Three categories of sins required a guilt offering. First of all, a guilt offering was required if a person sinned against “the holy things of the Lord.” (verse 15). When people brought an offering to the Lord that was far lower than their capacity to give or withheld an offering because of forgetfulness or inattention, they would be required to bring a guilt offering. The priest would determine the type of animal to be sacrificed based on the gravity of the sin and the person’s ability to purchase the animal.

A second category was when a person was not entirely certain whether he had been guilty of sinning against the Lord or not (verses 17-19). The guilt offering gave this person burdened with a guilty conscience the opportunity to come and receive the Lord’s assurance of forgiveness.

A third offense that required a guilt offering was a bit different than the other two. If a person pleaded innocence then later was found guilty of stealing another person’s property, committing extortion, or failing to return property, he was required to pay back the person in whole, plus an extra 20 percent. He was also required to offer a guilt offering to the Lord.

The Burden of Guilt:

Guilt can be such a heavy burden. We regret past mistakes and wonder if we could ever be fully forgiven. A sacrifice of great worth was needed for the Israelite to not only make restitution, but also to ease a guilty conscience. The guilt offering symbolized the one sacrifice Heavenly Father would make for all people to forever remove their burden of guilt. Click here to go to the parallel New Testament article addressing Guilt Offerings to see how Heavenly Father removed all guilt for all time.