ii) The Contribution or Heave-offering and dealing with Unwitting Sin (Numbers 15:17-29).
The stress continues to be on the fruit of the ground. Hope for the future was being piled up for the younger generation. One day they, unlike their fathers, would enjoy the full blessing of living in the land. But the passage then goes on to deal with the purification from unwitting sin, for that would be necessary if they were to remain in the land.
‘And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,'
Again it is stressed that these were Yahweh's words spoken to Moses.
“ Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, ‘When you come into the land to which I bring you, then it shall be, that, when you eat of the bread of the land, you shall offer up a heave-offering (or ‘contribution') to Yahweh,”
Once again the emphasis is on when they would enter the land, and on the fruitfulness that they would then enjoy. When the children of Israel entered the land, when they were enjoying the bread of the land as they abundantly would, then they were to offer up a portion as a contribution or heave-offering (an offering set aside for the priests and presented to Him) to Yahweh as a token of His Overlordship.
“ Of the first of your dough you shall offer up a cake for a heave-offering, as the heave-offering of the threshing-floor, so shall you heave it. Of the first of your dough you shall give to Yahweh a heave-offering throughout your generations.”
They were to offer it as firstfruits from the first of their dough, by offering a cake for a heave-offering/contribution. And this was to apply into the distant future.
But they could not do this if they were guilty of unwitting sin, for that would be to deny His Overlordship, and that was why the problem of purification of unwitting sin is now dealt with.
Provision for Unwitting Sin (Numbers 15:22-29).
The distinction is made between ‘unwitting sin' and ‘sin with a high hand'. The former which is described as ‘erring' would therefore seem to include sins done by choice because drawn astray by desire or folly, except when it was in deliberate disobedience to a major commandment (the example of observing the Sabbath is given). We all know what it means to say, ‘I could not help myself', even when we know we should not have done it. In the end only God can tell whether sin is through weakness or in deliberate defiance against God.
“ And when you shall err, and not observe all these commandments, which Yahweh has spoken to Moses, even all that Yahweh has commanded you by Moses, from the day that Yahweh gave commandment, and onward throughout your generations,”
Note the emphasis on being commanded. The commandments were not optional, or acceptable if say 5 out of 10 were kept. They were commanded threefold by Yahweh, and were permanent and to be kept in their totality (compare Deuteronomy 27:26; James 2:10). Thus to err from them was a grave matter.
“ Then it shall be, if it be done unwittingly, without the knowledge of the congregation, that all the congregation shall offer one young ox bull for a whole burnt offering, for a pleasing odour to Yahweh, with its grain offering, and its drink offering, according to the ordinance, and one he-goat for a purification for sin offering.”
The first case is an unwitting sin done by the whole congregation. This might refer to an accidental error made by their representatives the priests with regard to offerings and Dwellingplace service, acting on their behalf, which was later discovered, or to a decision come to by the assembly of Israel which was considered right at the time but later seen to be wrong, or a capital crime committed among them of which the culprit was unknown, or an act done on their behalf by their chieftains of which they were unaware. In all these cases it was something that they had not known about. There was no direct involvement. If it was unwitting and without the knowledge of the congregation they still bore guilt, for the whole community were jointly responsible. But it could be atoned for by a whole burnt offering offered on behalf of the whole congregation, consisting of an ox bull for the purpose of atonement and rededication, and by a purification for sin offering of a he-goat. The whole burnt offering, accompanied by its grain offerings and drink offering, would rise as a pleasing odour to Yahweh. The sin offering would remove the guilt through the death and offering of the blood of the animal.
In Leviticus 4:14 a sin by the whole congregation required the purification for sin offering of an ox bull. But that may refer to sins in which the whole congregation had deliberately participated suspecting them to be wrong, even though ‘the assembly' was not aware of them, or sins done deliberately in their name by their chieftains of which they approved. There was thus a deeper involvement in the guilt. The offering required was therefore all the greater.
Or it may be that the offerings were seen together. A bull ox and a he-goat together were of more value than an ox alone. Thus if the whole burnt offering of an ox bull was made additionally, it is possible that that could be seen as compensating for the reduction in the purification for sin offering. For both contributed to atonement, and both were brought for their error (Numbers 15:25). We must remember that this was referring to what was to be done when they entered the land (Numbers 15:2) whereas Leviticus 4 was immediate. Perhaps the idea was that once they were more prosperous, more would be required. (We must also remember that the details of the cult were undoubtedly complicated, and that we have probably only been given an outline of such activities. Different situations would be seen as calling for different offerings as determined by the Priest).
“ And the priest shall make atonement for all the congregation of the children of Israel, and they shall be forgiven, for it was an error, and they have brought their oblation, an offering made by fire to Yahweh, and their purification for sin offering before Yahweh for their error,”
And the error would then be atoned for and forgiven, because firstly it was an error, and secondly they had brought the appropriate offerings.
“ And all the congregation of the children of Israel shall be forgiven, and the stranger that resides temporarily among them, for in respect of all the people it was done unwittingly.”
It is again repeated that they would be forgiven. The double emphasis made the fact certain. And the forgiveness would cover the resident alien who dwelt among them. And the reason for this would be that it was done unwittingly.
“ And if one person sins unwittingly, then he shall offer a she-goat a year old for a purification for sin offering.”
The same was to apply to a person who sinned unwittingly. But in that case he was simply required to bring a year old she-goat for a purification for sin offering.
“ And the priest shall make atonement for the person who errs, when he sins unwittingly, before Yahweh, to make atonement for him, and he shall be forgiven.”
Thus would the priest make atonement for the person, because he had sinned unwittingly, and he would be forgiven. It is clear that this could not have been done for every sin of thought, word and deed that came to mind or all the herds and flocks of the population would rapidly have disappeared. It was for definite sins against specific covenant stipulations that were recognised as being so and were not premeditated, or if premeditated not taking on the character of aggression against God and His creation. (Thus the sins included theft from a neighbour, which had however to be dealt with in a special way including compensation, but not murder or adultery, both of which were against the very order of creation).
“ You shall have one law for him who does anything unwittingly, for him who is homeborn among the children of Israel, and for the stranger who resides temporarily among them.”
The law was to be the same for all whether homeborn or foreigners. All who came to dwell among the Israelites entered into a kind of relationship with Yahweh, and were to be treated equally.
It must be recognised that we are only provided with the bare bones of the sacrificial system and its application. Decisions would have to be made about a wide range of sins, and they would no doubt be sorted into categories and the level of sacrifice decided accordingly. What the written law laid down were the principles to be kept in mind. The actual carrying of it into practise would be extremely complicated, and would be built up over time.
Behind all these offerings and sacrifices were the thought of the shedding of blood, with the animal as their representative, bearing their sin; and the thought of tribute and thanksgiving offered, and of dedication and reconciliation through atonement as they brought their offerings. Each offering and sacrifice pinpointed one aspect of that response to God, and unknowingly looked forward to that greater provision in Jesus Christ. Today we come in the same way but through a greater and more efficacious offering in our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, Who died in our place, and bore our sin (Romans 3:25; Romans 5:8-10; Romans 8:3; 1 Corinthians 5:7; 2Co 5:21; 1 Peter 1:19; 1 Peter 2:14; 1 Peter 3:18; Hebrews 9:11-14; Hebrews 9:26; Hebrews 10:10-18; Hebrews 12:24; Hebrews 13:12), and through Whom we offer ourselves as a living sacrifice, through Him being made wholly acceptable to God (Romans 12:1-2).