Ryan had been a Christian for eleven years. He wasn’t perfect, but he took the Bible seriously. He knew what it said about lying. He could quote Colossians 3:9 without looking it up: “Do not lie to one another, since you put off the old man with its evil practices.”
That Sunday morning, he was running late for church. His wife and kids had gone ahead in the other car. He was speeding, trying to make it before the service started. At the intersection two blocks from the church, the light turned red. He gunned it.
The other car coming from the left had the green light. The impact wasn’t terrible. It was just a hard jolt and the sound of crunching metal. Both cars were drivable. No one was bleeding. Ryan’s heart was hammering as he pulled over.
When the police officer arrived, he asked the standard question while looking at both drivers. “Can you tell me what happened here?”
The other driver, an older man, pointed at Ryan and said, “He ran the red light.”
Ryan felt the lie rise up fast and easy. He looked the officer in the eye and said, “No, sir. The light was green when I went through. He must’ve been looking at his phone or something.”
The officer turned to the other driver, who looked confused and angry. Ryan didn’t flinch. He repeated the lie when the officer asked him again.
The officer eventually sided with Ryan. The other driver was given a warning. Ryan walked away with only minor damage to his car and no ticket.
When his wife asked what had happened to the car, he told her he’d hit a curb in the parking lot. That was another lie.
That night, after the kids were in bed, Ryan sat alone in the living room with his Bible open on his lap. He read the verse in Colossians again. Then he read it a third time. He kept hearing the lie in his own voice. He told himself it was a small thing. No one was really hurt. The other driver probably would’ve done the same. It was just one moment of pressure.
Two weeks later, he saw the other driver at a gas station. The man stared at him for a long moment, but didn’t say anything. Ryan looked away. He had known exactly what the New Testament says about lying. He had simply decided, in that moment, that he wasn’t going to obey.
There are many commands in the Bible. Sometimes it is hard to obey every command because there are so many to remember. There are also occasions when we are not quite sure what the Bible allows or prohibits. Having said that, sometimes we don’t obey because we don’t want to.
Numbers 15 reveals that God made distinctions between unintentional sin and deliberate sin, and treated intentional disobedience differently than unintentional disobedience. We should remember that the next time we are tempted to willfully disobey.
The first half of Numbers 15 contains additional instructions regarding the proper method of bringing sacrifices to Yahweh.
Num. 15:17 ¶ Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
Num. 15:18 “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When you enter the land where I am going to bring you,
Num. 15:19 then it shall be, that when you eat of the food of the land, you shall raise up a contribution offering to Yahweh.
Num. 15:20 Of the first of your dough you shall raise up a cake as a contribution offering; as the contribution offering of the threshing floor, so you shall raise it up.
Num. 15:21 From the first of your dough you shall give to Yahweh a contribution offering throughout your generations.
We often think of the sacrifices as just being animal sacrifices. However, they also brought grain and wine offerings. This passage instructed them to offer dough offerings to Yahweh.
Num. 15:22 ¶ ‘But when you unintentionally fail and do not observe all these commandments, which Yahweh has spoken to Moses,
Take note of the word “unintentionally”. Yahweh acknowledged that sometimes people disobey accidentally.
Num. 15:23 even all that Yahweh has commanded you by the hand of Moses, from the day when Yahweh commanded and onward throughout your generations,
Num. 15:24 then it will be, if it is done unintentionally, hidden from the sight of the congregation, that all the congregation shall offer one bull from the herd for a burnt offering as a soothing aroma to Yahweh, with its grain offering and its drink offering, according to the legal judgment, and one male goat for a sin offering.
Even though the sin was unintentional, it was still necessary to atone for the sin.
Num. 15:25 Then the priest shall make atonement for all the congregation of the sons of Israel, and they will be pardoned; for it was an error, and they have brought their offering, an offering by fire to Yahweh, and their sin offering before Yahweh, for their error.
Num. 15:26 So all the congregation of the sons of Israel will be pardoned, with the sojourner who sojourns among them, for it happened to all the people through error.
Num. 15:27 ¶ ‘Also if one person sins unintentionally, then he shall bring near a one year old female goat for a sin offering.
Once again we see the word “unintentionally”.
Num. 15:28 And the priest shall make atonement before Yahweh for the person who goes astray when he sins unintentionally, making atonement for him that he may be pardoned.
Num. 15:29 You shall have one law for him who does anything unintentionally, for him who is native among the sons of Israel and for the sojourner who sojourns among them.
Num. 15:30 But the person who does anything with a high hand, whether he is native or a sojourner, that one is blaspheming Yahweh; and that person shall be cut off from among his people.
Take note of the term “high hand” and the word “blaspheming”. When a person deliberately disobeyed Yahweh and shoved his hand in God’s face, he was blaspheming.
Notice also the command to cut off that person. There was not a sacrifice the person could offer. Instead, he was cut off.
Num. 15:31 Because he has despised the word of Yahweh and has broken His commandment, that person shall be completely cut off; his guilt will be on him.’”
Look at the word “despised”. Intentional disobedience is a sign that a person despises the word of God.
Num. 15:32 ¶ Now the sons of Israel were in the wilderness, and they found a man gathering wood on the sabbath day.
Yahweh had been clear that working on the Sabbath was strictly forbidden. If a man gathered wood on the Sabbath, he was intentionally disobeying Yahweh.
Num. 15:33 And those who found him gathering wood brought him near to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation;
Num. 15:34 and they put him in custody because it had not been declared what should be done to him.
Num. 15:35 Then Yahweh said to Moses, “The man shall surely be put to death; all the congregation shall stone him with stones outside the camp.”
Num. 15:36 So all the congregation brought him outside the camp and stoned him to death with stones, just as Yahweh had commanded Moses.
This punishment feels harsh by modern standards. After all, the man did not kill, steal, maim, or rape. He simply worked on the Sabbath. However, this was actually worse than killing. Killing is an act against a fellow human. Working on the Sabbath was an act against Yahweh.
Num. 15:37 ¶ Yahweh also spoke to Moses, saying,
Num. 15:38 “Speak to the sons of Israel, and tell them that they shall make for themselves tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and that they shall put on the tassel of each corner a cord of blue.
Num. 15:39 And it shall be a tassel for you to look at and remember all the commandments of Yahweh, so as to do them and not follow after your own heart and your own eyes, after which you played the harlot,
Num. 15:40 so that you may remember to do all My commandments and be holy to your God.
Ponder the purpose of the tassels. The tassels were a physical part of their garments which would remind them to obey Yahweh. Obedience is very important. In fact, Jesus told us obeying God is how we love God (see John 14:21). Loving God is the greatest commandment.
Num. 15:41 I am Yahweh your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt to be your God; I am Yahweh your God.”
Humans are imperfect people and we cannot perfectly obey God’s law. However, when Yahweh led Israel through the wilderness, He taught them that there is a distinction between accidentally disobeying Yahweh and intentionally acting contrary to His will. We should remember that distinction anytime we are tempted to deliberately disobey God.
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“Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org and 316publishing.com.”