贖罪祭
利未記四章1至7節
1耶和華對摩西說：
2你曉諭以色列人說：若有人在耶和華所吩咐不可行的甚麼事上誤犯了一件，
3或是受膏的祭司犯罪，使百姓陷在罪裡，就當為他所犯的罪把沒有殘疾的公牛犢獻給耶和華為贖罪祭。
4他要牽公牛到會幕門口，在耶和華面前按手在牛的頭上，把牛宰於耶和華面前。
5受膏的祭司要取些公牛的血帶到會幕，
6把指頭蘸於血中，在耶和華面前對著聖所的幔子彈血七次，
7又要把些血抹在會幕內、耶和華面前香壇的四角上，再把公牛所有的血倒在會幕門口、燔祭壇的腳那裡。
信息分享
第四章對贖罪祭作出了詳盡的描述。燔祭、素祭和平安祭都是甘心樂意的奉獻，但贖罪祭卻是人犯了過錯之後必須獻上的祭。人若想蒙神的接納，就必須獻上贖罪祭來求神赦罪。
然而，人若沒有一顆真正悔罪和相信神的心，即使獻祭也不會蒙神的悅納。我們在舊約經常看到神藉著先知指斥百姓，單是獻祭而沒有悔罪之心，是毫無作用的。
我們在這章經文看到，祭司必須先為自己的罪獻上贖罪祭。由此可見，神的僕人更必須嚴肅處理自己的罪，絕對不可掉以輕心。
第3節告訴我們：「受膏的祭司犯罪，使百姓陷在罪裡」──這實在是基督教教會最大的悲哀：作領袖的人犯罪，致使信徒也同樣在罪中，或是羞辱了教會及基督的聖名。這事再次提醒我們，我們沒有一個人是單為自己而活；我們的所言所行，不論是好是壞，都會對別人帶來正面或負面影響。
我們應該怎樣處理罪呢？不是單說一句：「我會改過」，就可以解決。犯罪的祭司或個人，必須獻上祭牲；他要按手在牠的頭上，表示與牠認同，祭牲就是代表自己。這表示他在神面前承認自己的罪，並知道他需要無罪的祭物流出的血來替他贖罪，他才能夠得蒙神的赦免。
犯罪的人將祭物帶到會幕面前獻祭，表示他願意公開認罪和渴望得到神的赦免──這是罪人的唯一希望。祭牲不單要沒有瑕疵，而且，牠被宰殺之後，更要把血倒在會幕門口。犯罪的人只要憑著信心作這一切，就必得著神的赦免。請留意第20、26和31節。
你可以把這些獻祭的原則，用在基督和我們作罪人的身上嗎？你知道我們今天如何才能得蒙神的赦罪嗎？
THE SIN OFFERING
Leviticus 4:1-7
1 Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
2 “Speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘If a person sins unintentionally against any of the commandments of the Lord in anything which ought not to be done, and does any of them,
3 if the anointed priest sins, bringing guilt on the people, then let him offer to the Lord for his sin which he has sinned a young bull without blemish as a sin offering.
4 He shall bring the bull to the door of the tabernacle of meeting before the Lord, lay his hand on the bull’s head, and kill the bull before the Lord.
5 Then the anointed priest shall take some of the bull’s blood and bring it to the tabernacle of meeting.
6 The priest shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle some of the blood seven times before the Lord, in front of the veil of the sanctuary.
7 And the priest shall put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of sweet incense before the Lord, which is in the tabernacle of meeting; and he shall pour the remaining blood of the bull at the base of the altar of the burnt offering, which is at the door of the tabernacle of meeting.
Message
Now in chapter 4 the details of the sin offerings are set out. The first three offerings described in Leviticus were voluntary. The sin offerings had to be made. If a man wanted to be accepted before God, he had to show it.
It was no good bringing the offering if there was no repentance or faith. In the Old Testament God often spoke through the prophets about an outward form that had no inner meaning.
In this long chapter, a sinning priest comes before us first of all. Sin, especially that of a servant of God is never dealt with lightly or carelessly in the Bible.
In one translation (NASB) verse 3 reads 'If the anointed priest sins so as to bring guilt on the people ...'. This is one of the greatest tragedies in the Christian church-a leader who sins and takes his people with him or brings shame on the church and the name of Christ. None of us live to ourselves. What we do for good or bad always affects the lives of others.
What is the answer to sin? It is not 'I am going to do better or I am going to be different'. The priest or person concerned had to bring an offering. Forgiveness had to be centred around the recognition of sin and the shedding of blood from an innocent victim. The offerer had to place his hand on the head of the animal, thus identifying himself with the sacrifice. The Hebrew words say 'he shall lean hard'.
That offering, as an open admission of repentance and the desire for forgiveness, was the sinner's only hope. The offering had to be killed. It not only had to be a perfect animal, but its blood had to be shed and applied. When this was done in faith, the sinner was forgiven. Notice verses 20, 26 and 31.
Can you apply these principles to Christ, our sacrifice and to ourselves as sinners today?