The Purification for Sin Offering For a Ruler of the People (Leviticus 4:22-26).
We now come a step down to a ruler of the people. The situation is now different. He does not represent the whole nation, nor, although appointed by God, is he God's anointed mediator for the whole people. This is a sin of only a section of the people. It is therefore not a total rejection of the covenant. Thus the offering too is toned down and its remains disposed of differently, as with the peace sacrifices. It is necessary for atonement and the restoration of the unity of the nation, but not for the restoration of the covenant as a whole.
‘When a ruler sins, and does unwittingly any one of all the things which Yahweh his God has commanded not to be done, and is become guilty; if his sin, by which he has sinned, be made known to him, he shall bring for his oblation a goat, a male without blemish.'
The ruler's sin may be personal, or it may have affected his sub-group. Either way it affects those over whom he is responsible. Thus he has brought guilt on himself and his sub-group. This time the offering is to be a he-goat. And it must be without blemish, for it is in the place of one who is blemished so that its death may be on his account. Its maleness reflects the importance of, and vitality of, the offering.
“If his sin be made known to him.” The rulers and elders are clearly responsible to account for each other. The idea is probably that his behaviour has come to the attention of the other rulers, and they approach him in order to deal with the matter for the sake of the whole, exerting peer pressure. It may, however, mean made known by God.
The question of what is meant by ‘a ruler' cannot be definitely answered, although its general significance is clear. The term is general. In Exodus 16:22 the ‘rulers' of the congregation came to Moses with a problem of the people. They thus appear as spokesmen of the whole, and possibly different from the elders. But their importance is undoubted. It may, however, refer to any prominent leader in a position of fairly wide authority. The point behind this is that having authority lays greater responsibility on the one who has it, for he is responsible for others as well as himself.
‘And he shall lay his hand on the head of the goat, and kill it in the place where they kill the whole burnt-offering before Yahweh. It is a sin-offering.'
The ruler is now publicly to lay his hand on the goat and kill it ‘in the place where they kill the whole burnt offering before Yahweh'. This means to the north side of the altar (Leviticus 1:11) and its mention only here may suggest that the two above may have been killed in a more prominent position. (Compare in Leviticus 1. It may indicate that all bull ox sacrifices were slain more prominently).
It is clear now that this sacrifice is of a lesser nature. The tension is no longer there, except for the person involved. It is a he-goat and it is slain where all whole burnt offerings are slain. The reason that it is not to be a sheep is possibly because he-goats are often used to depict rulers. They are ‘stately in their going' (Proverbs 30:31). Compare ‘the he-goats before the flocks' (Jeremiah 50:8); ‘the he-goats of the earth' signifying its important men (Isaiah 14:9). Thus the he-goat adequately represents a ruler.
‘And the priest shall take of the blood of the sin-offering with his finger, and put it on the horns of the altar of whole burnt-offering; and its blood shall he pour out at the base of the altar of whole burnt-offering.'
The blood is applied to the horns of the altar of whole burnt offerings rather than within the Holy Place. The future of Israel is no longer seen as in doubt. Nevertheless the strength of God is called on, and the plea of the blood goes up to Him through the horns of the altar, and the altar is purified. The rest of the blood is then flung at the base of the altar to make atonement for it (Leviticus 8:15). It is all presented before God. It is the shedding of the blood which results in forgiveness of sins. It is the blood that makes the atonement for the whole person (Leviticus 17:11).
‘And all its fat shall he burn on the altar, as the fat of the sacrifice of peace-sacrifices; and the priest shall make atonement for him as concerning his sin, and he shall be forgiven.'
The fat of the sin offering is treated like the fat of the peace offerings, presumably along with all the inner organs. They belong to God. Nothing is said of the meat and the skin. These actually go to the priest. They are holy, but not most holy. For in Leviticus 6:26-29 we learn that all the priests may eat of the meat, but only in the tabernacle precincts because it is holy.
“And the priest shall make atonement for him as concerning his sin, and he shall be forgiven.” The result of the work of the priest, using God's allotted means, results in atonement for the ruler. He is forgiven.
This offering brings out the responsibility of Christian leadership. For those who lead sin is more virulent, for they hurt not only themselves but those that they lead. But Christ having been made our purification for sin offering purification and atonement is available through Him, even for those who sin in leadership and bear more guilt.