Scripture Daily

Context No. 831 of 4322 · Leviticus

Context · Reflection

Leviticus 5:14-19: in context

14The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 15“If anyone commits a trespass, and sins unwittingly regarding the LORD’s holy things, then he shall bring his trespass offering to the LORD: a ram without defect from the flock, according to your estimation in silver by shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, for a trespass offering. 16He shall make restitution for that which he has done wrong regarding the holy thing, and shall add a fifth part to it, and give it to the priest; and the priest shall make atonement for him with the ram of the trespass offering, and he will be forgiven. 17“If anyone sins, doing any of the things which the LORD has commanded not to be done, though he didn’t know it, he is still guilty, and shall bear his iniquity. 18He shall bring a ram without defect from of the flock, according to your estimation, for a trespass offering, to the priest; and the priest shall make atonement for him concerning the thing in which he sinned and didn’t know it, and he will be forgiven. 19It is a trespass offering. He is certainly guilty before the LORD.”

Leviticus lays out an offering for a category of sin most of us would rather not think about: the wrong done without meaning to, or without even knowing. If anyone sins unintentionally regarding the LORD's holy things, the law says, he must bring a guilt offering. And then it presses further into uncomfortable territory. If anyone does what the LORD has commanded not to be done, though he did not know it, he is still guilty, and shall bear his iniquity. The passage says it twice, so it cannot be missed: he is certainly guilty before the LORD, even though he did not know.

That cuts against a deep instinct. We assume that if we did not intend the harm, or did not realize we were doing it, then it does not really count against us. Leviticus disagrees. The damage done to what is holy, or to a neighbor, is real whether or not the doer meant it or noticed it, and it leaves a genuine debt. But the law does not stop at guilt; it provides a way to set things right, and the way is telling. It is not merely a sacrifice and a shrug. The guilty person must make restitution for the wrong, and add a fifth to it, and only then is atonement made and he is forgiven. Discovering that you have wronged someone unknowingly is not the end of it. The response asked is to repay what was harmed, and then some, and so actually make it right.

The law counted even the sin done in ignorance as real guilt, and asked for restitution, not just regret. When I learn I have wronged someone without meaning to, do I brush it off because I did not intend it, or do I own it and set it right?

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