Scripture Daily

Context No. 3809 of 4322 · Leviticus

Context · Reflection

Leviticus 6:1-7: in context

1The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2“If anyone sins, and commits a trespass against the LORD, and deals falsely with his neighbor in a matter of deposit, or of bargain, or of robbery, or has oppressed his neighbor, 3or has found that which was lost, and lied about it, and swearing to a lie—in any of these things that a man sins in his actions— 4then it shall be, if he has sinned, and is guilty, he shall restore that which he took by robbery, or the thing which he has gotten by oppression, or the deposit which was committed to him, or the lost thing which he found, 5or any thing about which he has sworn falsely: he shall restore it in full, and shall add a fifth part more to it. He shall return it to him to whom it belongs in the day of his being found guilty. 6He shall bring his trespass offering to the LORD: a ram without defect from the flock, according to your estimation, for a trespass offering, to the priest. 7The priest shall make atonement for him before the LORD, and he will be forgiven concerning whatever he does to become guilty.”

This law deals with sins against a neighbor, cheating, robbery, keeping something entrusted or found, lying under oath. And it lays down a striking requirement: before the guilty person brings his offering to God, he must first make full restitution to the one he wronged, restoring what he took and adding a fifth. Only then does he bring his guilt offering and receive atonement.

The order is instructive. Getting right with God and getting right with the neighbor we have wronged are bound together; true repentance is not only a matter of prayer and sacrifice but of actually restoring what we have taken and repairing the harm we have done. It is not enough to feel sorry or to make things right with God in private while leaving the wronged neighbor uncompensated. God requires that we make restitution where we can, adding even more than we took as a sign of genuine repentance. Real repentance for a wrong done to another shows itself in concrete restitution, not merely in words.

When I have wronged someone, does my repentance include the concrete work of restitution and repair, or do I try to settle things with God while leaving the person I wronged uncompensated?

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