It is essential that we are made right, not only with God, but also with each other. These two chapters in Leviticus show us the importance and cost of how this is maintained.
Leviticus 5:
1 "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."
Laws for Guilt Offerings
14 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
15 "If anyone commits a breach of faith and sins unintentionally in any of the holy things of the LORD, he shall bring to the LORD as his compensation, a ram without blemish out of the flock, valued in silver shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, for a guilt offering.
16 He shall also make restitution for what he has done amiss in the holy thing and shall add a fifth to it and give it to the priest. And the priest shall make atonement for him with the ram of the guilt offering, and he shall be forgiven.
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.
18 He shall bring to the priest a ram without blemish out of the flock, or its equivalent for a guilt offering, and the priest shall make atonement for him for the mistake that he made unintentionally, and he shall be forgiven.
19 It is a guilt offering; he has indeed incurred guilt before the LORD."
Leviticus 6:
1 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
2 "If anyone sins and commits a breach of faith against the LORD by deceiving his neighbor in a matter of deposit or security, or through robbery, or if he has oppressed his neighbor
3 or has found something lost and lied about it, swearing falsely---in any of all the things that people do and sin thereby---
4 if he has sinned and has realized his guilt and will restore what he took by robbery or what he got by oppression or the deposit that was committed to him or the lost thing that he found
5 or anything about which he has sworn falsely, he shall restore it in full and shall add a fifth to it, and give it to him to whom it belongs on the day he realizes his guilt.
6 And he shall bring to the priest as his compensation to the LORD a ram without blemish out of the flock, or its equivalent for a guilt offering.
7 And the priest shall make atonement for him before the LORD, and he shall be forgiven for any of the things that one may do and thereby become guilty."
The Priests and the Offerings
8 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
9 "Command Aaron and his sons, saying, This is the law of the burnt offering. The burnt offering shall be on the hearth on the altar all night until the morning, and the fire of the altar shall be kept burning on it.
10 And the priest shall put on his linen garment and put his linen undergarment on his body, and he shall take up the ashes to which the fire has reduced the burnt offering on the altar and put them beside the altar.
11 Then he shall take off his garments and put on other garments and carry the ashes outside the camp to a clean place.
12 The fire on the altar shall be kept burning on it; it shall not go out. The priest shall burn wood on it every morning, and he shall arrange the burnt offering on it and shall burn on it the fat of the peace offerings.
13 Fire shall be kept burning on the altar continually; it shall not go out.
14 "And this is the law of the grain offering. The sons of Aaron shall offer it before the LORD in front of the altar.
15 And one shall take from it a handful of the fine flour of the grain offering and its oil and all the frankincense that is on the grain offering and burn this as its memorial portion on the altar, a pleasing aroma to the LORD.
16 And the rest of it Aaron and his sons shall eat. It shall be eaten unleavened in a holy place. In the court of the tent of meeting they shall eat it.
17 It shall not be baked with leaven. I have given it as their portion of my food offerings. It is a thing most holy, like the sin offering and the guilt offering.
18 Every male among the children of Aaron may eat of it, as decreed forever throughout your generations, from the LORD's food offerings. Whatever touches them shall become holy."
19 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
20 "This is the offering that Aaron and his sons shall offer to the LORD on the day when he is anointed: a tenth of an ephah of fine flour as a regular grain offering, half of it in the morning and half in the evening.
21 It shall be made with oil on a griddle. You shall bring it well mixed, in baked pieces like a grain offering, and offer it for a pleasing aroma to the LORD.
22 The priest from among Aaron's sons, who is anointed to succeed him, shall offer it to the LORD as decreed forever. The whole of it shall be burned.
23 Every grain offering of a priest shall be wholly burned. It shall not be eaten."
24 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
25 "Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, This is the law of the sin offering. In the place where the burnt offering is killed shall the sin offering be killed before the LORD; it is most holy.
26 The priest who offers it for sin shall eat it. In a holy place it shall be eaten, in the court of the tent of meeting.
27 Whatever touches its flesh shall be holy, and when any of its blood is splashed on a garment, you shall wash that on which it was splashed in a holy place.
28 And the earthenware vessel in which it is boiled shall be broken. But if it is boiled in a bronze vessel, that shall be scoured and rinsed in water.
29 Every male among the priests may eat of it; it is most holy.
30 But no sin offering shall be eaten from which any blood is brought into the tent of meeting to make atonement in the Holy Place; it shall be burned up with fire.
Things to think about…
1. If you do not speak up with the truth but remain silent – you are worthy of judgement. This is true in a secular sense with respect to the law and is the message in Lev 5:1. We of course are witnesses to the truth of the gospel. Remember the cowardly are listed among those who are under eternal judgement in Rev 21:8. We are required to testify to the truth. We need to speak the truth to each other in love. We also need to share the truth of Christ with others. Who can you share the good news with today?
2. Look at Lev 5:2-5. The phrase ‘realises his guilt’ is listed five times in Lev 5 and once in Lev 6. Sometimes we are struck in our consciences of past sins. Here the law-abiding Israelite was required to sacrifice a lamb, but if he couldn’t afford it then two turtle doves/or pigeons, vs 7. Not expensive. Even if these were out of reach, a tenth of an ephah of fine flour would suffice, Lev 5:11. This was a conscience payment and as such should be encouraged and so the payment was not to be too burdensome. We are called to confess our sin and the Lord is then faithful and just to forgive our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness, 1Jn1:9. Let’s continue to create a space in the church and in our community where this is a common practice. Let’s remove all pride. Those that are not in the habit of saying sorry are not without sin, they are simply too proud to acknowledge its presence.
3. A ‘breach of faith’ could be before God, Lev 5:14-19, or man, Lev 6:1-7. Either way a sacrificial payment of a ram without blemish that had to be made. It also had to be of a certain value – in silver shekels, Lev 5:15. Sin offends both God and man. This is summed up in the Ten Commandments. The first four concern God, the last six relate to other people. One is generally a good litmus test for the other. We can outwardly go to church, read or bibles and pray, but the substance of these things is seen by what we say and do to others, especially those of the household of faith. If you truly have a Christ centred walk with the Lord, it will be clearly on display with your interaction and witness with others.
4. The priest had to take off his garments, put on other clothes and take the ashes of the burnt offering outside the camp to a clean place., Lev 6:11. In the same way Jesus was stripped of His earthly one piece woven garment and clothed with shame. He was taken outside the city walls and crucified. That place makes everyone clean who accepts the payment of the cross of Calvary.
5. Aaron and his sons could not do what they liked as God’s representatives. Similarly, church leaders and especially pastors cannot do what they like. Note in Lev 6:8-30 the number of times the word ‘holy’ appears. Our service to the Lord should be holy I.E. set apart. We are to be set apart from the world and set apart from sin. Christ has set us apart through His sacrifice and we should reflect and embrace that identity. This should be especially evident with those who are spiritual leaders in the church. This involves both our words and our actions. Let’s encourage godly leadership within the church.
Vision statement for CBC
CBC’s Vision :- To be a growing biblical church community, significantly influencing our city and beyond, through intentional outreach, fulfilling our mission.
Cell groups off over the school holidays.
Prayer Points
1. Pray for the Holy Spirit to fall at CBC this year. Acts 2 on Sunday.
2. Pray for the new year that 2024 may be when the Lord visits his people. May He begin with me.
3. Pray for the families that have lost loved ones in the storms over the new year period. Pray for Christ’s peace.
4. Please continue to pray for Glenys Zawada. Back for rehab as a day patient.
5. The conflicts in Israel and Ukraine. Praise for the peace of Jesus to reign.
6. Mathys has a prayer time at church on Monday afternoons. He would be happy for you to join him and to send prayer requests.
7. That we be bold in our witnessing for Christ. Pray for a heart to see those around you to be saved. Pray for the blessing over the new pastoral care and hosting program.
8. Growth, conversions, joy in the Word and Spirit to remain and increase.
Praise Points
1. Praise the Lord for His presence on Sunday’s message and ministry – new folk at the church.
2. Praise God for the new year. Pray He gets the glory as we make our plans that He guides our steps.
3. Steve Hawkins remarkable recovery.
4. Joy, peace and grace we see at CBC. Thankyou Lord
Announcements
1. Leaders meeting after church this Sunday in the house
2. Church bank details bsb:- 704 913 and Acc number:- 4000 4388 1
3. Tune in again this week on our YouTube page. Subscribe to the CBC channel Chuwar Baptist YouTube channel.
Catechism questions for January...
Q. 16. Who were our first parents? A. Adam and Eve.
