“If He Cannot Afford”
[Leviticus 5:7-13]
March 14, 2010 Second Reformed Church
Last week we noted that the Burnt Offering was made for intentional sins and the Sin Offering was made for unintentional sins. We saw that sin is sin, and sin separates us from God and requires that blood be shed and the offering be forsaken – consumed outside of the camp. Last week, we also saw that the Sin Offering required the offering of a bull for the sin of the priest or for the sin of the entire congregation, a male lamb for the sin of a leader, and a female lamb or goat for the sin of a common person.
But I also mentioned last week that we had not looked at all of the instructions for the Sin Offering: the remainder of the instructions were read this morning. The remaining instructions concerned those who could not afford to buy a female goat or lamb to be offered up as a Sin Offering. We will remember as we have looked at the offerings that God required of the nation of Israel that God was merciful in making allowances for what an individual could afford: the offering – the payment for the debt owed to God – was – in some instances and to some degree – variable based on one’s ability to pay.
We ought not understand from that that our sin is not really all that bad an offense to God – it is, but God is incomprehensibly merciful to us, and – more than that – He has shown us His Grace. For God is the Holy God, so any sin against God is “cosmic treason” – any sin against God deserves the greatest possible punishment because of Who God is. We understand that – the penalty for assassinating the President is greater than the penalty for murdering me. So God, being the greatest of all possible beings, would deserve the greatest possible punishment to be inflicted upon those who sin against Him.
Yet God is merciful for God’s Own Reasons – He has chosen to make allowances for us. And we see in the Sin Offering that if one could not afford a female lamb or goat, one could offer up two turtle doves or two pigeons – one which would be offered up as a Burnt Offering and one which would be offered up as a Sin Offering, according to the instructions that God had given. And we might question why two animals were required:
Remember last week as we looked at the offering of the bull and the male or female lamb or goat, the fatty parts and the kidneys were burned as a Burnt Offering. The rest of the animal was offered up as a Sin Offering. In the case of those who could not afford a bull or a lamb or a goat – male or female – a bird is just too small to divide up – to remove the fatty parts and the kidneys from – so two birds were offered, and one was wholly sacrificed as a Burnt Offering and one was wholly sacrificed as a Sin Offering.
But, if one could not afford the two birds – see God takes sin so seriously that He made provision for the poorest of the poor – that they might be reconciled to God as well as those with money – God allowed the offering of a tenth of an ephah of flour. Now, for those of us who don’t have measuring cups that show ephahs, God is requiring about 2.2 liters of flour – a little more than the size of the soda bottles we have out during coffee hour. And unlike the Grain Offering, this was to be plain flour – no salt, no oil, and no frankincense.
In this case, the priest would take a handful of the flour and burn it as a Sin Offering and the rest of it would be kept by the priest as his sustenance.
At this point, it might do us well to consider how serious sin is: Peter asked Jesus how often he had to forgive his brother for sinning against him – seven times? The Pharisees had said that one must forgive his brother three times, so Peter thought he was being quite magnanimous. But Jesus, making a point about sin and forgiveness said, not seven times, but seventy times seven – four hundred and ninety times. Understand, Jesus was not giving a literal number, because I know some people will say, “Well I have forgiven so-and-so four hundred and ninety times for sinning against me, so now I don’t have to forgive any more.” No. That is not
the point. So Jesus told this parable:
“Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owe him ten thousand talents. [For those of us who are not paid in talents, that is 200,000 years pay for the average worker of the time. OK?] And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ [Which, of course was ridiculous – he could never have paid back that much money.] And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt. But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii [about three months pay], and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay what you owe.’ So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt. When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place. Then his master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt. So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart” (Matthew 18:23-35, ESV).
Jesus was saying that since God has forgive us through Jesus – as our Burnt Offering, and Peace Offering, and Sin Offering – we are obliged to forgive our brothers and sisters for any and every sin they commit against us. The forgiveness that we have received through Jesus is so great that we ought to humbly, immediately forgive a brother or sister their sin against us and all of their sin against us.
“Well, you don’t know how much so-and-so has done against me. How can you expect me to keep forgiving so-and-so when they have done so much and continue to do so much against me?”
Jesus compared what one servant owed another – a little more than three months pay – with what the king had forgiven the first servant – 200,000 years pay. If you or I had been forgiven 200,000 years pay, do we not think we ought to forgive our brother or sister who owes us the great sum of three months pay? If it helps you, think of it that way – God has forgive you 200,000 years pay – is it beyond you to forgive the brother or sister who fairly regularly says something insensitive or ignorant or upsetting? That is not to say that that is then end of the matter – if we sin against another or we are sinned against, we ought to talk with our brother or sister as Jesus has taught us.
Let us consider this from another angle – Jesus is saying that we, in our sin, owe God, our King, 200,000 years pay for our sin – and that’s a metaphor for eternity. None of us will live 200,000 years on this fallen earth. We owe God an eternity for our sin against Him – more than 200,000 years pay. Even if God were merciful and cut it to 100,000 years pay – half an eternity, so to speak – we would be no more able to pay the debt that we owe.
We have seen that the offerings that God prescribed for the nation of Israel only reconciled them for the moment – they had to be offered again and again, day after day – because sin against God is that great – it is that awful – it is that terrible.
So we see God’s Mercy in allowing different animals, and even flour, to be offered up for sin – again and again and again, day after day after day. When we really consider the weight of sin, who is able to afford to pay the debt? Are you able to afford to pay the debt that you owe to God? I’m not.
Who is able to pay such a debt as the debt we owe? Only God. Only God could pay the debt that is owed to God. And in His Grace, He has done so: “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8, ESV).
Jesus explained this to the Pharisee, Nicodemus, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God” (John 3:16-18, ESV).
Jesus became the Sin Offering for us. He became sin for us. His Blood was shed, because none of us and no animal could fully pay the debt that we owed, and then He was brought outside of the Holy Place – outside of the view of the “good people” – in the place of the rejected and the damned – where He would cry out “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46b, ESV) – suffering eternal Hell for everyone who would ever believe – and then die. And then rise – victorious over sin and death and Hell – for all those who would believe. So, He fulfilled the Sin Offering. God, the Only One Who could afford to pay the whole debt for our sin, gave His Son for we who could not afford to pay our debt, and He made us right with God.
What more can we say, but thanks be to God!
Let us pray:
Almighty God, our Savior, we thank You for showing mercy to our forefathers and us. We thank You for giving us the Gracious Gift of Your Son. How great is our God In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
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