Numbers 15:1-2 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: “After you enter the land I am giving you as a home..”
The Israelites were on the verge of entering the promised land, But they’re denied entry by God Himself because of their unfaithfulness, disobedience, and the fact the treated God with Contempt. Grasshopper Mentality & Consequences
God says you will wander in this desert for 40 years, one year for each day you spied out the land. This entire generation will die and your carcasses will be buried here. Your children will go in and possess the land that you parents failed to do.
They’ve just been turned away given a death by wandering sentence, and the next thing God says, “After you enter the land I am giving you as a home” and he gives them orders for the sacrifices that they are to make when they come into the land.
The various offerings; the meal offering, the drink offering, the burnt offering and the peace offering and the sin offerings.
God is confirming the fact He’s going to keep His word. And even now God begins to prepare them for when they take possession of the land 38 years later what sacrifices to offer and how to carry them out.
Numbers 15:17-18 “The Lord said to Moses, 18 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you enter the land to which I am taking you…” Promise-Abraham
Offerings for Unintentional Sins Numbers 14:22 “Now if you as a community unintentionally fail to keep any of these commands the Lord gave Moses…” Vs 27 “‘But if just one person sins unintentionally,…”
Offerings were commanded to be given for Unintentional Sin (Sins of Ignorance), not only corporately but individually as well.
Community= young bull for a burnt offering, grain offering and drink offering, and a male goat for a sin offering.
Individual= a year-old female goat for a sin offering
What we learn here is that even the sins of ignorance need attending to. It reminds me of what Jesus prayed in Luke: Luke 23:34 “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” (27:54 Surely, he was the Son of God)
How many times a day do we sin and don’t even know it? Unintentional Sins of ignorance. I didn’t know what I was doing; it wasn’t a deliberate, willful thing, it was just ignorance, and yet it needs dealt with/forgiveness. It could be the SIN OF COMMISSION (doing something we shouldn’t have) or the SIN OF OMISSION, not doing something we should have done. (In our prayer time)
God also covers the defiant, intentional sins: Numbers 15:30-31 “But anyone who sins defiantly, whether native-born or foreigner, blasphemes the Lord and must be cut off from the people of Israel. 31 Because they have despised the Lord’s word and broken his commands, they must surely be cut off; their guilt remains on them.” (James 4:17 If someone knows the good they ought to do…)
So, if someone sinned defiantly and intentionally (under the law) the action was to be swift and sure. They were to be cut-off exiled from God’s people, because that’s what the law said.
Praise God We are not under the law (because there might not be very many people here if we were) but were under grace and Jesus Himself has given us a new command and even though the outcome is the same, the grace is evident in His words: Matthew 18:15-17 “If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. 16 But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ 17 If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.
Where is the grace? What is God’s reason? Galatians 5:9 A little leaven leavens the whole lump.
The penalty for a defiant intentional sinner who broke the Sabbath: Numbers 15:32-36 While the Israelites were in the wilderness, a man was found gathering wood on the Sabbath day. 33 Those who found him gathering wood brought him to Moses and Aaron and the whole assembly, 34 and they kept him in custody, because it was not clear what should be done to him. 35 Then the Lord said to Moses, “The man must die. The whole assembly must stone him outside the camp.” 36 So the assembly took him outside the camp and stoned him to death, as the Lord commanded Moses.
This was an immediate example of dealing with someone who sinned intentionally and defiantly (blasphemed).
All of Israel knew the Sabbath law and how important is was to God: Exodus 31:14-15 “‘Observe the Sabbath, because it is holy to you. Anyone who desecrates it is to be put to death; Vs 15 For six days work is to be done, but the seventh day is a day of sabbath rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day is to be put to death.
Clearly God commanded the execution of this defiant, intentional blasphemer, so that all the people would see it and understand that God is to be revered and His words/commands are to be followed, because He is a Holy God. (Remember a little leaven, leavens the whole lump)
It’s a dangerous position for Christians to say, I’ll go ahead and sin, because afterward, I can just ask God to forgive me. Based on 1 John 3 “Professing Christians” who repeatedly and deliberately and defiantly justify their sin probably aren’t Christians at all.
1 John 3:6-10 No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him. 7 Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. 8 The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. 9 No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God. 10 This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who DOES NOT do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister.
Lord, please help me to never feel that I can sin because you will forgive me if I do.
Numbers 15:37-41 The Lord said to Moses, 38 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘Throughout the generations to come you are to make tassels on the corners of your garments, with a blue cord on each tassel. 39 You will have these tassels to look at and so you will remember all the commands of the Lord, that you may obey them and not prostitute yourselves by chasing after the lusts of your own hearts and eyes. 40 Then you will remember to obey all my commands and will be consecrated to your God. 41 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt to be your God. I am the Lord your God.”
God tells Moses to tell the people to sew blue tassels with blue cord on the corners of your clothing.
Perhaps a blue thread was commanded because the ark of the covenant was covered with a blue cloth, (numbers 4) blue curtains adorned the tabernacle, and blue was in the high priest’s garments. The color blue was full of holy reminders.
These were intended to remind Israel to Whom they belonged; they were God’s people. So, the reason was clear: Vs39 You will have these tassels to look at and so you will remember all the commands of the Lord, that you may obey them and not prostitute yourselves by chasing after the lusts of your own hearts and eyes.
They’re reminders to the people not to follow after your own heart but to keep the commandments of the Lord. To keep them from falling prey to: THE LUST OF THE FLESH, THE LUST OF THE EYES AND THE PRIDE OF LIFE.
People still do this….Tatoo—Bracelets
1 Cor. 15:10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect.
Vs41 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt to be your God. I am the Lord your God.”
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