Leviticus 1-7 (part 1)

GUILT. I'm sure you've felt it before. It seems to surface when we've failed to meet an expectation usually because of a mistake we made. Like forgetting someone's birthday. Not getting a school assignment done on time. Oversleeping. We all make mistakes and so we all have experienced GUILT.

Now some people are really good at reminding us of our past mistakes. And these reminders can cause us to live in the constant reality of our GUILT. And living in the shadow of our failures is no fun. But a life overshadowed with GUILT is not God's desire for humanity (despite what some might think). Sure God has high standards (He's perfect after all) but He wants to FREE people from the HURT and FAILURES of the past (not use them as ammunition to keep us down). How do I know this? Leviticus 1-7!

After the Law was given in Exodus and the people proved they could not meet God's expectations (Exodus 32-34), in Leviticus 1-7 God provides the people with a pathway to restore their relationship with Him when they make mistakes. Why? Not only does God NOT want our mistakes to keep us from a relationship with Him, He also doesn't want us to be held hostage by our past failures. And so Leviticus 1-7 describes five sacrifices that together pave the way back to God's presence.

PREPARATION OFFERINGS
The first two sacrifices (the sin and guilt offerings) served as a type of checkpoint to make certain that the tabernacle and the people were ready and prepared for worship. Once a person made it past this checkpoint, access to the other three sacrifices (the CORE sacrifices: burnt, grain, and fellowship) was allowed. Let me explain. Physical purity was very important to the tabernacle because this is where God physically dwelt. And just like a doctor would never enter an operating room without washing his hands after eating a bag of Doritos, so also people were expected to cleanse themselves of any contamination (or uncleanness) before entering God's perfectly pure presence.

The Sin Offering
Leviticus 11-15 provides a list of ways a person could become contaminated (that is, unclean and impure). It is important to realize that impurity did not always stem from moral or ethical sins. More generally, impurity stemmed from contact with anything associated with death (skin diseases, molds, the loss of blood in childbirth, eating foods associated with death etc.). When a person did become unclean, the SIN offering (also called the PURIFICATION offering) would purify them (Lev. 12:6-7; 14:19-20; see also Numbers 19 and instructions for creating the water of purification).

Now imagine that an unclean person accidentally entered the tabernacle. How do you get rid of the contamination? ANSWER: You decontaminate the furniture of the tabernacle with blood from the SIN offering. I know this sounds strange but here's the logic. In essence, this unclean person has brought "death" into the tabernacle and so blood from the SIN offering was applied to purge ("atone") the furniture and bring "life" back to the tabernacle (Lev. 8:15; 16:15-19). Pretty crazy eh?

The Guilt Offering
But physical purity wasn't the only requirement before a person could access the three CORE sacrifices of the tabernacle. True repentance (that is, turning away from sin) was also required. A person demonstrated true repentance through the giving of a guilt offering (also called the REPARATION offering). This offering was required when a person desecrated themselves by misusing any of God's holy things. The misuse of God's holy name in an oath was the most common violation that demanded this offering. So for instance, if someone claimed they didn't steal their neighbors donkey even though they actually had and made reassurances of their innocence by swearing an oath using God's name, they would need to return the donkey plus 20 percent of its value in addition to making the guilt offering (Leviticus 6:1-7).

The guilt offering demonstrates that people had to make right their wrongs before they could benefit from the tabernacle. They had to truly repent and turn away from their sin by reconciling with those they had harmed. They couldn't just go through the motions. This shows that the sacrificial system was neither heartless nor mechanical as some have claimed (although the Israelites corrupted the heart of the system by the time the book of Malachi was written). In fact, only unintentional sins were able to be dealt with in the tabernacle.

But what is an unintentional sin? The Hebrew word simply means "to commit an error or to go astray" and does not necessarily imply committing a sin without knowing (although the word certainly covers sins of ignorance). The meaning of the word is clearest in Numbers 15:22-30 where an unintentional sin is contrasted with an intentional sin. In vs. 30 it becomes clear that an intentional sin is one where a person is defiant and demonstrates a refusal to stop his or her rebellion.

And so defiant sinners were not able to access forgiveness through the tabernacle (unless they first repented). However, once a person expressed true repentance, they were reconsecrated (that is, set apart for God's use) through the guilt offering (and allowed access to the tabernacle). In extreme cases of uncleanness where people had been banished outside the camp, reconsecration was accomplished by having the blood of the guilt offering applied to the lobe of the right ear, on the thumb of the right hand, and on the big toe of the right foot of the unclean person (Lev. 14:14).

THE BOTTOM LINE
So what does all of this craziness have to do with us today? Matthew 5:23-24 provides some clues. It says,

"If you are offering your gift at the alter and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the alter. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift."

The sin and guilt offerings remind us that there are standards (and prerequisites) that must be met before we can truly worship God. True worship is not possible if we have not reconciled with those we have harmed! In fact, the tabernacle is off limits to us if we demonstrate this kind of defiance. Why? Authentic worship requires authentic repentance. This is further emphasized in James 4:7-11,

"Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded...Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. Brother and sisters, do not slander one another."

God requires pure hearts from His people. Now because we are so prone to sin, this can be a constant source of discouragement if we're not careful. But God wants us to know that when we make mistakes we DO NOT have to live in the shadow of GUILT because as 1 John 1:9 explains,

"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."  

God desires to have a relationship with us. We know this because He has given us a way to be purified from our sin so that we can live in the goodness of His presence. My prayer is that you choose to live in the reality of God's presence and not in the shadow of your GUILT. And please remember life in God's presence is ALWAYS available to you (and everyone for that matter!).

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION
Why is it so difficult to confess our sins to others? What are some practical ways you can become a better "confesser"?

What does true repentance look like? What does a life of defiance and rebellion look like?

Where would you place your life on the spectrum of repentance versus defiance/rebellion?