There are a variety of sins listed in Leviticus 5-7. These include touching unclean things, swearing (making a vow), consuming blood, lying to neighbors, and sinning out of ignorance of the law. Punishments range from animal sacrifice to death or exile.
Most of the time, a burnt offering was required. The significance of this should not be overlooked. The altar of the Lord was a representation of Hell, where “The fire shall ever be burning upon the altar; it shall never go out” (Lev. 6:13).
In other words, the sins of man are to be sent to the eternal fires of Hell. In the Old Testament, this was done through the death and blood of animals. In the New Testament, this is done through the death and blood of Jesus Christ.
I tend to think that part of the problem with modern Christianity is the lack of understanding of what Christ’s sacrifice means for us. When you read of the meticulous nature of the burnt offerings and the large volume of sins that required a specific offering and realize that all we have to do is ask Jesus Christ to save us from our sins, we should really appreciate the ease of our choice.
If we were still under Old Testament law, we would have to honor our vows like Jephthah in Judges 11:34-39. He swore to offer as a burnt sacrifice the next thing that walked through his door, and watched with horror as his daughter walked through. He honored his vow and killed her.
All we have to do now is ask God’s forgiveness, because Christ’s blood redeems us from our foolish vows.
If an OT sinner took something from another person by violence or lying, they would have to “restore it in the principal, and shall add the fifth part more thereto” (Lev. 6:5) and bring a “trespass offering” of a ram as an atonement.
A NT sinner need merely confess their sins to God (though the idea of returning the item plus 20% is excellent).
We have it so easy, don’t we? Yet we take our salvation for granted. I wonder how faithful we would be if we opened every Sunday morning with a burnt offering (no, not a cookout, for eating a burnt offering results in being “cut off from his people” in Lev. 7). We need constant reminders that God is working in our lives, and even then it is difficult to remain faithful.
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