Leviticus 5: 1 – 19
No Trespassing
5 ‘If a person sins in hearing the utterance of an oath, and is a witness, whether he has seen or known of the matter—if he does not tell it, he bears guilt. 2 ‘Or if a person touches any unclean thing, whether it is the carcass of an unclean beast, or the carcass of unclean livestock, or the carcass of unclean creeping things, and he is unaware of it, he also shall be unclean and guilty. 3 Or if he touches human uncleanness—whatever uncleanness with which a man may be defiled, and he is unaware of it—when he realizes it, then he shall be guilty. 4 ‘Or if a person swears, speaking thoughtlessly with his lips to do evil or to do good, whatever it is that a man may pronounce by an oath, and he is unaware of it—when he realizes it, then he shall be guilty in any of these matters. 5 ‘And it shall be, when he is guilty in any of these matters, that he shall confess that he has sinned in that thing; 6 and he shall bring his trespass offering to the LORD for his sin which he has committed, a female from the flock, a lamb or a kid of the goats as a sin offering. So the priest shall make atonement for him concerning his sin. 7 ‘If he is not able to bring a lamb, then he shall bring to the LORD, for his trespass which he has committed, two turtledoves or two young pigeons: one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering. 8 And he shall bring them to the priest, who shall offer that which is for the sin offering first, and wring off its head from its neck, but shall not divide it completely. 9 Then he shall sprinkle some of the blood of the sin offering on the side of the altar, and the rest of the blood shall be drained out at the base of the altar. It is a sin offering. 10 And he shall offer the second as a burnt offering according to the prescribed manner. So the priest shall make atonement on his behalf for his sin which he has committed, and it shall be forgiven him. 11 ‘But if he is not able to bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons, then he who sinned shall bring for his offering one-tenth of an ephah of fine flour as a sin offering. He shall put no oil on it, nor shall he put frankincense on it, for it is a sin offering. 12 Then he shall bring it to the priest, and the priest shall take his handful of it as a memorial portion, and burn it on the altar according to the offerings made by fire to the LORD. It is a sin offering. 13 The priest shall make atonement for him, for his sin that he has committed in any of these matters; and it shall be forgiven him. The rest shall be the priest’s as a grain offering.’” 14 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 15 “If a person commits a trespass, and sins unintentionally in regard to the holy things of the LORD, then he shall bring to the LORD as his trespass offering a ram without blemish from the flocks, with your valuation in shekels of silver according to the shekel of the sanctuary, as a trespass offering. 16 And he shall make restitution for the harm that he has done in regard to the holy thing, and shall add one-fifth to it and give it to the priest. So the priest shall make atonement for him with the ram of the trespass offering, and it shall be forgiven him. 17 “If a person sins, and commits any of these things which are forbidden to be done by the commandments of the LORD, though he does not know it, yet he is guilty and shall bear his iniquity. 18 And he shall bring to the priest a ram without blemish from the flock, with your valuation, as a trespass offering. So the priest shall make atonement for him regarding his ignorance in which he erred and did not know it, and it shall be forgiven him. 19 It is a trespass offering; he has certainly trespassed against the LORD.”
Trespass is an area of criminal law or tort law broadly divided into three groups: trespass to the person, trespass to chattels and trespass to land.
Trespass to the person historically involved six separate trespasses: threats, assault, battery, wounding, mayhem (or maiming), and false imprisonment. Through the evolution of the common law in various jurisdictions, and the codification of common law torts, most jurisdictions now broadly recognize three trespasses to the person: assault, which is "any act of such a nature as to excite an apprehension of battery"; battery, "any intentional and unpermitted contact with the plaintiff's person or anything attached to it and practically identified with it"; and false imprisonment, the "unlawful obstruction or deprivation of freedom from restraint of movement".
Trespass to chattels, also known as trespass to goods or trespass to personal property, is defined as "an intentional interference with the possession of personal property … proximately causing injury". Trespass to chattel does not require a showing of damages. Simply the "intermeddling with or use of … the personal property" of another gives cause of action for trespass.
Trespass to land is today the tort most commonly associated with the term trespass; it takes the form of "wrongful interference with one's possessory rights in real property". Generally, it is not necessary to prove harm to a possessor's legally protected interest; liability for unintentional trespass varies by jurisdiction. "At common law, every unauthorized entry upon the soil of another was a trespasser"; however, under the tort scheme established by the Restatement of Torts, liability for unintentional intrusions arises only under circumstances evincing negligence or where the intrusion involved a highly dangerous activity.
We all want the right to keep people away from us. Here are some interesting ‘No Trespassing Signs;
. If you can read this then you are in range. Survivors will be prosecuted.
. Guard dogs on premises. I can make it to the gate in 3 seconds. Can you? No Trespassing.
. No Trespassing – I own firearms and a backhoe
. No trespassing – violators will be mistaken as deer
. Prayer is the best way to meet the Lord. Trespassing if faster
. No trespassing – Due to the recent increase in ammo there will not be any warning shot
. No trespassing – Life is short, don’t make it shorter
. No trespassing – Prosecution will not be necessary
And my favorite is – No trespassing the dog is fully armed and refuses to take his medication.
Our Great and Holy God also has a problem with trespassing. Today we are going to look at His view on making it right.
This final offering in this section from is with respect to very specific offences committed in ignorance;
1) Failing to give witness in official courts under adjuration,
2) The touching of what is unclean because its uncleanness results from death, or because it is the uncleanness of man,
3) The making of a rash oath by a man when not in possession of his full senses (and therefore presumably drunk) which he cannot keep.
They are grave matters, but are mended in the last two cases by the doing of them in ignorance. Yet nevertheless they have brought impurity on Israel and must be publicly confessed and atoned for.
It should be noted that this is the first mention of public confession of sin, and the confession is clearly seen as an important part of the process of making the offering. These are sins that have directly affected others. They have thus made the perpetrators guilty, not only before God, but before each other.
5 ‘If a person sins in hearing the utterance of an oath, and is a witness, whether he has seen or known of the matter—if he does not tell it, he bears guilt.
The voice of adjuration here meant a witness being put under a charge by the courts as to whether they had heard or seen anything with regard to the case in hand, with the indication that they must speak the truth under pain of blasphemy. Here the person has not lied. They have simply failed to declare the truth. But in a position like this, silence is a sin. Once it is known, they will bear as their punishment whatever the courts decide (bear their iniquity), but they are also guilty before God and require atonement, and must make public confession. They have sinned against both man and God. This is in order to bring out the seriousness of the offence. In this case silence is not golden. It is an offence against God and His justice. Unless true men are willing to assist the courts and see justice done, justice will be continually perverted as Proverbs 29.24 teaches, “Whoever is a partner with a thief hates his own life; He swears to tell the truth, but reveals nothing.”
2 ‘Or if a person touches any unclean thing, whether it is the carcass of an unclean beast, or the carcass of unclean livestock, or the carcass of unclean creeping things, and he is unaware of it, he also shall be unclean and guilty.
In this case the person has unknowingly touched something that was dead, either the carcass of a wild animal, or of a domestic animal, or of a small creature. He or she had not realized it, possibly through carelessness, but they have been rendered unclean by it. Yet because they did not realize it or think about it they have not undergone ‘cleansing’, and may well even have approached the sanctuary, entering the court of the tabernacle, while unclean. Once they know of it they must confess it and seek purification and atonement. This could especially come about through picking up a bone without realising what it was, or something similar. Or it may have happened while out hunting or fighting and have been forgotten for a while. Later all contact with death is seen as unclean, but this is the early foundation teaching concerning this.
The avoidance of dead animals was a sensible precaution for they may have died of some disease, or have been infected by carrion. The only safe way was not to touch them but to leave them to the scavengers. ‘Unclean’ wild animals would include the camel, the coney, the hare, and the swine (Leviticus 11.2-3), ‘unclean’ domestic animals would include the horse and especially the ass (Leviticus 11.26-28). For unclean creeping things see Leviticus 11.29-31. Their dead carcasses were not to be touched. The idea of clean and unclean animals went back as far as Noah (Genesis 7.2) where it was seemingly in regard to animals that could be offered as offerings to God. This law would later be expanded in some detail. By being made a religious ordinance that came between man and God it ensured that it was mainly observed.
For it was not only a sensible precaution, it was a command of Yahweh. The dead of these creatures must be left to Him. By coming in physical contact with the carcass of these unclean creatures and not taking action to obtain the appropriate cleansing they have sinned against God either through carelessness or ignorance. It is therefore necessary to seek forgiveness.
3 Or if he touches human uncleanness—whatever uncleanness with which a man may be defiled, and he is unaware of it—when he realizes it, then he shall be guilty.
In this case the person has touched man’s uncleanness in one way or another.
4 ‘Or if a person swears, speaking thoughtlessly with his lips to do evil or to do good, whatever it is that a man may pronounce by an oath, and he is unaware of it—when he realizes it, then he shall be guilty in any of these matters.
‘To do evil or to do good’ is a phrase meaning ‘to do anything over a wide range of things’ looking from one extreme to the other, the two opposites signaling the bounds not the content. Clearly an oath to do evil would not be binding, even though the swearing of it would be a sin in itself. The swearing rashly and not knowing about it must suggest that the person was under the influence of alcohol. The point, of course, is that he has not fulfilled his vow because he has forgotten it, and then learns it from someone and finds that it is beyond him, or is something that he feels he cannot do. The purpose here is to bring out the seriousness of a vow. It cannot just be dismissed, even when made in a drunken state. It must be publicly confessed, and atoned for. We learn this lesson today when the verdict of the court is that ignorance is not an excuse.’
5 ‘And it shall be, when he is guilty in any of these matters, that he shall confess that he has sinned in that thing; 6 and he shall bring his trespass offering to the LORD for his sin which he has committed, a female from the flock, a lamb or a kid of the goats as a sin offering. So the priest shall make atonement for him concerning his sin.
So if he is guilty as a result of any of these four things, he must first confess to the truth about the matter. It may be that the situation can be put right. And even if not any who have been offended or hurt by them should be informed. Then he must make his sin offering as a ‘trespass/guilt offering’ in accord with the usual practice. Here the guilt offering is also described as purification for sin offering. But the point is that he is seen as guilty towards others as well as towards God.
7 ‘If he is not able to bring a lamb, then he shall bring to the LORD, for his trespass which he has committed, two turtledoves or two young pigeons: one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering.
For this type of offering there is the alternative, as with the burnt offering, of offering birds, two turtle-doves or two young pigeons ‘if his means suffice not for a lamb’. In this case one bird will be offered as a sin offering, and the other as a whole burnt offering in the way described in chapter 1. For once the sin has been forgiven as a result of the one shedding of blood a further sin offering is unnecessary. What is now required is the rededication offering.
There is an important lesson here on the need to accept forgiveness. Once we have brought our sin to God in line with His terms through the blood of Christ we must accept the forgiveness and not keep harping back to it, and not go over it again and again. Then we must dedicate ourselves to Him in total surrender.
8 And he shall bring them to the priest, who shall offer that which is for the sin offering first, and wring off its head from its neck, but shall not divide it completely. 9 Then he shall sprinkle some of the blood of the sin offering on the side of the altar, and the rest of the blood shall be drained out at the base of the altar. It is a sin offering. 10 And he shall offer the second as a burnt offering according to the prescribed manner. So the priest shall make atonement on his behalf for his sin which he has committed, and it shall be forgiven him.
Thus will the priest make atonement for the one who has sinned, and he will be forgiven. Note the repetition in ‘the sin which he has sinned’. Sin is no light matter.
11 ‘But if he is not able to bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons, then he who sinned shall bring for his offering one-tenth of an ephah of fine flour as a sin offering. He shall put no oil on it, nor shall he put frankincense on it, for it is a sin offering.
For the very poor another alternative is offered. Nothing must be allowed to prevent purification for sin offering from being made. In this case the offering is of milled grain. At first sight this appears not to involve the shedding of blood. But note how carefully the writer says that it is to be offered ‘on the offerings of Yahweh made by fire’. For the very poor God graciously combines his offering with those of others.
No oil or frankincense is added to it for this is not a positive expression of dedication, praise and thanksgiving, (and one who was so poor could not afford it). It is purification for sin offering. Thus the bare grain is offered alone. Its full content is absorbed from the previous offerings made by fire. The person has given all that he can afford without embellishment and without pretence, and God does the rest.
12 Then he shall bring it to the priest, and the priest shall take his handful of it as a memorial portion, and burn it on the altar according to the offerings made by fire to the LORD. It is a sin offering.
The priest takes from his offering the memorial portion as described in chapter 2, and he burns it on the altar on the offerings of Yahweh made by fire. Note the change in wording, ‘the offerings of Yahweh made by fire’. They were now Yahweh’s offerings and He has provided through them what was lacking in the poor man’s offering. Note that it is no more a grain offering but purification for sin offering.
13 The priest shall make atonement for him, for his sin that he has committed in any of these matters; and it shall be forgiven him. The rest shall be the priest’s as a grain offering.’”
Thus will the priest make atonement for him with regard to any of these sins that he has committed? He shall be forgiven as much as will the ruler with his he-goat. And what is left of the grain is the priest’s as with the grain offering. His holiness will absorb the holiness of the offering.
So do we learn that God’s forgiveness comes equally to all, whether to priest, or whole congregation, or ruler, or commoner, or poor man or destitute. God’s forgiveness is offered to all equally. For in the end all these offerings obtained their efficacy from the one great offering offered once-for-all at Golgotha.
14 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying:
This indicates a new revelation, rather than it being a continuation of what went before. It confirms that it is describing Yahweh’s requirements. It deals with offences against the Sanctuary.
15 “If a person commits a trespass, and sins unintentionally in regard to the holy things of the LORD, then he shall bring to the LORD as his trespass offering a ram without blemish from the flocks, with your valuation in shekels of silver according to the shekel of the sanctuary, as a trespass offering. 16 And he shall make restitution for the harm that he has done in regard to the holy thing, and shall add one-fifth to it and give it to the priest. So the priest shall make atonement for him with the ram of the trespass offering, and it shall be forgiven him.
The sins in question here are ‘unwitting’ sins with respect to the sanctuary, sins which might result from carelessness, or forgetfulness, or a false ‘shrewdness’, or pure lethargy. In some way the person has stepped out of line. It may be that they have failed to bring their offerings as due, or have brought lower level ones when they were well enough off to bring higher level ones, grain instead of birds, birds instead of a sheep. Or perhaps in some other way they have ‘profited’ from a failure to fulfill all their religious responsibilities according to the Law. But clearly the person’s conscience has now disturbed him, or he has been ‘found out’ and it is thus a question of making amends, paying restitution and offering the correct guilt offering.
The offering he must bring is a ram, a male sheep and thus of a higher level than the female sheep of the purification for sin offering. Here there are no alternatives offered. This may suggest that a poor man would not be expected to commit this breach of faith, which could suggest that being parsimonious is what is mainly in mind. There has been a failure to meet proper dues. Indeed, as well as it being without blemish, the value of the ram necessary is to be calculated by the priest according to how much loss the sanctuary is considered to have suffered. Then a further one fifth of that value has to be paid to the priest to compensate the priest for what in most cases he would have lost. After that the ram is to be offered as a guilt offering.
We have here an indication that when men have sinned against God in holy things by holding back from Him what is His due, the sacrifice has to be of sufficient value to cover the level of sin. We can therefore see clearly at what value God had assessed Jesus Christ Who Was sufficient to meet the failures in this way of the whole world, and more, an incalculable amount.
17 “If a person sins, and commits any of these things which are forbidden to be done by the commandments of the LORD, though he does not know it, yet he is guilty and shall bear his iniquity.
This, due to its direct connection with verses 15-16 would seem to refer to someone who has sinned against the Sanctuary in some other way than financial, otherwise it would be little different from 4.27. They in one way or another consider that they have offended against holy things; they have done what Yahweh has commanded not to be done. Now their conscience has smitten them. This may well especially have in mind those with a tender conscience, who become concerned about small details, with the aim of enabling them to obtain peace of mind for their guilty conscience. But there would be others as well who had sinned in this way more certainly. Either way they accept their guilt and that they must be punished accordingly (must ‘bear their guilt’).
18 And he shall bring to the priest a ram without blemish from the flock, with your valuation, as a trespass offering. So the priest shall make atonement for him regarding his ignorance in which he erred and did not know it, and it shall be forgiven him. 19 It is a trespass offering; he has certainly trespassed against the LORD.”
Again the offering is to be a ram without blemish, its required value to be estimated according to the level of the failure. Its purpose is to remove the person’s guilt. Although the correct value ram has to be offered there is no extra compensation required. The sanctuary has not suffered financial loss. The priest will offer the ram as he would purification for sin offering, and make atonement for the person in question, and he will be forgiven. It is a guilt offering.
One last thing: did you notice again in the case of the common person who sins unintentionally that when he becomes aware of the sin that he has committed, he is required first to confess and then to sacrifice? Confession and sacrifice: sin must be confessed and cleansed before worship and communion with God can be enjoyed. All of these principles are being spelled out to help us understand the basic realities of communion with God. All sin defiles. Every last bit of it has to be dealt with. In the community you are accountable to one another, and your life, your behavior, your actions, your choices have a corporate effect; and confession and sacrifice must be offered before communion can be enjoyed again.
Turn again to the Book of Hebrews, as we close. As Hebrews comments on Leviticus, it tells us this. Look at Hebrews, chapter ten.
“For the Law, since it has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the very form of things, can never by the same sacrifices year by year, which they offer continually, make perfect those who draw near. Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, because the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have had consciousness of sins? But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins year by year. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.”
But, he goes on to say–look at verse 10–
“By this we will have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God....”
That is the reason why the Christian can have assurance. That is the reason why the Christian can have a conscience that has a sense of cleansing from sin. That is why the Christian, in the midst of our worst sins, can confidently go to the Great High Priest, Jesus Christ, and knows that if we trust Him, we shall be forgiven and purified, and accepted and cleansed.
