Search
Scripture Reading: Lev. 5:1-19; 6:1-7; 7:7; 1 Pet. 2:24; Isa. 53:6b, 10a, 11b
The last of the five offerings is the trespass offering. We may have a problem trying to understand the difference between the sin offering and the trespass offering. In reading Leviticus 4 and 5, many have become confused. This is because chapter 5 is for the trespass offering, yet the sin offering is also mentioned several times.
Let us look at some of the verses in Leviticus 5. “He shall bring his trespass offering to Jehovah for his sin which he has committed, a female from the flock, a sheep or a goat, as a sin offering; and the priest shall make expiation for him on account of his sin. And if he cannot afford a lamb, then he shall bring as his trespass offering to Jehovah for that in which he has sinned two turtledoves or two young pigeons, one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering” (vv. 6-7). This is a trespass offering, but part of it is for a sin offering. The end of verse 9 says, “It is a sin offering.” This means that these two offerings are closely related to one another.
Leviticus 4 speaks of the matter of sinning without intent. That needs the sin offering. Chapter 5 concerns the trespass offering, yet notice verses 17 and 18: “If anyone sins and does any one of the things which Jehovah has commanded not to be done, though he did not know, he is still guilty and shall bear his iniquity. And he shall bring to the priest a ram without blemish out of the flock according to your valuation for a trespass offering. And the priest shall make expiation for him concerning the matter in which he erred without intent and did not know, and he will be forgiven.” Although it is speaking of the trespass offering, it is the same as the sin offering.
What is the difference between an apple tree and an apple? You may say that one is the seed and the other is the fruit. In a sense there is a difference, but in another sense there is nearly no difference. When you sow a grain of wheat into the earth, it produces many grains. The many grains are the fruit of the one grain. Eventually, every grain of the fruit is the same as the seed. It is the same with the trespass offering and the sin offering. They are alike, yet there is also a difference.
First Peter 2:24 tells us that the Lord Jesus Himself bore up our sins in His body on the tree, but 2 Corinthians 5:21 says that He was made sin on our behalf. He was made sin on our behalf, and He bore up our sins. Sins are the trespasses, iniquities, and transgressions that we have committed. But sin is different. What then is the difference between sins and sin? Sin is in our nature, but sins are our actions and deeds. Using the illustration of the seed and the fruit, we see two aspects. The first aspect is the seed in our nature, and the second aspect is the fruit in our deeds. In other words, sin refers to our sinful nature, and sins refer to our sinful deeds. One is the nature, and the other is the deed.
We are all the same in nature, but we may vary greatly in our deeds. You may hate people, and I may love people. You may be proud, and I may be humble. You may have killed several people, and I have killed none. We are so different in our actions, but we are absolutely the same in our nature. Do you think that you are better in nature than a bank robber? Do you think that your nature is better than that of those who have committed the worst crimes? As far as our nature is concerned, there is no difference. Whether we are good or bad, whether we are moral or immoral, we are all identical in nature. But our deeds and actions may be very different from one another. So we have two problems: the problem of sin in our nature and the problem of sins in our actions and behavior.
Suppose a man is proud and full of hatred and that he has done much damage to his family and friends. Yet another man is very good; from the day he was born until now, he has hardly done anything wrong. He is such a good person. We are all very clear that the bad one needs the blood of Jesus. Jesus died on the cross for all his sins, and when he trusts in Jesus, he appreciates His blood so much. But does the good person need the blood of the Lamb of God? The blood is for the cleansing of sins, but he seemingly does not have any sins. He is apparently so perfect and fine. Why should he need the blood of Jesus? Yet we must realize that he is only fine and perfect outwardly in the eyes of man. Inwardly he is just sin. Regardless of whether people are good or bad, inwardly everyone is terrible. We all need Jesus, because Jesus not only bears our sins, but He was also made sin on our behalf.
We must realize that not only have we committed sins, but we are also sin. We may have never committed anything evil, but inwardly we are sin. It does not matter whether an apple tree brings forth apples or not; it is still an apple tree. Praise the Lord! On the one hand, He was made sin on our behalf, and on the other hand, He bore up all our sins. He is the sin offering, and He is also the trespass offering. Eventually, the trespass offering is also a sin offering.
In all your experiences as a Christian, how many times have you realized that the Lord Jesus was your sin offering? He is not only our trespass offering but also our sin offering. I am afraid that many of us have never had any realization of our sin. We have only realized our sins. We have never enjoyed Christ as the offering for sin, although many times we have enjoyed Him as our offering for sins: “O Lord, I am so sinful, but You died for my sins on the cross.” This is the enjoyment of the Lord as the trespass offering. But we are not only sinful; we are also sin.
A good person may have done little wrong, but he still must confess to God and apply the blood of Christ to himself. This is not for the outward trespass but for the inward sin. It is not for what he did but for what he is. What he is, is sin, and what he does, is sins. Jesus was made sin on our behalf, and He also bore up our sins.
As we go deeper with the Lord in the inner life, we will understand why the sin offering is mentioned before the trespass offering in Leviticus. This is because sin is more serious than trespasses. Sin is the seed, the root, the source. The trespasses are merely the outward fruits, and they are not as serious. The most serious thing in the eyes of God is the sin in our nature. What we are is much more serious than what we do. Hence, we need the sin offering first; then we need the trespass offering.
For the sin offering, a vigorous bull was needed. But there is no bull mentioned for the trespass offering. The strongest animal used for the trespass offering is a female sheep. This shows that there is not the need of a strong offering to deal with our trespasses. But we need a strong, vigorous bull to deal with our sin. Two weak turtledoves or young pigeons are sufficient for a trespass offering, but the weakest animal mentioned for the sin offering in chapter 4 is a lamb. There is something even weaker used for the trespass offering: the tenth of an ephah of fine flour. It is not even a whole ephah but the tenth of an ephah of flour. This proves that the trespass offering is not as serious as the sin offering.
At the time I was saved, I did not hear a message on sin but on the world. I heard how Pharaoh is the king of this world, and all the people are under his dominion. Therefore, I repented of being occupied by the world. I did not at that time have much consciousness concerning my sins. I was caught by the Lord, and I told the Lord that I would give up the world for Him, but I did not repent so much for my sins. I would say that in typology I enjoyed Christ as my trespass offering as the tenth of an ephah of fine flour. Still I was saved. Perhaps when you were saved, you realized Jesus as your trespass offering as a ram. In later years, I began to enjoy the Lord Jesus as my sin offering as a bull. Sometimes as a priest I have made some mistakes. By these experiences I realized that there was something wrong in my nature that was more serious. I needed a strong Jesus, a bull, not just the tenth of an ephah of fine flour. This means that I learned to appreciate and enjoy the Lord as my sin and trespass offering much more than I did fifty years ago.
When we put all the items of Leviticus 4 and 5 together, we have the bull, the sheep, the goat, the lamb, the turtledoves, the young pigeons, and the tenth of an ephah of fine flour. By all these items we can see that the sin offering has the strongest items, and the trespass offering has the weakest. But regardless of how weak it is, as long as you touch it, you are saved.
We must realize that what we do is not so serious as what we are. Our outward actions are not as serious as our inward being. Our outward actions are just trespasses and iniquities, but our inward being is sin. Therefore, on the one hand, the Bible tells us that Jesus was made sin on our behalf, as in 2 Corinthians 5:21, and on the other hand, several verses, such as 1 Peter 2:24, show us that Jesus bore up our sins. Isaiah 53 also says that Jesus was made a trespass offering on the cross by God to bear our iniquities, transgressions, and sins. In verse 10 of this chapter, an offering for sin can be translated “a trespass offering.” Therefore, we can read this verse in this way: “Jehovah was pleased to crush Him, to afflict Him with grief. / When He makes Himself a trespass offering...” This shows us that in Isaiah 53 Jesus is the trespass offering.
By now we all should be clear that we have two needs. The first is that we must realize that we are sin. Whenever we come into the presence of God, regardless of whether we have done wrong or not, we are just sin. Even if we have never done anything wrong, we still need Jesus as our sin offering. The second need is that we have many sins. We have to be right with God and right with man, and this is what Leviticus 5 and 6 tell us. But we are wrong both with God and with man; we have committed many sins. The trespass offering deals with our being wrong with God and with others. Chapter 5 says that if we are wrong with God, we need the trespass offering. Then chapter 6 says that if we are wrong with others, we also need the trespass offering.
Chapter 4 speaks only of a priest, the congregation, a ruler, or a common person doing something without intent against God. There is nothing definite in that chapter. But chapters 5 and 6 are very definite. For example, suppose an Israelite gives God only nine percent of his produce, instead of ten percent. He is wrong with God because he owes Him one percent. This is a very definite matter. It is unlike that which is mentioned in chapter 4. This is because the sin in our nature is not so definite, but the sins in our actions are very definite.
When we owe anything to God, we must first offer the trespass offering and then make restitution. But when we owe anything to man, we must first make restitution and then offer the trespass offering. Also, when we make restitution both to God and to man, we must add one fifth. What does it mean to add one fifth? Five in the Bible always means responsibility. Because we did wrong, we did not bear the responsibility in the right way; therefore, we must add something. This means that we must realize more responsibility. If we owe something to others, first of all we must make restitution to restore what we owe. Then we should offer the trespass offering to God. But if we owe something to God, we must offer the trespass offering first and then make restitution.
All these portions of the Word show us how right we must be in the Tent of Meeting. We must realize that we are sin, so we need Jesus as our sin offering. Then we must be right with God in a definite way. We cannot just say that we are sinful; we must look into our daily walk to see if we owe anything to God. If we are short, then we are not right with God. This means that if we are wrong with God in anything or if we owe God anything, we must make restitution. If the Lord would enlighten us, I am afraid that we would see many things in which we are not right with God. In many instances, we owe God something — in this aspect and in that aspect. So we must apply Jesus as the trespass offering to all our shortcomings in the presence of God. And we must also be practical and make restitution.
In 1933, when I was in Shanghai, Brother Nee published a message on Leviticus 6 regarding the restitution of the trespass offering. In this book Brother Nee said that as the Lord’s people, we must be right with everyone. We should not owe anyone anything. Many of us were enlightened by that word. As we began to check our affairs, we found many things in our possession that did not belong to us. Many of us began to make restitution. Some found books that had been borrowed for many years and had never been returned. Eventually, we all discovered that in many things we were not righteous. Some of us even returned large amounts of money to the government, and that became a strong testimony. This is not a legal matter, but if you would be willing to be right in everything with God and with others, then check item by item when you get home. I am afraid that you will find at least five items in which you will have to make restitution.
The principle is the same in Matthew 5:23-24: “Therefore if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and first go and be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.” Without restitution our gift will not be acceptable to God. This is because God is righteous and just. We must be right with Him, and we must be right with others. He will not allow His people to be unrighteous. However, again I say that this is not a legal matter. It is altogether a matter of His grace.
When we become right with God and right with all others in a complete way, that will be a time of real rest, liberation, and enjoyment: “Hallelujah, I am right with God, and I am right with all people! What a liberation! What a rest! What a joy!” Do not think that this is a small thing. If we would realize that we are not only sinful but that we also are sin and apply Jesus both as our sin offering and trespass offering, and if we would also be made absolutely right with God and with all others, we would all be so living, so prevailing, and so released. It is a matter of getting ourselves absolutely right from within and from without. Leviticus 4, 5, and 6 are very practical for the daily walk of God’s people.
Praise the Lord that He is our sin offering, and He is also our trespass offering! We must always take Him as our sin offering, and we must continually apply Him as our trespass offering for our relationship to God and to man. When we are restored, we have the release, the joy, the rest, and the peace, because sin is dealt with, and we are right with God and all others. Such a people are so victorious. This is the church. The church is such a restored, restful, peaceful, and joyful people with sin dealt with by Jesus as the sin offering and with all their trespasses dealt with by Him as the trespass offering. Now we have nothing to trouble us from within or from without. The sin within has been dealt with by Christ as the sin offering, and all our iniquities, sins, and transgressions without have been dealt with by Him as our trespass offering. We are absolutely released. Hallelujah! There is no more entanglement of sin, and there is no guilt from any sins. We are so right in the presence of God and of man. This will be a strong testimony to the whole universe. May we continually apply Christ as both the sin offering and the trespass offering.
