Sometimes I Preach - Leviticus 6:1-7: Sins Requiring a Guilt Offering

God's timing never ceases to amaze me.  He knows what I need and when I will need it. I finished a one year Bible in April (I guess I was on the 16 month track!) and I picked up a One Year Chronological Bible to use for daily quiet time over the next year or so.  So yesterday, I was reading February 17th which included this passage from Leviticus. Obviously, it is June and not February, but God knew I needed this message now.  I felt the prompting to write about how He ministered to me through His Word because I really doubt I am the only one who needs this today.
  
Here is the passage from the New Living Translation:

1 And the LORD said to Moses, 2 "Suppose some of the people sin against the LORD by falsely telling their neighbor that an item entrusted to their safekeeping 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. 3 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. 4 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, 5 or anything gained by swearing falsely. When they realize their guilt, they must restore the principal amount plus a penalty of 20 percent to the person they have harmed. 6 They must then bring a guilt offering to the priest, who will present it before the LORD. This offering must be a ram with no physical defects or the animal's equivalent value in silver. 7 The priest will then make atonement for them before the LORD, and they will be forgiven.

This passage ministered to me personally because of a situation I am dealing with currently that has caused a lot of hurt and resentment that I needed to deal with to have serenity in my own life.  I don't wish to share that situation in this forum, but I will share another story that illustrates the principles.  I just don't want people to see this and think God's timing is amazing because of a 20 year old story!  


When I was a senior in high school, I went on a Spring Break trip to Panama City, Florida with a group of friends.  On our way down to Florida, we stopped overnight in Georgia.  Several of us were piled into a motel room and I didn't want to bring in all my stuff because there wasn't room and we would be leaving again early the next morning to hit the beach.  So I brought in my overnight bag and left my suitcase in the van.  During the night, the van was broken into and my suitcase was stolen, along with another girl's suitcase.  A situation like that will immediately reveal what is important to you.  There were many things in the suitcase, like clothes and swimsuits and money and other personal items.  Losing these things left me feeling violated. It was inconvenient to replace them so I could be properly outfitted for my vacation.  I was angry that this had happened to me.  The money, and the clothes and the personal items, however, were not the big loss for me.  They could all be replaced.  I was devastated because Pinky was in the suitcase.  Pinky was my security blanket.  It was a gift to my mother at a baby shower for me so I had literally had him since I was born.  I had slept with him nearly every night and had my parents searching for him so I could go to sleep on more than one occasion when I was small.  To the thief, I am sure the money was a much bigger prize, but to me, it was my blanket.  The same blanket that was probably immediately tossed because it had no value.  I am not sure why Pinky wasn't in my overnight bag.  Maybe it was full.  Maybe I didn't know all of the girls on the trip well and didn't want to break out the blanket on the first night in a crowded motel.  One thing was sure, I thought he was safe in the car.  I was wrong.  

The first lesson in the passage for me was that all sin is ultimately against the Lord.  "Suppose some of the people sin against the Lord by falsely telling their neighbor...."  The passage doesn't ignore the loss to the neighbor, but first and foremost says that the sin is against the Lord.  When it is time to make restitution, the restitution must be made both to the neighbor and to the Lord.  The restitution to the neighbor is based on the value of what was taken.  The object must be returned or paid for plus a penalty of 20%.  The guilt offering to the Lord was always the same.  He required an offering of a ram with no physical defect to be sacrificed by the priest for the forgiveness of the sin.  

A couple of things stood out to me about this guilt offering.  The first was that it was public.  A public acknowledgement of guilt by bringing a guilt offering to the priest at the temple. The second was that it was expensive.  It is likely that the guilt offering would be more costly than the restitution in many cases.  It made me think of a parent telling a child "this hurts me more than it does you."  What a thought.  My blanket was practically worthless in the eyes of the world, even if returned with a 20% penalty, but God says that the sin requires the same guilt offering as a much bigger theft.  It wasn't so much about what was taken but more about the sin.  The coveting, the stealing, the breaking of God's laws and I believe about the breaking of a heart.  As a parent, I know the pain it brings to me when my child's heart is broken over a loss, especially one that is unexplainable.  The pain of a loss that is the result of a sinful act of a neighbor, or a friend or a family member.  It is always worse when the loss is at the hand of someone you know, and not just a theft by a stranger like the one illustrated in my story.  And this passage shows me that God's heart is broken when the heart of his child is broken.  


As I considered the passage further I have had a few more thoughts.  One is that sometimes it is possible that the guilty party doesn't recognize their guilt.  It says in verse 5, "when they realize their guilt" which indicates that there may be time when they deny their guilt or don't realize their offense.  Another thing that comes to mind is that I have to deal with my own loss whether or not I get restitution.  The only way I know how to effectively deal with my loss is to take it to the Lord and forgive the other person and then Let Go and Let God.  I don't need to stuff my feelings, but to acknowledge my hurt through pouring out my heart to God in prayer.  Putting my focus on God helps me to remember that whether the offender realizes their sin or not, God knows the details and all sin is ultimately against Him.  I know He can handle it.  Letting go through forgiveness helps me to live more peacefully without the resentment that only hurts me.  


And as so often happens, when I start to want to point fingers when reading the Bible, the finger comes back around to me.  I am thankful that as a Christian, I am no longer under the law but that the law has been fulfilled through Jesus.  He is the ultimate sacrifice for the atonement of sin.  It is because of His sacrifice that I can be accepted as a child of God.  I can trust Him to heal my hurts and to forgive my sins, and even to point out the ones that I don't recognize.  I do have a responsibility though - to forgive those who trespass against me.  He is there to help me do that in His strength when it seems too much for me.  I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.  Praise God that He is the God who Sees, Heals, Rescues and Restores!  My hope is that someone else who reads this may also be encouraged.