COME AND SEE August 1981 Volume 8 – Issue 1
THE OFFERINGS (24)
—H. L. Heijkoop
Lev. 5:14-6:7
This portion covers the trespass-offering. Chapter 4 dealt with the sin-offering, and so did most of verses 1-13 of chapter 5, although once the trespass-offering was mentioned there. The very names describe these sacrifices. The trespass-offering speaks of debt, of offense, so consequently it is said, "if anyone act unfaithfully." This shows that it is not just debt, but the special character of it. The word "sin-offering," on the other hand, indicates its relationship with sin. Chapter 4, as we saw, dealt with persons — not so much with what they had done as what they were. Of course sin is revealed through a deed, but that particular sin is proof of what the person is in himself; there the type of sin-offering to be brought did not depend on the misdeed, but on the person who had done it. A priest had to bring a different sacrifice than a prince, and someone from among the people had to bring a different offering again. Here, however, there is no distinction as far as the persons are concerned; it concerns debt (although that is also sin) while in chapter 4 it concerned the character of the deed, that it was sin, offending God's holy nature. Now the Lord Jesus has been made sin for us and has died. But He also paid our debt — and that is what we find here.
When we read 1 John 3:4, which tells us what sin is, we see that it encompasses all that is done without taking account of the Lord's authority over us. Therefore, it is to God the same whether I have an unclean thought or I say or do something bad. Both things are sin, and God's holy nature cannot have any contact with it. When we who are believers sin, our fellowship with the Father is broken. In chapter 4 and the first part of chapter 5, we saw how it can be restored.
But according to God's government, the manner in which I have sinned is not without significance, for it takes account of whether I have a debt toward God or toward man. In the first case found here, it is an unfaithful act in the holy things of Jehovah. Holy means "set apart." Therefore, holy things are those which have been set apart for God. The Bible mentions several things which belonged to God; for instance, the burnt-offering and part of the peace-offerings and oblations are His. But also the firstborn belonged to Him, as did the tithes the Israelite had to pay the Lord. When we sin in one of these things, not only does our old nature reveal itself, but we have harmed God: we have kept something from Him that belonged to Him, or we did not give Him His due. It is the same when I take something from, or do something against, others. Then it is not only a question between God and myself, but also between that person and myself. This we can see here in the trespass-offering; it is evident that this portion deals with a case in which we have done one or the other evil. Here we find the only way in which things can be made right again. The guilty one must bring a trespass-offering; he has to restore the damage he caused and add the fifth part to it.
That is God's way of acting, and how beautiful it is that the Lord Jesus has done this as well. When we considered the sin-offering in Leviticus 16, and even more so with the burnt-offering in Exodus 29, we saw that the Lord Jesus, in dying for us, restored what we had spoiled — but He did much more than that. Yes, He was made sin for us, and what is more, God's righteousness has been satisfied by it. But if the work of the Lord Jesus had not been much more than that, God would have suffered harm, for He had been dishonoured by the sin of man. However, the Lord Jesus did not only bear the judgment over our sins and sin, thereby satisfying God's righteousness, but He did more. In Psalm 69:5 He says, "Then I restored that which I took not away." However, He returned much more than we had robbed, and we know that this is the basis of our blessings. When He accomplished the work upon the cross, He glorified God to the fullest. We may say that the fifth part has been added to it; on the basis of this fifth part, God can bless us. God has raised Him from among the dead and given Him a place at His right hand, to which place He will bring us. All of us who believe, He has made His children, and later we will receive the full place of sons. (I do not speak here of the relationship of children, for that we possess already, but the place in the Father's house.) These things we find in connection with the trespass-offering.
This principle of the fifth part is also applicable when today's believers do evil. Three cases are mentioned here. First, a debt towards God. In verse 15 we read, "If anyone act unfaithfully and sin through inadvertence in the holy things of Jehovah, then he shall bring his trespass-offering to Jehovah." There had been a trespass, and we sense that it is not just a question of sin, but of a debt toward God in regards to the holy things of Jehovah: the things that belong to Him. There is no mention here in what manner this may happen; it could take place in several ways. For instance, we may have eaten something that was meant to be for God, or we did not give Him His due. The last chapter of Leviticus speaks about this. Besides the tithes, which were for God, one could also separate something else for God. But if one did not give what one had promised, there had to be a trespass-offering, for one had promised God a gift.
I now think of an example in Luke 16, of what the Lord said of the steward whom He presented as a picture of man. Man is God's steward upon earth. God has entrusted everything upon earth to man, but only as God's steward; man has to manage the earth for God. But man has not acted accordingly: he has used the things entrusted to him for his own benefit. If we are not faithful in what belongs to God, and do not regard the goods which have been entrusted to us as coming from Him, the Lord Jesus asks how God will then be able to entrust to us the things that belong to us, that is to say, the spiritual goods. The Lord refers to anything in which we can be unfaithful: for instance, when we fail to give God of our possessions, time, or energy.
Another case may be our meeting together on Sunday morning. We come to worship the Father and to announce the death of the Lord Jesus. Does God not have a right to our praise, and does not the Lord Jesus have a right to our love? "You have been bought with a price," God says in His Word. Don't we keep something from God that is due Him when we come on Sunday morning with a cold heart and without praise, thankfulness, and worship in our hearts?
In these verses, only a few things are mentioned, but there are many others besides. God does not suppose that we do such things consciously: they occur "through inadvertence." But that makes it all the more sorrowful. In the following verses we see that when it concerns things we do to men, there is no mention of inadvertence, nor does it say that it can happen to us without our being conscious of it. In verse 17, however, we do find one who did evil without knowing it. Isn't that the character of our relationship with God? We are much sooner conscious of doing something wrong toward men than toward God: we think more of man's rights than God's rights. Yet, are God's rights not much more important?
The question then arises of how the matter can be restored. This portion tells us how: the guilty one must bring a trespass-offering; that is to say, he must return to the cross and acknowledge that he has sinned. The Lord Jesus had to die, even for things which are not sin to the natural man's conscience. When we see this, we learn how terrible our deeds were.
Now let us pay attention to what is added here. In the case of a sin-offering, one from among the people had to offer a goat, but he was allowed to select which one. So it was for a prince or an anointed priest: they also could select the animal they would bring as a sin-offering. While the type of animal of which they should bring an offering was prescribed, they themselves were allowed to select the particular animal they would sacrifice. God's mercy is without end, but He is also righteous. In His government, His righteousness must be prominent; therefore, we still have here an additional thought: in all cases it was necessary to sacrifice a ram as a trespass-offering, — in this there was no distinction. But man was no more free to select the particular ram himself than he was to choose the type of animal to be sacrificed. At the end of verse 15 it says, "a ram without blemish out of the small cattle, according to thy valuation by shekels of silver, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, for a trespass-offering." "Thy evaluation" is the evaluation of Moses. Moses is a type of the Lord Jesus: the Lord determines what we must bring as a trespass-offering. The value is expressed in money, after the shekel of the sanctuary. God's measure applies here: a serious thought for us. If we did not give God what is due Him, or if we took something that belongs to Him (later we will see that the same holds true when we have done something wrong toward man), it is not up to us to say how restoration is to be made. That is determined by God's measure, after the shekel of the sanctuary.
These shekels are made of silver, which, as we know, speaks of the price paid for our redemption (Ex. 30:11-16; 38:25-26). Every young man who had become an adult had to pay silver shekels to avoid falling under God's wrath. Silver speaks of the price the Lord Jesus had to pay for our redemption, His love, and grace. The trespass-offering had to be characterized by this. The Lord was not obliged to die for us. He did so out of grace and love, and what we sacrifice under such circumstances has to bear that same character of grace and love. It should, therefore, never be with us a question of with how little we can satisfy God; and when it concerns our neighbour, we should not ask how we can obtain restoration as cheaply as possible. The restoration ought to have that character of grace we see in the work of the Lord Jesus. When we sacrifice in this manner, when we see what love and grace God has shown upon the cross, we will be ready and able to accomplish what is commanded in verse 16: to return what has been robbed, or to give what has not been given, and to add the fifth part to it. That means not only to repay, but to add twenty per cent to it, so that things are settled in God's favour. That is the character of grace.
In the following verses we see that the same holds true regarding our neighbour. When we have sinned against our neighbour, regardless of whether or not he is a brother, the result should be that the offended person will only become richer through this. He does not just receive back what had been taken from him, but an additional twenty per cent. God also becomes richer, because He has received a trespass-offering. This is how grace acts. Even the person who did the wrong will become richer; he had to learn the lesson, see the grace of the Lord, take it into his heart, and act in the same manner; now he has fellowship with the Lord. This is the only manner in which things can be put in order again.
In verse 17 we have the second case. We notice how weak the heart of man is in things regarding God: "And if any one sin and do against any of all the commandments of Jehovah what should not be done, and hath not known [it], yet is he guilty, and shall bear his iniquity." "And did not know it" isn't that the first excuse a man gives? "I didn't know it! I didn't think of it!" he says and then he thinks that all is right. But that does not make things right. Even if we did not know it, we are guilty. If that were not so, God would not receive what is due Him. There is mention here of a trespass-offering, but not of returning or adding the fifth part. God says that it is unacceptable to Him for someone to say, "I did not know it." He could have known it; if he didn't, that in itself was already a failure. He had the entire Word of God in his hands; he could have known what was according to God's thoughts, and if he was not acquainted with it, it was a failure. So, even when he now says he did not know it, he is guilty. It is the manner in which things can be restored which is presented to us here. But if I am so poor that I do not know God's thoughts and simply say, "I did not know it," there will never be a complete restoration. This is what we see here.
In verse two of chapter six, we have the third; it regards our neighbour. We notice, however, that God sees this as a trespass against Himself. It says, "if anyone sin and act unfaithfully against Jehovah," although it has been committed against a man. Rather than covering these verses in detail, I will only point out that there is no mention here of the fact that the guilty one was unaware of it. Even our natural conscience tells us when we do something unrighteously towards our brother. True, it deals here with earthly things concerning Israel, but we may apply this to ourselves spiritually.
Let us take, for instance, the first case: the taking away of things that have been entrusted to us. Someone tells me something that concerns him personally. If I then speak with others about it, I sin against the confidence he has put in me. Such a case is mentioned here; they can also be somewhat different. For instance, if a brother has a gift but, since I am jealous of him, I deny it, I rob him of something. Or if I say something wrong about him, I rob him of his honour. These are a few of the cases that are mentioned here. God regards them as trespasses against Himself.
In verse 5 we find once more the way to restoration: all has to be returned and, besides that, the fifth part has to be added. This is a serious matter. If I have not given my neighbour his due, I have to return everything to him — plus an additional twenty per cent. Take, for instance, the love which we owe each other. God's Word says that we are obliged to love our brethren, which means that they have a right to our love. I don't say that they have a right to claim it from us - that is something else. God's Word does not give us the right to claim love from others, but the brethren have a right to our love, because the Lord has commanded us to love them. If I have not done this, what should I then do? I ought not only to love them, but, in so doing, to exceed the normal level of love: I must love them twenty per cent more. If I did not honour someone as I ought — I ought to consider others greater than myself — it is not then sufficient that I just start to honour him, but I must do so more than normal to make everything well.
In this portion of Scripture, we see how important these things are in the eyes of God. When it concerns Him, there is first mention of the trespass-offering, then of returning with an added twenty per cent; then it says that it will be forgiven him. When it concerns our neighbour, however, the order is different: one has first of all to pay back, adding the fifth part to it; afterwards, a trespass-offering needs to be brought, and finally forgiveness is granted. It is good for us to know what the only way to restore things in accordance with God's thoughts is.
Let us take a situation out of daily life. If I have sinned against a brother, I must follow the above path. Suppose that I have not been very friendly to him. If then I only say, "I did not mean it that way," I am not adding the fifth part to it. If I say to him, "It's not that bad, you shouldn't take things so seriously," then I again don't give him that fifth part — and I have failed to make use of the only way to restore things. That is why so many things remain unrectified among us: we are not rich enough to add the twenty per cent to it, and we try to restore things with as little effort as possible. We say, "I did wrong," and perhaps we add to it, "Will you forgive me?" and then, as far as we are concerned, we certainly have done what was right. But the one who is harmed has not received sufficient satisfaction, there hasn't been any compensation for the sorrow, and the matter is not resolved.
Let us have another look at the Lord Jesus. Yes, He took our sins upon Himself; He has been made sin for us and undergone God's judgment. But He has done much more than that. By dying for us on the cross He has glorified God, and in a way that God had never been glorified before. If we then think of His conduct towards us . . . ! Admittedly, in John 3:14 it says that the Son of man had to be lifted up, and when the Lord Jesus was revealed as Son of man, He had to die. But it was grace that He became Son of man and died as such. He paid for our sins. But He did much more than that; not only has He redeemed us from an eternal destruction, but He has given us a place in the Father's house; He has abundantly blessed us, and we have been blessed with every spiritual blessing. We possess these blessings because the Lord Jesus has become the trespass-offering. According to God's standard, this is the manner in which these things have to be done.
If we did this in our mutual relationships, all questions among us would be removed. How we would be of one heart and mind! Would such grace not bind our hearts more together? If I have sinned and am rich enough to act this way in grace, would that not open the hearts of those against whom I have committed wrong, so that our hearts would be bound together stronger than ever before?
To be cont'd
THE STUDY CORNER
This is the second part of our "Study Corner." Perhaps you have realized that there is a curious man here, eagerly waiting for the response these questions will draw from their readers. At the time this issue had to go to press, however, it was too early to expect any responses to the first part. So, "patience" is our watchword.
Meanwhile, I would like to encourage all of you to give these questions a good try. I can imagine how some of you, who would like to use a concordance, but do not have one and cannot afford to buy one, are having difficulties finding the answers. Let me share with you a method I discovered one time during a Bible study. The exact wording of a certain verse was needed but no one had a concordance available or knew where to find it, although we knew its approximate wording. One thought the verse was found in a particular book, but it had some thirty six chapters. We were twelve persons altogether, so that meant that if we each read three chapters, we were likely to find the verse. Since one can quite quickly look through three chapters, it was not long before someone reported to have found the passage.
So if you are not so fortunate as to have a concordance available, share your search with some others and you will likely be able to find your answers. How good it would be if your wish to find the answers became the reason for starting a new Bible study group! I hope I will soon hear how you are making out. Here is the new challenge:
9. What expression did the Lord Jesus use which distinguishes the Christian Assembly from any other assembly?
10. If the word "assembly" gives the idea the Holy Spirit intended to convey when He used the word "ecclesia" (an assembly of called-out ones), why do many Christians use the word "church"?
11. What makes it difficult to use the correct word, "assembly," in a Quiz like this?
12. Is there a reliable English translation of the Bible available in which the Greek word "ecclesia" is properly and consistently translated "assembly"?
13. Give some of the wrong ideas people have of the "Church" (Assembly).
14. If someone should ask you, "What is the Assembly?" what could you say to them to start a scriptural discussion of the subject?
15. Quote a scripture which shows that the Bible teaches this.
16. How many heads has the Assembly, the Body of Christ?
17. Christ, the Head of the Assembly [who is now] in heaven, has how many Bodies on earth?
18. The Bible tells explicitly how the Assembly, the Body of Christ, is formed. Quote the verse and tell where it is found.
The deadline for the answers is September 30th. I hope that gives our overseas-readers (more than two thousand!) sufficient time. Good-bye for now; I commend you all to the Lord.
To be cont'd — John van Dijk
OUTLINES FOR BIBLE TEACHING
We hope in this new series, to present a systematic treatment of the Bible stories, designed to help teachers of nine to fourteen-year-olds in their personal search for the spiritual meanings which lie hidden in them. While some of this material may only be suitable for the instructor's personal benefit, most should be readily understood by the pupils. It is this ageless appeal of Scripture which makes these outlines fitted to COME AND SEE.
The material was originally written in German by Dr. E. Doenges, with assistance from Mr. O. Kunze. Later revised and translated into Dutch, it has been for blessing in both Germany and the Netherlands for many years. Recently Mr. Robert Balder (who went to be with the Lord in 1977) prepared the English manuscript. In its introduction he expressed the prayerful desire that the outlines, under the Holy Spirit's guidance, might become an attractive tool for many in their effort to bring the message of salvation to the children entrusted to them.
Although it will not be possible to publish all 160 lessons in COME AND SEE, we hope that the few selected will impress the readers with the value of these outlines, which, with the Lord's help, we hope to publish soon.
May the Lord bless the consideration of His Word to our hearts.
—The Editor
1. THE ACCOUNT OF CREATION — Genesis 1:1-31
Outline
| 1. | The beginning | Gen. 1:1-2 |
| 2. | The first day | Gen. 1:3-5 |
| 3. | The second day | Gen. 1:6-8 |
| 4. | The third day | Gen. 1:9-13 |
| 5. | The fourth day | Gen. 1:14-19 |
| 6. | The fifth day | Gen. 1:20-23 |
| 7. | The sixth day | Gen. 1:24-25 |
| 1. | The creation of man | Gen. 1:26-27; 2:4-7 |
| 2. | God's blessing | Gen. 1:28-31 |
| 3. | The day of rest | Gen. 2:1-3 |
| 4. | The Garden of Eden | Gen. 2:8-14 |
| 5. | God's commission and command | Gen. 2:15-20 |
| 6. | Creation of woman | Gen. 2:18-25 |