Inside-Out
“but the flesh of the bull and its hide and its refuse, you shall burn with fire outside the camp; it is a sin offering.” Exodus 29:14
Sin Offering – How can we understand what a sin offering is unless we first know what sin is? This question is just as relevant for us as it was for the children of Israel when God gave these instructions to Moses. Whether we’re talking about the sacrifice of bulls or the death of Yeshua, unless we know what sin is, we won’t understand the nature of a sin offering.
We can start by digging into the construction of this Hebrew word. In this verse, the word is chatta’at. It paints a picture of separation in two interrelated ways. The first pictograph shows us a sign of strong separation. This is a fence between two things, in this case, between us and God. But the second pictograph from the same consonants shows us a strong mark of the covenant. This is also a fence, but instead of standing outside the barrier, we are now inside, protected and secure. This dual nature of the word chatta’at means that the same word for “sin offering” in this context is also used in Genesis 4:7 to describe sin crouching at the door, ready to take Cain as prey. Even in the earliest revelation about a sin offering, the idea of substitution is clearly conveyed. I stand outside, burdened by my sin (chatta’at). I bring a sin offering (chatta’at – exactly the same thing that kept me on the outside) and, when it is accepted, I move inside the fence of the covenant, but my offering is substituted and takes my place outside the fence. That’s why the sin offering is burned outside the camp.
God’s divine economy is perfectly balanced. What separates also unites. The only thing that shifts is the beneficiary. Once I was held captive by sin and death. That sin was not erased. It remained as a blot against the Creator and a verdict against me. God did not wipe out the sin. He moved the sinner. In Exodus, something else took the place of the sinner so that the sin could be moved outside the camp. Ultimately, someone else had to be the final sin offering. And since no person born of Adam could ever act as the sinless substitute for all men’s sins, God Himself became the substitute sent outside the camp. It is a great – and wonderful – mystery.
So, what is the nature of my sin, and how does that affect the reality of the sin offering? In this glimpse into God’s plan, we see that sin is a catastrophic separation, a strong wall that removes me from Life. The root of this Hebrew word means “missing the mark,” precisely the same idea that we find in the Greek hamartia. But now we know that it is more than simply getting things wrong. It’s more than being off center. It’s being outside, being separated from the way, the truth and the life. And without a sin offering, without a substitute for my position outside the fence, there is no way in. My sin offering is really my sin, converted by God’s grace into something that can be taken outside the camp where I really belong in order that I can stand inside the camp where I long to be.
Topical Index: Sin
