Slices
Prepare
Have you had the experience of somebody that you had wronged forgiving you? How did that feel? What did it cost them?
Bible passage
The guilt offering
14 The Lord said to Moses: 15 ‘When anyone is unfaithful to the Lord by sinning unintentionally in regard to any of the Lord’s holy things, they are to bring to the Lord as a penalty a ram from the flock, one without defect and of the proper value in silver, according to the sanctuary shekel. It is a guilt offering. 16 They must make restitution for what they have failed to do in regard to the holy things, pay an additional penalty of a fifth of its value and give it all to the priest. The priest will make atonement for them with the ram as a guilt offering, and they will be forgiven.
17 ‘If anyone sins and does what is forbidden in any of the Lord’s commands, even though they do not know it, they are guilty and will be held responsible. 18 They are to bring to the priest as a guilt offering a ram from the flock, one without defect and of the proper value. In this way the priest will make atonement for them for the wrong they have committed unintentionally, and they will be forgiven. 19 It is a guilt offering; they have been guilty of wrongdoing against the Lord.’
6 The Lord said to Moses: 2 ‘If anyone sins and is unfaithful to the Lord by deceiving a neighbour about something entrusted to them or left in their care or about something stolen, or if they cheat their neighbour, 3 or if they find lost property and lie about it, or if they swear falsely about any such sin that people may commit – 4 when they sin in any of these ways and realise their guilt, they must return what they have stolen or taken by extortion, or what was entrusted to them, or the lost property they found, 5 or whatever it was they swore falsely about. They must make restitution in full, add a fifth of the value to it and give it all to the owner on the day they present their guilt offering. 6 And as a penalty they must bring to the priest, that is, to the Lord, their guilt offering, a ram from the flock, one without defect and of the proper value. 7 In this way the priest will make atonement for them before the Lord, and they will be forgiven for any of the things they did that made them guilty.’
Explore
In today’s reading, we see our sin represented as a debt that we need to repay to God – and to anyone else that we may have short-changed or deceived (6:2,3).
Notice that the crime is against another person, but God takes it personally as unfaithfulness towards him (6:2). Any damage that we inflict at an interpersonal level grieves God. The psalmist, King David, understood that well. Following his adultery and murder of Uriah he prayed: ‘Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight’ (Psalm 51:4). Since the sin offends both another person and God, the remedy is two-fold. A sacrificial animal pays for the guilt before God (5:15; 6:6), but the individual worshipper must also make amends for the damage they have done to others (5:16; 6:5).
It is in the spirit of this sacrifice that Jesus tells us that our encounter with God in worship must be accompanied by dealing with broken relationships: ‘First go and be reconciled to [those you have hurt]; then come and offer your gift’, is his instruction (Matthew 5:24).
Respond
Spend some moments allowing the Holy Spirit to bring to mind any situations where you may need to make amends. Pray about them and make a plan for how you intend to deal with them.
Deeper Bible study
‘And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.’1
The last one of these sacrifices in Leviticus, the guilt offering, is sometimes termed ‘the trespass offering’ or ‘the reparation offering’. This is because it covers sins which involve a breach of faith regarding any of the Lord’s holy things (5:15). Evidently, this sort of sin calls for restitution; and the penalty rate is set at 20 per cent of the value of the object concerned (v 16). Someone who violates a neighbour’s trust is put in the same category (6:1–7). This is especially relevant when they take the Lord’s name in vain by lying on oath about their wrongdoing.
We see here that God also accepts something other than animal sacrifices. Our reading includes the grain offering (6:14–23) which, like the burnt offering, is a voluntary act of worship. The first person on record to make such an offering was Cain.2 Unfortunately, his offering was not acceptable to God. Here we have the proof that the reason was not because, unlike his brother Abel, he had brought a vegetable rather than an animal sacrifice involving the shedding of blood. As the prophets reminded Israel time and again, it is the disposition of the human heart which determines whether or not an offering is acceptable to God.3
For us today, Zacchaeus is an excellent example of making restitution.4 He acknowledged his sin, accepted the salvation which Jesus Christ offered him and, of his own volition, decided to right the many wrongs of his life and profession by making costly reparations. Whereas the sacrifices in Leviticus are described as ‘an aroma pleasing to the Lord’ (6:15,21), it is people such as you and I who are described in such terms in the New Testament.5
Have you ever had a significant experience of making restitution? Can you think of anything calling for one at the moment? Make this an item of praise or prayer.
1 Matt 6:12 2 Gen 4:2–5 3 Eg Jer 6:19,20 4 Luke 19:1–10 5 2 Cor 2:14–16
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: Genesis 49,50; Matthew 18
Pray for Scripture Union
Praise God for the work of the trustees of Scripture Union’s Mission Partners. Thank God for their commitment and faithfulness as they give their time and skills in running these local children’s and youth ministry charities.
