parashat vaiyiqra The Offering God Desires
Our Torah portion for this Shabbat is parashat vaiyiqra. This parasha runs from Leviticus 1:1 to 5:26. In our last parasha Israel finally got the sanctuary set up. The machinery’s in place; in the current parasha we have the instructions for its operation. Remember, the sanctuary is what enables a holy God to live among an imperfect people. The sanctuary is a system for transferring responsibility for broken relationships away from human beings, who can’t handle the consequences, to God. In the sanctuary God assumes responsibility for Israel’s brokenness.
Although the implementation is complicated, the system works on a very simple principal. The way the sanctuary operates is that people bringing objects of value to God, which he accepts. When somebody accepts an object of value, the liability of the previous owner is transferred over to the new owner. By accepting offerings in the sanctuary, God accepts the liability of the previous owner.
A sanctuary offering is not the substitution of one thing for another; an offering rather, is a kind of self-giving in which there is no distinction between what is being given and the person doing the giving. The object of value isn’t given instead of the giver, rather, both are given together.
Parashat vaiyiqra lists the various types of offerings which worshipers may bring. Instead of reading the entire parasha, allow me to summarize the contents chapter by chapter. Leviticus chapter 1 gives directions for the so-called ascending-offering. Leviticus chapter 2 gives directions for the grain-offering. Leviticus chapter 3 gives directions for the so-called participation-offering. Leviticus chapter 4 gives directions for the so-called sin-offering. Leviticus chapter 5 gives directions for the so-called guilt-offering. This morning I want to focus on chapter 4 and 5, because the offerings in these chapters lead to forgiveness.
At the end of directions for a sin-offering consisting of a bull, Leviticus 4:20 tells us,
“And the priest shall expiate on them, and it shall be forgiven them.”
To expiate, by the way, is the technical term in language of the Torah for the transfer of responsibility. Some of the older translations in English may say “atone” rather than “expiate.” The idea’s the same: transfer of responsibility.
At the end of directions for a sin-offering consisting of a goat, offered by a leader, Leviticus 4:26 tells us,
“And the priest shall expiate on him regarding his sin, and it shall be forgiven him.”
At the end of directions for a sin-offering consisting of a goat, Leviticus 4:31 tells us,
“And the priest shall expiate on him, and it shall be forgiven him.”
At the end of directions for a sin-offering consisting of a ewe, a female sheep, Leviticus 4:35 tells us,
“And the priest shall expiate on him regarding his sin which he sinned, and it shall be forgiven him.”
At the end of directions for a guilt-offering consisting of a bird, Leviticus 5:10 tells us,
“And the priest shall expiate on him regarding his sin which he sinned, and it shall be forgiven him.”
At the end of directions for a guilt-offering consisting of flour, Leviticus 5:13 tells us,
“And the priest shall expiate on him regarding his sin which he sinned in any of these matters, and it shall be forgiven him.”
At the end of directions for a guilt-offering against sacred things, Leviticus 5:16 tells us,
“And the priest shall expiate on him with the ram of the guilt-offering, and it shall be forgiven him.”
At the end of directions for an unknown guilt-offering, Leviticus 5:18 tells us,
“And the priest shall expiate on him regarding his error which he erred and he didn't know, and it shall be forgiven him.”
What a wonderful parasha! Everybody who follows God’s directions, whether Israel or resident alien, priest or commoner, receives forgiveness! In the sanctuary everybody has access! Admittedly, the Torah recognizes social and economic distinctions, so the system’s not totally egalitarian, but everybody has access. The difference in value of offerings is a matter of social status of the person offering. Forgiveness isn’t more expensive for the wealth than for the poor. Forgiveness isn’t a commodity that can be purchased.
In all these instances parashat vaiyiqra says that the priest expiates, and the perpetrator will be forgiven. Who does the forgiving? Does the priest who effects the transfer, the priest who expiates, also do the forgiving? Whaddaya think?
ANSWER The priest doesn’t do the forgiving. God does the forgiving. The use of the passive voice “it will be forgiven him,” is a reverential circumlocution for saying “God will forgive him.” In Jewish texts, the passive voice doesn’t indicate action that takes place impersonally or without an agent. In Jewish texts, the passive voice is simply a circumlocution for avoiding unnecessarily repetition of HaShem’s holy name. If the Bible were a Christian book, it would say directly: “God will forgive him.” Don’t be put off by the passive voice; “it will be forgiven him” means exactly “God will forgive him.” Forgiveness is not automatic or something that is mechanically triggered by the correct ritual or magic formula. Forgive is not passive. Forgiveness requires God’s personal intervention.
If we think of forgiveness as telling a person that we don’t hold it against them that they’ve hurt us anymore, that they can take our friendship or leave it, then we might understand forgiveness as a one-time event.
But in the Torah forgiveness is more than letting someone who’s wronged us off the hook. In the Torah forgiveness is the restoration of a broken relationship. In the Torah forgiveness is a process of reconciliation that moves along in stages.
Many people today are uncomfortable with the whole idea of forgiveness. I remember a girlfriend of my flatmate in Jerusalem. Mikhal hadn’t been around a lot of foreigners. When Tali told Mikhal that I was Christian, she blurted out, “Paul, you must be one of those excuse me people! Excuse me! Pardon me! Beg your pardon! Christians are such a bunch of primitives. What’s done is done. How can excuse me undo anything? Words don’t change a thing.”
Mikhal didn’t understand that forgiveness is the restoration of a relationship. But in a certain sense, Mikhal was right: in and of themselves expressions of regret don’t change a situation. Restoration requires more than an apology. Our parasha spells out the steps in restoration. Before a relationship can be mended, there has to be recognition of wrongdoing. Let’s look at those directions for restoration in parashat vaiyiqra. Leviticus 4:13, 14.
“If all the congregation of Israel errs and the matter is hidden from the eyes of the congregation and they did one of all the commandments of HaShem which is not to be done, and they become guilty. And the sin becomes known which they sinned against it, then the congregation shall offer a bull from the cattle for a sin-offering, and shall bring it before the tent of appointment.”
There is a similar recognition of wrongdoing at the start of directions for forgiveness of a leader. Leviticus 4:22, 23.
“When a president sins and does one of all the commandments of HaShem his God which is not to be done, in error, and becomes guilty, or his sin in which he sinned is made known to him, then he shall bring his offering, a kid of the goats, a male without blemish.”
There is a similar recognition of wrongdoing at the start of directions for forgiveness of an ordinary Israelite. Leviticus 4:27, 28.
“If an individual soul from the people of the land sins in error by doing one of the commandments of HaShem which is not to be done, and becomes guilty, or his sin which he sinned is made known to him, then he shall bring his offering, a kid of the goats, a female without blemish for his sin which he sinned.”
Many people are surprised to learn that the Torah requires amends for wrongdoing which was unknown at the time it was committed. According to the Torah we bear responsibility for unintentional damage. The fact that I was ignorant at the time is an attenuating circumstance, but it doesn’t entirely excuse what I did. Once wrongdoing comes to my attention, it needs to be addressed.
In this respect, the offerings in Leviticus chapter 4 and 5 are different from the offerings in chapters 1, 2, and 3. The offerings in chapters 1, 2, and 3, the so-called ascending-offering, the grain offering, and the participation-offering, are voluntary. The sin-offering and the guilt-offering in chapter 4 and 5 are obligatory.
An easy way to demonstrate the difference is the case of the worshiper who brings both a sin-offering and an ascending-offering, such as in Leviticus 9. In order for the ascending offering to be a valid gift, the sin-offering has to be given first. If I owe you $100 and give you $100 for a present, that’s no present. But if I first pay off my debt, I may also give you a present, should I be so inclined. Sin-offerings and guilt-offerings are a kind of payment. They’re not gifts. You’ve gotta pay up first before you’re in a position to offer a gift.
Another easy way to demonstrate the difference between obligatory and voluntary offerings is from the fat. In Leviticus 3:3 the fat of a participation-offering is termed an eshe, a food-gift. But the fat of a sin-offering or a guilt-offering is never called an eshe in the Torah. The sin-offering and the guilt-offering are not food-gifts; they are not any sort of gifts.
Just as there’s recognition of wrongdoing on the part of someone bringing a sin-offering, there’s recognition of wrongdoing on the part of someone bringing a guilt-offering. Leviticus 5:1-6a.
“And a soul when it sins by hearing the voice of an oath and he is witness or has seen or knows and doesn’t tell, he incurs iniquity. Or a soul which touches anything unclean or the carcass of an unclean animal or the carcass of unclean cattle or the carcass of an unclean creeper, and it is hidden from him, and he is unclean, and becomes guilty. Or if it he touches the uncleanliness of a human, for his any uncleanliness by which he may be unclean, and it is hidden from him, and he comes to know, and becomes guilty. Or if a soul swears, pronouncing with his lips either to do evil or to do good, anything which a man may pronounce by oath, and it is hidden from him, and he comes to know, and becomes guilty in one of these. And it shall be, when he becomes guilty of one of these, then he shall confess that in which he has sinned. And he shall bring his guilt offering to HaShem regarding his sin which he sinned.”
Interestingly, the so-called sin-offering and the so-called guilt offering only cover things like failure to testify in a court of law or ritual impurity. We usually regard failure to stand up and testify as cowardice. The person who fails to testify has been intimidated. This as a sin of omission, rather than a sin of commission. Non-Jews aren’t subject to contingent impurity, so only Jewish people can become guilty of contingent impurity. Consequently, sin-offering and guilt-offerings would seem to only cover relatively minor infractions. What about major violations, things like theft, adultery, murder, and blasphemy? What about deliberately harming others? Can a person bring a sin-offering or a guilt-offering for big-ticket sins?
ANSWER Evidently not. The Torah lays down that those who commit deliberate sin continue to bear their own responsibility. Numbers 15:30-31
“As for the soul which commits with high hand, whether from the citizenry or from the resident alien class, who blasphemes HaShem, that soul shall be cut off from among its people. Since he has despised the word of HaShem and annulled His commandment, that soul shall certainly be cut off. Its iniquity remains.”
Evidently major violations aren’t treated within the sanctuary system. HaShem’s complete answer to Israel’s brokenness isn’t found within the Torah.
Tell me, how does a matter which is hidden from the eyes of the congregation become known? How does a person come to know an error that is hidden from them? How is sin made known to a person? What does parashat vaiyiqra say?
ANSWER Parashat vaiyiqra doesn’t say, does it?
But Israel’s prayer book spells out at least one avenue by which worshipers come to know about their hidden errors. In the Psalms, worshipers routinely ask God to make their sins to known them. Let’s look at Psalm 51:8.
“Behold, truth you desire in the inward parts. In the closed part make me know wisdom.”
In the Psalms, worshipers ask God to understand their errors. Psalm 19:13.
“Who understands errors? Clear me from hidden things.”
In the Psalms, people pray for God to search them. Psalm 139:23, 24.
“Search me, O God, and know my heart. Examine me and know my anxieties. And see whether there be a way of sorrow in me, and lead me in the eternal way.”
Do you pray for God to reveal your hidden sins? You ought to. This is biblical prayer. God is waiting for your invitation. God knows that unless you first ask, you’re unlikely to accept such information. We naturally don’t wish to know about hidden sin. This is one of the reasons it’s hidden: we hide it from ourselves. We require outside intervention to reveal hidden sins.
Jesus teaches another avenue by which worshipers come to know their hidden sins. This teaching is recorded in Matthew 5:23, 24.
“If therefore you are presenting your gift at the altar, and there you remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come present your gift.”
Jesus’ directions at first sound convoluted. If the problem is with the brother, why doesn’t Jesus direct the brother to initiate reconciliation?
Jesus knows that the person preparing to come into God’s presence with an offering in hand is the person more receptive to sensitive information. A person anticipating worship is more attuned to God’s Spirit. God brings that hidden something to the worshiper’s remembrance. God then directs the worshiper who holds that information in trust to disclose it to his brother or his sister.
Humanly speaking, these aren’t easy directions to follow. It’s much easier to overlook our brother’s or our sister’s sin than to confront him or her.
But following these difficult instructions is part of true worship. You cannot worship God in Spirit and in truth and ignore Jesus’ instructions concerning reconciliation. Parashat vaiyiqra outlines some pretty difficult instructions for affecting forgiveness, and so does Jesus. Forgiveness isn’t easy, but then reconciliation is well worth the effort. Reconciliation is worth a whole lot of inconvenience and ego-busting, because our brother and our sister are God’s own image and likeness and they’re infinitely precious. To be unreconciled to God’s image and likeness is to exclude something of God himself from your life. To be unreconciled is to cheat yourself of God’s fullness.
If someone tells you that you’ve made a mistake that’s never occurred to you, what ought be your attitude?
ANSWER You should take the suggestion seriously. It might be God answering your prayer. If person asks your forgiveness or asks to forgive you, you should be willing to listen. At the very least, you should thank the brother or the sister for their concern. You should respect them for undertaking something so difficult on your behalf, even if you have reason to believe they don’t have the all facts straight.
In parashat vaiyiqra we learn we cannot escape the consequences by ignoring what we’ve done. God takes damaged relationships seriously. It’s only when we see how seriously he takes sin that we marvel at his generosity in assuming responsibility for it. Because God takes sin seriously, we can be serious about reconciliation. That’s the reality of sanctuary forgiveness. You learned it in parashat vaiyiqra.
