Leviticus 4:3-6 says, “Let him present a bull of the herd without blemish to Jehovah for a sin offering...He shall bring the bull to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting before Jehovah...The anointed priest shall take some of the blood of the bull and bring it into the Tent of Meeting, and the priest shall...sprinkle some of the blood seven times before Jehovah.” Leviticus 5:6-7 says, “He shall bring his trespass offering to Jehovah for his sin which he has committed...as a sin offering; and the priest shall make expiation for him on account of his sin. And if he cannot afford a lamb, then he shall bring as his trespass offering...two turtledoves or two young pigeons, one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering.” The crucial items indicating the Trinity in these verses are Jehovah, the sin offering, the Tent of Meeting, the priest, and the trespass offering, which includes the sin offering and the burnt offering.
As in the types of the other offerings, Jehovah is God the Father as the Receiver of the offerings, the Tent of Meeting typifies Christ the Son as the place of offering, the priest typifies Christ the Son as the serving One, and the fire typifies God as the accepting agent. The sin offering represents Christ the Son as an offering for our sin. Sin refers to the indwelling sinful nature that we inherit by birth. The trespass offering represents Christ the Son as an offering for our sins. Sins refer to the sinful deeds that we commit. Our sinful nature is the source of our sins. Christ is the sin offering and the trespass offering to redeem us from our sin and sins. Christ deals with the sin in our nature and the sins that we commit.
According to verse 7, the trespass offering could be composed of two turtledoves or two young pigeons—one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering. In this case, the sin offering signifies Christ the Son as an offering for our sin to deal with the source of our sins, and the burnt offering signifies Christ the Son as the offering for God’s satisfaction to deal with the cause of our sins. After committing a sin, we may repent, confess, and take Christ as our trespass offering. However, we also need to realize that our sins come out of the indwelling sin in our nature. The source of every trespass is the inward sin in our flesh. Thus, in addition to taking Christ as our trespass offering for our sinful deeds, we also need to take Christ as our sin offering for the sinful nature that produces those sins. Furthermore, the reason for our trespasses is our not living absolutely for God. Therefore, we also need a burnt offering to deal with the cause of our sins. Christ as the sin offering deals with the source of our trespasses, and Christ as the burnt offering deals with the cause of our trespasses.
We need to practice daily to take the Lord as our sin offering and trespass offering. We tend to apply the Lord more often as our trespass offering because we are aware of our many trespasses, yet we also need to realize that the source of all our trespasses is our sinful nature, and the cause of our trespasses is that we are not absolute for God. When we apply Christ as our trespass offering, we may pray, “Lord, I trespassed again. I trespass again and again because I am inwardly sinful and because I do not love You enough and am not absolutely for You.” We may not use the terms trespass offering, sin offering, and burnt offering in our prayer, but such a confession implies that we have the proper realization of our situation and that Christ as the reality of the offerings is the solution to our problems of sin and sins.
In the five basic offerings in Leviticus 1—7 we see that the Triune God is the working One as the accepting Father, the serving Son, and the mingling Spirit. The Triune God is also the elements of the offerings, such as the oil, which is an element of the meal offering. The Triune God is also the functioning agents, which are the washing water and the burning fire. The five offerings as a whole depict how the Triune God as the working One, the elements of the offerings, and the functioning agents redeems and brings His chosen people into the full enjoyment of the divine riches of the Divine Trinity. The picture of these types reveals that the operation of the Triune God is not only to redeem us but also to bring us into the enjoyment of the riches of the Trinity. The offerings are for God’s enjoyment and our enjoyment as well. The operation of the Triune God as typified by the offerings produces peace. Peace is for fellowship, and fellowship is for co-enjoyment.