Thurs.’s Devo - The Guilt Offering

Read: Leviticus 4:1-5:19; Mark 2:13-3:6; Psalm 36:1-12; Proverbs 10:1-2 Today we read about the instructions on how to deal with those who sinned unintentionally by doing something that violated one of God’s laws. If it was the high priest then his sin brought guilt upon the whole community. In our day that would be like a pastor committing a sin and it bringing guilt upon the whole church. For the sin of the high priest, the blood of his sacrifice was taken inside the Tabernacle and sprinkled in front of the inner curtain and on the horns of the altar of the incense table. The rest of the blood was to be poured out at the base of the altar for the burnt offerings at the entrance of the Tabernacle. The remaining parts of the animal that was not burnt on the altar must be carried outside the camp and burnt there. The same was done if the entire nation sinned. If one of Israel’s leaders sinned unintentionally, he was still guilty. If a common person sinned unintentionally he was still guilty. When any of these realized their sin, they were to bring their sacrifice to the priest and its blood was sprinkled on the horns of the burnt altar outside the Tabernacle curtain as well as poured at the base of the altar. This process purified the people making them right with the Lord and they would be forgiven. Jesus died for the whole world. His blood was shed inside the Temple where he was beaten. And, his blood was poured out at the base of the cross as he bled there. The rest of his body was taken outside the camp and laid in a tomb. If you are called to testify about something you have seen or know about and you refuse, then that is a sin. We make a public confession of faith when we come to Jesus which becomes our testimony. Jesus said not to put our light under a bushel but to let it shine to the world. To refuse to testify about the good news is also a sin. God made an offering for guilt also. If you didn’t know you had sinned but felt guilty and didn’t know why, you could offer a guilt offering. If you didn’t feel guilty but wanted to cover your bases anyway, you could offer this offering. We ask the Lord to forgive our sins when we don’t know what they are just because we have a sin nature and our thoughts need to be purified. This is God’s way of making the way easy for us to come to him. We will be responsible for our sins even if we don’t know they are sins if we don’t cover them with the blood. In Mark, Jesus called Levi or Matthew the tax collector to be his disciple. Jesus chose people to be his disciples that the rabbis would have never chosen. He chose the simple, the poor and the sinner and he still does today. The religious leaders questioned Jesus choice of friends and Jesus told them that it was the sick that needed a physician. They questioned why his disciples didn’t fast like John’s disciples did and Jesus told them that he was pouring new wine into new wineskins. He was doing something new and only the ones who were ready for new would be able to receive it. He was questioned about letting his disciples break off heads of grain to eat on the Sabbath. The Pharisees called breaking off a few heads of grain - harvesting. Jesus told him that the Sabbath was made to meet the needs of the people instead of the people needing to meet their requirements. The straw that broke their backs was when Jesus went into the Temple and healed the deformed man’s hand demonstrating what was suppose to happen on the Sabbath. The Sabbath is a picture of Jesus’ rule during the millennium when all tears will be erased, and all people will be healed and restored. Jesus was saddened to see their hard hearts. The religious leaders left to plot his death. Lord, may we be ready at any time to give a testimony to what you have done for us. Thank you for your blood that makes us righteous and takes away the guilt of sin.