An Army United is an Army of God
So far in Numbers, God has set up the camp of Israel. He has aligned them around His presence in the tabernacle and divided up their responsibilities in the management of the sacred things. He has also directed their order for marching as well as how to disassemble the tabernacle for movement. The camp is in place, Israel is a cohesive unit. At least from the outside looking on.
For Israel to be powerful in war they must be united and at peace with each other. For this reason, God establishes laws pertaining to making amends when they experience wrongs against one another.
Numbers 5:5-10 (ESV) And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 6 "Speak to the people of Israel, When a man or woman commits any of the sins that people commit by breaking faith with the LORD, and that person realizes his guilt, 7 he shall confess his sin that he has committed. And he shall make full restitution for his wrong, adding a fifth to it and giving it to him to whom he did the wrong. 8 But if the man has no next of kin to whom restitution may be made for the wrong, the restitution for wrong shall go to the LORD for the priest, in addition to the ram of atonement with which atonement is made for him. 9 And every contribution, all the holy donations of the people of Israel, which they bring to the priest, shall be his. 10 Each one shall keep his holy donations: whatever anyone gives to the priest shall be his."
If there are any sins against one another, there must be confession and restitution as well as the regular offering for sin. There are a number of truths in this passage about sin that we do well to understand.
First, sin against another is sin against God. Scripture says this person has "broken faith with the Lord." He must make right with his brother because He has profaned the God who made him. Secondly, we learn that sin must be confessed. There is something powerful to the confession of sin for its power to be broken over our lives. Thirdly, confession of sin is good, but acts of repentance are necessary. It is one thing to understand how destructive sin is and feel bad. It is Godly to understand how bad it is and do something to undo the damage. Again, an army where wrongs are made right is an army filled with people at peace with each other.
I am reminded of Zachaeus's conversion in Luke 19. He didn't just come to Christ in faith. His faith was evidenced by his commitment to make what was wrong right again. Let's face it, a Christian that only feels bad about sin but doesn't do anything about it is really not much good to a society that needs the salt of preservation and the light of the knowledge of God. When we sin and confess it, God forgives, then He expects us to act in ways that bring about the opposite effect in the lives of those we have hurt or offended.
Notice also, that if there's no one to make restitution for in the offended person's family, the restitution goes to the priest. This was another allowance God made for the priest to have income. It also established a community wide responsibility to spiritual leadership. The priest was set over the people in these matters to guide people in their treatment of one another and to hold them accountable to laws such as these.
We learn from this passage a great deal about sin. But mostly we come to understand that while God can bring us together as His people, it is our responsibility to do the difficult work of sticking together as His people. Only when we act in ways that honor one another - as people made in His image - do we fully live out what it means to belong to the Father.
For Israel to be powerful in war they must be united and at peace with each other. For this reason, God establishes laws pertaining to making amends when they experience wrongs against one another.
Numbers 5:5-10 (ESV) And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 6 "Speak to the people of Israel, When a man or woman commits any of the sins that people commit by breaking faith with the LORD, and that person realizes his guilt, 7 he shall confess his sin that he has committed. And he shall make full restitution for his wrong, adding a fifth to it and giving it to him to whom he did the wrong. 8 But if the man has no next of kin to whom restitution may be made for the wrong, the restitution for wrong shall go to the LORD for the priest, in addition to the ram of atonement with which atonement is made for him. 9 And every contribution, all the holy donations of the people of Israel, which they bring to the priest, shall be his. 10 Each one shall keep his holy donations: whatever anyone gives to the priest shall be his."
If there are any sins against one another, there must be confession and restitution as well as the regular offering for sin. There are a number of truths in this passage about sin that we do well to understand.
First, sin against another is sin against God. Scripture says this person has "broken faith with the Lord." He must make right with his brother because He has profaned the God who made him. Secondly, we learn that sin must be confessed. There is something powerful to the confession of sin for its power to be broken over our lives. Thirdly, confession of sin is good, but acts of repentance are necessary. It is one thing to understand how destructive sin is and feel bad. It is Godly to understand how bad it is and do something to undo the damage. Again, an army where wrongs are made right is an army filled with people at peace with each other.
I am reminded of Zachaeus's conversion in Luke 19. He didn't just come to Christ in faith. His faith was evidenced by his commitment to make what was wrong right again. Let's face it, a Christian that only feels bad about sin but doesn't do anything about it is really not much good to a society that needs the salt of preservation and the light of the knowledge of God. When we sin and confess it, God forgives, then He expects us to act in ways that bring about the opposite effect in the lives of those we have hurt or offended.
Notice also, that if there's no one to make restitution for in the offended person's family, the restitution goes to the priest. This was another allowance God made for the priest to have income. It also established a community wide responsibility to spiritual leadership. The priest was set over the people in these matters to guide people in their treatment of one another and to hold them accountable to laws such as these.
We learn from this passage a great deal about sin. But mostly we come to understand that while God can bring us together as His people, it is our responsibility to do the difficult work of sticking together as His people. Only when we act in ways that honor one another - as people made in His image - do we fully live out what it means to belong to the Father.
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