Leviticus 6:1-13
1 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 2 “If a person sins and commits a trespass against the LORD by lying to his neighbor about what was delivered to him for safekeeping, or about a pledge, or about a robbery, or if he has extorted from his neighbor, 3 or if he has found what was lost and lies concerning it, and swears falsely—in any one of these things that a man may do in which he sins: 4 then it shall be, because he has sinned and is guilty, that he shall restore what he has stolen, or the thing which he has extorted, or what was delivered to him for safekeeping, or the lost thing which he found, 5 or all that about which he has sworn falsely. He shall restore its full value, add one-fifth more to it, and give it to whomever it belongs, on the day of his trespass offering. 6 And he shall bring his trespass offering to the LORD, a ram without blemish from the flock, with your valuation, as a trespass offering, to the priest. 7 So the priest shall make atonement for him before the LORD, and he shall be forgiven for any one of these things that he may have done in which he trespasses.”
The Law of the Burnt Offering
8 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 9 “Command Aaron and his sons, saying, ‘This is the law of the burnt offering: The burnt offering shall be on the hearth upon the altar all night until morning, and the fire of the altar shall be kept burning on it. 10 And the priest shall put on his linen garment, and his linen trousers he shall put on his body, and take up the ashes of the burnt offering which the fire has consumed on the altar, and he shall put them beside the altar. 11 Then he shall take off his garments, put on other garments, and carry the ashes outside the camp to a clean place. 12 And the fire on the altar shall be kept burning on it; it shall not be put out. And the priest shall burn wood on it every morning, and lay the burnt offering in order on it; and he shall burn on it the fat of the peace offerings. 13 A fire shall always be burning on the altar; it shall never go out.
More about sinning and restitution above and beyond returning just what was taken from another; when lying to steal or extort from someone, the guilty offender had to restore the full value to his victim, then add one-fifth more to it to give it on top of the returned property to whomever it belonged and not to the priest (Leviticus 5:16) as with unintended trespasses. The offender would do this on the day of his trespass offering to the LORD at the hand of the priest who mediated for him. He would only be forgiven and his sin atoned for by the mediator if restitution was made along with repentance to God as seen by tangible efforts. Do we hold ourselves and others accountable like this? Certainly, the Lord Jesus forgives and mediates for us, but He also tells us not to lie to or deceive others for our own gain (Colossians 3:9) and to restore (Luke 19:8-9) what we take from others before expecting absolution from the Lord. We must love others as ourselves by loving God enough first to take this seriously, making amends when we sin by lying and taking what is not ours, and not expecting mercy if we refuse to do so (Matthew 5:23-24, 6:14-15) to one another. This also means we are to forgive those who so trespass against us (Matthew 18:35) through deceit and theft as well. The second part of this passage speaks of the burnt offering being on the altar all night long with the fire constantly burning and ready to accept the peace offerings along with the burnt offerings. The burnt offering was made to honor, atone, and appease God by sacrificing animals and burning them completely, not to be eaten by the officiating priest as others were. It was to atone for personal sins and restore acceptance and peace with God as repentance moved the offender to offer all to be consumed to cover their sins. This fire of the altar was to burn perpetually and not allowed to go out that the ability to seek peace with God would always be available. This points us to the fact that Jesus Christ ever intercedes for us (Hebrews 7:25) as our divine High Priest in the heavens and whose love for us never is extinguished because His offering of Himself is ever sufficient to give us peace (Hebrews 5:1) with our Father in heaven when we sin and confess (Acts 10:36, Romans 4:16, Ephesians 2:14, 17, 1 John 1:9) our trespasses against Him and one another. These things show us how restitution leads to forgiveness and peace with God from a repentant heart.
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