Reflections from March 11, 2011

We read today about the law of sin offerings, and in Leviticus 4, it is said in versus 20, 26, and 34 that through these offerings the sins of the assembly, of the rulers and of the common people "shall be forgiven them." God knew that His people would commit sins, both intentionally, and unintentionally. He made provisions for them to come clean and be restored to Holiness with God, and let it be known up front that they would be forgiven their sins.

God expects us to confront our sins directly and says in Leviticus 5:5 and 6;
"And it shall be, when he is guilty in any of these matters, that he shall confess that he has sinned in that thing; and he shall bring his trespass offering to the Lord for his sin which he has committed..."

You know, some things never change. We read in September 2010 in 1 John 1:9 the following:
"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

The law of offerings was provided to cleanse the Israelites from their unrighteousness, and then God changed that with His ultimate sacrifice on our behalf. But, He still expects us to take responsibility for our sins and confess them; that has never changed.

God knew that there would be temptation in the wilderness to take from others and He addressed that in Leviticus 6:5 where He said about restitution:
"He shall restore its full value, add one-fifth more to it, and give it to whomever it belongs on the day of his trespass offering."
God didn't make excuses for His people; He knew there were going to be cases of dishonesty. Instead of making excuses that these offenses were a result of bad upbringing or bad circumstances in the wilderness and proposing more education to prevent this crime, He created a system of restitution to the offended party. The guiding law here is to love one's neighbor as yourself. Christ reaffirmed this when He was with us and showed it as a guiding principal for moral and social issues as well.

Throughout these sections of Leviticus, we have read about the laws of offering. We read in Leviticus 7:37-38;
"This is the law of the burnt offering, the trespass offering, the consecrations, and the sacrifice of the peace offering, which the Lord commanded Moses on Mount Sinai, on the day when He commanded the children of Israel to offer the offerings to the Lord in the Wilderness of Sinai"

God gave the Israelites practical ways to show their loyalty and love to God. It also gave them a sense of community and loyalty to one another. Even though these sacrifices were costly, it showed they belong to God, as these put His words into their actions.
Today we also must translate our words into action, even when it costs us something. In 1 John 3 it says, "My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him." In other words, just do it!

Blessings to all