Leviticus 5:7

"And if his means suffice not for a lamb, then he shall bring his trespass-offering (margin: for his guilt) for that wherein he hath sinned, two turtle doves, or two young pigeons, unto Jehovah; one for a sin-offering, and the other for a burnt-offering. And he shall bring them unto the priest, who shall offer that which is for the sin-offering first, and wring off its head from its neck, but shall not divide it asunder: and he shall sprinkle of the blood of the sin-offering upon the side of the altar; and the rest of the blood shall be drained out at the base of the altar; it is a sin-offering. And he shall offer the second for a burnt-offering, according to the ordinance; and the priest shall make atonement for him, and he shall be forgiven. But if his means suffice not for two turtle doves, or two young pigeons, then he shall bring his oblation for that wherein he hath sinned, the tenth part of an ephah of fine flour for a sin-offering: he shall put no oil upon it, neither shall he put any frankincense thereon; for it is a sin-offering. And he shall bring it to the priest, and the priest shall take his handful of it as the memorial thereof, and burn it on the altar, upon the offering of Jehovah made by fire: it is a sin-offering. And the priest shall make atonement for him as touching the sin that he hath sinned in any of these things, and he shall be forgiven; and the remnant shall be the priest's as the meal-offering."

In these verses, it is clear that the sin-offering is the topic and not the trespass-offering. The minimal gift of a tenth of an ephah is not a specific amount, due to the uncertainty as to the amount in an ephah, which is usually accounted as something more or less than a bushel. Meyrick calculated the amount of the minimal sacrifice as "either three pints and a half or three quarts and a half, accordingly as whether we adopt the larger or smaller estimate of the amount of an ephah."[9]

The regulation forbidding any oil or frankincense upon the flour distinguishes it from the meal-offering, for reasons that are not fully discernible to us. It could have been a means of further reducing the cost for a poor man, or as Bamberger believed, it meant that the offering "must not have a festive character; oil and frankincense are therefore omitted."[10]

Before proceeding to the study of the trespass-offering, a word about the number and diversity of all these offerings is in order. There were all kinds of sacrifices for all kinds of circumstances and sins, with different regulations pertaining to each. What a complicated mass of religious regulations were involved! No wonder an apostle called the law a "yoke of bondage" (Acts 15:10). The glory of Christianity is that Christ cleanses us from "all sin" (1 John 1:7). Clements' noble words on this are worthy of repeating:

"Different types of sacrifices are not needed for different types of sin, nor is there need to fear that there are some kinds of sin which have not been covered by the sacrifice which God has provided in Jesus Christ. All sin is atoned for by him, so that he fulfills the O.T. demand for sacrifice as the way of atonement and forgiveness with God."[11]

There was a similar uncertainty to that caused by the multiple sacrifices for different kinds of sins (as in the Mosaic covenant) which marked the ancient paganism. There was a different god for every type of transgression, and even when a devout pagan had propitiated all the gods that he had knowledge of, he still feared that perhaps he might have overlooked one who would destroy him. This was the dilemma poised forever over the ancient pagans that caused some of them to erect a statue "To an Unknown God" (Acts 17:23). Thus, Christianity rises far above the Mosaic law with its multiple sacrifices, and above paganism with its multiple gods! Of course, the Jews, having preserved and kept alive the conception of monotheism from the days of Melchizedek, Job, Jethro, Noah and other ancient monotheists, had a profound advantage over paganism; but the "Light that lighteth every man coming into the world" would reveal truth infinitely beyond both.