Spend time in prayer and silence with God asking him to meet you and speak to you.
Bible Reading
And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the people of Israel: When a man or woman commits any of the sins that people commit by breaking faith with the LORD, and that person realizes his guilt, he shall confess his sin that he has committed. And he shall make full restitution for his wrong, adding a fifth to it and giving it to him to whom he did the wrong. But if the man has no next of kin to whom restitution may be made for the wrong, the restitution for wrong shall go to the LORD for the priest, in addition to the ram of atonement with which atonement is made for him. And every contribution, all the holy donations of the people of Israel, which they bring to the priest, shall be his. Each one shall keep his holy donations: whatever anyone gives to the priest shall be his.”
-Numbers 5:5-10
This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
– 1 John 1:5-10
Devotion
Numbers 5 describes how committing sins results in breaking faith with the Lord. The requirement for the sinning individual is to make restitution to the individual who was sinned against, or the next of kin, adding a fifth to the value for repayment. If the individual cannot make restitution to the individual then the restitution is to be presented to the priests for restitution to the LORD in addition to a ram to be sacrificed for atonement for the sins.
The parallels in the New Testament are striking. Since the payment of sins has already been made by the blood of Jesus Christ, the payment of the ram is not necessary. However, the ideas of confession and cleansing remain. Because we cannot repay the debt that has been paid through Christ’s blood, confession of our sins to God and repentance provide us a pathway for forgiveness and righteousness. The parallels of the atonement for sins by the sacrifice of a ram through the priests in the Old Testament foreshadow the atoning work of Jesus Christ; Sin is atoned for through repentance and confession to our High Priest, Jesus Christ.
The Big Question
Is there sin in your life that has resulted in breaking faith with your great High Priest, Jesus Christ that you need to confess and repent for today? Do you truly believe that Jesus’ sacrifice is sufficient to atone for all of your sins?
Conclude in prayer and silence reflecting on what you’ve learned.