Leviticus 5:14 through 6:7 contains the doctrine of the trespass offering, of which there were two distinct kinds, namely, trespass against God, and trespass against man.
“If a soul commit a trespass, and sin through ignorance, in the holy things of the Lord, then he shall bring for his trespass unto the Lord a ram without blemish out of the flocks…for a trespass offering” (Lev. 5:15).
Here we have a case in which a wrong was done in the holy things which pertained to the Lord, and even though this was done “through ignorance,” yet it could not be passed over. God can forgive all manner of trespass, but He cannot pass over a single jot or tittle. His holiness is perfect, and therefore He cannot pass over anything. But His grace is also perfect, and therefore He can forgive everything. He cannot sanction iniquity, but He can blot it out.
It would be impossible to enjoy true peace and liberty of heart if one did not know that all the claims connected with “the holy things of the Lord” had been perfectly met by our divine Trespass Offering. There would always be springing up in the heart the painful sense that those claims had been slighted through our manifold infirmities and shortcomings.
Our very best services, our holiest seasons, our most hallowed exercises, may present something of trespass “in the holy things of the Lord.” How often are our seasons of public worship and private devotion marred by barrenness and distraction! We need the assurance that our trespasses have all been divinely met by the precious blood of Christ.
We find in Him the perfect answer to all the cravings of a guilty conscience, and to all the claims of infinite holiness, in reference to all our sins and all our trespasses. The result is that the believer can stand, with an uncondemning conscience and emancipated heart, in the full light of that holiness which is too pure to behold iniquity or look upon sin.
“And he shall make amends for the harm that he hath done in the holy thing, and shall add the fifth part thereto, and give it unto the priest; and the priest shall make an atonement for him with the ram of the trespass offering, and it shall be forgiven him” (Lev. 5:16).
In the addition of “the fifth part,” we have a feature of the trespass offering which, it is to be feared, is but little appreciated. When we think of all the wrong and all the trespasses which we have done against the Lord, and further, when we remember how God has also been wronged of His rights in this wicked world, with what interest can we contemplate the work of the cross as that wherein God has not merely received back what was lost, but whereby He is an actual gainer.
God has gained more by redemption than ever He lost by the Fall. He reaps a richer harvest of glory, honor, and praise in the fields of redemption than ever He could have reaped from those of creation. The “sons of God” could raise a loftier song of praise around the empty tomb of Jesus than ever they raised in view of the Creator’s accomplished work. The wrong has not only been perfectly atoned for, but an eternal advantage has been gained by the work of the cross.
This is a stupendous truth. God is a gainer by the work of Calvary. Who could have conceived this? When we behold man, and the creation of which he was lord, laid in ruins at the feet of the enemy, how could we conceive that, from amid those ruins, God should gather richer and nobler spoils than any which our unfallen world could have yielded?
Blessed be the name of Jesus for all this! It is to Him we owe it all. It is by His precious cross that ever a truth so amazing, so divine, could be enunciated.
No marvel, therefore, that around that cross, and around Him who was crucified, the affections of patriarchs, prophets, apostles, martyrs, and saints have always entwined themselves. No marvel that the Holy Ghost should have given forth that solemn but just decree, “If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema” (1 Cor. 16:22). No marvel that it should be the fixed and immutable purpose of the divine mind, that “at the name of Jesus every knee should bow.”
The same law of “the fifth part” applied in the case of a trespass committed against a man (Lev. 6:2-5). Man, as well as God, is a positive gainer by the cross. Where sin abounded, grace has super-abounded. The believer can say, as he gazes on that cross, Well, it matters not how I have been wronged–how I have been trespassed against–how I have been deceived–what ills have been done to me. I am a gainer by the cross. I have not merely received back all that was lost, but much more beside.
The claims which arise out of our human relations must not be disregarded. They must get their proper place in the heart as well. This is distinctly taught in the trespass offering. When an Israelite had, by an act of trespass, dislocated his relationship with his neighbor, the order was: restitution and sacrifice.
If I wrong my fellowman, that wrong will undoubtedly interfere with my communion with God. So restitution must first be made. Matthew 5:23-24 states, “If thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath aught against thee; leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.”
How blessed it is to know that the precious blood of Christ has settled all questions, whether with respect to God or man–our sins of ignorance or our known sins. Here lies the deep and settled foundation of the believer’s peace. The cross has divinely met it all.
We have hardly penetrated below the surface of an exhaustless mine. May the name of the Lord Jesus become increasingly more precious to our hearts! Then shall we value everything that speaks of Him–everything that sets Him forth–everything affording fresh insight into His peculiar excellency and matchless beauty.
It will be our eternal song that He has done all things well.