Leviticus 4: Group Study Handout

How to use: read Leviticus 4 aloud together, then take the questions in order. One page is enough for an evening.

Overview

Yahweh speaks to Moses about sin offerings for the people. If the anointed priest sins unintentionally, he must bring a young bull without defect as a sin offering (vv. 2-3). The priest lays his hand on the bull and kills it before Yahweh (vv. 4-5). Then he sprinkles the blood in the Tent of Meeting and burns the fat on the altar (vv. 6-10).

Key verse

“‘When a ruler sins, and unwittingly does any one of all the things which Yahweh his God has commanded not to be done, and is guilty;”
Leviticus 4:22 (WEB)

Outline

Leviticus 4:1–5 Instructions for the Anointed Priest
Leviticus 4:6–12 Ritual of the Sin Offering
Leviticus 4:13–21 Congregational Sin Offering
Leviticus 4:22–26 Offering for a Ruler's Sin
Leviticus 4:27–35 Sin Offerings for Common People

Discussion questions

In v6, why does the priest sprinkle blood 'seven times' before Yahweh?
What does the priest put on the 'horns' of the altar in v18?
In vv. 13-14, why does the whole congregation need a sin offering when their sin is 'hidden'?
In v20, how does the priest make 'atonement' for the congregation after their sin?
When has a failure made you seek forgiveness, similar to how the priest acts in v26?

Go deeper

Passages that echo Leviticus 4: Leviticus 5, Leviticus 16, Numbers 15.

Before next time: read Leviticus 5.