Leviticus 4:35
And all its fat he shall remove as the fat of the lamb is removed from the sacrifice of peace offerings, and the priest shall burn it on the altar, on top of the Lord's food offerings. And the priest shall make atonement for him for the sin which he has committed, and he shall be forgiven.
Tag: Forgiven
The cycle in Leviticus 4-6 is discovery of a sin; offering before the priest, by the priest; atonement achieved; forgiveness offered. The key is the last step of the cycle: Forgiveness. What a blessing for the hearers of this book: Forgiveness. The Hebrew word used by the author of the book for "forgiveness" is "Calach." Here is Vines statement on the word:
calach (סָלַח, 5545), “to forgive.” This verb appears 46 times in the Old Testament. The meaning “to forgive” is limited to biblical and rabbinic Hebrew; in Akkadian, the word means “to sprinkle,” and in Aramaic and Syriac signifies “to pour out.” The meaning of calach in Ugaritic is debatable.
The first biblical occurrence is in Moses’ prayer of intercession on behalf of the Israelites: “... It is a stiffnecked people; and [forgive] our iniquity and our sin, and take us for thine inheritance” (Exod. 34:9). The basic meaning undergoes no change throughout the Old Testament. God is always the subject of “forgiveness.” No other Old Testament verb means “to forgive,” although several verbs include “forgiveness” in the range of meanings given a particular context (e.g., naca‘ and ‘awon in Exod. 32:32; kapar in Ezek. 16:63).
The world is used ten times in Leviticus. Nine of those times is found in these three chapters and centers around our discovering a sin against God. To be pardoned once you have guilt is the most refreshing of all feelings. To know that God has destroyed the hostility between you and Him is the ultimate joyful expression. It takes a sacrifice for that to happen, however. Christ is our ultimate sacrifice. Christ is the atonement for our sins that grants us forgiveness and destroyed the hostility between God and us. We no longer have guilt because the sins of our past and future are paid for. We are forgiven.
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