Bible Talks

From: Messages of God's Love: 1971

• 3 min. read • grade level: 8

Leviticus 5:14-6:7¹⁴And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, ¹⁵If 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: ¹⁶And 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. ¹⁷And 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. ¹⁸And 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. ¹⁹It is a trespass offering: he hath certainly trespassed against the Lord. ¹And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, ²If a soul sin, and commit a trespass against the Lord, and lie unto his neighbor in that which was delivered him to keep, or in fellowship, or in a thing taken away by violence, or hath deceived his neighbor; ³Or have found that which was lost, and lieth concerning it, and sweareth falsely; in any of all these that a man doeth, sinning therein: ⁴Then 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, ⁵Or 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. ⁶And 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: ⁷And 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. (Leviticus 5:14‑6:7)

HERE WE read of trespasses in God’s holy things. “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...”

This was a more serious failure than touching something unclean, for though it might have been done in ignorance, even though others might not think it a moral wrong, yet ignorance was no excuse; he was guilty. And in this case he must bring a ram for his trespass. Furthermore the guilty one must also bring “shekels of silver” to make amends “for the harm that he hath done in the holy thing, and shall add the fifth part thereto, and shall give it unto the priest: and the priest shall make an atonement for him.”

The ram, as elsewhere (the ram caught in a thicket by its horns Gen. 22; the ram of consecration — Ex. 29; the ram of atonement Num. 5) brings before us our blessed Lord Jesus in His entire devotedness to the glory of God. He is the true trespass offering, as seen in Isaiah 53:10-12¹⁰Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. ¹¹He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. ¹²Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. (Isaiah 53:10‑12): “He bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.” (See also Palm 69). Not only has He put away sin from before God by His atoning death, but He has added “the fifth part.” He has restored more to God than the wrong done to Him by man’s sin. Not only has He paid sin’s debt, He has not only made a just settlement before God for all the loss and dishonor to Him brought about by man’s sin, but God has been glorified in Him (John 13:31³¹Therefore, when he was gone out, Jesus said, Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him. (John 13:31)). He could say “I have glorified Thee on the earth.” (John 17:4⁴I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. (John 17:4)).

God has been glorified in the life and death of His beloved Son more than if sin had never come into this world. The effects of His work on the cross, as the true trespass offering, will be manifested in the coming kingdom and abide in the heavenly scene through all eternity. Well might we sing His praise:

“Worthy O Lamb of God, art Thou,

That every knee to Thee should bow!”

Verses 1-7 of chapter 6 really belong to chapter 5 and have to do with sin against one’s neighbor. We have already touched on this, but it is well to notice that the Lord counted a trespass against one’s neighbor as against Himself. How gracious of Him to regard wrongs against a neighbor as wrongs against Himself, and require that amends be made and a guilt offering brought. It is not a case of ignorance here. Not only must there be restitution for the wrong done, but a fifth part rendered as a penalty. The Lord would have His people to know that His own honor was concerned, and the unblemished ram, type of the Lord Jesus, was the trespass offering prescribed.

The time had not yet come for God to proclaim remission of sins absolutely and forever to every believer. This waited the Lord Jesus and His accomplished work of redemption as told forth in the gospel. How blessed for us now to have the comfort of the New Testament scriptures. “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.” 1 John 1:7⁷But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. (1 John 1:7).

ML-08/22/1971

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