Leviticus 4-6
Greetings! This reading is Leviticus 4-6.
This section has a consistent and sobering theme: Sinning unintentionally does not relieve us from guilt before God. Examples:
Leviticus 4:13 “‘If the whole Israelite community sins unintentionally and does what is forbidden in any of the Lord’s commands, even though the community is unaware of the matter, they are guilty.
Leviticus 4:22 “‘When a leader sins unintentionally and does what is forbidden in any of the commands of the Lord his God, he is guilty.
Leviticus 4:27 “‘If a member of the community sins unintentionally and does what is forbidden in any of the Lord’s commands, he is guilty.
There are plenty of sins I do remember (too many to count); It is scary to think of how many sins I didn’t realize I committed. Sometimes when I replay past events I realize that what I thought was acceptable really wasn’t. Thanks be to God that Jesus paid the price for all my sins!
It also includes “sins of omission,” such as not speaking up when hearing a public charge to testify about something.
Taking an oath in vain was a sin:
Leviticus 5:4 “‘Or if a person thoughtlessly takes an oath to do anything, whether good or evil—in any matter one might carelessly swear about—even though he is unaware of it, in any case when he learns of it he will be guilty.
Confession was an important part of the process. God didn’t just want the sacrifices, He wanted them to see their sins as He did.
Leviticus 5:5 “‘When anyone is guilty in any of these ways, he must confess in what way he has sinned
If an Israelite deceived his neighbor he was required to give back what was taken plus a fifth of the value, along with a guilt offering.
Reflect on what stood out to you in this reading and share your comments and questions if you like.
Filed under: Leviticus
You’ve raised a very interesting point here.
That Jesus ‘died for our sins’ does not necessarily mean that our sins are automatically absolved. If that were true, sinning wouldn’t matter. Only through confession, penance and forgiveness can a sin be struck from the record.
If we can sin unwittingly- then what hope do any of us have at the gates of Heaven?
More importantly- what about the majority of people in the world who do not follow or have never heard of Christ? Or all the people born before Christ? If sin counts regardless of whether or not people know they are commiting a sin, then Heaven is going to be very underpopulated.
Perhaps that brings us round to a kind of Calvinist view, where entry to paradise is pretty much predetermined based upon where and when you are unfortunate enough to be born.
Can anybody resolve this bleak view?
Hi Levi,
Good questions! I would approach it this way. Jesus died for all sins for all time for those who confess with their mouths that Jesus is Lord and believe in their hearts that God raised him from the dead (Romans 10:9). If I sin again after putting my trust in Jesus and then die before confessing then I still go to Heaven. It is just that my relationship with God will not be as good as it could have been while living because I had chosen to disobey. But I have hope for Heaven because of what Jesus already did.
One person put it this way: Sinning doesn’t break my union with God, it breaks my communion, and the communion is restored with confession. Or that sinning after becoming a Christian is slipping onboard, not overboard.
Sinning always matters because sin has consequences and it impacts relationships. I love my kids no matter what, but if they have deliberately disobeyed then the relationship will not be restored without repentence.
I’m not sure I can do complete justice to the Calvinist point of view, but I think they would hold that if God has chosen you then it won’t matter where you live. If you read the polls it is pretty clear that even though there are lots of churches in the U.S. that many attendees do not hold a Christian worldview and would abandon the church if there was persecution.
Regarding those born before Jesus, they would have been saved by faith in looking forward to him. That is a little more complex to explain, but Abraham, for example, “believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness.”
Jesus said it was a narrow road and that most people would take the wide road. The Book of Romans points out that God reveals himself to us in creation (chapter 1) in our conscience (chapter 2, I think) and in Christ. God reaches people around the world in many ways - missionaries, dreams, etc.
Hope that helps a little. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you come back.
I always new of the parallels between the Old Testament sacrifices and Jesus as the ultimate sacrifice for our sins, but I never made the connection in regards to where the sacrifices were given. Sin offerings were conducted as follows….the fat, kidneys and covering of the liver were burned on the great altar (in the tabernacle), but all the rest was burned outside the camp. On the Day of Atonement, blood was sprinkled on and in front of the atonement cover (traditionally “mercy seat”
itself. Consider Jesus…He suffered in front of the chief priests and teachers and suffered in the temple, but he was crucified (sacrificed) outside of the city gate of Jerusalem. Not only were the prophesies of the Messiah fulfilled in Jesus, but He also met the requirements of the sin offering in His death.
Good points, Rebecca. I’m working on Exodus now and those things sounded familiar!