Leviticus 5:1 ¶ And if a
soul sin, and hear the voice of swearing, and is a witness, whether he
hath seen or known of it; if he do not utter it, then he shall
bear his iniquity. 2 Or if a soul touch
any unclean thing, whether it be a carcase of an unclean beast, or a
carcase of unclean cattle, or the carcase of unclean creeping things, and if
it be hidden from him; he also shall be unclean, and guilty. 3 Or if he touch the uncleanness of man,
whatsoever uncleanness it be that a man shall be defiled withal, and it
be hid from him; when he knoweth of it, then he shall be guilty. 4 Or if a soul swear, pronouncing with his
lips to do evil, or to do good, whatsoever it be that a man shall
pronounce with an oath, and it be hid from him; when he knoweth of it,
then he shall be guilty in one of these. 5
And it shall be, when he shall be guilty in one of these things,
that he shall confess that he hath sinned in that thing: 6 And he shall bring his trespass offering unto
the LORD for his sin which he hath sinned, a female from the flock, a lamb or a
kid of the goats, for a sin offering; and the priest shall make an atonement
for him concerning his sin.
The trespass offering is now discussed. It is more specific than
the general sin offerings made previous.
First, some commentators write that if a man is sworn to speak the
truth and withholds the truth he has sinned.
1Kings 8:31 If any man trespass
against his neighbour, and an oath be laid upon him to cause him to swear, and
the oath come before thine altar in this house: 32 Then hear thou in heaven, and do, and judge
thy servants, condemning the wicked, to bring his way upon his head; and
justifying the righteous, to give him according to his righteousness.
A recent presidential candidate who was a prosecutor formerly was
accused of withholding evidence that would have exonerated a defendant. This is
an egregious sin and has been quite a common one in our legal system.
But
notice;
Proverbs 29:24 ¶ Whoso is
partner with a thief hateth his own soul: he heareth cursing, and bewrayeth it not.
Here, specifically and literally is mention made of swearing which
is a sin against God although lightly thought of among worldly people.
Exodus 20:7 Thou shalt not
take the name of the LORD thy
God in vain; for the LORD will
not hold him guiltless that taketh his name
in vain.
Men and women will use God’s name in vain as a curse as in the English
“goddammit” which is a sin against God and a use of His name in vain.
Christians will exclaim “gosh” for God or “gee whiz” for Jesus Christ. This
rule was to be strictly enforced and if a man heard it and did not report it he
was guilty of it, too.
Some things were considered ceremonially unclean and when a person
became aware they had accidentally touched one of those things they understood
their guilt and an offering was required of them to atone for their sin. We
will eventually come to the rules that forbid the Hebrews from touching certain
animals or their carcasses. The ceremonial uncleanness for a man, a plague that
results from leprosy and certain skin diseases will be discussed later.
What is important for us to remember is that we must, as soon as
we are conscious that we have sinned, confess that sin to God in the name of
the Lord Jesus Christ and by the power of the Holy Spirit, acknowledging it as
sin and repenting of it, then express our sorrow and heartfelt contrition over
it.
Unconfessed sin will come back to haunt you. I have known men and
women who committed fornication which resulted in pregnancy. Being Christians
they wanted to, “make it right,” and got married but did not confess their sin
together to God in heartfelt grief over what they had done just thinking,
“well, we made a mistake but we made it right.” The problems they had in their
marriage and in their raising of children and the resulting sorrows and griefs
can be directly linked to unconfessed sin.
It is not enough to say to yourself, “I messed up.” It is
important to acknowledge that to the One who created you, who purchased you
with His own blood, who redeemed you, ransomed you from an eternity of
suffering, and express your sorrow and repentance or you may never be free of
that sin’s tendrils wrapped around your life. What you did was not a mistake,
it was a sin against a Holy and righteous God, who is the standard for Holiness
and righteousness.
A couple of ways of looking at verse 4 include the following. If a
person utters an oath, for instance in English, “by God, I’ll (fill in the
blanks),” either in anger or not or something like, “in the name of God I will
(fill in the blanks),” as soon as he realizes what he has done, as soon as the
Holy Spirit convicts him of his sin, he is accountable under the Law to bring a
trespass offering.
For
instance, Jesus’s admonition here;
Matthew 5:33 ¶ Again, ye
have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear
thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths: 34 But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God’s
throne: 35 Nor by the earth; for it is
his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King.
36 Neither shalt thou swear by thy head,
because thou canst not make one hair white or black. 37 But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay,
nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.
In the verses in Matthew to forswear
yourself is to swear falsely, to promise God and not to do it.
Numbers 30:2 If a man vow a
vow unto the LORD, or swear an oath to bind his soul with a bond; he shall not
break his word, he shall do according to all that proceedeth out of his mouth.
As
Solomon said;
Ecclesiates 5:4 ¶ When thou
vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed.
5 Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow
and not pay.
Do not swear before the Lord, taking His name, and not do but
better yet don’t swear at all, o’ weak and fallible man or woman. Come humbly
before God and ask that He help you do what needs to be done. Apparently, He is
not impressed with our grand pronouncements which often result in failure after
Satan is unleashed on the swearer to trip him or her up.
As
Joshua said rather testily when the Hebrews swore to follow and obey God.
Joshua 24:19 And Joshua
said unto the people, Ye cannot serve the LORD: for he is an holy God; he is
a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins.
A trespass offering would be required then once you realize your
sin-nature tarnished mind couldn’t cash the check your tongue had written.
Look again at the importance of confession and acknowledging that
you have sinned against God. The Apostle John wrote;
1John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
When was the last time you prayed, not, “O Lord forgive me for I
am a sinner,” but, “O Lord forgive me for I have sinned?” Can you even name the
specific sin against God you committed not five minutes ago?
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