Unintentionally שְׁגָגָה

We are rolling into chapter four of Leviticus with our word for today used for the first time in the Bible. שְׁגָגָה inadvertent sin, sin of error, unintentional mistake, fault. It is used 19 times in the Old Testament, 3 times in our chapter. We find our word used in the sense of a mistake. Ecclesiastes 5:6 Let not your mouth lead you into sin, and do not say before the messenger that it was a שְׁגָגָ֖ה mistake. Why should God be angry at your voice and destroy the work of your hands? Our word is used in the sense of an accident an unfortunate or unintentional mishap. These can result in death which is why cities of refuge were set up. Numbers 35:15 These six cities shall be for refuge for the people of Israel, and for the stranger and for the sojourner among them, that anyone who kills any person בִּשְׁגָגָֽה without intent may flee there. Joshua 20:1-3, 9 Appoint the cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you through Moses, that the manslayer who strikes any person בִּשְׁגָגָ֖ה without intent or unknowingly may flee there. They shall be for you a refuge from the avenger of blood … that anyone who killed a person בִּשְׁגָגָ֑ה without intent could flee there, so that he might not die by the hand of the avenger of blood, till he stood before the congregation. Our word is used to identify the reason why the sin offering was set up. This is how it is used 3 times in our chapter today. Leviticus 4:1-3 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the people of Israel, saying, If anyone sins בִשְׁגָגָה֙ unintentionally in any of the Lord's commandments about things not to be done, and does any one of them, if it is the anointed priest who sins, thus bringing guilt on the people, then he shall offer for the sin that he has committed a bull from the herd without blemish to the Lord for a sin offering … When a leader sins, doing בִּשְׁגָגָ֖ה unintentionally any one of all the things that by the commandments of the Lord his God ought not to be done, and realizes his guilt, or the sin which he has committed is made known to him, he shall bring as his offering a goat, a male without blemish, and shall lay his hand on the head of the goat and kill it in the place where they kill the burnt offering before the Lord; it is a sin offering … If anyone of the common people sins בִשְׁגָגָ֖ה unintentionally in doing any one of the things that by the Lord's commandments ought not to be done, and realizes his guilt, 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. And he shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and kill the sin offering in the place of burnt offering. Our word clearly means that the sin we are talking about are those that the sinner is ignorant of having violated God’s law. They had become defiled or disobedient and didn’t realize it. This shows us that ignorance does not cancel guilt. This is why David used a form of our word when he prayed. Psalm 19:12 Who can discern his שְׁגִיא֥וֹת errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults. This is important to notice that there was no sacrifice provided for people who committed deliberate or high handed sins in the full light of the law of God. A good example of this is when David took Bathsheba and then had her husband murdered, he sinned deliberately with his eyes wide open. This is why he knew that his only hope was the mercy of God. Being king, he could have brought thousands of sacrifices, but they would not have accomplished forgiveness. The only way intentional sin is forgiven is through Christ work on the cross. Animal sacrifices can’t take away sin or change the human heart, they simply pointed to the perfect sacrifice. I’ll close with this great reminder. 1 Peter 2:24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.