It shouldn’t surprise us when the Lord begins discussing the sin offering by talking about leaders.
The word influenza is just Italian for “influence.” We all have this kind of influenza—and it’s catching! “The righteous should choose his friends carefully, for the way of the wicked leads them astray” (Prov 12:26), and “He who walks with wise men will be wise, but the companion of fools will be destroyed” (13:20). So the Lord begins the discussion of His remedy for sin by first pointing out this possibility: “if the anointed priest sins, bringing guilt on the people” (Lev 4:3). Imagine that! The priests were there to lead the people away from sin, into the path of holiness. But do you see how contagious sin is? A priest’s sin could bring guilt on all the people! How? If he represented them in the holy place, how could their sins be dealt with when he himself was guilty? Thus he must bring a bull, the most expensive offering—in fact, the same offering made “if the whole congregation of Israel sins unintentionally” (v 13). And because the priest’s influence extended into the holy place where he served, “the anointed priest shall take some of the bull’s blood and bring it to the tabernacle of meeting. The priest shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle some of the blood seven times before the Lord, in front of the veil of the sanctuary” (vv 5-6). It was considered even more serious than a ruler, whose offering was to be “a kid of the goats” (v 23), and then the blood went only as far as the altar. How solemn this is! In speaking about the elders of the church, Paul writes, “Do not receive an accusation against an elder except from two or three witnesses. Those who are sinning rebuke in the presence of all, that the rest also may fear” (1 Tim 5:19-20). Isaiah’s words ring true for God’s servants in every age: “Be clean, you who bear the vessels of the Lord” (Isa 52:11).