Numbers 5:5-10—5 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 6 "Speak to the children of Israel: 'When a man or woman commits any sin that men commit in unfaithfulness against the LORD, and that person is guilty, 7 then he shall confess the sin which he has committed. He shall make restitution for his trespass in full, plus one-fifth of it, and give it to the one he has wronged. 8 But if the man has no relative to whom restitution may be made for the wrong, the restitution for the wrong must go to the LORD for the priest, in addition to the ram of the atonement with which atonement is made for him. 9 Every offering of all the holy things of the children of Israel, which they bring to the priest, shall be his. 10 And every man's holy things shall be his; whatever any man gives the priest shall be his.'"
I kinda like how the NASB translates it a little better, it says “‘When a man or woman commits any of the sins of mankind, acting unfaithfully against the LORD’”. Not a big difference, but it does make it a bit clearer. A sin against our fellow man is a sin against God. When we sin, should we confess that sin? Yes. Do those sins need to be paid for? Yes. Today, when someone does something to another, they go to court, they set some arbitrary amount that the person who committed the wrong should pay, and a judge or jury awards the plaintiff some arbitrary settlement that may differ from one day to the next. But if you notice here, the amount to be paid is not arbitrary. It is settled. If you sin against your neighbor, you make restitution of what you wronged that person of. And you add one-fifth of the value as a penalty for your sin.
Now, you may ask what kind of sin could you commit that would require restitution? Well, we have one example, in Leviticus 6:2-5— 2 “When a person sins and acts unfaithfully against the LORD, and deceives his companion in regard to a deposit or a security entrusted to him, or through robbery, or if he has extorted from his companion, 3 or has found what was lost and lied about it and sworn falsely, so that he sins in regard to any one of the things a man may do; 4 then it shall be, when he sins and becomes guilty, that he shall restore what he took by robbery or what he got by extortion, or the deposit which was entrusted to him or the lost thing which he found, 5 or anything about which he swore falsely; he shall make restitution for it in full and add to it one-fifth more. He shall give it to the one to whom it belongs on the day he presents his Guilt Offering.” When a man committed such a trespass against his neighbor, he not only committed such a trespass against his neighbor, he violated the Law of God, thus sinned against God. And he had to set things right with his neighbor, but he also had to make atonement to God for his sin. Under the Law, this was a monetary settlement to his neighbor, and he had to sacrifice a ram to God.
We have examples of this teaching from the Book of Luke. First, we have John the Baptist in the moments leading up to the Son of Man coming to him, Luke 3:12-14—12 Then tax collectors also came to be baptized, and said to him, "Teacher, what shall we do?" 13 And he said to them, "Collect no more than what is appointed for you." 14 Likewise the soldiers asked him, saying, "And what shall we do?" So he said to them, "Do not intimidate anyone or accuse falsely, and be content with your wages." To take more than what was required of the people would be theft, it would be wrong. So John, being a prophet of God, tells them to not do that. To not steal from the people. Tax collectors at the time could make the IRS look like a charitable organization. They would shake people down, use force to get even more money from them. And they would collect far more than was required of the people, sometimes up to 10 times more. And these were usually Jews that were doing it to other Jews. Even the Apostle Matthew was a tax collector until Jesus called him. And really, that is about as much as we know about him. Jesus calls him in Matthew 9:9, Matthew—or Levi, as he is called in Mark 2:14 and Luke 5:29—and he gets up from his desk and follows Christ. He left his profession to follow our Lord.
Now, we see an example of the restitution talked about in Numbers in the story of Zacchaeus. You know, the wee little man who climbed up in a sycamore tree, for the Lord he wanted to see. We find this story in Luke 19:5-8—5 And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and saw him, and said to him, "Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house." 6 So he made haste and came down, and received Him joyfully. 7 But when they saw it, they all complained, saying, "He has gone to be a guest with a man who is a sinner." 8 Then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, "Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold." Jesus was just walking along, and He just happened to look up into the tree. Happens a lot in Scripture, no? Things just happen to go the way God wants them to go. Zacchaeus knew something was different about Jesus. So he scrambles down from the tree and invites Jesus into his home. And the people said “Hey, Jesus is going in to a tax collector’s house to dine with him! That is just wrong!”
But just as Zacchaeus knew there was something different about Jesus, so Jesus had plans for Zacchaeus. And Jesus is not disappointed. As Zacchaeus goes far above the 20% restitution that the Law required, he restored 400%! And listen to the next two verses, Luke 19:9-10—9 And Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham; 10 for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost." Jesus was seeking, He looked and He found. Do you think this was a coincidence? This is the chapter after Christ tells us of the rich man and the tax collector, Luke 18:13-14—13 “And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me a sinner!' 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
The Gospels address all that we see in our passage in Numbers 5:5-10. Do not take from people; if you do, then confess and see yourself as less than what you even think; Christ calls, follow Him, and restore what you have wronged another of. Alexander MacLaren says this—
The experience of Christ’s love convinces of sin far more thoroughly than threats. The frowns of society only make the wrong-doer more hard and merciless; but the touch of love melts him as a warm hand laid on snow. The sight of Jesus reveals our unlikeness and makes us long after some faint resemblance to Him. So Zacchaeus did not need Christ to bid him to make restitution, nor show him the blackness of his life; but he sees all the past in a new light, and is aware that there is something sweeter than ill-gotten gains. If we love Jesus Christ as He deserves, we shall not need to be told to give Him our all.
These days, do we do that? If we sin against our neighbor, we may have to make restitution to him, but do we also have to sacrifice a ram to God? No. 1st John 1:9—If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Notice he says all unrighteousness. If we commit a sin against our neighbor, we must first confess our sin to God, and then make it right with our neighbor. But as for atonement, Christ has already made that atonement, and on the basis of Christ’s sacrifice, if we ask for forgiveness for our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive our sins. Notice two words in this verse. Faithful and just. God is faithful. The Greek word translated “faithful” is πιστός (pistos). The same word is used in 2nd Thessalonians 3:3—But the Lord is faithful, who will establish you and guard you from the evil one. Your friend may or may not forgive when you sin against them. That is on them. But if you ask God to forgive your sin, he is faithful. According to Bill Mounce, “true, trusty, credible, sure, certain, indubitable.” He is a God who is always true and credible and cannot lie (Titus 1:2, Hebrews 6:18); He is a God who is trustworthy, (Hebrews 13:5); He is a God who is sure, certain and indubitable (1st Corinthians 1:9). He is a God we can trust with all of our heart! If He wasn’t, He would not be a God worth worshipping.
And it is good that He is all those things, but beyond that He is just (Greek δίκαιος [dikaios, “equitable (in character or act); by implication, innocent, holy (absolutely or relatively):—just, meet, right(-eous).” Translated “righteous” in the KJV]) in forgiving your sins. How many times do we see someone commit a crime, they have all the evidence stacked against them they are on video committing this crime, but because of a technicality, they are acquitted or their case is dismissed? Is that truly justice? No! And what about the justice of God? Would we be able to say He is just if He merely said, “Well, I’m in as good mood today, I’ll just let your adultery slide. No harm, no foul, eh?” No! God would not be just if He just let slide when someone sinned against Him with no penalty being paid. But that’s just it—the penalty HAS been paid! Christ has paid the penalty for your sins if you believe in Him and accept His payment. Galatians 3:13— Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree"). John 1:29—The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! We no longer have to bring a ram to sacrifice to God, since He has already given us a Lamb.
We will finish Chapter 5 next week
