Leviticus

Leviticus 5: Confessing sin and the trespass offering

Begin in prayer

Before you open Leviticus 5, where God calls sinners to confess their sin and gives an offering even for the poorest person, pause and pray together. Ask the Lord to make us honest before Him and to show us Christ our trespass offering.

He who conceals his sins doesn’t prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.

Proverbs 28:13

Father in heaven, please open our eyes as we read Your Word. Show us that we are guilty when we sin in word or deed or against Your holy things, and help us confess our sin and trust Jesus. Make us more like Jesus. And please bless our family as we worship You together. In Jesus' name, Amen.

See where we're going

Leviticus 5 names sins that make a person guilty, including keeping silent under oath as a witness, touching uncleanness, or speaking a rash oath. When someone is guilty of one of these things, he must confess his sin and bring a female lamb or goat. If he cannot afford a lamb, he may bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons for a sin offering and a burnt offering. If he cannot afford two birds, he may bring a tenth of an ephah of fine flour without oil or frankincense. Finally, anyone who sins unwittingly in the LORD's holy things must make restitution with a fifth added and bring a ram.

As you read Leviticus 5, look for the answers:

Reflect together

Key truth

God requires sinners to confess their guilt, and He provides atonement and forgiveness even for the poorest.

Chapter 5 moves into sins of speech and touch, like keeping silent as a witness, touching uncleanness, or swearing rashly (verses 1 to 4). Before the sacrifice is offered, verse 5 commands, “he shall confess that in which he has sinned.” Not a vague excuse, the sinner had to name the exact wrong he had done. Then God showed mercy to the poor, letting a man bring two birds or a tenth of an ephah of flour (verse 11). A man who wronged the LORD's holy things had to pay it back with a fifth added and bring a ram (verse 16). Yet whether a sinner brought a ram, a lamb, two birds or flour, the priest made atonement, “and he will be forgiven” (verse 13). Isaiah 53 verse 10 foretold that the Lord would make Christ's soul an offering for sin to cleanse all who trust Him.

How does Leviticus 5 show us that God requires sinners to confess their guilt, and provides atonement and forgiveness even for the poorest?

When someone is guilty in word or deed, he must confess his sin.

Verses 1 to 4 name keeping silent as a witness under oath, touching what is unclean, and swearing rashly with the lips. Verse 5 says, “he shall confess that in which he has sinned,” and then bring a female lamb or goat (verse 6). Hiding sin never takes guilt away. When we confess our sins and trust Jesus, God is faithful and righteous to forgive us (1 John 1 verse 9).

God lets the poorest sinner bring two birds or fine flour and be forgiven.

No one was shut out from pardon because he was poor. If a man could not afford a lamb, he brought two turtledoves or two young pigeons (verse 7). If he could not afford birds, he brought fine flour without oil or frankincense, and verse 13 promises, “he will be forgiven.” Even the poorest person in Israel received the same atonement and forgiveness from the LORD.

Wronging the LORD's holy things requires restitution with a fifth added and a ram.

Anyone who sinned unwittingly in the LORD's holy things had to pay it back and add a fifth part (verse 16). He also brought “a ram without defect from the flock” for a trespass offering (verse 15). Even if a man “didn’t know it, yet he is guilty,” for “He is certainly guilty before Yahweh” (verses 17 and 19). Paying back what was taken was never enough without the blood of the sacrifice.

Memorise

the priest shall make atonement for him concerning his sin which he has sinned, and he shall be forgiven.

Leviticus 5:10

Looking to Jesus in my life

Ask yourself in your heart, what sin have I been hiding instead of confessing it to God and trusting Jesus?

In Leviticus 5, a person may keep silent when he should speak, swear rashly, or wrong the holy things. Verse 19 says plainly, “He is certainly guilty before Yahweh.” God commanded him to confess his sin and bring an offering, from a ram or a lamb down to two birds or fine flour. Then the priest made atonement “and he will be forgiven.”

We have all sinned in our words, our silence and our deeds, and we are too poor to pay our debt to God. Even if we gave everything we own and added a fifth on top, it could never wash away one stain. That is why God gave His Son. As Isaiah 53 verse 10 promised, the Lord made Jesus' soul an offering for sin. On the cross Christ carried the sin of His people and paid their debt in full. Then He rose from the dead.

No sinner is too poor to come to Jesus. Do not hide your sin or make excuses. Confess your sin to God, turn from it, and put your trust in Jesus. Everyone who comes to Him empty-handed receives full and free forgiveness.

Parent's note

Tell your children that we must never hide our sins, and that even confession cannot save us without the blood of Jesus. Please do not tell them they are saved just because they grew up in a Christian home. Call each child to turn from sin and trust Jesus, and pray that God would give them a new heart.

Pray together

Now please close your time together in prayer. Thank God that He hears sinners who confess their guilt and forgives all who trust in Jesus, and bring the heart question to Him. Every child can pray, so let each one say a short prayer if they want to.

For Christ hasn’t entered into holy places made with hands, which are representations of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us;

Hebrews 9:24

Heavenly Father, we confess that we have sinned against You in what we have said, done and left undone. Thank You that Jesus gave Himself on the cross as the true offering for sin and now appears in heaven for His people. Please forgive our sins and help each of us trust Jesus and speak the truth this week. Amen.