Verse for the Day, 15 June 2016.

Numbers 15:27-31  "If one person sins unintentionally, he shall offer a female goat a year old for a sin offering.  (28)  And the priest shall make atonement before the LORD for the person who makes a mistake, when he sins unintentionally, to make atonement for him, and he shall be forgiven.  (29)  You shall have one law for him who does anything unintentionally, for him who is native among the people of Israel and for the stranger who sojourns among them.  (30)  But the person who does anything with a high hand, whether he is native or a sojourner, reviles the LORD, and that person shall be cut off from among his people.  (31)  Because he has despised the word of the LORD and has broken his commandment, that person shall be utterly cut off; his iniquity shall be on him."

The arrangement of Scripture is no mistake, nor a result of pure chance, there is a distinct and divine order to every single verse. We see the truth of this in Numbers 15. Having just recorded the rebellion of the Israelites, we would expect to read in the next chapter of how God dealt severely with the people. But instead of judgement and punishment, we read of sacrifice, forgiveness, thanksgiving and the faithful promises of God.

The chapter begins with an encouraging statement made by God, “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you come into the land you are to inhabit, which I am giving you…” Though they have rebelled, refusing to go into the Promised Land and have broken the covenant with God, God is stating that He will remain faithful to His promise. The people of Israel will still receive this Promised Land as their inheritance, one-day God will bring them in and bless them. The current generation would not live to see this, but they had the assurance and comfort that the next generation, their children would enter into and receive this land.

The restating of the sacrificial system is by no means accidental. This restatement follows on the back of their rebellion and God’s announcement of judgement as a means to point them back to God’s grace and forgiveness. Furthermore, it is to remind them of the reasons as to why God’s judgement has come upon them, lest they think it is too severe or unfair.

Provision is made for unintentional, unknown sin, what is often referred to as sins of omission. For example, if you are lied to by another person, and repeat that lie as though it were the truth to somebody else, you are guilty of lying by omission. You believed what you were told was the truth, and when you repeated it, you were lying although you were completely unaware. Some might think that to regard this as a sin is unfair and unreasonable. But what we need to understand is that sin is sin, sin is still sinful when it is done knowingly or unknowingly. God is absolutely holy and therefore cannot tolerate any sin, nor can anyone who has sin stand before Him and dwell in His presence. Sin is always utterly sinful, no matter what the circumstances are.

However, God is a God of mercy and grace, and we see the reality of this through the means that God provides so that the people of Israel can seek after God’s forgiveness for these unknown, unintentional sins. The sacrificial system serves this purpose on a national and individual basis. The priests were to offer up a sacrifice on behalf of the whole nation for such sins, and the individual people were to offer up a sacrifice once a year seeking God’s forgiveness from these sins of omission. Through these sacrifices they would come under the grace and forgiveness of God.

But, as verse 30 makes clear, when a person sins intentionally, consciously and deliberately against God it is a very different situation. This type of sin takes place despite knowing God’s commands, holiness, authority, glory and presence. To sin in this manner is to break the covenant with God, for it is a denial of God’s authority and position as God. The people of Israel committed themselves to the covenant promise, that God would be their God and they would be His people. Deliberate sin was a betrayal of this promise and therefore a breaking of the covenant.

When a covenant is broken the consequences are significant, and in the case of this covenant, the consequences were to be cut off from God and His covenant people. If you break the covenant then you have no right to be a part of the covenant relationship or the covenant community, you have no right to receive the covenant blessing, nor the future promises. Not only will they be cut off from the covenant, God will also hold them accountable for their sin and punish them accordingly.

The people of Israel had done exactly this when they rebelled in the previous chapter, and now they were enduring the consequences of their actions. They had broken the covenant, they would now be under God’s hand of judgement and they would never come to know the blessings of the covenant promises. God would hold each of them accountable for their deliberate and defiant rebellion. But in the midst of God’s wrath, there is mercy, for God will hold them and only them responsible, He will not punish those who are innocent, namely their children. God will continue to keep His covenant with them, and they will enjoy the blessings.

We often trivialise and reduce the severity of our sin. We don’t look upon our sin as being all that sinful, or as a “great” sin. What is a lie here and there, a lustful thought or two? What is a little bit of greed or envy? What’s wrong with a few harsh words and a little gossip? If no one is harmed, then surely it doesn’t matter? But what Numbers 15 communicates to us is that sin is sinful and it is all utterly sinful. There is never any justification for sin, there is never an occasion when it is right, permissible or excusable. Sin will always meet with God’s just and perfect judgement irrespective of its degree of sinfulness.

It is important that we do not reduce or trivialise our sin because it has a direct and immediate impact upon our relationship with God, and if left undealt with, will have an eternal impact. We need to imbed this truth into our minds, sin is sin and it is always sinful, therefore it is never acceptable and must always be repented of. God’s grace it still available to us through Christ, which means that when we do sin, instead of trying to justify it or excuse it, we should run to God in prayer, asking for His grace and forgiveness.

We need to remember that if we are believers in Jesus Christ, our sin still has an impact on our covenant relationship with God. Yes, we may have been saved from the eternal consequences of our sin. Yes, we are secure in our salvation for Christ’s work is sufficient to deal with all of our sin. But it still has a negative impact upon our relationship with God, until that sin is repented of and we seek to walk in obedience. Let us be thankful for the grace we have received, and not spurn it by continuing to sin, failing to take sin seriously and not pursuing after holiness. May we seek to be faithful to the promises we have made to God, to serve Him faithfully as our God.

Our faithful and gracious God, we thank You that You have given to us the full forgiveness of sin through the work of Christ. We thank You for setting us free from the eternal consequences of our sin and filling us with Your Holy Spirit to keep us from sin. May we understand more of Your holiness and the sinfulness of sin. Keep us from spurning Your grace and failing to take sin seriously. May we daily reflect on the grace we have received and set ourselves to the pursuit of holiness. In Your holy and gracious Name we pray. Amen.