Word of Salvation – September 2025
Purification Offerings
Sermon by Rev. Andrew De Vries on Leviticus 4
Scripture reading: Leviticus 4
What is the worst form of pollution? An oil freighter that spills hundreds of thousands of litres of crude oil on a pristine beach? Or car pollution, pumping those nasty gases into our atmosphere. Or noise pollution, being forced to listen to your neighbours poor choice in music? What is the worst form of pollution in this world? The Bible would say, the worst form of pollution, is sin pollution. One of the ways that sin is pictured in the Bible, is that it’s a contaminant. It taints and spoils and defiles the person who sins and the places in which the sin occurs. It’s like raw sewage seeping through the pipe and tainting whatever it touches.
In a way, that’s actually what we experience sometimes when we sin. You do something wrong, and there are feelings that come over you. Kids, you speak rudely to mum or dad, and they send you to your room, and you might feel guilty. But sometimes we do something wrong, and we feel dirty. We feel unclean. We feel like we’ve got some filthy stain on our soul that needs to be scrubbed off. That’s actually the way David talks about sin. In Psalm 51 he cries out to God saying: “Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.” His sin made him feel dirty, it polluted him, and he looked to God for cleansing.
We typically think of sin as provoking God’s anger. Our sin provokes the Lord to wrath, it makes us objects His displeasure. And for God to accept you, that anger needs to be turned away by a sacrifice of atonement. That’s what is pictured for us in the burnt offering. A life utterly consumed in the place of the sinner, so that the sinner can be accepted by God. That’s what Christ sacrifice on the cross was doing, turning away the anger of God for sinners. But this offering in Leviticus 4, focusses more on dealing with the effects of sin – the pollution it causes. It’s called the ‘sin offering’ in our text, but I’m going to refer to it as the purification offering.
Because this offering was made not just when you violated a commandment, but when you became unclean because you came into contact with something dead or you had a bodily discharge (Lev.12:7-8, Lev.14:19-20). You needed to make a sin/purification offering.
And the message is simple – sin contaminates, and requires decontamination. And God in his infinite, wondrous grace, provides for that purification. And we see that here in the purification offering.
The first thing we learn here, is our extensive need for purification.
Most of us would readily acknowledge that we are not perfect people, we are sinners. But we don’t fully grasp the extent of the problem. We’re like some of those people who try out for Australian idol, and they have no idea that they can’t sing. In the same way, we don’t grasp how bad our sin pollution problem really is. But this sacrifice shows us. Because it tells us that we need purification for our unintentional sins. So this is sin that happens because you are ignorant of the law. Or it’s sin that happens, you know the law, but you don’t even realise you’ve broken it.
So this is sin because of our weakness, or our carelessness, or the fact that you were just tired. And most of the time our lives are characterised by this kind of sin. Like when you are on the road and you end up behind some terrible driver, you didn’t plan it, but you get angry and impatient. Or like when you are watching TV, and some add comes on for an overseas holiday, and discontent sweeps over your whole being. Or like when you are sitting in church, and the minster is talking about the glories of Christ, and you are thinking of the pathetic glories of your car or the footy match you watched yesterday. You didn’t plan to come to worship and be disinterested, it just happened. It’s unintentional sin.
Now, what do you think the opposite of Unintentional sin is? You’d think it would be intentional sin. But it’s not. The opposite of unintentional sin is what the Bible calls ‘high handed sin’ (Num.15:30). It’s sin that is deliberate, and pre-meditated, and flaunted in the face of God. So that’s not a simple falling into sin, or being overcome by sin, but a deliberate embracing of it and refusing to turn from it. And for this high handed sin, a person was to be cut off from the people of God. It’s the sin of a person who is opposed to God.
We usually think that high handed sin must pollute and require forgiveness. But here we are being told that unintentional sin requires cleansing. Even the sins we commit by accident or we’re not even aware of them – it pollutes and needs cleansing. So how extensive must the cleansing be that we need, if we can sin and be so ignorant of it. Some of the sins we commit we know. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg isn’t it. Perhaps it’s a mercy of God that we he doesn’t show us all our sin. Because it may just crush us. All the secret desires, all the petty jealousies, all the thoughtless words, we don’t even know about them, but they are there. And they all require cleansing.
In Chapter 5:1-6 we get 3 concrete examples of this type of sin. Vs.1: it’s failure to testify in a case when you’ve got evidence that’s important. Vs.2-3: it’s failing to deal with some form of ritual impurity, and in vs.4 it is failure to keep a vow. So we notice that these are not simply sins of ignorance: I didn’t know what the rule was, and I broke it. These were sins committed in weakness. Because the person who made the vow, was fully aware that they made that vow. But the problem was, for whatever reason, they’d forgotten about it. Other things in life came up, and it was left undone. They haven’t followed through on what they ought to do.
We typically call these, sins of omission. And I’d suggest that for most of us it is sins of omission that prove to be our biggest problem. It’s forgetting to keep those promises we make, it’s not remembering to pray for that person in my fellowship group, it’s not doing that special thing I thought about for my husband/wife or child. Isn’t that the story of our lives? And God requires purification even for such sins as these; for unintentional sins. For stuff we didn’t even realise we did. They are not minor peccadillos, they are toxic pollutants that require cleansing.
I was reading an article in World Magazine about the Church in China. And I came across an example of one of these unintentional sins. The author was speaking about two of the great sins in the Chinese church. A speaker was seeking to address one these sins, at a conference for leaders in the church. And he asked them to put their hand up, if they’d had an abortion. And 70% of the ladies in the room put their hand up.
And then he went on to tell them what the propaganda machine of communism wouldn’t tell them. He told them abortion was wrong – sin. He showed them pictures of babies in the womb. Told them that they were living beings with hearts and heart beats. And those ladies who committed these unintentional sins, would grieve and mourn; cry out to God for mercy and forgiveness. And you might think, how terrible, how could they do that? Well, that’s how we’re supposed to think about our unintentional sins. This category of sacrifice is here to show us that it’s not just murderous thoughts or lustful gazes or dishonouring of authorities that we need cleansing for, it’s our selfishness, our lack of concern for others, our laziness in the service of the Lord. The purification offering reminds us that we have a pervasive need for cleansing.
The second thing I want you to notice here, is that the purification offering reminds us of the discriminating need for purification
What we saw with all the first three sacrifices, is that they were mainly voluntary. But with the purification sacrifice and also the next sacrifice we will look at, the focus is on the specific occasion that calls for the sacrifice. And in particular, we are given scenarios where specific people or groups of people sin. So in vs.3, there is the anointed priest – the high priest. Vs.13, the whole Israelite community; vs.22 a leader – a secular leader’ vs.27 a member of the community – your common Joe Blow, average Israelite who works hard and pays his taxes.
And the reason there is discrimination between these different people, is to teach us something about sin. That is, sin is not all the same. Some sin is more offensive to God. So the instructions about the purification offering are actually arranged according to the degree of guilt of those who sin. Those who have greater positions of authority in the Israel, have a higher degree of guilt when they sin, than those who have lesser authority. When you are in a position of authority, your sin has a greater ability to do damage to those you have authority over. Also, it has a greater ability to do damage to the name of the Lord.
So if a church member is caught and convicted of not paying tax for 10yrs, it’s a stain on them, and it brings shame on the church. But if I was caught and convicted of tax evasion, it would be far worse.
It could do damage to the faith of those I shepherd in the congregation. It’s a stain on me, but also brings the pastoral ministry into disrepute. And it sullies the name of the church, every time the CRC of Toowoomba was mentioned people wouldn’t be thinking about Jesus, they’d be thinking what kind of church is this where the pastor does such things.
Sometimes we want to say that all sin is the same. Well, all sin is the same in the sense that is offensive to God and worthy of eternal death. But some sin is more heinous to God. Not all sin is equal in the sight of God. Now, I know I’m going to shock some people with that comment, but Jesus says that as well doesn’t he? When talking to Pilate of Judas’ sin, he says: “He who delivered me over to you has the greater sin.” James tells us that not many should presume to be teachers, because they will be judged more harshly. The Westminster Larger Catechism has some very helpful teaching on this topic.
When speaking about some sin being worse than others, it asks the question: What are those aggravations that make some sins more heinous than others?” It answers “Sins receive their aggravations, From the persons offending: if they be of riper age, greater experience or grace, eminent for profession, gifts, place, office, guides to others, and whose example is likely to be followed by others.” And, they receive their aggravations “From the parties offended: if immediately against God, his attributes, and worship; against Christ, and his grace; the Holy Spirit, his witness, and workings; against superiors, men of eminency, and such as we stand especially related and engaged unto; against any of the saints, particularly weak brethren, the souls of them, or any other, and the common good of all or many.” So what makes some sins worse is who commits them, and who the offense is against.
We see this principle taught in two ways in our passage. Firstly, have a look at the offering the high priest has to make. They have to offer a bull – vs.3. The most expensive sacrifice available to the Israel. But if your average Israelite sins, he can offer a goat, or a lamb, and in some cases even a bird or a bit of flour (5:11). Far less costly sacrifices, showing that that their sin carries a lesser degree of guilt.
Secondly, if you’ve been following this series all the way through, you will remember that all the offerings so far have been made where..? In the courtyard of the tabernacle. That’s where the great big altar was for burnt offerings. But with this offering, for the priest in particular, the blood is not just shed outside, but it has to be sprinkled inside the tabernacle as well. So vs.6 – the blood is sprinkled 7 times before the curtain. That’s the curtain into the holy of holies. 7 is the number of completion, fullness. So this is a full cleansing required of the holy of holies as well. The pollution of the high priest was not just found in the courtyard, but it extended right into the holy place as well. Because that’s where he went on the Day of Atonement.
So what’s the practical implication of this? Well, it’s a warning isn’t it? If we’re in positions of authority. If we’re leaders in the church, or in the family… the sins we commit can have far reaching effects. And so we need to be vigilant. And we need to tremble at the thought of what damage sin can do to others and to God’s name. And so need to put sin to death, whenever we find it. To flee from it. And to humbly come to God asking for his grace to keep us from damaging others through our sin.
Did you notice there is a more positive note of discrimination at the end of the passage? Because in 5:5-11 we see that God accepts different types of sacrifices depending on the socio-economic group you were part of. So, those who could afford it, the middle class we might say, were to bring a female lamb or goat for their purification offering – vs.6. But if you couldn’t afford that, you could bring a pair of birds for your purification offering – vs.7. But if you couldn’t afford even that, you could bring what? You could bring a miserly little handful of flour for your offering. And each of these sacrifices alike, would purify you from your sin.
So what is this teaching us? Well, remember that sacrifices are not what we bring to God so that we can work our way into his good books. The sacrifices were something that God gave to the people so that by grace we could always be in his good books. And what we see here, is that God’s mercy and grace is so wide. God made a provision so that every sinner, regardless of how poor you were, could have the pollution of their sin covered.
It doesn’t matter what you’ve done, who you are, how shameful your sin is and how dirty it had made you. God has provided a means of cleansing. Not through the blood of goats and birds and a bit of flour. But through the blood of Christ. All different types of sinners are here this evening – sinning in our own unique ways. And yet there is one way only for a full and final cleansing. It’s through the blood of Christ.
- So the final thing we want to consider here, is the cleansing agent required for purification.
When we look at the sacrifices, what we notice is that there are a lot of similarities. There is a lot of repetition about laying on of hands (identification), about the slaying (substitution – dying in the place of the worshipper), and about various parts of the animal being burned up on the altar. But the thing we need to pay attention to, is the differences. That’s what tells us is unique about each of the offerings. The unique thing in the burnt offering was that it was totally consumed. Jesus Christ was totally consumed in the fires of God’s judgment. The unique thing about the grain offering, was that it was used to support gospel labourers. The unique thing about the fellowship offering, was that the worshipper got to eat it, it was a picture of the shared meal between God and his covenant people.
Did you see the unique aspect of this sacrifice? It’s that the blood is sprinkled in various places. It’s sprinkled before the curtain, the holy place needs cleansing. It’s applied to the altar of fragrant incense, symbolising the prayers rising to heaven. It’s poured out at the altar of burnt offering. So the blood is being taken everywhere. What’s the big deal with the blood and where it goes, you might say. Well, the big deal is, that God is teaching us a lesson. What’s blood? Well, in the gospel grammar, blood is God’s great cleansing agent. Without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin! The blood of a perfect sacrificial substitute, someone who gives up their life for yours, is the only thing that can deal with the pollution of your and my sin.
And what we see in the purification offering, is that the pollution of sin follows us wherever we go. We go to work, we sin, at home we sin, at the park, the pollution of sin is there, even as we go to worship, sin pollution is with us.
Our text teaches that wherever the worshipper goes, he pollutes. The tabernacle is not just a place for worship to take place. It was a picture of God’s dwelling among his people. It was his house. And as those who go into God’s house, wherever we go, we pollute. It’s like we’ve been out in the dairy paddock, and we’ve stepped in something very unsavoury, and wherever we go, we’re rubbing it into the floor. Whether we’re meeting with God. Or going to work. Or spending time at home. We’re bringing that pollution everywhere. But the grace of God is, that the cleansing agent also is to be applied everywhere.
I realise some of us have a real difficulty following the book of Leviticus. It’s tough going sometimes. But I have an excellent commentary on the book of Leviticus that I want to share with you. It’s the best commentary on Leviticus, and you all have it. It is the book of Hebrews. It explains to us all about the sacrifices and priesthood. And you know what is says about the purification offering? In chapter 1 verse 3 we read: The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. Jesus has provided purification for all our sins with his precious blood.
Do you feel dirty today because of your sin? Through Jesus’ blood, there is purification for all your sins. His blood washes you whiter than the snow.
Do you feel like there is a stain of sin in your soul, that is so foul nothing could ever get it out? Through Jesus’ blood, there is purification for every foul stain on your soul that nothing else could ever remove.
Do you feel like you couldn’t come near to God, because the pollution of your sin would repel him? Through Jesus’ blood, we can come to God fully cleansed. We leave no muddy footprints in his presence, because we are clean, pure, and washed through the only cleansing agent that washes us clean for all eternity.
Or in the words of William Couper.
‘There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel’s veins;
And sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains.’ AMEN.
Hallelujah. What a Saviour! AMEN.