Numbers 15:22-4122And if ye have erred, and not observed all these commandments, which the Lord hath spoken unto Moses, 23Even all that the Lord hath commanded you by the hand of Moses, from the day that the Lord commanded Moses, and henceforward among your generations; 24Then it shall be, if ought be committed by ignorance without the knowledge of the congregation, that all the congregation shall offer one young bullock for a burnt offering, for a sweet savor unto the Lord, with his meat offering, and his drink offering, according to the manner, and one kid of the goats for a sin offering. 25And the priest shall make an atonement for all the congregation of the children of Israel, and it shall be forgiven them; for it is ignorance: and they shall bring their offering, a sacrifice made by fire unto the Lord, and their sin offering before the Lord, for their ignorance: 26And it shall be forgiven all the congregation of the children of Israel, and the stranger that sojourneth among them; seeing all the people were in ignorance. 27And if any soul sin through ignorance, then he shall bring a she goat of the first year for a sin offering. 28And the priest shall make an atonement for the soul that sinneth ignorantly, when he sinneth by ignorance before the Lord, to make an atonement for him; and it shall be forgiven him. 29Ye shall have one law for him that sinneth through ignorance, both for him that is born among the children of Israel, and for the stranger that sojourneth among them. 30But the soul that doeth ought presumptuously, whether he be born in the land, or a stranger, the same reproacheth the Lord; and that soul shall be cut off from among his people. 31Because he hath despised the word of the Lord, and hath broken his commandment, that soul shall utterly be cut off; his iniquity shall be upon him. 32And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man that gathered sticks upon the sabbath day. 33And they that found him gathering sticks brought him unto Moses and Aaron, and unto all the congregation. 34And they put him in ward, because it was not declared what should be done to him. 35And the Lord said unto Moses, The man shall be surely put to death: all the congregation shall stone him with stones without the camp. 36And all the congregation brought him without the camp, and stoned him with stones, and he died; as the Lord commanded Moses. 37And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 38Speak unto the children of Israel, and bid them that they make them fringes in the borders of their garments throughout their generations, and that they put upon the fringe of the borders a ribband of blue: 39And it shall be unto you for a fringe, that ye may look upon it, and remember all the commandments of the Lord, and do them; and that ye seek not after your own heart and your own eyes, after which ye use to go a whoring: 40That ye may remember, and do all my commandments, and be holy unto your God. 41I am the Lord your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the Lord your God. (Numbers 15:22‑41)
WE SEE here that while there was forgiveness for sins of ignorance, the sin itself had to be atoned for. Ignorance did not make the sin to be no sin, as many would like to think. Sin defiles and interrupts communion. We read of a sin offering here and other offerings were needed for restoration. There must be the confession of failure even though the sin be caused by ignorance. These offerings all speak of Christ and His work of redemption without which there can be no forgiveness or restoration of counion with God.
But there was to be no provision for the presumptuous or willful sinner. He could not plead ignorance for he sinned against a well-known command. He was to be cut off or put to death because he had despised the word of the Lord and broken His commandment. It is a solemn thing to despise the word of the Lord We have an illustration of this in the next verses (vv. 32-36) where a man was found gathering sticks on the Sabbath. They shut him up until the Lord should pass judgment on him. The Lord said he must be put to death. Then all the congregation stoned him outside the camp.
It might seem a trivial thing to some to be gathering sticks on the Sabbath but God had said, “Remember the Sabbath to keep it holy,” and the man could not plead ignorance. He had violated the majesty of God. Israel had put themselves under law and the Lord would have them understand the absolute and perfect obedience they were called to render in that day.
How thankful we should be that we are not under law, but under grace. Times without number we have failed and sinned willfully, but the stroke of judgment due to us fell upon our blessed Substitute. Well might we bow before Him and thank Him for having suffered in our stead.
In the end of the chapter the Lord told the children of Israel to wear a riband of blue on the fringes of the borders of their garments: “that ye may look upon it, and remember all the commandments of the Lord, and do them.” Surely there is a word in this for us all — even boys and girls who love the Saviour.
The blue is the heavenly color, and we should ever keep before our eyes that we belong to heaven. Others ought to see this in us too. It is not enough that we should keep ourselves from evil, or be content with leading a godly life, both of which we should cultivate. But we ought to be reminding ourselves from day to day of where we belong.
The garments speak of our character and ways, particularly before others, so in our walk and ways day by day there ought to be the token that we are heavenly, not merely that we hope to go there by and by. If we were to make heaven merely a hope for the future, it would be like the Israelite not looking at his riband of blue or perhaps not wearing it at all. We are as the beautiful hymn states,
Called from above, and heavenly men by birth,
Who once were but the citizens of earth.
ML-11/04/1973