45.y. “Wilderness” – 10.d. “Not only confession, but restitution, in every possible case”

 

Num 5:5-7  And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the people of Israel, When a man or woman commits any of the sins that people commit by breaking faith with the LORD, and that person realizes his guilt, he shall confess his sin that he has committed. And he shall make full restitution for his wrong, adding a fifth to it and giving it to him to whom he did the wrong. (This expression does not merely refer to the actual criminality of the person, but to his consciousness of guilt respecting it. For this case must be distinguished from that of a person detected in dishonesty, which he attempted to conceal.) “he shall bear his iniquity”,”and he realizes his guilt”, “when he comes to know it, and he realizes his guilt in any of these” (Not only confession, but restitution, in every possible case, is necessary in order to obtain forgiveness.)

 Leviticus 5:17   “If anyone sins, doing any of the things that by the LORD’s commandments ought not to be done, though he did not know it, then realizes his guilt, he shall bear his iniquity.

 Psalms 32:5   I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. 

 Proverbs 28:13    Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.

 1 John 1:8-10   If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

Part of this section (Numbers 5:6-8) is supplementary to the regulations in Leviticus 6:1-7. It is there laid down that if anyone incur guilt through wronging his neighbour by robbery, or oppression, by appropriating something committed to his keeping as a deposit, or by concealing the fact that he has found lost property, he must confess, and restore the property plus one-fifth, and offer to God as an atonement for his sin a guilt-offering of a ram. It is, to use a modern phrase, ‘conscience money.’ In the present passage it is further provided that if the neighbour whom he has wronged be dead, and there be no gô’çl (see note below) to whom the property can be restored, it is to be paid to the priest. The ram of the guilt-offering is, of course, to be offered as well. (Cambridge)

I say, furthermore, that “ a sin,” to speak more particularly, consists in doing, saying, thinking; or imagining, anything that is not in perfect conformity with the mind and law of God. Of course I need not tell any one who reads bjs Bible with attention, that a man may break God’s law in heart and thought, when there is no overt and visible act of wickedness. But I do think it necessary in these times to remind my readers that a man may commit sin and yet be ignorant of it, and fancy himself innocent when he is guilty. Sin is a disease which pervades and runs through every part of our moral constitution and every faculty of our minds. The understanding, the affections, the reasoning powers, the will, are all more or less infected. Even the conscience is so blinded that it •cannot be depended on as a sure guide, and is as likely to lead men wrong as right, unless it is enlightened by the Holy Ghost. He must dig down very low if he would build high. The plain truth is that a right knowledge of sin lies at the root of all saving Christianity. The first thing, therefore, that God does when He makes any one a new creature in Christ, is to send light into his heart, and show him that he is a guilty sinner. If a man does not realize the dangerous nature of his soul’s disease, you cannot wonder if he is content with false or imperfect remedies. I believe that one of the chief wants of the Church in the nineteenth century has been, and is, clearer, fuller teaching about sin. Sin, in short, is that vast moral disease which affects the whole human race, of every rank, and class, and name, and nation, and people, and tongue. I admit fully that man has many grand and noble faculties left about him, and that in arts and sciences and literature he shows immense capacity. But the fact still remains that in spiritual things he is utterly “ dead,” and has no natural knowledge, or love, or fear of God.

We, on the other hand,—poor blind creatures, here to-day and gone to-morrow, bom in sin, surrounded by sinners, living in a constant atmosphere of weakness, mfirmity, and imperfection,—can form none but the most inadequate conceptions of the hideousness of evil. We have no line to fathom it, and no measure by which to gauge it. The blind man can see no difference between a masterpiece of Titian or Raphael, and the Queen’s Head on a village signboard. The deaf man cannot distinguish between a penny whistle and a cathedral organ. The very animals whose smell is most offensive to us have no idea that they are offensive, and axe not offen¬ sive to one another. And man, fallen man, I believe, can have no just idea what a vile thing sin is in the sight of that God whose handiwork is absolutely perfect,—perfect whether we look through telescope or microscope,—perfect in the formation of a mighty planet like Jupiter, with his satellites, keeping time to a second as he rolls round the sun,—perfect in the formation of the smallest insect that crawls over a foot of ground. But let us nevertheless settle it firmly in our minds that sin is “ the abominable thing that God hateth. No proof of the fullness of sin, after all, is so over¬ whelming and unanswerable as the cross and passion of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the whole doctrine of His substitution and atonement. Terribly black must that guilt be for which nothing but the blood of the Son of God could make satisfaction. Heavy must that weight of human sin be which made Jesus groan and sweat drops of blood in agony at Gethsemane, and cry at Golgotha, “ My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken Me ?.” (Matt, xxvii. 46.) Nothing, I am convinced, will astonish us so much, when we awake in the resurrection day, as the view we shall have of sin, and the retrospect we shall take of our own countless shortcomings and defects. Never till the hour when Christ comes the second time shall we fully realize the ” sinfulness of sin.” (Ryle)

“Speak to the people of Israel”

 

Lev 4:2  “Speak to the people of Israel, saying, If anyone sins unintentionally in any of the LORD’s commandments about things not to be done, and does any one of them,

Lev 4:13  “If the whole congregation of Israel sins unintentionally and the thing is hidden from the eyes of the assembly, and they do any one of the things that by the LORD’s commandments ought not to be done, and they realize their guilt, when the sin which they have committed becomes known, the assembly shall offer a bull from the herd for a sin offering and bring it in front of the tent of meeting.

Lev 4:22  “When a leader sins, doing unintentionally any one of all the things that by the commandments of the LORD his God ought not to be done, and realizes his guilt, or the sin which he has committed is made known to him, he shall bring as his offering a goat, a male without blemish

Lev 4:27  “If anyone of the common people sins unintentionally in doing any one of the things that by the LORD’s commandments ought not to be done, and realizes his guilt, or the sin which he has committed is made known to him, he shall bring for his offering a goat, a female without blemish, for his sin which he has committed.

And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying. Continued to speak to him, or, after some pause made, proceeded to speak to him, and give things in commandment concerning the sin offering, what it should be, and for whom. (Gill)

Unintentional “Sins” of ignorance – 

Unknowingly  – being unaware  – unconscious – blind to sin – deaf to sin – insensitive to sin – uninformed – unsuspecting – oblivious – and not being perceptive to committing sin can or do manifest in the lives of Christians. As a person grows and matures in the knowledge and understanding of God and things of God they will become more sensitive to God’s Word, His holiness, their thoughts, words, and actions, and the quiet whispers of the Holy Spirit’s conviction and leading them to repentance.  The problem so often is that the “Christian” is content, neglectful, complacent, and luke warm towards their growth and maturity in the Word of God and things of God. They become stagnate and continue to eat baby food. There is no maturing in their lives. The heart deep desire to know God’s Word and things of God is not there. Their lives have become a blend of mostly worldly thoughts and minimal God honoring and glorifying actions. Their lives are full of unconscious sin and oblivious to it. Though they are content with their spiritual life they are unsatisfied, anxious, worrying, and never finding deep down peace, joy, and rest in their soul. 

How many people are living shallowly committed to growth and maturity in God’s Word and things of God? How many weeks go by where thoughts of honoring and glorifying Jesus Christ don’t even register in their minds? How many weeks go by with no desire to be led by the Holy Spirit? How many weeks go by without wanting to be made aware of the unknowing sin in their lives? Far too many I fear. 

David put it this way: O Lord, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether. How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.