Some of the priest's offerings were to restore fellowship, and others were to honor God, but most were to deal with the sins of the people, both intentional and unintentional:
“If the whole Israelite community sins unintentionally and does what is forbidden in any of the Lord’s commands, even though the community is unaware of the matter, when they realize their guilt and the sin they committed becomes known, the assembly must bring a young bull as a sin offering and present it before the tent of meeting . . . When a leader sins unintentionally and does what is forbidden in any of the commands of the Lord his God, when he realizes his guilt and the sin he has committed becomes known, he must bring as his offering a male goat without defect . . . If any member of the community sins unintentionally and does what is forbidden in any of the Lord’s commands, when they realize their guilt and the sin they have committed becomes known, they must bring as their offering for the sin they committed a female goat without defect" (Leviticus 4:13-14; 22-23; 27-28).
The community, leaders, and people were to be conscious of sins they committed even when they were unaware and only later became aware. If you are like most people, when you read this, you think of sins that were committed, labeled in theology sins of commission. But what about the sins of omission, those being the good things you could have done but did not do? Is sin only the "bad" things you do and not also the "good" things you don't do, whether intentional or not?
When you don't learn the language, don't the people who know that language miss hearing what you have to say? What about the book you don't write? Aren't potential readers deprived of your testimony or insight? What happens when you don't take the missions trip? Don't the people with whom you could build a relationship miss out on your gifts and love?
The point is that the sacrifices were instituted to sensitize the people to the concept of sin, but keep in mind that sin isn't just what you do, it's what you don't do that you could do but refused or neglected to do. Determine to be all you can be and do all you are capable of doing, and if you become aware that you have ceased doing either, then you need to repent and get back on track to lead a fruitful and productive life.
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