L
E V I T I C U S
CHAP. V.
This
chapter, and part of the next, concern the trespass-offering. The difference
between this and the sin-offering lay not so much in the sacrifices
themselves, and the management of them, as in the occasions of the offering of
them. They were both intended to make atonement for sin; but the former was
more general, this applied to some particular instances. Observe what is here
said, I. Concerning the trespass. If a man sin, 1. In concealing his
knowledge, when he is adjured, ver. 1. 2. In touching an unclean thing, ver.
2, 3. 3. In swearing, ver. 4. 4. In embezzling the holy things, ver. 14-16. 5.
In any sin of infirmity, ver. 17-19. Some other cases there are, in which
these offerings were to be offered, ch. vi. 2-4; xiv. 12; xix. 21; Num.
vi. 12. II. Concerning the trespass-offerings, 1. Of the flock, ver. 5, 6. 2.
Of fowls, ver. 7-10. 3. Of flour, ver. 11-13; but chiefly a ram without
blemish, ver. 15, &c.
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Law
of the Sin-Offering.
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B.
C. 1490.
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1 And if a soul sin, and
hear the voice of swearing, and is a witness, whether he hath seen or
known of it; if he do not utter it, then he shall bear his
iniquity. 2 Or if a soul touch any unclean thing, whether it be
a carcase of an unclean beast, or a carcase of unclean cattle, or the carcase
of unclean creeping things, and if it be hidden from him; he also shall
be unclean, and guilty. 3 Or if he touch the uncleanness of man,
whatsoever uncleanness it be that a man shall be defiled withal, and it
be hid from him; when he knoweth of it, then he shall be guilty.
4 Or if a soul swear, pronouncing with his lips to do evil, or to do
good, whatsoever it be that a man shall pronounce with an oath, and it
be hid from him; when he knoweth of it, then he shall be guilty in one
of these. 5 And it shall be, when he shall be guilty in one of
these things, that he shall confess that he hath sinned in that thing:
6 And he shall bring his trespass offering unto the LORD
for his sin which he hath sinned, a female from the flock, a lamb or a kid of
the goats, for a sin offering; and the priest shall make an atonement for him
concerning his sin.
I. The offences here supposed are, 1. A man's concealing the truth when he was
sworn as a witness to speak the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the
truth. Judges among the Jews had power to adjure not only the witnesses, as
with us, but the person suspected (contrary to a rule of our law, that no man
is bound to accuse himself), as appears by the high priest adjuring our
Saviour, who thereupon answered, though before he stood silent, Matt. xxvi.
63, 64. Now (v. 1), If a soul sin (that is, a person, for the soul is
the man), if he hear the voice of swearing (that is, if he be adjured
to testify what he knows, by an oath of the Lord upon him, 1 Kings
viii. 31), if in such a case, for fear of offending one that either has been
his friend or may be his enemy, he refuses to give evidence, or gives it but
in part, he shall bear his iniquity. And that is a heavy burden, which,
if some course be not taken to get it removed, will sink a man to the lowest
hell. He that heareth cursing (that is, that is thus adjured) and
betrayeth it not (that is, stifles his evidence, and does not utter it), he is
a partner with the sinner, and hateth his own soul; see Prov. xxix. 24.
Let all that are called out at any time to bear testimony think of this law,
and be free and open in their evidence, and take heed of prevaricating. An
oath of the Lord is a sacred thing, and not to be dallied with. 2. A man's
touching any thing that was ceremonially unclean, v. 2, 3. If a man, polluted
by such touch, came into the sanctuary inconsiderately, or if he neglected to
wash himself according to the law, then he was to look upon himself as under
guilt, and must bring his offering. Though his touching the unclean thing
contracted only a ceremonial defilement, yet his neglect to wash himself
according to the law was such an instance either of carelessness or contempt
as contracted a moral guilt. If at first it be hidden from him, yet
when he knows it he shall be guilty. Note, As soon as ever God by his
Spirit convinces our consciences of any sin or duty we must immediately set in
with the conviction, and prosecute it, as those that are not ashamed to own
our former mistake. 3. Rash swearing. If a man binds himself by an oath that
he will do or not do such a thing, and the performance of his oath afterwards
proves either unlawful or impracticable, by which he is discharged from the
obligation, yet he must bring an offering to atone for his fully in swearing
so rashly, as David that he would kill Nabal. And then it was that he must say
before the angel that it was an error, Eccl. v. 6. He shall be
guilty in one of these (ch. v. 4), guilty if he do not perform his
oath, and yet, if the matter of it were evil, guilty if he do. Such wretched
dilemmas as these do some men bring themselves into by their own rashness and
folly; go which way they will their consciences are wounded, sin stares them
in the face, so sadly are they snared in the words of their mouth. A
more sad dilemma this is than that of the lepers, "If we sit still, we
die; if we stir, we die." Wisdom and watchfulness beforehand would
prevent these straits.
II. Now in these cases, 1. The offender must confess his sin and bring his
offering (v. 5, 6); and the offering was not accepted unless it was
accompanied with a penitential confession and a humble prayer for pardon.
Observe, The confession must be particular, that he hath sinned in that
thing; such was David's confession (Ps. li. 4), I have done this evil;
and Achan's (Josh. vii. 20), Thus and thus have I done. Deceit lies in
generals; many will own in general they have sinned, for that all must own, so
that it is not any particular reproach to them; but that they have sinned in
this thing they stand too much upon their honour to acknowledge: but the
way to be well assured of pardon, and to be well armed against sin for the
future, is to be particular in our penitent confessions. 2. The priest must make
atonement for him. As the atonement was not accepted without his
repentance, so his repentance would not justify him without the atonement.
Thus, in our reconciliation to God, Christ's part and ours are both needful.
7 And if he be not able
to bring a lamb, then he shall bring for his trespass, which he hath
committed, two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, unto the LORD;
one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering. 8 And
he shall bring them unto the priest, who shall offer that which is
for the sin offering first, and wring off his head from his neck, but shall
not divide it asunder: 9 And he shall sprinkle of the blood
of the sin offering upon the side of the altar; and the rest of the blood
shall be wrung out at the bottom of the altar: it is a sin
offering. 10 And he shall offer the second for a burnt
offering, according to the manner: and the priest shall make an atonement for
him for his sin which he hath sinned, and it shall be forgiven him.
11 But if he be not able to bring two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, then
he that sinned shall bring for his offering the tenth part of an ephah of fine
flour for a sin offering; he shall put no oil upon it, neither shall he put any
frankincense thereon: for it is a sin offering. 12 Then
shall he bring it to the priest, and the priest shall take his handful of it, even
a memorial thereof, and burn it on the altar, according to the
offerings made by fire unto the LORD:
it is a sin offering. 13 And the priest shall make an
atonement for him as touching his sin that he hath sinned in one of these, and
it shall be forgiven him: and the remnant shall be the priest's, as a
meat offering.
Provision is here made for the poor of God's people, and the pacifying of
their consciences under the sense of guilt. Those that were not able to bring
a lamb might bring for a sin-offering a pair of turtle-doves or two
young pigeons; nay, if any were so extremely poor that they were not able
to procure these so often as they would have occasion, they might bring a
pottle of fine flour, and this should be accepted. Thus the expense of the
sin-offering was brought lower than that of any other offering, to teach us
that no man's poverty shall ever be a bar in the way of his pardon. The
poorest of all may have atonement made for them, if it be not their own fault.
Thus the poor are evangelized; and no man shall say that he had not
wherewithal to bear the charges of a journey to heaven. Now,
I. If the sinner brought two doves, one was to be offered for a sin-offering
and the other for a burnt-offering, v. 7. Observe, 1. Before he offered the
burnt-offering, which was for the honour and praise of God, he must offer the
sin-offering, to make atonement. We must first see to it that our peace be
made with God, and then we may expect that our services for his glory will be
accepted. The sin-offering must make way for the burnt-offering. 2. After the
sin-offering, which made atonement, came the burnt-offering, as an
acknowledgment of the great mercy of God in appointing and accepting the
atonement.
II. If he brought fine flour, a handful of it was to be offered, but without
either oil or frankincense (v. 11), not only because this would make it too
costly for the poor, for whose comfort this sacrifice was appointed, but
because it was a sin-offering, and therefore, to show the loathsomeness of the
sin for which it was offered, it must not be made grateful either to the taste
by oil or to the smell by frankincense. The unsavouriness of the offering was
to intimate that the sinner must never relish his sin again as he had done.
God by these sacrifices did speak, 1. Comfort to those that had offended, that
they might not despair, nor pine away in their iniquity; but, peace being thus
made for them with God, they might have peace in him. 2. Caution likewise not
to offend any more, remembering what an expensive troublesome thing it was to
make atonement.
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Law
of the Trespass-Offering.
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B.
C. 1490.
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14 And the LORD
spake unto Moses, saying, 15 If a soul commit a trespass, and sin
through ignorance, in the holy things of the LORD;
then he shall bring for his trespass unto the LORD
a ram without blemish out of the flocks, with thy estimation by shekels of
silver, after the shekel of the sanctuary, for a trespass offering:
16 And he shall make amends for the harm that he hath done in the holy thing,
and shall add the fifth part thereto, and give it unto the priest: and the
priest shall make an atonement for him with the ram of the trespass offering,
and it shall be forgiven him. 17 And if a soul sin, and commit any
of these things which are forbidden to be done by the commandments of the LORD;
though he wist it not, yet is he guilty, and shall bear his
iniquity. 18 And he shall bring a ram without blemish out of the
flock, with thy estimation, for a trespass offering, unto the priest: and the
priest shall make an atonement for him concerning his ignorance wherein he
erred and wist it not, and it shall be forgiven him. 19 It is
a trespass offering: he hath certainly trespassed against the LORD.
Hitherto in this chapter orders were given concerning those sacrifices that
were both sin-offerings and trespass-offerings, for they go by both names, v.
6. Here we have the law concerning those that were properly and peculiarly trespass-offerings,
which were offered to atone for trespasses done against a neighbour, those
sins we commonly call trespasses. Now injuries done to another may be either
in holy things or in common things; of the former we have the law in these
verses; of the latter in the beginning of the next chapter. If a man did
harm (as it is v. 16) in the holy things of the Lord, he thereby
committed a trespass against the priests, the Lord's ministers, who were
entrusted with the care of these holy things, and had the benefit of them. Now
if a man did alienate or convert to his own use any thing that was dedicated
to God, unwittingly, he was to bring this sacrifice; as suppose he had
ignorantly made use of the tithes, or first-fruits, or first-born of his
cattle, or (which, it should seem by ch. xxii. 14-16, is principally
meant here) had eaten any of those parts of the sacrifices which were
appropriated to the priests; this was a trespass. It is supposed to be done
through mistake, or forgetfulness, for want either of care or zeal; for if it
was done presumptuously, and in contempt of the law, the offender died without
mercy, Heb. x. 28. But in case of negligence and ignorance this sacrifice was
appointed; and Moses is told, 1. What must be done in case the trespass
appeared to be certain. The trespasser must bring an offering to the Lord,
which, in all those that were purely trespass-offerings, must be a ram
without blemish, "of the second year," say the Jewish doctors.
He must likewise make restitution to the priest, according to a just
estimation of the thing which he had so alienated, adding a fifth part to it,
that he might learn to take more heed next time of embezzling what was sacred
to God, finding to his cost that there was nothing got by it, and that he paid
dearly for his oversights. 2. What must be done in case it were doubtful
whether he had trespassed or no; he had cause to suspect it, but he wist it
not (v. 17), that is, he was not very certain; in this case, because it is
good to be sure, he must bring his trespass-offering, and the value of that
which he feared he had embezzled, only he was not to add the fifth part to it.
Now this was designed to show the very great evil there is in sacrilege. Achan,
that was guilty of it presumptuously, died for it; so did Ananias and Sapphira.
But this goes further to show the evil of it, that if a man had, through mere
ignorance, and unwittingly, alienated the holy things, nay, if he did but
suspect that he had done so, he must be at the expense, not only of a full
restitution with interest, but of an offering, with the trouble of bringing
it, and must take shame to himself, by making confession of it; so bad a thing
is it to invade God's property, and so cautious should we be to abstain from
all appearances of this evil. We are also taught here to be jealous over
ourselves with a godly jealousy, to ask pardon for the sin, and make
satisfaction for the wrong, which we do but suspect ourselves guilty of. In
doubtful cases we should take and keep the safer side.
Contents
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