Kill a Goat and Say You’re Sorry
[27] “If anyone of the common people sins unintentionally in doing any one of the things that by the LORD’s commandments ought not to be done, and realizes his guilt, [28] or the sin which he has committed is made known to him, he shall bring for his offering a goat, a female without blemish, for his sin which he has committed. [29] And he shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and kill the sin offering in the place of burnt offering. [30] And the priest shall take some of its blood with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering and pour out all the rest of its blood at the base of the altar. [31] And all its fat he shall remove, as the fat is removed from the peace offerings, and the priest shall burn it on the altar for a pleasing aroma to the LORD. And the priest shall make atonement for him, and he shall be forgiven.
(Leviticus 4:27–31 ESV)
When we read this today, it seems so ancient and barbaric that it’s hard to see what all is going on. Add to that the pendulum swing of the Protestant Reformation that has so disdained the idea of confession to a Priest, that we act like sins are forgiven as easy as talking to ourselves.
If you’ve ever been around a pack of 5 year olds in the nursery, at some point you might have said “say you’re sorry.” You know how this goes. The little guy pouts, murmurs “sorry” and then the toy is forgotten about and they all start playing together again.
As God was establishing His people, He wanted them to understand His holy purity and the impact their sin had on their relationships with God and other people. He also didn’t want any of them to despair so much that they were hopeless. The perfect balance would be through sacrificing a goat.
Except for those of us on the far west side of Evansville and the south side of Henderson, the majority of us have never seen a live animal get killed and turned into dinner. Most Jewish people at the time of Leviticus had seen their mom or dad get a goat ready for dinner. At some young age they would start helping out by cleaning up the unwanted parts and throwing them away. Even the killing of the goat here isn’t the big deal.
The big deal is that a person would stand there, with their hand on the goat, consider their sin, and kill the goat. It wasn’t butchered for food or for the skin. It wasn’t inhumane or brutal as they did this with the utmost reverence and as quickly as possible. It was done to show that sin kills a part of the connection with God.
But that’s not all.
The priest would take the blood, spread it around, burn up the fat, and then ”And the priest shall make atonement for him, and he shall be forgiven.” Whatever disconnection and hurt had happened between the man and God was now covered over. The sin against his neighbor was no longer held against him. He could go home and pray with a clear conscience, and when the temptation came to sin again, he would remember the day he went to the temple with that goat.
If we lessen the power of confession, we risk weakening the power of forgiveness with it.
The glorious light on this is that since Jesus has died on the cross, He has died for all of our sins once and for all, and we need not continue the sacrifices. Forgiveness is an already finished work that continues to show its effects.
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:7–9 ESV)