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115_The guilt offering

Lev 5:14 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[e] in silver shekels,[f] 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.”

Lev 6: 1-7 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.”

Many years ago, a wealthy businessman in a small town came to faith in Christ. After his conversion, a deep unease settled upon him. He realized that he had built his fortune through shrewd, and at times, dishonest dealings. His conscience kept him awake at night. Finally he realized his guilt and resolved to restore what he had defrauded others of. He wrote letters of explanation and returned money to everyone he could trace. Some were surprised, others skeptical. However, he found that he had cleared his conscience. His works were the fruit of a heart given to God.

This story echoes the essence of the guilt offering described in Leviticus 5:17 to 6:7—a call to repent and make restitution for sin once someone realizes their guilt.

The guilt offering underscores the importance of maintaining a clear conscience before God and man. It highlights three key areas where breaches of faith occur. The first is sinning unintentionally in matters concerning the Lord. This includes withholding what rightfully belongs to Him, such as tithes, offerings, or the redemption of the firstborn. The sin of Achan in Joshua 7 was to rob God by taking and hiding things that were devoted to destruction by the command of God. Malachi 3:8 warns of the same kind of sin: “Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions.” In such cases, the guilt offering was offered along with restitution—returning the stolen amount with an additional fifth as compensation.

The second category deals with inadvertent breaches of God’s commandments. When someone realizes that they have broken a divine commandment without knowing it, when they realize their guilt, they were to bring a guilt offering to atone for their sin. Ignorance was not an excuse. This teaches us the importance of a tender conscience, sensitive to the conviction of the Holy Spirit.

The third category relates to false oaths and breaches of trust. Someone might lie about a deposit committed to their care, or withholding found property, or defraud their neighbor. When they swore false oaths to hide their transgression, they compounded their guilt. In such cases, too, repentance was shown by restitution with the addition of a fifth as compensation, along with a ram as a guilt offering. God puts great weight on honesty and integrity between people.

Conscience is the faculty that alerts us when we have done wrong. It can be a great gift. In John 8:9, the Lord challenged those who were without sin to cast the first stone at the adulterous woman. But each one was convicted by their conscience, and all of them left without stoning her.

A holy conscience also serves as a witness to our integrity. Paul writes in Romans 9:1, “I speak the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience confirms it through the Holy Spirit.”

However, some consciences have not been trained by the scriptures and the Spirit of God. In 1 Corinthians 8:7, Paul speaks of believers whose weak conscience led them to feel defiled when eating food sacrificed to idols. Even so, everyone needs to keep their conscience clear. Nobody can disobey their conscience and remain guiltless.

A conscience can also be seared or hardened if one refuses to accept conviction and turn away from wrongdoing. (1 Timothy 4:2). This is why Scripture urges us to train our conscience by consistently thinking through our attitudes and our actions in the light of God, his word and his Spirit. Hebrews 5:14 reminds us, “But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.”

Keeping a good conscience thus involves humility before God, and integrity, compassion, and justice in our relationship with others. Paul declared of himself in Acts 24:16, saying, “So I strive always to keep my conscience clear before God and man.”

Faith cannot thrive without keeping a good conscience. 1 Timothy 1:19 warns that some have rejected a good conscience and thus suffered shipwreck in their faith. If we justify our sin we will drift away from God. 1 Timothy 3:9 urges believers to “hold to the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience.”

The guilt offering required not only a sacrifice but also restitution. Zacchaeus, the tax collector, realized his guilt. In Luke 19:8, he declared, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.” Jesus responded, “Today salvation has come to this house.” Zacchaeus recognized that he needed to straighten out things with those he had wronged if he was to follow the righteous and loving Lord. Following Him, we learn to honor God by honoring those made in His image. 1 John 4:20-21 challenges us, saying, “If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ but hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And we have this commandment from Him: Whoever loves God must love his brother as well.”

The guilt offering foreshadowed Christ, the one perfect and final sacrifice who made atonement for all our sins against God and man. The sin offering varied with the worshipper’s resources. But the guilt offering was always a ram, signifying the seriousness of these sins. When the Son of God came to fulfil the demands of the law and its penalty, he more than atoned for our guilt, and he brought us into peace with God.

Let us review our past and present in the presence of God. Let us repay the debts that we owe. Let us make right and compensate for any wrongs we have done. Let us give to God what belongs to him. Trusting in Christ, let us live generously, loving without reservation, in the footsteps of the One who not only atoned for our trespasses but welcomed us into His home. May our lives reflect the richness of His grace, as we walk with a clear conscience before God and man. God bless.