Leviticus 5:14–6:7
The Guilt Offering
This sacrifice/offering is called the Guilt Offering.
This short section teaches us that there are some sins that require restitution. Restitution is a mark of repentance.
In previous sections so far in Leviticus, the focus has been on purification, how a sinner can be redeemed from the guilt and penalty of sin. Here the focus is what needs to happen now once the sinner realizes that his sin has cost someone something.
The sinner needs forgiveness of God and the sinner needs to make things right with God and with others because sin brings us into debt regarding God and others. Such debt demands restitution be made as a demonstration of repentance.
Leviticus is a book of grace. During the OT times, before Jesus came, God made a way for His people to be forgiven.
Even a step further, we see God’s grace in that He has made sin known to His people. I wonder if you’ve noticed how many times through Leviticus, we have read so far that the sins mentioned were not known by the person at the time they committed them but then later they were made aware. Who made them aware of their sin? God did.
God does the same thing for us. He makes us aware of our sin…
Psalm 139:23–24 (ESV)
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try me and know my thoughts!
24 And see if there be any grievous way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting!
It is God’s wonderful grace to make us aware of our sin and then provide a remedy.
It is the character of God to make His people aware of their sin. Then, it is also the character of God to provide a way for forgiveness and reconciliation.
So, we see a dramatic difference between God and us. We seek to cover up and hide our sin while God seeks to make it known. We hide it, don’t take ownership of it, and deny that it’s really as bad as it seems.
If we step back, we might ask ourselves, if it’s not all that serious, then why did we seek to hide it? When we see sin the way God does, we see that it is that bad. So serious is sin that God sent Jesus as the answer.
Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6 ). Jesus is the answer—the only answer—to our broken relationship with God. Apart from Him there is no salvation (Acts 4:12; 1 Timothy 2:5–6). The biblical term for God’s act of making peace with sinful humanity is reconciliation (see 2 Corinthians 5:18). Romans 5:10 reminds us that, in Christ, God’s enemies were made His friends and given life: “If, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!”
Jesus is the answer to the problem of our estrangement from God. It is Jesus who makes it possible for our sins to be forgiven and for us to be children of God (John 1:12–13). It is Jesus who mends our relationship with God so that we can fellowship with Him during our lifetimes as well as eventually live with Him for eternity.
1. Restitution for Sins Against God’s Property (5:14-19)
14 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 15 “If anyone commits a breach of faith and sins unintentionally in any of the holy things of the Lord, he shall bring to the Lord as his compensation, a ram without blemish out of the flock, valued in silver shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, for a guilt offering. 16 He shall also make restitution for what he has done amiss in the holy thing and shall add a fifth to it and give it to the priest. And the priest shall make atonement for him with the ram of the guilt offering, and he shall be forgiven.
17 “If anyone sins, doing any of the things that by the Lord’s commandments ought not to be done, though he did not know it, then realizes his guilt, he shall bear his iniquity. 18 He shall bring to the priest a ram without blemish out of the flock, or its equivalent, for a guilt offering, and the priest shall make atonement for him for the mistake that he made unintentionally, and he shall be forgiven. 19 It is a guilt offering; he has indeed incurred guilt before the Lord.”
The Lord said to Moses…as we have seen so far this marks a new section. Now, in the process of God dealing with the sin of the Israelites, He is now going to deal with their responsibility in reconciliation. Did you know that we have a part to play in that? It is true that God has done everything when it comes to taking care of our sin and redeeming us and yet there is still something left for us to do. It is the idea of restitution. If our sin has done harm to someone else, even though God has forgiven us and even perhaps that person has forgiven us there is still something left undone, we must make things right. Saying you’re sorry is a start but it must go further than that.
Here, in this section, we see that the first level of sin that God requires restitution is when the Israelite sinned against God’s holy place (Tabernacle) or against the holy things in the tabernacle or against God, Himself.
To violate the holiness of God’s anointed objects is to sin against God, Himself. It was to violate one’s obligations in the religious realm. God viewed this as an act of treachery. He gave them these wonderful provisions of grace and then they trample them underfoot by not regarding them as they should.
Some examples would be…Sinning against God’s sacred property, worshipping false gods, marrying foreigners, Uzziah offering incense in the Temple (2 Chronicles 26), eating holy food reserved for the priests.
So, the penalty was to repay God by giving to the priesthood food and twice the Temple Tax which was a shekel.
This section highlights things done with holy objects that lessen their value in a sense before the people.
In verses 14-16 sinning against the holy places or holy objects was to commit a violation which God viewed as sin. The idea is that someone acted in violation to religious law. They perhaps used sacred utensils in a common way. It is unfaithfulness to God in the area of His commands concerning the Tabernacle and the furnishings. The language used is the same language found in the account of Achan.
In the account of Achan, there were items devoted to destruction but he did not devote them to destruction but kept them for himself.
Joshua 6:18–19 (ESV)
18 But you, keep yourselves from the things devoted to destruction, lest when you have devoted them you take any of the devoted things and make the camp of Israel a thing for destruction and bring trouble upon it. 19 But all silver and gold, and every vessel of bronze and iron, are holy to the Lord; they shall go into the treasury of the Lord.”
What’s the point here? Well, the point is, the things that God had made holy namely the Tabernacle and the furnishings were devoted to Him and for holy purposes. So, for an Israelite to misuse a holy thing for unholy purposes was to bring condemnation. It is sin.
In the same way, the objects of Jericho were items for destruction not for keeping.
To misuse a holy thing was to bring God’s name down; to lessen His authority and glory in the eyes of the people. This was a great sin. Yet, in God’s wonderful grace, He made a way for the sinner to be forgiven. However, there still needed to be restitution. The compensation, in this case, went to God.
he shall bring to the Lord as his compensation, a ram without blemish out of the flock, valued in silver shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, for a guilt offering.
When the offense was against God’s property the compensation was…a Ram and the value of the Ram plus 20% in silver shekels all given to the priests.
2. Restitution for Sins Committed Against One’s Neighbor (6:1-7)
6 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “If anyone sins and commits a breach of faith against the Lord by deceiving his neighbor in a matter of deposit or security, or through robbery, or if he has oppressed his neighbor 3 or has found something lost and lied about it, swearing falsely—in any of all the things that people do and sin thereby— 4 if he has sinned and has realized his guilt and will restore what he took by robbery or what he got by oppression or the deposit that was committed to him or the lost thing that he found 5 or anything about which he has sworn falsely, he shall restore it in full and shall add a fifth to it, and give it to him to whom it belongs on the day he realizes his guilt. 6 And he shall bring to the priest as his compensation to the Lord a ram without blemish out of the flock, or its equivalent, for a guilt offering. 7 And the priest shall make atonement for him before the Lord, and he shall be forgiven for any of the things that one may do and thereby become guilty.”
Here, we see intentional deception. We understand that deception by nature is intentional. Here, our Bibles capture very well the layers of intentional sin. Not only is sin like this against our neighbor but a breach of faith against the Lord by deceiving his neighbor.
We see here five representative crimes that one might commit against one’s neighbor.
Deception regarding a deposit
Deception regarding a security
Robbery
Oppression
lying/deception about lost property
Remember these are representative sins not an exhaustive list.
I want us to see the flow or the order of things.
A sin is committed
The sin remains hidden
God acts to compel the sinner to repent through suffering or other consequences
The offender confesses their sin
Repayment is made to the original owner
An additional 20% is added and paid to original owner
A ram is brought as a reparation offering to God
The ram is slaughtered making atonement
Divine forgiveness is secured
It should be noted that sin is also considered a breach of faith toward God.
How is that the case?
Have you ever thought that sin needs to be made right? When you sin against someone else, you should make things right with them but also, you have lessened God’s honor as one of His representatives.
These things are acts of repentance.
3. Godly Repentance That Leads to Life
What we see in this section of Leviticus are the actions that are taken by one who sees his sin and is truly sorry for it. For this to happen means God has done a work.
Repentance is an act of God and His grace as much as faith is. One thing about true repentance is that it is a change in a person’s inner being. It’s not asking for forgiveness and that’s it but it is an inner change within the person which manifests itself in actions going the other direction.
Here’s what I mean…
From Leviticus we see, let’s say a case where someone robbed his neighbor. He stole something either breaking into their home or some other scenario. Here, this robber or thief cares more for stuff than the victim. He cares more for himself than the victim. He is a taker a consumer a person without moral standards.
So why would someone like this ever engage in the steps God prescribes? Something has changed. Perhaps God has arranged things so that this person was caught and now he has time to think about the direction of his life. God has saved this person and now the man has the Holy Spirit and sees that what he has done is sin and because God has brought him to life his sin now makes him miserable. The very sin that used to bring him joy now makes him miserable. Time is a factor here because consequences of sin may make a lost person miserable but once those consequences are lessened, they return to their sin. There is only one explanation for this…God is working.
What we are seeing in Leviticus is the fruit of repentance. What does repentance really look like?
As thief, deceiver, or a person who lies about finding something that his neighbor has lost will only ever take on the prescribed steps if repentance has occurred.
He repays what was stolen plus 20% and then he puts money together and buys a ram.
In the New Testament we read these words from John the Baptist.
Matthew 3:7–8 (ESV)
7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Bear fruit in keeping with repentance.
Acts 26:19–20 (ESV)
19 “Therefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, 20 but declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance.
Biblical repentance…
A real hatred for sin as sin, and not merely for it’s consequences.
Will be seen in a deep sorrow for sin
2 Corinthians 7:8–10 (ESV)
8 For even if I made you grieve with my letter, I do not regret it—though I did regret it, for I see that that letter grieved you, though only for a while. 9 As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us.
10 For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.
Will be seen in a confessing of sin
Will be seen in a turning away from sin
Will be seen in making things right
Will be seen in a desire to live in righteousness
Will be seen in real faith in Christ
A picture of this type of true repentance is, of course, Zach
Luke 19:1–10 (ESV)
19 He entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 And behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich. 3 And he was seeking to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was small in stature. 4 So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was about to pass that way. 5 And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.” 6 So he hurried and came down and received him joyfully. 7 And when they saw it, they all grumbled, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.” 8 And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.” 9 And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
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