What is the Meaning of the Trespass Offering in Leviticus 5?

    Just like a peach tree produces peaches, the sinful nature we inherited from Adam causes us to commit sins.  It’s important to see this.  When I was newly saved, I didn’t know that when Adam and Eve ate the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil something drastic happened to their bodies (Check out Romans 7:5, 18-24). It was eye-opening for me to hear Witness Lee speak on how when Satan came into Adam and Eve's bodies, it got changed  into the flesh of sin and made all of mankind sinners (See Romans 8:3 and 5:19)   And like Romans 8:23 says we will not be freed from this sinful nature of Satan until the Lord transfigures our bodies.

My grandson at Lake Coeur D' Alene in April

   And for the sins we commit, Leviticus 5:7 shows us that Christ is our trespass offering:

   And it shall be when he is guilty in any of these, he shall confess that in which he has sinned; and he shall bring his trespass offering to Jehovah for his sin which he has committed,...and the priest shall make propitiation for him concerning his sin. Leviticus 5:5-6

 On pages 192 of chapter 21 in the Life-Study of Leviticus Witness Lee explains how the trespass offering relates to the sin offering:

  We may also use a fruit tree to illustrate inward sin, not being for God, and trespasses.  A fruit tree needs a proper atmosphere and environment in which to grow. When a fruit tree grows in such an atmosphere and environment, fruit is produced.  In this illustration the inward sin is the fruit tree, not loving God and not living for Him make up the atmosphere and environment in which the tree grows, and trespasses and transgressions are the fruit. Why do we make mistakes and do things that are wrong? We spontaneously and even unintentionally do such things because we have sin in our flesh and because we are not for God and we do not love Him and live for Him....Because we are fallen, we are not for God absolutely. Since we were created by God, we should be absolutely for God, yet we are not....We are fallen, a fallen person is flesh, and this flesh is sin, which produces trespasses as the children, as the fruit....From this we see that God is concerned about the source--the sin within us--and also about the fruit which is produced from this source--the outward trespasses (Lee, Witness. Life-Study of Leviticus. Anaheim: Living Stream Ministry,  1990, Print). 

    From the vantage point of man's flesh, Satan is constantly injecting sinful thoughts into our mind, flooding our emotions with evil feelings, and pumping rebellion into our will.  I've come to see there's an all out war going on between Satan in our flesh and Christ in our spirit.  I'm so thankful that God was willing to clothe Himself in the likeness of our sinful flesh  and die on our behalf as the sin offering and the trespass offering.  It's very touching that the Lord died on the Jewish Passover. In doing so He was fulfilling the type of the Passover lamb.  Jesus was willing to die an

Coeur D' Alene hike.

excruciating death, one that I can never fathom, so all of us could be freed from the power of sin.  

      I realize that that every day I need to live in that reality.  When I fail, I just have to confess to God.  1 John 1:9 is a powerful verse because it tells us that when we confess our sins, God not only forgives us, but we are cleansed from all unrighteousness. God knows what the fall did to us, and He's not surprised when we struggle.  Every day I have to keep this before me that Jesus died for my sins, and I have a right to come to God and receive His grace. Thank You, Lord, for dying on our behalf as the Lamb of God who took away the sin of the world.!!  Thank You that You died as the reality of all the offerings so that we could each contact God not just the High Priest and not just once a year but every single day!  In the next time I'm going to be in the Life-Study of Numbers.

  You can listen to excerpts of Witness Lee's speaking the Life-Study of Leviticus on Life Study of the Bible  with Witness Lee.   You can also read the online Life-Studies of Leviticus and check out other resources available to enhance your study of the Bible on Living Stream Ministry's website.

Other Posts on Leviticus:

What is the Purpose of the Offerings in Leviticus 1:2?

Why Does Leviticus Start with the Burnt Offering in Leviticus 1:4?

What is the spiritual Meaning of the Meal Offering in Leviticus 2:1?

Taking a Closer Look at the Peace Offering in Leviticus 3:1

What Do You Know About Christ as the Sin Offering? 

What is the Meaning of the Trespass Offering in Leviticus 5?