cleanse us and make us right with God. Jesus' sacrifice, the blood of the Everlasting Covenant, has perfected forever and for all time those who are being sanctified (Hebrews 10 and 13:20).
Yeshua haMashiach, Jesus Christ, is our Sin-Bearer.
Despite mankind's spiritual enslavement to sin, despite pervasive spiritual death, there is a longing in almost every human heart to be clean from sin. Either that deceiver, the Enemy, tells the one enslaved this is not possible, or leads him/her down a false path, or the person loves sin more than the longing to become clean. I think this is well-illustrated by the centuries-old folklore of the Sin-Eater. Francine Rivers wrote a magnificent work of fiction about this very practice, The Last Sin-Eater. According to Wikipedia - - -
"A sin-eater is a person who consumes a ritual meal in order to spiritually take on the sins of a deceased person. The food was believed to absorb the sins of a recently dead person, thus absolving the soul of the person. Sin-eaters, as a consequence, carried the sins of all people whose sins they had eaten."
Isn't that profoundly sad? Such deception. And, the Sin-Eater, almost always a man, was a profoundly sad individual, shunned, and treated as a leper.
The world does not need a Sin-Eater. It needs The Sin-Bearer. One of my favorite chapters of the Bible is Revelation 5. It pictures the Lamb of God presenting Himself before the throne of God the Father, having completed his substitutionary work on our behalf. Let me share with you some of those verses. If you know Yeshua as Savior, rejoice with me in them. If you do not, I pray you will take that step today. Oh, sing a NEW song!
When He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp, and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9And they sang a new song:
“Worthy are You to take the scroll and open its seals,
because You were slain,
and by Your blood You purchased for God
those from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.
10You have made them to be a kingdom
and priests to serve our God,
and they will reign uponb the earth.”
11Then I looked, and I heard the voices of many angels and living creatures and elders encircling the throne, and their number was myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands. 12In a loud voice they were saying:
“Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain,
to receive power and riches
and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and blessing!”
13And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying:
“To Him who sits on the throne
and to the Lamb
be praise and honor and glory and power
forever and ever!”
Revelation 5:8-14 (BSB)
*The Greek word, monogenes, translated "only begotten" in the King James Version, only appears once in the Bible. It is a one-of-a-kind word to describe a one-of-a-kind Savior.
And, now, we come to the fifth category of sacrifices, the second of the propitiation sacrifices, the korban asham, which the Torah tells us is “especially holy”. The word "asham" can be translated as "guilt, trespass, restitution, compensation". The sage Rambam believed that the word asham does not mean guilt (which would be closely related to the concept of sin), but is related to the word “shamem,” desolate, and thus means something relating to annihilation. This korban (sacrifice) is mentioned in several places, but most notably in Leviticus 5:14-19 and Leviticus 7:1-7. Let’s look at those passages. First, from Leviticus 5, verses 14 through 19.
14 Adonai said to Moshe, 15 “If anyone acts improperly and inadvertently sins in regard to the holy things of Adonai, he is to bring as his guilt offering for Adonai a ram without defect from the flock or its equivalent in silver shekels (using the sanctuary shekel as the standard), according to your appraisal of its value; it is a guilt offering. 16 In addition, he is to make restitution for whatever he did wrong in regard to the holy thing; moreover, he is to add to that one-fifth and give it to the cohen. Then the cohen will make atonement with the ram of the guilt offering, and he will be forgiven.
17 “If someone sins by doing something against any of the mitzvot of Adonai concerning things which should not be done, he is guilty, even if he is unaware of it; and he bears the consequences of his wrongdoing. 18 He must bring a ram without defect from the flock, or its equivalent according to your appraisal, to the cohen for a guilt offering; the cohen will make atonement concerning the error which he committed, even though he was unaware of it; and he will be forgiven. 19 It is a guilt offering — he is certainly guilty before Adonai.”
Now, Leviticus 7:1-7, if you’ll turn over a few pages to get there.
“‘This is the law for the guilt offering: it is especially holy. 2 They are to slaughter the guilt offering in the place where they slaughter the burnt offering, and its blood is to be splashed against all sides of the altar. 3 He is to offer all its fat — the fat tail, the fat covering the inner organs, 4 the two kidneys, the fat on them near the flanks, and the covering of the liver, which he will remove with the kidneys. 5 The cohen will make them go up in smoke on the altar as an offering made by fire to Adonai ; it is a guilt offering. 6 Every male from a family of cohanim may eat it; it is to be eaten in a holy place; it is especially holy. 7 The guilt offering is like the sin offering; the same law governs them — it will belong to the cohen who uses it to make atonement.
Of all the five types of sacrifices, the korban asham is the most complex in its application. The asham offering can be thought of as a "supplemented chatat offering." Like the korban chatat (sin sacrifice or purification sacrifice), the korban asham was required as an atoning sacrifice; but, the asham was for certain types of more egregious, unintentional sins - - sins which severely harm the fellow man and one's own good name. We find these six offenses listed in the Mishnah, the interpretative commentary on the Torah. The six are curious in that they are seemingly unrelated and it is hard to understand why these require an offering beyond the chatat.
Asham Meilah: by one who unintentionally commits sacrilege, i.e., misuse of the sanctuary’s or sanctified property (Vayikra 5:14-16, 22:14-16)
Asham Gezeilah: by one who stole his fellow’s property by denying having it in his possession (Vayikra 5:20-26, Bamidbar 5:5-8)
Asham Metzora: as part of the purification process of the metzora (Vayikra 14:10-32)
Asham Shifha Harufah: by one who has slept with a betrothed bondswoman (Vayikra 19:20-22)
Asham Nazir: by a nazir who has been defiled and must restart his term of nezirut (Bamidbar 6:9-12) (i.e. Nazarite vow participant)
Asham Taluy: by one who ‘sins without knowing,’ which is interpreted by rabbinic tradition as referring to someone who is unsure whether or not he or she is obligated to bring a korban hatat (Vayikra 5:17-19)
Of all the offerings, this one "cost the most", reflecting the severe degree of the offenses committed. There was also an element of restitution associated with this offering, because of the sinner's guilt at having harmed another (as well as God Himself). Accordingly, a 20% fee ("the fifth part") was added. Say a person stole $100 from another. $120 would be paid back to that person, and an asham offering would be made. In cases where there was no damage or harm to another human, the 20% would be given in addition to the asham offering, and the priests would be the recipients.
Jesus alluded to this offering and reiterated this principle in Matthew 5:23-24. Let’s turn there together. This was part of the Sermon on the Mount, as many of you will recognize.
So, you see that when he required the repentant sinner to first go make things right with his brother, the requirements of the Asham Korban would have been understood in the minds of these Jewish hearers. (restitution plus 20% would have been understood) and then they were to go present himself at the altar. Presenting oneself at the altar would have, again, been understood as going there to make the asham offering.
The procedure on the part of the repentant sinner was similar to that for the chatat offering, described in the last broadcast. The offered animal for the Asham was always to be a ram. However, at the time of the laying on of the hands, the act in Hebrew called semikhah, the offender had to verbally confess his sin over the animal. There is just something powerful about confessing verbally. Consider by comparison the person confessing his or her allegiance to Yeshua as Mashiach. Romans 10:9-10 comes to mind.
And, the only portion of the asham offering, the ram, burned on the altar was the fat of the animal; the remainder was for the priests to eat, as long as it was eaten in a holy section of the Temple. Best I can determine, the carcass of this sacrificed animal was not burned outside the camp, as was the case with the sin offering.
Back to the six, seemingly unrelated, instances when a Korban Asham was required. One of them, the Asham Taluy (vs. 17-19 of Leviticus 5), is particularly open-ended. This is when the penitent is unsure whether he has committed a sin necessitating an asham sacrifice or not. The term literally means, "sins without knowing".
There was a story that circulated among the female collegians when I was at university. It was said that the wife of the chancellor, who taught in the Home Ec division, admonished her pupils thusly. When determining if a garment needed washing, the rule should be, "If it's doubtful, it's dirty." This memory comes to mind when I consider the Asham Taluy.
I confess that describing these five categories barely "scratch the surface" of the knowledge of Old Testament korbanot (sacrifices). There were over 100 different sacrifices offered in the two ancient Temples! I have learned that there is a tremendous amount of information about these that I do not know. As we come to the close of this offerings study, there are some things important to remember:
1. The offerings themselves took a back seat to the heart attitude of the one making the offering. The most key verse to illustrate that truth is found in 1 Samuel 15:22-23a - - -
“Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices
as much as in obedience to His voice?
Behold, obedience is better than sacrifice,
and attentiveness is better than the fat of rams.
23For rebellion is like the sin of divination,
and arrogance is like the wickedness of idolatry.
It is still true today. The many "religious" things people do are not what make them right with God. Instead, He seeks a heart that is contrite, humble and that seeks Him through His one, unique Son, the Lord Yeshua HaMashiach.
2. The sacrifices will return. Because the Temple will return.
Right now, all the plans are in place for the 3rd Temple to be built. (The First and Second Temples were destroyed in 586 BC and 70 AD, respectively.) Only two things are lacking: an opportunity to access the location on the Temple Mount (that area is currently controlled by the Muslim WAQF), and a red heifer, whose ashes will be used to purify the priesthood.
When the 3rd Temple is built, sacrifices will resume. According to Scripture, this will take place either during the 7-year Great Tribulation, or the Temple will be rebuilt shortly before that period begins. As Jews will be controlling what goes on in this Temple, it is reasonable to assume that all five categories of sacrifices will resume. Many Bible scholars believe, however, that many Jews will turn to their true Messiah, Jesus (Yeshua), during those last days.
There could be a whole host of posts written about what the Bible says about this 3rd Temple and about the next one. Many Bible scholars believe the 3rd Temple I described above, and which will be desecrated by the False Messiah of the Great Tribulation, will be utterly destroyed in the devastation that occurs in the latter half of that tribulation period. However, the New Testament is not clear about the fate of that Temple, even though it is mentioned three times in the New Testament.
The prophet Ezekiel, in his book, describes vividly a Fourth Temple, which many believe will be "the millennial Temple", during that 1000-year period Jesus Christ rules and reigns upon the Earth. The prophet received the information about this structure and surrounding areas in a vision which featured "a man whose appearance was like bronze"; many have postulated this was a pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus Christ. In the vision, Ezekiel was given 318 precise measurements of the Temple. This Temple has not yet been built, but it will be, because God's Word never fails. AND it is much too large to fit on the present Temple Mount. The topography of Jerusalem would have to be markedly changed for that Temple to fit on that location.
A verse that comes to mind is this one, in Isaiah 40, verse 4:
Let every valley be filled in,
every mountain and hill lowered,
the bumpy places made level
and the crags become a plain.
If and when that takes place in Jerusalem, due to the cataclysmic events of the Tribulation period, there would be an appropriate spot for Yeshua, the returning, conquering King, to build His Milennial Temple. I could go on and on about this Temple, but won't at this time. I do want to point out a very important feature. While the Temple Ezekiel describes differs in several very important ways from any previously existing Jewish Temple, it does have an altar. Ezekiel 45:13-25 gives some pretty specific instructions concerning that altar of sacrifice. I strongly recommend you go read it, keeping in mind that Ezekiel’s descriptions of what offerings are to be made at this future Temple are indeed future. No Temple of this size or magnitude has been yet built.
3. And finally, as a third point, remember that Jesus Christ, Yeshua HaMashiach, is all in all. His coming and His finished work changed everything. As He said in Matthew 5:17 - - -
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.
Of the four gospels, the one that points out the most how Yeshua's work fulfilled the Mishkan (Temple) is the gospel of John.
Well, that concludes this week’s teaching, and our study of the Temple offerings. Next week, we will return to our study in the book of Psalms.
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