1.
INTRODUCTION:
Paul says in verses like
Rom.3:20 ~ For by works of the law no human being will be
justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin
and
Gal.3:24 ~ So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came,
in order that we might be justified by faith.
When we look at these verses, it is crystal clear that no one can be
saved and inherits eternal life through good works – the only way to be saved,
is through Christ Jesus.
Paul also says a very
interesting thing here in Rom.3 – he says that the law was given to man in
order to reveal sin in part to man, but also to reveal God's gracious gift of
cleansing man from sin. Leviticus 5 does
exactly the same:
·
It
starts off with the things that have been left undone and are sin and then
instructing the guilty in the way of purification.
·
When
we look at the sins, mentioned here in Lev.5, it helps us in the second place, to
understand the nature of "sins of omission" that much better,
·
But
it also helps man in the third place, to appreciate God's high standard for
holiness that much better.
·
A
fourth thing is that this chapter also displays God's grace in providing for
sinners – not simply in allowing them to find purification through sacrificial
atonement, but in making it possible for everyone, even the very poor, to have
access to Him.
·
Lastly,
this chapter also introduces the requirement of confession for sin. This part of the ritual was of crucial
importance, because without confession, the offering was empty and no
forgiveness could be obtained.
2.
SCRIPTURE
READING:
Lev.5:1-13 ~ “If anyone sins in that he
hears a public adjuration to testify, and though he is a witness, whether he
has seen or come to know the matter, yet does not speak, he shall bear his
iniquity; 2 or if
anyone touches an unclean thing, whether a carcass of an unclean wild animal or
a carcass of unclean livestock or a carcass of unclean swarming things, and it
is hidden from him and he has become unclean, and he realizes his guilt; 3 or if he
touches human uncleanness, of whatever sort the uncleanness may be with which
one becomes unclean, and it is hidden from him, when he comes to know it, and
realizes his guilt; 4 or if
anyone utters with his lips a rash oath to do evil or to do good, any sort of
rash oath that people swear, and it is hidden from him, when he comes to know
it, and he realizes his guilt in any of these; 5 when he
realizes his guilt in any of these and confesses the sin he has committed, 6 he shall
bring to the Lord as his compensation
for the sin that he has committed, a female from the flock, a lamb or a goat,
for a sin offering. And the priest shall make atonement for him for his sin.7 “But if he
cannot afford a lamb, then he shall bring to the Lord as his compensation for the sin that he has committed
two turtledoves or two pigeons, one for a sin offering and the other for a
burnt offering. 8 He shall
bring them to the priest, who shall offer first the one for the sin offering.
He shall wring its head from its neck but shall not sever it completely, 9 and he
shall sprinkle some of the blood of the sin offering on the side of the altar,
while the rest of the blood shall be drained out at the base of the altar; it
is a sin offering. 10 Then he
shall offer the second for a burnt offering according to the rule. And the
priest shall make atonement for him for the sin that he has committed, and he
shall be forgiven. 11 “But if he
cannot afford two turtledoves or two pigeons, then he shall bring as his
offering for the sin that he has committed a tenth of an ephah of fine
flour for a sin offering. He shall put no oil on it and shall put no
frankincense on it, for it is a sin offering. 12 And he
shall bring it to the priest, and the priest shall take a handful of it as its
memorial portion and burn this on the altar, on the Lord’s food offerings; it is a sin offering. 13 Thus the
priest shall make atonement for him for the sin which he has committed in any
one of these things, and he shall be forgiven. And the remainder shall be for
the priest, as in the grain offering.”
3.
CONCISE
EXPLANATION OF TEXT:
Leviticus 5 begins by listing special
cases that might not have been considered part of the purification ritual, but
nonetheless should be.
The first case deals with withholding
evidence. The text indicates that any
person who was an eyewitness or gained information should step forward and
provide it to the magistrates. The
implication is that some time has passed since the crime, and eyewitnesses have
not come forward, even though they were bound by oath to do so. If a person who was an eyewitness at e.g. a
crime and did not come forward with the evidence, then he had to bear his own iniquity
by receiving the punishment for his sin.
In vv.2-3 we read about people who touch
unclean objects, or a human corpse, for instance – even by accident. Such people also became ceremonially unclean
and had to purify themselves within the prescribed time.
Verse 4 deals with an unfulfilled oath –
even oaths that were made rashly. If
someone took an oath, but forgot to fulfil it, or choose to postpone it because
it was unpleasant, he also needed purification, especially if we keep in mind
that such a person could experience Divine punishment.
Verses 5-6 however offered forgiveness,
but confession was needed. So, whenever
the guilty realised that he was in sin and he had remorse for it, the first
thing to do was confess the sin. We must
realise that when we acknowledge sin, it means that we agree with God's
assessment of the sin. That was exactly
what the people of Israel realised, but what is more, the law also required the
guilty to confess or acknowledge their sin in public. This was an essential part of their
restoration process.
I personally think that if we should
start to acknowledge and confess our sins in public (here
in the church for instance),
we will get to the point where we will experience true repentance and our
sanctification will increase so much more.
James in James 5:16 supports this idea when he says ~ Therefore,
confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be
healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. Also Acts 19:18 supports this idea ~ Also many of
those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their practices.
In the New Testament the word
"confess" is also used for both confessing sin and confessing the
lordship of Jesus Christ – 1Joh.1:9 ~ If we confess our sins, he is
faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness.
Rom.10:9-10 ~ …because, if
you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that
God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with
the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and
is saved. It is however important to still keep in
mind, that acknowledging the truth is behind both these uses.
Two very important points should be made
about vv.7-13:
·
No
matter how prolonged the guilt has been, the purification offering may still be
brought; and
·
Access
was available to all, even the very poor who did not have the appropriate
animals for the sacrifice.
These two points are equally important to
us today as well – no matter how long ago we have sinned and no matter what our
social or financial status are – we always have access to the Lord to confess
and receive forgiveness for our sins!
It is not too difficult to correlate
these kinds of sins, mentioned here in Lev.5, with the New Testament and thus
to our time. The Apostle Paul makes it
clear that the believer's word should be at all times, true and reliable,
whether or not an oath was actually used – Eph.4:25 is very clear about this ~ Therefore,
having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his
neighbor, for we are members one of another.
If we should take a wow for whatever reason, it must surely be
fulfilled. Christ Himself, when placed
under oath to answer the high priest, responded with His witness ~ But Jesus
remained silent. And the high priest said to him, “I adjure you by the living
God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.” 64 Jesus said
to him, “You have said so. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son
of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of
heaven"
(Matt.26:63-64).
Today we know that this was a promise made under an oath that Jesus fulfilled
and that He will still fulfil in future with the second return of our Lord.
When we look at Lev.8:15 we see that the
Lord gave instructions to Moses in connection with cleansing of the Tabernacle
and that was because man's sin defiled the Tabernacle and because of man's sin
and the defiling of the Tabernacle, fellowship between the sinner and God was
shut off.
4.
THE
LORD'S SUPPER:
In Old Testament times, the law served
the purpose of reminding the people of their sins, no matter how minute. Today we have the Law (the
Word of God) in
our own hands and the more we read the Bible, the more the Word brings light to
our sins that we have committed or left unconfessed. As New Testament believers, we must also
confess our sins in order to maintain fellowship with the Father. We must always keep 1Joh.1:9 in mind ~ If we
confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse
us from all unrighteousness. When we therefore confess our sins, there is
immediate cleansing by the blood of Christ – Christ the perfect and complete
Offering Lamb that was slain and offered on our behalf, in order to forgive us and
grant us permanent access to the Father.
Today we have the wonderful opportunity
to commemorate this aspect of our Lord's purification rite on our behalf, by
means of the Holy Communion or the Lord's Supper.
What happens during the Lord's Supper?
·
Paul
says in 1Cor.11:26 ~ For as often as you eat this bread and drink
the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. We as believers confess afresh our faith in
Jesus Christ when we take part in the Lord's Supper. It is also a public testimony of our personal
faith in, and commitment to, the crucified and risen Christ. Without devotion to Christ from the heart,
and an enthusiastic resolve to be His disciple, there is no reason to expect
any blessing from God. According to
Hebr.11:6, it is impossible to please God without faith.
·
As
a symbolic feast, the Supper also has a profound corporate dimension. It draws believers together in the fellowship
of Christ's saving work as they confess the same Lord and the same faith. It is a covenant bond of union horizontally
as well as vertically.
·
The
Old Testament believers had communion with the Lord when they brought their
burnt- and sin offerings. We as believers
also commune with Jesus Christ when we partake in the Lord's Supper. Jesus says in Matt.26:29 ~ I tell you I
will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it
new with you in my Father’s kingdom.
It is important to take notice of the fact that the Kingdom is already NOW
even though it has NOT YET come to the completion and consummation to be effected
when Jesus returns. In the light of this
truth, we as believers can enjoy the fellowship around the Lord's Table as a
foretaste and anticipation, in sign and symbol, of the promised marriage supper of the Lamb that will take place in
heaven (Rev.19:7-9).
·
A
question that we may ask is: Why did
Jesus institute the Supper? The answer
is so that it would be to us a "cup of blessing" – a cup blessed in
itself for what it represents, and therefore designed to be a blessing to those
who partake of it. 1Cor.10:16 says ~ The cup of blessing
that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a
participation in the body of Christ? Clearly, the blessing flows form the Lord, in virtue of
His atoning death for sinners. He
imparts Himself, His comfort, His assurance, His love – the very love that took
Him from eternity to Calvary in the first place. The Lord's Supper therefore is a means of
grace to us; a conveyance of divine love to the soul, an imparting of Christ to
the renewed heart, a communion of saints with their Saviour.
·
We
also proclaim Christ's death when we partake of the Lord's Supper. When we say that we proclaim Christ's death,
it implies that we must review afresh our relationship to the Lord. We must also recommit our lives to Him and
rejoice in His precious salvation. The
Supper is thus an opportunity to evaluate and review our relationship towards
the Lord, as well as our personal discipleship.
When we say that we proclaim the Lord's
death, we also have to ask ourselves what the implications of His death are for
our lives.
-
The
first implication is that we must grieve over our sins. Not just sin in general, but sin itself as an
underlying feature of our thought life and actual performance.
-
But,
in the second place – We cannot just weep over our sins, we must at the same
time rejoice in Christ, because through the Lord's Supper, we also proclaim His
death. And because we trust in His death
for our salvation, we have reason to rejoice.
The Lord's Supper is therefore truly a feast – that is why Jesus said in
Mark.2:19 ~ Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with
them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast.
5.
CONCLUSION:
Let us therefore take some time for
reflection and introspection and let us then gather around the table in order
to demonstrate our unity in Christ Jesus, but let it also be a time of joy and
thanks to the Lord for what He did for us!
