leviticuslesson5

With the guilt offering came the forgiveness of sins but only after reparation had been made as evidence of genuine repentance. Reparation is the act of repairing something broken, of making amends, the giving of compensation for a wrong committed. This is what John was talking about when he preached to the people of his day.

In those days John the Baptist began preaching in the Judean wilderness. His message was, “Turn from your sins and turn to God, because the Kingdom of Heaven is near.”

… Prove by the way you live that you have really turned from your sins and turned to God. Don’t just say, “We’re safe—we’re the descendants of Abraham.” That proves nothing. God can change these stones here into children of Abraham. Even now the axe of God’s judgement is poised, ready to sever your roots. Yes, every tree that does not produce good fruit will be chopped down and thrown into the fire. (Matthew 3:1-2, 8-10)

Presenting the guilt offering indicated to the Lord that repentance was real, that reparation had been made, and that his forgiveness was now being sought. Allen Ross[1] explains …

The main point is that reparation is evidence of true repentance. Although God makes provision by his grace for forgiveness and restoration of the guilty, he requires genuine repentance as a prerequisite for forgiveness. Showing remorse for sin is not sufficient in cases where the wrong can be corrected. Making reparation is required in those situations.

Ross[2] points us to the wrongs that we should make amends for. He notes that these wrongs involve defrauding—the taking of something from someone or something.

The violations for which a reparation offering was required all seem to involve loss of property by defrauding. Defrauding in these cases becomes sacrilege because the holy things were violated.

Then the LORD said to Moses, “If any of the people sin by unintentionally defiling the LORD’s sacred property, they must bring to the LORD a ram from the flock as a guilt offering. The animal must have no physical defects, and it must be of the proper value in silver as measured by the standard sanctuary shekel. They must then make restitution for whatever holy things they have defiled by paying for the loss, plus an added penalty of 20 percent … This is a guilt offering, for they have been guilty of an offence against the LORD. (Leviticus 5:14-16a, 19)

The Hebrew word, translated here as ‘defiling’, is mā^cal. Ross[3] notes that the word is used to describe the sin of Achan,[4] of worshiping pagan deities,[5] of Uzziah’s attempt to offer incense in the temple,[6] and of marital infidelity.[7] In the first example the word refers to robbing God of items that should have been put into the place of worship, the second and third of defrauding God of the worship that should be his, and the fourth to a wife defrauding her husband of the faithfulness due to him in the sanctity of marriage.

But, we may ask, just what may it mean to defraud the Lord of his sacred property? One of the ways is …

One way in which the people defrauded the Lord was that of withholding the gifts needed to maintain the temple services. Malachi writes of God’s call to his people at a time of spiritual declension in the nation.

“I am the LORD, and I do not change. That is why you descendants of Jacob are not already completely destroyed. Ever since the days of your ancestors, you have scorned my laws and failed to obey them. Now return to me, and I will return to you,” says the LORD Almighty.

“You have cheated me of the tithes and offerings due to me. You are under a curse, for your whole nation has bee cheating me. Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do,” says the LORD, “I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won’t have enough room to take it in! Try it! Let me prove it to you! (Malachi 3:6-10)

There are however, less obvious ways in which it may be said that the Lord is being defrauded rather than just the withholding of tithes and offerings. For example …

When we question God’s dealings with us we are robbing him of his integrity—denying the reliability of his promises, the truth of his spoken and written word, the constancy of his faithfulness, the unchangeableness of his love, the reasonableness of his calling. Habakkuk was defrauding God of his sovereignty when he cried out in anger over the Lord’s apparent inactivity as the nation’s troubles intensified.

“How long, O LORD, must I call for help? But you do not listen! ‘Violence!’ I cry, but you do not come to save. Must I forever see this sin and misery all around me? Wherever I look, I see destruction and violence. I am surrounded by people who love to argue and fight. The law has become paralysed and useless, and there is no justice given in the courts. The wicked far outnumber the righteous, and justice is perverted with bribes and trickery.” (Habakkuk 1:2-4)

Habakkuk is rebuked for his complaint when he receives an assurance that the Lord is in control of world events.

The LORD replied, “Look at the nations and be amazed! Watch and be astounded at what I will do! For I am doing something in your own day, something you wouldn’t believe even if someone told you about it. I am raising up the Babylonians to be a new power on the world scene.” (Habakkuk 1:5-6a)

Let us never in our despondency defraud the Lord of his sovereignty but take courage in the knowledge that he is ruling in his world with integrity of purpose. It is he who raises up one power and puts another down. Paul leaves us with this assurance …

He is the God who made the world and everything in it. Since he is Lord of heaven and earth, he doesn’t live in man made temples, and human hands can’t serve his needs—for he has no needs. He himself gives life and breath to everything and he satisfies every need there is. From one man he created all the nations throughout the whole earth. He decided beforehand which should rise and fall, and he determined their boundaries.

His purpose in all of this was that the nations should seek after God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him—though he is not far from any one of us. (Acts 17:24-27)

Skin infections, for example, may be understood as taking something away from the Lord. For these a guilt offering was to be offered at the conclusion of the cleansing ceremony to verify that healing had occurred.

And the LORD said to Moses, “The following instructions must be followed by those seeking purification from a contagious skin disease. Those who have been healed must be brought to the priest, who will examine them at a place outside the camp. If the priest finds that someone has been healed of the skin disease, he will perform a purification ceremony … The priest will take one of the lambs and the olive oil and offer them as a guilt offering by lifting them up before the LORD. (Leviticus 14:1-4a, 12)

Skin infection or the damage caused by the abuse of any part of the body may be seen as defrauding the Lord because when he looks at the damage, the Lord sees his own image being spoilt. For “God created people in his own image. God patterned them after himself. Male and female he created them.”[8]

We are meant to portray the image of God. Cutting the body, inserting jewelry, abusing the body in any way, or misusing the bodily functions, botches the image. Paul writes of those who do these things.

Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even given him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. The result was that their minds became dark and confused. Claiming to be wise, they became utter fools instead. And instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they worshiped idols made to look like mere people, or birds and animals and snakes.

So God let them go ahead and do whatever shameful things their hearts desired. As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each other’s bodies. (Romans 1:21-24)

Restoration of the bodily image as it is meant to be is therefore required and a guilt offering presented. We today are no longer required to present an animal sacrifice. By his sacrificial death on the cross, Jesus Christ has offered himself for us. And in doing so his own image was marred beyond recognition.

See, my servant will prosper, he will be highly exalted. Many were amazed when they saw him—beaten and bloodied, so disfigured one would scarcely know he was a person. And he will again startle many nations … But he was wounded and crushed for our sins. He was beaten that we might have peace. He was whipped and we were healed. All of us have strayed away like sheep. We have left God’s paths and followed our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the guilt and sins of us all. (Isaiah 52:13-14, 53:5-6)

Peter explains this reference to the coming Messiah when he writes some years later of Christ’s death.

He never sinned, and he never deceived anyone. He did not retaliate when he was insulted. When he suffered, he did not threaten to get even. He left his case in the hands of God, who always judges fairly. He personally carried away our sins in his own body on the cross so we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. You have been healed by his wounds. Once you were wandering like lost sheep. But now you have returned to your Shepherd, the Guardian of your souls. (1 Peter 2:22-25)

But beyond the physical disfiguring of the body lies a spiritual dimension. It is our sinfulness that has destroyed the perfection of character that was part of the image of God implanted in mankind at creation. When we accept the sacrificial death of Christ as being presented for us personally, the process of restoring God’s image begins.

And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn with many brothers and sisters. And having chosen them, he called them to come to him. And he gave them right standing with himself, and he promised them his glory. (Romans 8:28-30)

Following the instructions regarding skin diseases come those regarding contaminated houses. Some have been confused by the way in which the contamination is said to have come from God. The reason the writer puts it this way is that the Lord allows the natural consequences of the fall of man[9] to occur. Ever since sin took hold of humankind, disease, sickness, death, war, and unrest, have been a part of life. It will remain this way until Christ returns. The principle may be seen operating in the life of the Pharaoh in Egypt at the time of Israel’s oppression there. The Pharaoh was stubborn in his refusal to give the people of Israel their freedom. The consequence of his stubbornness was that he became more and more stubborn. In not preventing the consequences it could then be said that “The LORD made Pharaoh even more stubborn, and he refused to listen, just as the LORD had predicted.”[10] The principle also applies to those today who refuse to repent and accept God’s offer of salvation. Their decision becomes harder and harder to reverse as time goes on. The heart becomes harder and harder.

But now back to the instructions for dealing with the contamination of houses. Because disease in humans and plants is the result of the fall, and the Lord does not yet intervene to stop this consequence, it may be said that the infectious mildew has come from the Lord.

Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “When you arrive in Canaan, the land I am giving you as an inheritance, I may contaminate some of your houses with an infectious mildew. The owner of such a house must then go to the priest and say, ‘It looks like my house has some kind of disease.’ ” (Leviticus 14:33-34)

The priest was instructed to examine the house, remove everything in it, leave it for seven days, then inspect it to see if the mildew has receded or spread further. If it has penetrated deeper into the stone walls of the house. If it has then those stones are to be removed and replaced with other stones. Eventually, if all these measures to rid the house of the mildew fail and the contamination spreads then the house is to be torn down. But if on inspection it is clear that the infection has gone then the priest is to offer the appropriate sacrifice and pronounce the house to be clean.

To purify the house the priest will need two birds, some cedar wood, a scarlet cloth, and a hyssop branch. He will slaughter one of the birds over a clay pot that is filled with fresh spring water. Then he will dip the cedar wood, the hyssop branch, the scarlet cloth, and the living bird into the blood of the slaughtered bird, and he will sprinkle the house seven times. After he has purified the house in this way, he will release the living bird in the open fields outside the town. In this way, the priest will make atonement for the house, and it will be ceremonially clean. (Leviticus 14:49-53)

There is something for us to learn today from this story. For God’s people are likened to a house in which he lives—a house that is being progressively changed into the temple of the Lord. Paul draws this word picture of those who have accepted his offer of salvation—both Israelis and Gentiles.

So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s family. We are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself. We who believe are carefully joined together, becoming a holy temple for the Lord. Through him you Gentiles are also joined together as part of this dwelling where God lives by his Spirit. (Ephesians 2:19-22)

A holy people, a holy temple. But are there occasions when God’s house may become contaminated? Yes, its fragrance may be spoiled by …

- arguments leading to division. Paul was distressed when he heard about the disagreements that had arisen among the members of the church at Corinth. It was weighing heavily on his mind as he began his letter to them.

Now, dear brothers and sisters, I appeal to you by the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ to stop arguing among yourselves. Let there be real harmony so there won’t be divisions in the church. I plead with you to be of one mind, united in thought and purpose. For some members of Chloe’s household have told me about your arguments, dear friends. Some of you are saying, ‘I am a follower of Paul.’ Others are saying, ‘I follow Apollos,’ or ‘I follow Peter,’ or ‘I follow only Christ.’ Can Christ be divided into pieces? (1 Corinthians 1:10-13)

James probes deeper as he discusses the matter in his letter to some ‘Jewish Christians scattered among the nations.’[11]

What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Isn’t it the whole army of evil desires at war within you? You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous for what others have, and you can’t possess it, so you fight and quarrel to take it away from them. And yet the reason you don’t have what you want is that you don’t ask God for it. And even when you do ask, you don’t get it because your whole motive is wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure. (James 4:1-3)

- sinfulness. Another element contaminating church life in Corinth was the matter of sexual immorality. Paul addressed this problem later in his letter.

I can hardly believe the report about the sexual immorality going on among you, something so evil that even pagans don’t do it … How terrible that you should boast about your spirituality, and yet you let this sort of thing go on. Don’t you realise that if even one person is allowed to go on sinning, soon all will be affected? Remove this wicked person from among you so that you can stay pure. Christ our Passover lamb has been sacrificed for us. So let us celebrate he festival, not by eating the old bread of wickedness and evil, but by eating the new bread of purity and truth. (1 Corinthians 5:1a, 6-8)

- teaching from other than the Scriptures. The fresh air of the Scriptures flowing through the house keeps it free of contamination. But when that fresh air supply is interrupted, the contamination begins, the conditions are ripe for the fungi and mildew to spread. Paul wrote a circular letter to the churches in Galatia expressing his concern about some of the teaching that they had been subjected to.

I am shocked that you are turning away so soon from God, who in his love and mercy called you to share the eternal life he gives through Christ. You are already following a different way that pretends to be the Good News but is not the Good News at all. You are being fooled by those who twist and change the truth concerning Christ …

You were getting along so well. Who has interfered with you to hold you back from following the truth? It certainly isn’t God, for he is the one who called you to freedom. But it takes only one wrong person among you to infect all the others—a little yeast spreads quickly through the whole batch of dough. (Galatians 1:6-7, 5:7-9)

The Lord’s wish is for members of the church to be ‘a household of the faith,’[12] A house free of the contamination of argument and division, of sinfulness, of false teaching. This is why, as he nears the end of his letter to the Christians in the churches of Galatia, that Paul writes …

Do not be deceived. God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction. The one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers. (Galatians 6:7-10 NIV)

The Lord has given these instructions regarding the making of restitution for wrongs done to a neighbour .

And the LORD said to Moses, “Suppose some of the people sin against the LORD by falsely telling their neighbour that an item entrusted to their safe keeping has been lost or stolen. Or suppose they have been dishonest with regard to a security deposit, or they have taken something by theft or extortion. Or suppose they find a lost item and lie about it, or they deny something while under oath, or they commit any other similar sin. If they have sinned in any of these ways and are guilty, they must give back whatever they have taken by theft or extortion, whether a security deposit, or property entrusted to them, or a lost object that they claimed as their own, or anything gained by swearing falsely. When they realise their guilt they must restore the principal amount plus a penalty of 20 percent to the person they have harmed. They must then bring a guilt offering to the priest, who will present it to the LORD. (Leviticus 6:1-6a)

To lie to or about one’s neighbour or to steal from them is to break both the law and the relationship with the neighbour.

Do not testify falsely against your neighbour. Do not covet your neighbour’s house. Do not covet your neighbour’s wife, male or female servant, ox or donkey, or anything else your neighbour owns. (Exodus 20:16-17)

It must be understood that those who are employed to help with work around the home, those who work in the service industry, are also covered by this law.

If a man has sexual intercourse with a slave girl who is committed to become someone else’s wife, compensation must be paid. But since she had not been freed at the time, the couple will not be put to death. The man however, must bring a ram as a guilt offering and present it to the LORD at the entrance of the Tabernacle. The priest will then make atonement for him before the LORD with the sacrificial ram of the guilt offering, and the man will be forgiven. (Exodus 19:20-23)

Jesus took the law regarding our attitude to neighbours to another level when he answered a lawyer’s question ‘who is my neighbour?’ Jesus’ answer tells us that our neighbours are not just the people who live next to us. Every other person is to be regarded as a neighbour. Jesus replied to the question with the story of a traveller who was attacked by bandits. They stole his possessions, beat him up and left him to die by the side of the road. Two men passing by, both of them religious men, looked the other way and went on their way, defrauding the wounded man of the help he so desperately needed. The next person to come along however stopped to help. Jesus continues the story.

“Then a despised Samaritan came along and when he saw the man he felt deep pity. Kneeling beside him, the Samaritan soothed his wounds with medicine and bandaged them. Then he put the man on his own donkey and took him to an inn where he took care of him. The next day he handed the innkeeper two pieces of silver and told him to take care of the man. ‘If his bill runs higher than that,’ he said, ‘I’ll pay the difference the next time I am here.’

Now which of these three would you say was a neighbour to the man who was attacked by bandits,” Jesus asked.

To deny a fellow human being the assistance needed in a time of trouble is to defraud a neighbour of the chance to recover from his misfortune.

[1] Ross, Allen P. HOLINESS TO THE LORD. A Guide To the Exposition of the Book of Leviticus. Michigan: Baker Academic. 2002. p. 147.
[2] Ross. ibid: p. 147.
[3] Ross. ibid: p.149.
[4] Joshua 7:1.
[5] Numbers 31:16.
[6] 2 Chronicles 26:16, 18.
[7] Numbers 5:12.
[8] Genesis 1:27.
[9] Refer to Genesis Chapter 3 for the story of the fall of man.
[10] Exodus 9:12.
[11] James 1:1.
[12] A phrase from the NASB, Galatians 6:10.
[13] Ross. ibid: p. 147.