Leviticus 5:1

The Bible says in Leviticus 5:1-10, “And if a soul sin, and hear the voice of swearing, and is a witness, whether he hath seen or known of it; if he do not utter it, then he shall bear his iniquity.[2] Or if a soul touch any unclean thing, whether it be a carcase of an unclean beast, or a carcase of unclean cattle, or the carcase of unclean creeping things, and if it be hidden from him; he also shall be unclean, and guilty.[3] Or if he touch the uncleanness of man, whatsoever uncleanness it be that a man shall be defiled withal, and it be hid from him; when he knoweth of it, then he shall be guilty.[4] Or if a soul swear, pronouncing with his lips to do evil, or to do good, whatsoever it be that a man shall pronounce with an oath, and it be hid from him; when he knoweth of it, then he shall be guilty in one of these.[5] And it shall be, when he shall be guilty in one of these things, that he shall confess that he hath sinned in that thing:[6] And he shall bring his trespass offering unto the LORD for his sin which he hath sinned, a female from the flock, a lamb or a kid of the goats, for a sin offering; and the priest shall make an atonement for him concerning his sin.[7] And if he be not able to bring a lamb, then he shall bring for his trespass, which he hath committed, two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, unto the LORD; one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering.[8] And he shall bring them unto the priest, who shall offer that which is for the sin offering first, and wring off his head from his neck, but shall not divide it asunder:[9] 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 wrung out at the bottom of the altar: it is a sin offering.[10] And he shall offer the second for a burnt offering, according to the manner: and the priest shall make an atonement for him for his sin which he hath sinned, and it shall be forgiven him.” Verse one describes a situation where someone hears someone else swear and thus sin with their lips and with their speech. And so the person who did not sin needed to bring a sacrifice, simply because they knew that someone else had sinned. The idea is that any sin is an affront against God. God knows about all sins, and so if we are aware of anyone else’s sins, we should be aware of the need that God be merciful to them and to our community and to our nation. We are dependent upon God’s mercy to us not only because of our own sins, but also because of so many other sins going on all around us. The message is this: God is holy and He hates sin. There must be a sacrifice for sin or there is no forgiveness. Thank God that we have Jesus as our sacrifice.

Leviticus 5:5 says that if you know that you are guilty, then simply bring a sacrifice. If you are guilty, just make sure that you have the right sacrifice. Jesus is our sacrifice. It is sad that many people go away from God once they are guilty. They sin, and then they are guilty with a guilty conscience, and then they go away from God. Here is what is supposed to happen: they sin, and then they are guilty with a guilty conscience, and then they remember that Jesus is their sacrifice for sin and so they come back to God. Instead of guilt they have the knowledge that God forgives them and accepts them through Christ. It says in First John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Leviticus 5:5 also says, “he shall confess.” First John 1:9 says, “If we confess.” And so we see that both the Old Testament and the New Testament says that believers need to “confess” their sins. The Word “confess” means to say the same thing. In other words to say the same thing that God says about our sins: yes, we did or said or thought it, but we should not have. Yes, we are sorry about it. Yes, our goal is to not do it next time. Confession is being honest with Jesus. Confession is keeping your life on the straight and narrow way. Confession is staying in fellowship with Christ.

The following is a sacrifice that was designed for the poorest of the poor people. Israelites were allowed to bring turtledoves and pigeons if they were too poor to bring larger animals. But some people do not even have enough resources to bring the turtledoves or pigeons. These people were allowed to bring “the tenth part of an ephah of fine flour.” The tenth of an ephah would be a little over a couple of liters in volume: in other words a small basket of flour. What this sacrifice shows is that God understands the situation that every person is in, and God does not want you to think that He expects more of you than you are able to do. The Bible says in Leviticus 5:11-13, “But if he be not able to bring two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, then he that sinned shall bring for his offering 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.[12] Then shall he bring it to the priest, and the priest shall take his handful of it, even a memorial thereof, and burn it on the altar, according to the offerings made by fire unto the LORD: it is a sin offering.[13] And the priest shall make an atonement for him as touching his sin that he hath sinned in one of these, and it shall be forgiven him: and the remnant shall be the priest's, as a meat offering.”

The Bible says in Leviticus 5:14-19, “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,[15] If a soul commit a trespass, and sin through ignorance, in the holy things of the LORD; then he shall bring for his trespass unto the LORD a ram without blemish out of the flocks, with thy estimation by shekels of silver, after the shekel of the sanctuary, for a trespass offering:[16] And he shall make amends for the harm that he hath done in the holy thing, and shall add the fifth part thereto, and give it unto the priest: and the priest shall make an atonement for him with the ram of the trespass offering, and it shall be forgiven him.[17] And if a soul sin, and commit any of these things which are forbidden to be done by the commandments of the LORD; though he wist it not, yet is he guilty, and shall bear his iniquity.[18] And he shall bring a ram without blemish out of the flock, with thy estimation, for a trespass offering, unto the priest: and the priest shall make an atonement for him concerning his ignorance wherein he erred and wist it not, and it shall be forgiven him.[19] It is a trespass offering: he hath certainly trespassed against the LORD.” There is such a thing as a “sin through ignorance.” Many of our sins and maybe most of our sins can be called sins “through ignorance.” The Bible sets a very high standard for conduct: perfection. One of the values of reading and studying the Bible and hearing good sermons is that the Bible reminds you and teaches you of God’s great standard for human behavior and human thoughts. Someone who is not in the Bible consistently will not be aware of their own sins. I once knew an elderly woman who was in this category. She was a true believer but she almost never picked up the Bible. We are talking about her whole life: decades. Several times she would tell me about her life in words like the following: “I have had a good life. I did my best. I have no regrets. I was a good person.” Compared to a bank robber or an alcoholic or a drug addict, she was a good person. But compared to Jesus, she was not a good person. By the way, the people who knew her well, knew that she had a hot temper and a very caustic tongue, and she often damaged relationships because of it. If she had been reading the Bible more and comparing her life to Jesus, she probably would have said something like: “I have not been a very good Christian. I have failed the Lord in many ways. I did not love the Lord or love others the way that I should have. I have been a great sinner, but the Lord was merciful to me.” Yes, we need to confess our sins whenever we are aware of them, but we are also dependent upon God’s mercy for all of the sins that we are not even aware of. Think carefully of the standard such as Jesus said the greatest commandment is: “Thou shalt love the Lord the God with all you heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength. And the second commandment is like it: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” It should be easy to see how great our sins are.

The Bible says in Leviticus 6:1-7, “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,[2] If a soul sin, and commit a trespass against the LORD, and lie unto his neighbour in that which was delivered him to keep, or in fellowship, or in a thing taken away by violence, or hath deceived his neighbour;[3] Or have found that which was lost, and lieth concerning it, and sweareth falsely; in any of all these that a man doeth, sinning therein:[4] Then it shall be, because he hath sinned, and is guilty, that he shall restore that which he took violently away, or the thing which he hath deceitfully gotten, or that which was delivered him to keep, or the lost thing which he found,[5] Or all that about which he hath sworn falsely; he shall even restore it in the principal, and shall add the fifth part more thereto, and give it unto him to whom it appertaineth, in the day of his trespass offering.[6] And he shall bring his trespass offering unto the LORD, a ram without blemish out of the flock, with thy estimation, for a trespass offering, unto the priest:[7] And the priest shall make an atonement for him before the LORD: and it shall be forgiven him for any thing of all that he hath done in trespassing therein.” This sacrifice is all about lying and dishonesty. Lying is so common among human beings that the Old Testament law had to have a sacrifice just for that one sin. Why do people lie so much? One of the main reasons that people lie is because they think they are going to gain something from lying. In other words people are motivated by their selfish instincts to lie. One way to avoid such lying is to make sure that you are motivated by a high standard where you want to do what is right more than just wanting to do what is profitable. Of course, it is great to make a profit, but God wants you to do it honestly. Lying is so bad that verse two puts it in the same category as someone who steals “by violence.”

Notice that verse three says that if you find something that is lost and lie in order to keep it, you are sinning. Of course, this means that something that is lost does not belong to you. We have laws in most states that require a person to try to find the owner of something that is found. If you find something, it does not belong to you. It belongs to the person who lost it. An honest person tries to find the rightful owned.

Notice also in verse five that restitution has to be made along with twenty percent interest. It is not enough to say that you are sorry and ask for forgiveness. You must also seek to restore what was taken. Anyone who truly repents will want to make things right. That is one of the ways that true Christianity benefits a community. Christ actually changes hearts and minds. If you have not done so, repent of your sins and turn to Christ and your life will be changed also.

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