5 “‘If anyone sins because they do not speak up when they hear a public charge to testify regarding something they have seen or learned about, they will be held responsible…. or if anyone thoughtlessly takes an oath to do anything, whether good or evil (in any matter one might carelessly swear about) even though they are unaware of it, but then they learn of it and realize their guilt—

5 when anyone becomes aware that they are guilty in any of these matters, they must confess in what way they have sinned. 6 As a penalty for the sin they have committed, they must bring to the LORD a female lamb or goat from the flock as a sin offering; and the priest shall make atonement for them for their sin. 7 “‘Anyone who cannot afford a lamb is to bring two doves or two young pigeons to the LORD as a penalty for their sin—one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering. 8 They are to bring them to the priest, who shall first offer the one for the sin offering. He is to wring its head from its neck, not dividing it completely, 9 and is to splash some of the blood of the sin offering against the side of the altar; the rest of the blood must be drained out at the base of the altar. It is a sin offering. 10 The priest shall then offer the other as a burnt offering in the prescribed way and make atonement for them for the sin they have committed, and they will be forgiven.

The Old Testament sacrifices pointed ahead to Christ.

If you are taking notes for a sermon summary, or if you are planning to talk about this sermon when you get home today, I pray that you will remember this point especially: the Old Testament sacrifices pointed ahead to Christ.

When Moses brought the Law down from Mount Sinai, he made it clear to the people that a sin is a sin, whether it was noticed by the sinner or not. But it makes no difference: Noticed or not, Oops or intentional, rebellion or relapse, whether a commandment is broken, bent and little, or merely bruised, a sin is a sin. And all sin must be payed for in blood.

Do not think that this was just an Old Testament regulation. The blood of the covenant was and still is essential for the forgiveness of any and all sin. Moses said: “Atonement must be made with the blood of the atoning sin offering for the generations to come. It is most holy to the LORD” (Ex. 30:10). And in the New Testament book of Hebrews, we are told: “Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” (Heb. 9:22). This is still true, for every single sin, even the original sin we are all born with. Our guilt must be covered over with blood.

In our text, Moses describes one of the more ordinary sacrifices for sin, the sin offering. Now, God permitted a variety of animal sacrifices. They all had to be clean animals, animals from their herds or flocks, especially cattle, sheep and goats. The most valuable animals were required for the leaders: a bull for the high priest, a male goat for a tribal leader, a female goat or lamb for an ordinary Jew or his family, and the poor could substitute a dove or pigeon if they couldn’t afford a lamb. And a very poor person could even substitute bread flour  for a pigeon.

The animal was brought to the tabernacle, inspected to be sure it wasn’t lame, blind or sick, and then it was quickly and humanely dispatched. The rapid loss of blood generally caused the animal to faint even before it died, making the sacrifice a remarkably quiet affair. Levites caught the blood in large pans, and this was carried to the altar, handed to the priests, and after some was sprinkled or thrown onto the side of the altar, all the rest of the blood was poured out at the base of the altar into the dirt.

Certain parts of the animal, especially its kidneys and their fat, were burned on the altar. For the common believer, after the blood was sprinkled and the fat was burned, the rest of the animal—its meat and its hide, were given to the officiating priest (Lev. 6:24-30). But remember that the labor of slaughtering the animal, removing the fat and kidneys and other things, was the work of the man who brought the sacrifice in the first place. When you brought a sacrifice, you were the one who did most of the work and slaughtered that sacrifice.

And yet none of those sacrifices actually had the power to do anything for sin. In the New Testament, the Holy Spirit assures us: “It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.”

So if God commanded the sacrifices of Moses, but those sacrifices could not really pay for any sins, how could sin ever be paid for?

It’s the connection between the sacrificed creature and the sacrificed Savior. The pagans also sacrificed animals to appease angry gods—but neither their gods nor their gods’ anger exist. Those animals were wasted. But the bulls and lambs of the Old Testament believers were not wasted because they were given out of faith.

God had promised Adam and Eve that he would send a Savior who would destroy the power of the devil and who would redeem all mankind to once again be one with God. So when he commanded his people to bring animals or grain to be offered to him, he gave them the opportunity to see the seriousness of sin, that sin brings God’s wrath, and that sin brings death. So through the deaths of the sacrificed animals, God gave his people a regular, recurring picture of sin’s consequences.

When Jesus took our sins to the cross, he brought with him the sins of all of the people who had ever put a knife to a bull, goat or lamb. They had seen through the eyes of faith the sacrifice that their Savior would one day make, even though none of them from Moses to Malachi has a clear picture of what kind of death the Lord would suffer. Only Isaiah comes close, with his picture of the agony of Christ, and hints from one or two of the psalms.96  But they had faith that what they brought to the priest and to the altar of God would be completed by Christ.

And Jesus Christ did complete the sacrifice for our sin. When on the cross he cried out, “It is finished,” he was preaching a sermon in a single Greek word. All of the animal sacrifices of the Jews were no longer required. All of the flesh and fat burning on the altar was no longer necessary. The types were fulfilled. The shadows of the foreshadowings were revealed now in the light of Christ, and they stand revealed. His sacrifice ended all other sacrifices. That is why when we talk about the Lord’s Supper, which we celebrate today, we call it a “sacrament,” not, as some do, a “sacrifice.” That’s because there is no longer any sacrifice for sin.

This is not just our opinion, but the clear witness and teaching of the Bible. Let’s return to Hebrews chapter 10: “‘This is the covenant I will make with them after that time,’ says the Lord. ‘I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.’ Then he adds. ‘Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.’ And where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin” (Heb. 10:16-18).

So all of our sins—where intentional or not, known to us or forgotten, troubling our conscience or part of us from the moment of conception—all of them are covered by Jesus’ blood on the cross. When we drink the wine of the Lord’s Supper and eat the bread of the covenant along with it, we are doing something the Old Testament believers also did. We are looking to Christ through faith for forgiveness.

Did Moses receive forgiveness at the altar through the lambs and bulls he brought? Yes. He was forgiven with real forgiveness because he trusted in Christ. Do you and I receive forgiveness at the Lord’s Table through the bread and wine we eat and drink? Yes, we do. Not just a picture of forgiveness, but real forgiveness, as Jesus says: Given and shed for you, for the forgiveness of sins” (Matt 26:28).

We are forgiven. Our sacrament points back to Christ. Moses’ sacrifices pointed ahead to Christ. Through Christ, on the cross, at the center of it all, gave himself to cover over our sins once for all, forever. Amen.