Guilt Runs Deep
Next we come to the guilt offering. God is speaking to His people. He knows how deep sin runs in our lives (thus the sin offerings) and He also knows how much we bear guilt in our hearts. So for that reason, He institutes an offering specific to that issue of our heart.
Leviticus 5:14–16 (ESV) The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 15 “If anyone commits a breach of faith and sins unintentionally in any of the holy things of the Lord, he shall bring to the Lord as his compensation, a ram without blemish out of the flock, valued in silver shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, for a guilt offering. 16 He shall also make restitution for what he has done amiss in the holy thing and shall add a fifth to it and give it to the priest. And the priest shall make atonement for him with the ram of the guilt offering, and he shall be forgiven.
Notice the descriptive term: "commits a breach of faith". Why do we have guilt? Because we know we have gone beyond our boundaries. We have to be accountable to one another as no man is an island. Israel was taught through the guilt offering that we are not isolated individuals with actions that have no bearing upon the life of the community. Contrary to popular belief today, every person's actions have consequences upon the larger context of the people around him.
Notice later:
Leviticus 5:17–19 (ESV) “If anyone sins, doing any of the things that by the LORD’s commandments ought not to be done, though he did not know it, then realizes his guilt, he shall bear his iniquity. 18 He shall bring to the priest a ram without blemish out of the flock, or its equivalent for a guilt offering, and the priest shall make atonement for him for the mistake that he made unintentionally, and he shall be forgiven. 19 It is a guilt offering; he has indeed incurred guilt before the LORD.”
The guilt offering was for things things Israel may have done wrong but only later realized their misconduct. It spoke to the fact that our heart will bear the weight of sin constantly.
Guilt drives us to pay back others for what we have done.
Deep inside, we know guilt weighs heavily upon us. Even nonbelievers have guilt. They may disregard the existence of God and YET do good to make up for all the bad they've done. Some call it Karma, others call it altruism. It is that underlying motivation to make up for what we know we've mistakenly done. Guilt is also the reason most people avoid church and God like the plague. They know they do not add up, why even try?
Leviticus 5:14–16 (ESV) The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 15 “If anyone commits a breach of faith and sins unintentionally in any of the holy things of the Lord, he shall bring to the Lord as his compensation, a ram without blemish out of the flock, valued in silver shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, for a guilt offering. 16 He shall also make restitution for what he has done amiss in the holy thing and shall add a fifth to it and give it to the priest. And the priest shall make atonement for him with the ram of the guilt offering, and he shall be forgiven.
Notice the descriptive term: "commits a breach of faith". Why do we have guilt? Because we know we have gone beyond our boundaries. We have to be accountable to one another as no man is an island. Israel was taught through the guilt offering that we are not isolated individuals with actions that have no bearing upon the life of the community. Contrary to popular belief today, every person's actions have consequences upon the larger context of the people around him.
Notice later:
Leviticus 5:17–19 (ESV) “If anyone sins, doing any of the things that by the LORD’s commandments ought not to be done, though he did not know it, then realizes his guilt, he shall bear his iniquity. 18 He shall bring to the priest a ram without blemish out of the flock, or its equivalent for a guilt offering, and the priest shall make atonement for him for the mistake that he made unintentionally, and he shall be forgiven. 19 It is a guilt offering; he has indeed incurred guilt before the LORD.”
The guilt offering was for things things Israel may have done wrong but only later realized their misconduct. It spoke to the fact that our heart will bear the weight of sin constantly.
Even more:
Leviticus 6:2–5 (ESV) “If anyone sins and commits a breach of faith against the LORD by deceiving his neighbor in a matter of deposit or security, or through robbery, or if he has oppressed his neighbor 3 or has found something lost and lied about it, swearing falsely—in any of all the things that people do and sin thereby— 4 if he has sinned and has realized his guilt and will restore what he took by robbery or what he got by oppression or the deposit that was committed to him or the lost thing that he found 5 or anything about which he has sworn falsely, he shall restore it in full and shall add a fifth to it, and give it to him to whom it belongs on the day he realizes his guilt.
Guilt drives us to pay back others for what we have done.
More:
Leviticus 6:6–7 (ESV) And he shall bring to the priest as his compensation to the LORD a ram without blemish out of the flock, or its equivalent for a guilt offering. 7 And the priest shall make atonement for him before the LORD, and he shall be forgiven for any of the things that one may do and thereby become guilty.”
Deep inside, we know guilt weighs heavily upon us. Even nonbelievers have guilt. They may disregard the existence of God and YET do good to make up for all the bad they've done. Some call it Karma, others call it altruism. It is that underlying motivation to make up for what we know we've mistakenly done. Guilt is also the reason most people avoid church and God like the plague. They know they do not add up, why even try?
The good news for Israel was they had a place to come and find forgiveness and atonement. They could personally receive absolution from the priest. If you think about it, the human heart desperately craves this from the outside. We need someone to say we are okay. We need forgiveness for what weighs on our hearts.
In the New Testament, this offering is fulfilled in Christ's atoning work. Through Christ we have our hearts once and for all sprinkled clean. Notice Hebrews:
Hebrews 10:20–22 (NLT) By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place. 21 And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, 22 let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.
Hebrews 10:20–22 (NLT) By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place. 21 And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, 22 let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.
Christ not only pays our sin debt, He bears our guilt on the Cross. We can approach God to hear from Him without our own evil deeds keeping us back. This is why people do not want to approach God - they have not yet come to Christ for the cleansing that really changes how we see Him - the have not embraced the washing away of their guilt.
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