Leviticus 6

CHAPTER 6

Further Regulations for the Guilt Offering (6:1–7)

1–7 These verses deal with sins committed against other people which demand restitution, in addition to the guilt offering itself. The sins described here can be summarized as defrauding and deceiving one’s neighbor. Verse 2 makes it clear that whenever we sin against our neighbor we are being unfaithful to the Lord—that is, we are also sinning against Him. All sin is against the Lord, because it always involves breaking one of His commands. We cannot say that we “love the Lord” and at the same time defraud our neighbor (1 John 2:9–10). Thus for the Israelites, the guilt offering provided a way to make things right with one’s neighbor as a necessary part of making things right with God.

Therefore, restitution was required whenever loss to the neighbor had occurred, plus an additional twenty percent¹⁷ (verse 5). Only then, after full payment to the neighbor had been made, was the person to bring his guilt offering to the altar. There is no use bringing a gift to God until we have first made things right with our neighbor (see Matthew 5:23–24).

Thus these two things must always go together and in the same order: first, restitution to our neighbor for his loss; second, “restitution” to God for our sin.

From our study of the guilt offering, we can understand that sin is like a debt that must be paid. If we have caused loss or damage to someone else, it is not enough to simply say, “I’m sorry” ; we must make up the loss or damage. The Israelites had to make up the loss and also pay the penalty—the guilt offering. We Christians do not have to pay the penalty (Christ has done that for us), but we do have to make up the loss. Although forgiveness for Christians is a “free” gift of God’s grace, we are not free from the obligation to make right the wrong we have done to our neighbor.

Further information about the guilt offering is given in Leviticus 5:14–19; 7:1–6.

The Burnt Offering (6:8–13)

8–13 In this section, further regulations are given to the priests in regard to the burnt offering (see Leviticus 1:1–17 and comment).

The Grain Offering (6:14–23)

14–23 In this section, further regulations are given to the priests in regard to the grain offering (see Leviticus 2:1–16 and comment).

The Sin Offering (6:24–30)

24–30 In this section, further regulations are given to the priests in regard to the sin offering (see Leviticus 4:1–35; 5:1–13 and comments).