Leviticus (8) Decontamination Offering (hattat)

Leviticus 4 describes a third type of offering. The Decontamination Offering was to be used when someone strays from God’s way unintentionally, inadvertently, or by mistake, and their sin becomes known to them.

Different animals are specified depending on who has sinned and the seriousness of their sinning, the sins of anointed priest, the entire community of Israel, a leader, or an ordinary person have different consequences. The sins of a high priest or a leader do more harm than those of ordinary people, so a more costly sacrifice is required when they sin.

The Decontamination Offering is for unintentional sins only. These are sins that are done by mistake. The person does something without realising what they are doing is wrong. They have gone astray and made a mistake. Perhaps they did not know their action was prohibited by the Torah. Perhaps they did not understand the consequences of their actions. The offering is made when the sin is made known to them.

These sins are deliberate actions, but the person did not realise they are sinning. Leviticus 5 and 6 gives a list of unintentional sins. The Decontamination Offering applies to a very limited range of sins, as there are few that would be genuinely unintentional.

When the Decontamination Offering is brought by an Anointed Priest who has sinned, or on behalf of the entire community of Israel for a common sin, the form of offering is different as some blood is taken into the Holy of Holies.

This practice suggests that the sin of the anointed priest and a common sin committed by the entire community are far more serious than those of the ordinary people, and even leaders.

• The anointed priest has authority over the Tabernacle. If the spiritual powers of evil can persuade the priest to sin, they gain some authority over him and over the Tabernacle. Authority for evil spirits to intervene within the Tabernacle would be a serious setback in the spiritual battle taking place where the Tabernacle stands.

• The Tabernacle belonged to the entire community of the Israelites. They camped around the Tabernacle on all sides. If the entire community sinned and came under the influence of the spiritual powers of evil, they would have authority to interfere in the Tabernacle. If they gained a stronghold there, the spiritual protection that the Israelites gained through the Tabernacle system would be severely weakened.

• The people have an obligation to keep the tabernacle pure.

• God dwells in the Holy of Holies of the Tabernacle, but he does not stay where he is not welcome. If the priests or the Israelites allow the powers of evil into the Tabernacle, he will withdraw. This would be really dangerous for the Israelites.

• The blood sprinkled on the gold altar and on the ground in front of the tabernacle curtain is a sign to the spiritual powers of evil that they should keep out of the Tabernacle because it belongs to God.

• The blood on the altar parallels the blood on the doorpost during the first Passover, which warned the angel of death to stay away from the homes of the Israelites and allow their firstborn sons to live.

• The blood was taken into the Holy Place and sprinkled on the horns of the altar to restore the spiritual protection back to the level that prevailed before the priest or the people fell into sin. Horns are a symbol of power. The sprinkling of the blood on the horns reminds the spiritual powers of evil that Yahweh’s power is greater than theirs.

• The blood on the ground in front of the curtain is a warning to the spiritual powers of evil that they should not attempt to enter the Holy of Holies.

• The remaining blood from the bull is sprinkled on the ground beside the bronze altar at the entry to the tabernacle entrance.

• The “hattat” blood is always applied in the tabernacle. It is never applied to a person to cleanse them. A situation where these offerings are necessary should be rare.

• The offering does not decontaminate the offerer’s body. It cleanses the tabernacle and its furniture and implements.

• The blood poured out on the ground by the altar provides spiritual protection against the spiritual powers of evil.

• The Decontamination Offering cleanses the tabernacle, removing the impurity that contaminates if when a person has been attacked by evil powers.

• The decontamination offering does not deal with all sins, but only those that contaminate the tabernacle. The reasons behind this are explained in my next post called “Pure and Impure”.

Leviticus (6) What is Achieved by Ascending Offering

The Ascending Offering achieves three things for the people of God.

1. Worship/Attraction
The Ascending Offering is primarily an expression of worship of Yahweh. The offering produces a pleasing smell for God to enjoy. However, it is not just a smell. The smell represents the worship of the person bringing the offering at a considerable cost to themselves, and the priests whose lives are devoted to serving God by making regular offerings. Bringing an offering to Yahweh would be a sacrifice of worship for the giver.

The purpose of the Ascending Offering was to attract God’s attention and presence. It was an invitation to him to come to bless his people (Ex 20:24). God is drawn down to his people. It ensures his presence in the tabernacle. The core role of the offering is attraction.

The Ascending Offering is a non-atoning offering.

2. Food for Priests
The priests and their families receive meat and bread to eat. They do not have any land of their own, so they cannot grow their own food. They do not have any other source of income. The priests and their families live on the meat and bread that are brought in the various offerings brought by the people of God.

The meat must be eaten within three days of being offered. Any meat not used up within three days must be burned (Lev 7:16-17).

The pots used for cooking must be kept separate from normal use (Lev 6:26-29).

3. Spiritual Protection
Through the fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, the spiritual powers of evil gained authority over humans on earth. When the children put Passover blood on their doorposts, they were protected from the destroyer who killed the firstborn of Egypt. This defeat of the powers of evil enabled them to escape from Egypt. The victory continued when the Egyptian army was destroyed in the Red Sea, but the spiritual powers of evil did not give up. They continued to harass God’s people as they travelled through the wilderness.

The Tabernacle offerings provided an effective method of spiritual protection for the children of Israel. This protection was not possible, but it was the best protection possible prior to the death of Jesus and the total defeat of the spiritual powers of evil on the cross.

The fall placed humans under the power of the spiritual powers of evil. They demanded blood as the ransom price for setting them free. To live in peace, the children of Israel need to pay a ransom in blood to the spiritual powers of evil who had enslaved them. Prior to the cross, the blood of animals was the ransom they would accept. Unfortunately, this price was not one-off and complete. The ransom price had to be paid again and again. That was painful, but it was worth it to escape the control of the powers of evil. The benefit was that the ransom price was “acceptable” to the spiritual powers of evil (Lev 1:4).

This spiritual protection had a significant economic cost for the children of Israel because some of the best livestock (without flaws), which were essential for their agrarian economy, had to be killed in their prime. Killing their best animals just as they reached maturity was a big setback for a small-time farmer. Giving up such a valuable animal would be rarely painful for them.

Because the offering brings spiritual protection, “covering” is a good translation of “kipper”. The offering is a ransom price that provides spiritual covering against the spiritual powers of evil. This is why Leviticus 1:4 says that the Ascending Offering makes kipper (covering) because it provides general spiritual protection.

The blood belongs to God, because it is life. He loves life, so he does not seek bloodshed. The spiritual powers of evil love death, so they demand bloodshed at every opportunity. The Ascending Offering was one way the children of Israel could escape their harassment by offering them the blood that they demanded.

The priest did not burn the blood and offer it to God. Rather, he splashed a little on the side of the altar and poured out the rest of the blood on the ground all around the altar at the entrance to the tabernacle courtyard (Lev 1:5). This is the place where the spiritual powers of evil gathered, so this is where blood was offered to them.

When Abel killed Cain, the ground cried out for blood (actually, it was the spiritual powers of evil who demanded it (Gen 4:10). So when they are given a ransom price of blood, it is not treated in a special way, but just poured on the ground. They don’t get any special treatment. Something for God goes up, while something for them goes down.

Leviticus and Offerings (4) Day of Cleansing

In Part 1 of my study of Leviticus and Offerings, I focussed on the five different types of offering described in the first seven chapters. If you have not read it yet, you can find it at Part 1.

In Leviticus and Offerings: Part 2, I analyse the description of the Day of Cleansing, which is often mistakenly described as the day of atonement, due to a faulty translation of the Hebrew text of the Old Testament.

I had been taught that on the Day of Cleansing, blood was offered to God to expiate/propitiate the sins of the people. However, when I studied the text of Leviticus, I found something quite different. The purpose of the offering was to cleanse/decontaminate the tabernacle and particularly the furnishing in the Holy of Holies. It was a spiritual spring-cleaning. That was why it was only done once a year.

Contrary to what is often taught, no blood was offered to God. The main offering to God on the Day of Cleansing was a sweet-smelling, burning incense. More at Leviticus and Offerings: Part 2 .