The Sin-Eater vs. The Sin-Bearer (Sacrifices 7)

In the last post I mentioned that it is the korban chatat and the korban asham (guilt or trespass) offerings which resonate most with Christians, even if they don't have much familiarity with them from studying Leviticus.  Most Christians believe, and rightly so, that Jesus' once-for-all sacrifice was the fulfillment of these two "bloody", atoning, Old Testament sacrifices. Before we look in-depth at the korban asham, I want to expound upon the theme of atonement represented in the sin offering and the guilt offering.  Plus, at the end of the last post I teased that in this one I'd expound more fully on the aspect of "unintentional" sin being atoned for in these two types of sacrifice.  This post will do that as well.

It is extremely important that, as Christians, we understand the role of blood in the Bible.  Leviticus 17:11 makes plain that "the life of the flesh is in the blood." In the Old Testament and as a scarlet thread running through the New, blood was the means of atonement, being made right with God.  In the times of the Tabernacle and Temple, blood was also used to consecrate holy things, those used in Temple service. See Exodus 29:20-21 and Hebrews 9:21.  Leviticus 17:11 was only partially quoted above.  Here is the entire verse.

For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.

Let's start with birth.  Now, in the modern Western world this seems weird to most of us, but according to the teachings of the Torah, when a woman gave birth she was considered to be "ceremonially unclean", just as when she was having her monthly period. (Leviticus 12:2,7) Do you recall in the last post the korban chatat was offered after a woman gave birth?  That is why.  There was a certain number of days a woman had to wait until the korban chatat could be offered at the Tabernacle or Temple, and it varied based on whether she birthed a boy or a girl.  (I'm not going to rabbit trail off onto that topic as it is another topic for another post.) So, the miracle of human life began in ceremonial impurity, and if nothing else this illustrated that man is incapable of spiritual cleanness.  Because of the Fall of Man, we are all literally "born in sin".  Even Mary, the mother of Jesus, who gave birth to the only sinless human to ever live, fulfilled this ceremonial requirement by appearing at the Temple to offer the korban chatat (Luke 2:21-24).

Leprosy was also a condition that encompassed a variety of skin diseases, under the heading of the Hebrew word "tzara'at".  Those with skin diseases, especially those with long-term or permanent skin diseases, were ceremonially unclean.  They had to dwell outside the encampment of Israelites, or outside the city wall of Jerusalem.  They were ostracized in this way.  They even had to shout out "Unclean, unclean" to protect those who might get too close, from catching their disease.  In cases where the condition was not permanent, the sin offering would be made.  He or she would also be immersed into a special bath called the mikvah.  In this ways the person would be purified and able to rejoin the rest of the community.  Water and blood are symbols of cleansing in both the Torah and the New Testament.  (John 19:34)

Most of my readers are Christians.  So, the following will be familiar to you.  But, for the sake of some, these points are too important to be glossed over.

Sin separates us from God, and we are born in sin, hopelessly alienated from God.  Sin warps the soul and spirit, thoroughly contaminates and (left unaddressed) results in death, not just physical, but more importantly, spiritual.  This is why Paul states (Romans 6:23) that "the payment for sin is death."  God's prescribed remedy for sin has always been substitutionary death.  Where do we first see this?  In the story of Cain and Abel (Genesis 4:1-4; Hebrews 11:4).  We see it again when Noah disembarked from the ark (Genesis 8:20).  We see it yet again at the first Passover, where the blood of the slain lamb is smeared on the doorposts of each home.  We see the shedding of blood for the atonement for sins formalized as part of God's Torah/Law at Mt. Sinai, in Leviticus 4 - 9.

Here's that part about unintentional sin.  There was no Torah-prescribed sacrifice for intentional sin.  Do you find that curious?  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. From Leviticus 4:

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 yesterday?  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).  Blood cleanses the defilement produced by sin and death, removing them from the sinner.   However, the substitutionary death of Jesus Christ 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 Jesus, 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 close by sharing with you some of those verses.  If you know Jesus as Savior, rejoice with me in them.  If you do not, I pray you will take that step today. Oh, sing a NEW song!  

You can find out how here:  https://resplendentdaughter.blogspot.com/2014/07/the-main-thing.html 

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!”

14And the four living creatures said, “Amen,” and the elders fell down and worshiped.c

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.

Sources:

"Making Sense of Sacrifices, Part 4", by Dr. Jennifer Scrivner, Beth HaShomer Ministries

"Making Sense of Sacrifices, Part 5", by Dr. Jennifer Scrivner, Beth HaShomer Ministries

https://www.hebrew4christians.com/Scripture/Parashah/Summaries/Tazria/Atonement/atonement.html

https://bac2torah.com/Messiah201-Asham.htm

Rivers, F. (2014). The last sin eater. Tyndale House Publishers.

Frankensteinian Spirituality

You may be familiar with a fictional novel, Frankenstein, written in the early 1800s, by a young Englishwoman, Mary Shelley.  It was a short work of gothic horror and science fiction, one of the earliest, and has become an American classic1.  The story is of a young scientist, who is able to create a "living" man from the various parts of other dead humans - - - a brain here, a torso there, you get the picture.  Grotesque, isn't it?

The modern day parallel is the immensely popular television series, The Walking Dead.  Man has for centuries been fascinated with bringing the dead to life again, and has tried many different approaches to make this happen.  I'll spare you the gory historical and deeply-buried (if you'll pardon the heinous pun) details.

Since death is our enemy, we try to slay it in our own power.  And, especially in the realm of the spiritual, again, the results of such misguided attempts are grotesque.

1And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, 2in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. 3Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.

Ephesians 2:1-3 (NET)

Here, Paul describes what it is like to be spiritually dead, by using the analogy of physical death, something every human comes to understand, sooner or later.  Let's decompose it (sorry...my macabre humor is out of control).

• First of all, what killed the spirit of man?  Answer: trespasses and sins.  "Trespasses" or "transgressions" in some passages, means to "wander off the path" or "fall off the wagon". "Sins" is a word Paul uses in the general sense to mean "falling short of God's standard" or "missing the mark" (Benson)2  We are told in Romans 6:23 that the consequences of sin is spiritual death.
• Second, what does spiritual death mean?  It means that the human, although physically alive, is living under the control and rule of the evil one and/or his minions/demons.  Now, I predict that, at this point, some of you are going to "bow up", raise your hackles, and disagree with that last statement.  The Bible is plain, however.  Each person alive today is either serving and following Satan, OR he/she is serving and following Father God, Jesus Christ the Son and the Holy Spirit.  There's no other option given or allowed.  Serving the former leads to eternal spiritual death, the experiencing of God's wrath; serving the latter leads to an eternity of life and joy.
• Third, what does this "walking in death" look like?  It is demonstrated by a life disobedient to the ways of God, habitually, as one's custom, indulging the desires of the body and a dead, corrupted mind.  It is evidenced by rebellion, going one's own way, by a careless disregard or disdain for "the Way, the Truth, the Life", Jesus Christ.  Look how The Message version described that old, stagnant life-walk of spiritual death.  "You filled your lungs with polluted unbelief, and then exhaled disobedience.  We all did it, all of us doing what we felt like doing, whenever we felt like doing it, all of us in the same boat." 

Pretty damning, isn't it?

So damning that most people will not accept this truth, even though acknowledging it is a foundational prerequisite for becoming spiritually alive.  How can one be made alive, if he or she will not even accept that he or she is dead?!  It is impossible, just as impossible as it is for a person to make him or herself spiritually alive.

Oh, but we try.  We make our spirits Frankensteinian!  (I'm told that adjective is not a word; but, I'm ignoring....)  We put on masks to hide the depths of our sin and despair.  We use techniques like "self-improvement" or "social justice" or "charity" or "service leagues" - - - and we make of ourselves spiritually-dead zombies.  None of the "good works" mentioned are bad things, unless they are used in attempts to "raise the dead" soul. Properly used, these things are OUTWORKINGS from an alive spirit; they flow out of the abundance of the transformed, Christ-follower!  Look....

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away.  Behold!  All things have become new!"

2 Cor. 5:17 (NKJV)

In the original King James version, the word "creation" is "creature" - - a beautiful, new, alive creature, not a cobbled-together horror show.  Only the true, living Savior, Jesus Christ, can bring the dead spirit to life.  Only He can make this transformation. (John 14:6)

Lay down your bone saw and scalpels, Dr. Frankenstein, and open your arms to the Living One, the only One who gives eternal life!

Dear Father, I was bemused to see when I googled the word "Therefore", the first word in 2 Cor. 5:17, that verse immediately popped up.  Probably, it is the most important "therefore" in the entire Bible.  I praise You, the only One who can raise the dead, the only One who can give life eternal.  I thank You for giving it to me, and I pray for those reading this who may have seen themselves in a Frankensteinian state and who long to be re-born, made new, re-created, made alive by Your almighty hand.  I pray that they will put their hand in your outstretched hand today, Lord.  In Jesus' name, amen.

Sources:

1  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankenstein

2  http://biblehub.com/commentaries/ephesians/2-1.htm