At the beginning of Numbers 15, we get a sense of God’s desire to
continue to relate with His people despite their failure to trust Him totally.
He had told them that they would not enter the promised land for their
unbelief. The generation that came out of Egypt would die in the wilderness,
yet He would allow their children to enter the promised land and enjoy His
favor there. He then prescribed the various sacrifices to enable them to have
an ongoing relationship with Him. In so doing, God had confirmed that the next
generation would indeed enjoy an ongoing relationship with Him. But this would
require that they made the needful sacrifices to atone for sin and to honor Him.
We can see here that while God is merciful and would forgive sin, yet His
justice needed to be appeased. This has been enacted in the death of
Christ at Calvary. There He punished our sin and yet can justifiably accept and
forgive us in Him.
Here
God was providing a remedy for sin. If the whole community had sinned, they
would have to atone for it with a burnt offering. A bull would be sacrificed to
restore its relationship with God. But alongside the atoning sacrifice, a
male goat must also be offered as a sin offering. If the sin was committed by
an individual, then only a female goat would be required. This same regulation
applied to the Israelites as well as the foreigners who had chosen to be part
of the community.
It
is interesting to note that God should make a distinction between unintentional
and intentional or defiant sin in these verses. All sins carry with them a
sense of intentionality. How could sin be unintentional? The best way to
illustrate this is to distinguish whether an act was committed
premeditatedly or not. When a killing had been committed with the intention it
would be considered murder. When it had been committed without any
premeditation it would just be manslaughter. Sin also has two kinds – the
sin of commission and the sin of omission. Some sins are wilfully
committed while others are committed thoughtlessly without any malicious
intention. Some sins can also be committed in ignorance. All these leave us
with a question of whether God will forgive all sins, intentional or
unintentional?
Do these verses imply that intentional
sin will not be forgiven? In the New Testament, Jesus did talk about the
blasphemy against the Holy Spirit as an unforgivable sin. John also talked
about committing unpardonable sins. When would a sin become unpardonable?
When a person persists to wilfully do a wrong and revile God to a point where
he or she cannot turn back, it will become an unpardonable sin. In Hebrews
11:26-27, the author tells us that, “For if
we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the
truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying
expectation of judgment and the
fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries.”
What is the message these verses have for us? We need to cultivate an intense dislike for sin whether it be a sin of commission or omission. We must stay prayerfully connected to God and make Him central in our life. When we do that, we will not want to do anything that will bring displeasure to Him. Let us be careful how we live. The discipline of examen, where we check our action against our conscience can help. After all, had been said, we must learn to live for God, for only that will take away our desire to sin. Always be quick to repent whenever the Holy Spirit brings conviction.
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