Ps. 148 Let All Creation Praise Him

We do not know the background or authorship of the psalm.  It is a song of pure, exalted praise.  The only instruction is that all His creation, a number of parts of which are detailed, are told to praise God.  

This psalm is all about giving praise to God. Starting from the top down, let everything in Heaven praise Him (vss. 1-6), then in a long list of things on earth, concluding with young and old, men and women alike are to praise God. (vss. 7-12). 

All of the things detailed in the Psalm, from highest to lowest are made by Him. The heavens, the angels, the clouds, the snow, the wind, the mountains and hills, the treats, the beasts, all cattle and all kings and all people, old young, great and small are made by God.  It is only right that they all praise their creator. 

13     Let them praise the name of the LORD, 

    For His name alone is exalted; His glory is above earth and heaven.

14     And He has lifted up a horn for His people, 

    Praise for all His godly ones; 

    Even for the sons of Israel, a people near to Him. 

    Praise the LORD!

The angels and inanimate objects of creation praise Him. Sadly, we often fail to as we should.

Ps. 136: “The Lovingkindness Is Everlasting”

1     Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; 

    For His lovingkindness is everlasting.

2     Give thanks to the God of gods, 

    For His lovingkindness is everlasting.

3     Give thanks to the Lord of lords, 

    For His lovingkindness is everlasting.

Following a call to praise (vss. 1-3), Ps. 136 gives us 22 reasons to offer thanksgiving to God. This is one of the great history lesson psalms, but the notable the refrying “For His lovingkindness is everlasting.”

This is also variously translated as:

His love is eternal (HCSB)

His lovingkindness is everlasting. (NASB)

His steadfast love endures forever. (ESV)

His faithful love endures forever (NLT)

His mercy endureth for ever (KJV)

Repeated often, it is not a throw away line. It is the very heart of the psalm. We often tend to gloss over something repeated so much since we’ve already read it and its coming is predictable being every other line. 

Charles Spurgeon said, “We shall have this repeated in every verse of this song, but not once too often.  It is the sweetest stanza that man can sing. What joy that there is mercy, mercy with Jehovah, enduring mercy, mercy enduring for ever. We are ever needing it, trying it, praying for it, receiving it: therefore let us for ever sing of it.”  (Treasury of David, Ps. 136, vs. 1)

Psalm 94 Accepting God’s Discipline

12     Blessed is the man whom Thou dost chasten, 

    O LORD, And dost teach out of Thy law;

13     That Thou mayest grant him relief from the days of adversity, 

    Until a pit is dug for the wicked.

14     For the LORD will not abandon His people, 

    Nor will He forsake His inheritance.

15     For judgment will again be righteous; 

    And all the upright in heart will follow it.

This psalmist takes the same view of Godly discipline as the Hebrew writer. The chastened one is not hated, but he is loved and corrected so that he better follows God’s law.  This is the one who is cared for and protected. 

Heb. 12:5“and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons, “MY SON, DO NOT REGARD LIGHTLY THE DISCIPLINE OF THE LORD, NOR FAINT WHEN YOU ARE REPROVED BY HIM;

6FOR THOSE WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES, AND HE SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES.”

7It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline?”

It is the unchastened who are unloved (in the peculiar sense of loved as children, since are are under the love of God generally for all mankind, Jn. 3:16), and who uncorrected go to destruction.

Psalm 5 Refuge Found In Worship And Prayer

In the fifth Psalm we find David again beset by many enemies. We often have the false notion that if we strive to be good and do what is right that most people will like us, or that at a minimum we will mostly be left alone.  But David’s experience does not bear this out. Certainly he was opposed because he was the king and all who have power will have opposition. But his troubles were more than simply political opposition. 

As the “anointed of God,” (2 Sam. 23:1) he was a constant public example and the living embodiment of service to God.  He was fiercely opposed for being a light in a dark world. Many have lost their faith because of this type of continual antagonism. Others have fallen into the temptation to sink to the ungodly tactics of their opponents once hostilities have begun.  But David shows the true way - reliance on God through prayer. 

David knew that these blessings were not for him alone. All who have the same faith can take refuge, be glad, sing for joy, find shelter and exalt in the Lord. Where did David find Him? In prayer and in worship. Love and fidelity to the great Creator are the right response when we consider His love toward us. But we are influenced daily by the evil world that surrounds us so that we don’t realize that the Invisible God is also present. The difference between David and his enemies – between the faithful and the unfaithful – came down to one walking by faith and the other walking by sight according the course of this world.  

How do you walk? Or maybe we should rather ask, how do you worship?And how do you pray?

Psalm 3 I Cried, He Answered

Christian have the monumental admonition to “pray without ceasing.”  Over a thousand years before this, under the lesser light of revelation of the Old Testament, there was a man who lived the same teaching, King David.

3:1    O LORD, how my adversaries have increased! 

    Many are rising up against me.

2     Many are saying of my soul, 

    "There is no deliverance for him in God." Selah.

3     But Thou, O LORD, art a shield about me, 

    My glory, and the One who lifts my head.

4    I was crying to the LORD with my voice, 

    And He answered me from His holy mountain. Selah.

David was surrounded by an ever increasing number of enemies. They mock, they ridicule, and the specifically attack him for his faith in God. God is still the shield, glory, and power of David. These attacks did not drive David from God, but closer to Him.

David was not disappointed in his hope in God, but He was answered and could go in peace because of it. Selah — stop and think about God answering prayer. 

God is approachable in prayer. He answers prayer, He delivers the oppressed. Thus, as Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives, do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.”  (Jn. 14:27)

Ps. 1 How To Begin A Godly Life

As the psalms begins we are told that there are two types of men: 1.) those who delight in the law of the Lord and 2.) the ungodly.  

Notice that the godly man is describe in 3 way.  FIRST - What he does not do: He doesn’t walk, stand or sit with the ungodly, the sinners or the scornful. These corrupt good morals rather than promote them.  

SECOND - In order to build good qualities the godly man is described as delighting in and meditating on God’s law. He does this day and night.

THIRD - This man is secure and fruitful. The tree planted be the water never lacks for sustenance and has shelter. In much of Palestine (like the western parts of this country) the land is arid and rough. But down by the streams and water courses there are massive stands of trees. This is where the biggest and most fruitful trees are because of the abundance of water, and since water runs to low places, the trees down in the river bottoms are sheltered from the wind. So in the deserts of life, the godly man is a massive, well watered and sheltered tree. Truly he will “prosper in whatever he does.”

But what of the ungodly man, the sinner? He has no stability or fruitfulness at all. He is chaff - the dry, useless husk driven by the parching winds. He cannot last, the cannot stand. He cannot have his works judged, for then nothing would be left.  

So one will stand mightily, another fall completely.

Ps. 133 Pause To Reflect On Unity

1Behold, how good and how pleasant it is For brothers to dwell together in unity!

2 I t is like the precious oil upon the head, Coming down upon the beard, Even Aaron’s beard, Coming down upon the edge of his robes.

3It is like the dew of Hermon, Coming down upon the mountains of Zion; For there the LORD commanded the blessing--life forever.

If you are keeping up with the daily chronological Bible reading, you noticed that this week we had a very, very short reading. Instead of reading 8 short psalms, or up to 5 or 6 historical chapter, we just read one Psalm. A very short one. Just three verses. Why?

I think that the authors of our plan want to give us a short break. (Every regular routine, even one as wholly beneficial as scripture readings, can benefit from a bit of a period of rest or lighter activity). This section of the reading plan has covered the rather tedious section of nine chapter of genealogies that begin 1 Chron. The authors have obviously tried to break this up with lots of reading from Psalms.

But I think a second reason for this short reading is the make us think of this psalm’s message. If we’re doing our reading, our mind is set to read for a block of time 10, 15, 20 minutes. Now instead, we’ve only read for 2 and we’re done. We have more time to think on this text then than most others. And what do who have time to think about? The glorious blessing of unity. It’s like the most blessed day and most blessed things in Israel.

Ps. 6 A Troubled Soul Prays To God In Anguish And Hope

Ps. 6:1:1“O LORD, do not rebuke me in Thine anger, Nor chasten me in Thy wrath.

2Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am pining away; Heal me, O LORD, for my bones are dismayed.

3And my soul is greatly dismayed; But Thou, O LORD--how long?

Yet again David is greatly troubled. He pleads with the Lord as one who recognizes his unworthiness to come before God. David recognized his failings in this way and called out with complete dependence on God’s grace. David’s own strength was failing and he was greatly troubled, so he recognized his need and waited on the Lord. However long that was. 

8Depart from me, all you who do iniquity, For the LORD has heard the voice of my weeping.

9The LORD has heard my supplication, The LORD receives my prayer.

10All my enemies shall be ashamed and greatly dismayed; They shall turn back, they shall suddenly be ashamed.”

Sinners be warned: leave this righteous man alone. Will they? Probably not until they are totally consumed by the Lord, but David is still renewed. Confidence has returned because he has assurance πthe Lord has “heard and received” his prayers. All who strive to live faithfully have this same promise (2 Pet. 3:10-12).

Imprecatory Prayer

“Imprecation” means “invoking of evil, a curse.”  In descriptions of psalms or prayers, it means asking God to rightly punish those who are deserving of it.  Use of this type of prayer may not be a pleasant thought, but the grave sins of evil men make many things as we wish they were not. Imprecatory prayer is one of the helps God extends to us in times of such need.

When?  The situation in which to offer a righteous imprecatory prayer is 1) when it is a cause that God will support, 2) you are suffering a terrible harm and 3) other means of relief are not available.  These are not simply prayers of vengeance, but prayers of dependence on God as the only hope of help.

Who? All who would plead for God to relieve them from the evil of his enemies must truly make sure that their enemy cannot rightly ask for the same relief because of the pleader’s action. The righteous imprecatory prayer is a tool for the innocent only.

We read two psalms that were imprecatory prayers in our Bible reading this week (Ps. 35 & 52). There are nine others as well. (Ps. 12, 31, 55, 59, 64, 79, 83, 94, 140).

We hope that we never need to pray for the Lord to punish evildoers who are harming us, but sometimes that is the only way to find relief.  Righteous imprecatory prayer is the last hope of the patient, innocent, faithful saint.

Wicked Priests

Eli, the High Priest and judge of Israel, seemed to have been a man who was personally pious, was a tender guardian of young Samuel when he came to the tabernacle at a very young age, and who led Israel for many years. Yet Eli, along with his family, came to a tragic end.

1 Sam. 2:12“Now the sons of Eli were worthless men; they did not know the LORD.”

In an age of Israel that was known for moral corruption, some of the most degenerate men came from highest house in the land. Hophni and Phineas were in open rebellion to both their father, the High Priest, and the God of heaven. They debauched the worshipers in God’s house. They robbed those who brought sacrifices over their protests that the priests observe the Law. They would not wait until the meat was cooked, they had to have it raw – probably so they could go and sell it. They didn’t care about God’s rules, only what they could get. They took advantage of the women servants who helped run the tabernacle. They were acting in Shiloh in the Lord’s house as if they were in a pagan temple.  

Thought they were openly and fully wicked, Eli rebuked them only gently (2:22-25). For this lack of action, lack of leadership, God rebuked Eli very harshly (2:29-34) and prophesied the bad end of the wicked sons. 

1 Sam. 4:11“And the ark of God was taken; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, died.”

The Time Of The Judges

The period of the Judges covers just shy of 300 years, from the death of Joshua and the end of the generation that was born in the wilderness and conquered the land until the appointment of King Saul. Adding up the years of peace and years of oppressions seems to add up to more than that, so the years of peace and oppression given in the book must overlap some, as they were taking place at the same time in different places.  

Part of the reason for this is that Israel was hardly one nation, but rather more like 12 separate tribes. Some of these tribes aren’t mentioned at all.  in Judges Others are hardly mentioned after the roll call like listings of the first chapters. What affected one group did not always affect the others.  The tribes took on different characters.  

The accounts of judges, therefore, do not have to be in a strict chronological order. Some of these things could have been taking place in different places at the same time.  To appreciate what can happen in the length of time that is covered by the book of Judges, consider a 290-year span of our history.  290 year ago, 1723, this country was only very lightly populated with a few cities on the east coast. There were 7 colonies with a population of approximately 80 thousand people in what would become the United States. St. Petersburg, Russia had just been founded by Peter the Great, and construction was just about to start at the Alamo. The industrial revolution was still 50 years off.  

In Judges, we have a highly compressed account of 300 years. At the end of the book, there are two incidents recorded in great detail to illustrate how sorry a state of affairs came to exist in the Promised Land. A lot can happen in 300 years, and in Israel it obviously wasn’t all good.

Achan’s Gain

After Israel’s victory at Jericho, they failed completely and lost 36 men in trying to take the village of Ai. The text tells the reason for their loss:

Josh 7:1“But the sons of Israel acted unfaithfully in regard to the things under the ban, for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, from the tribe of Judah, took some of the things under the ban, therefore the anger of the LORD burned against the sons of Israel.”

We think (depending on conversion of shekels to ounces) Achan took about a pound of gold and 4 lbs. of silver [50 shekels of gold and 400 of silver], along with a what he viewed as an extremely beautiful cloak from Bablylon. (7:20,21) This wasn’t a huge heist, but it was certainly enough to be tempting, and his covetous mind thought it worth taking. The instruction of God was that the gold and silver should have been dedicated to God’s house (6:17-19), and the clothing destroyed as all the city was under a ban from personal looting. When God gives you the victory by having the walls fall down before you, its not your place to rush in a pick up gain for yourself. 

Achan never got to use his haul. He was exposed by God before he got to wear the cloak or spend the money. His sin didn’t even give the partial, temporary reward that sin sometimes gives — knowing that sins rewards are never more than partial or temporary. All he was able to do with his loot was sneak it home and hide it, let the consequences of it weigh on his conscience (I wonder how heavy that pound of gold felt then?) and then have it kill him. Such is the heavy, deceitful weight of sin.

Proverbs On Wealth And Possessions

Destitution For The Lazy: If you won’t work, save, and use wisely you surely won’t have much.  

6:9-11“How long will you lie down, O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep?

10A little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to rest–

11And your poverty will come in like a vagabond, And your need like an armed man.”

13:4“The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, But the soul of the diligent is made fat.”

20:4“The sluggard does not plow after the autumn, So he begs during the harvest and has nothing.”

21:17“He who loves pleasure will become a poor man; He who loves wine and oil will not become rich.”

Material Blessings That Many Righteous Receive: The righteous are not guaranteed wealth, but those who exercises wisdom and good stewardship will most always have more than those who don’t.  

10:4“Poor is he who works with a negligent hand, But the hand of the diligent makes rich.”

14:23“In all labor there is profit, But mere talk leads only to poverty.”

22:4“The reward of humility and the fear of the LORD Are riches, honor and life.

24:3,4“By wisdom a house is built, And by understanding it is established;

4And by knowledge the rooms are filled With all precious and pleasant riches.”

28:19“He who tills his land will have plenty of food, But he who follows empty pursuits will have poverty in plenty.”

Weeping With Those Who Weep

Weeping With Those Who Weep

Last week a young homosexual Muslim man pledged his alliance to the Islamic state and begin to murder as many people as he could in a gay night club that he frequented. In the hours before the police stopped him (one officer taking a bullet to to the front of his kevlar helmet), he callously killed 49 people, and wounded more than 50, 

The Christian response should be obvious: sorrow over the loss of life and compassion for the loved ones of the victim. As Paul clearly instructed, “Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.” (Rom. 12:15).

Yet some believers are hindered from doing this because the sins of the victims are clearly known. Are we hindered from grief because alcohol, drugs or some other wrong preceded an untimely death? But what did God say? “I have no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies,” declares the Lord GOD. “Therefore, repent and live.”” (Ezek. 18:12, also Ezek. 18:23; 33:11) God is not pleased with their deaths, nor the death of any sinner. Would He have been pleased with our death before the time of our repentance? The average age of those who died was 29, the youngest just 18. How many who are saints today were fully ready for judgment at those young ages? 

Others are hindered in sharing their grief by charges of hypocrisy leveled by those using this tragedy and the sympathy rightly flowing from it for political gain. Christians cannot and do not celebrate the lifestyle of those who were terribly murdered. We do not take pride it in or anything associated with it (Eph. 5:11). But not celebrating and encouraging a sinful life is not a hinderance mourning a tragic passing, or in this cases, scores of them. Our understanding of the spiritual component of this should make the tragedy sting all the more, not be a reason for caring less. 

Whenever there is a tragic lose of life we are reminded of Jesus’ reaction to multi-death tragedies and atrocities in His day:

“Now on the same occasion there were some present who reported to Him about the Galileans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And He answered and said to them, “Do you suppose that these Galileans were greater sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered this fate? “I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. “Or do you suppose that those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, were worse culprits than all the men who live in Jerusalem?  “I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” (Luke 13:1-5)

When tragedies cause souls to perish, Jesus warned that considering how the victims might or might not morally compare to others is pointless. What mattered was each person realizing their own sin and the need of humility and repentance before God.

It is also a reminder to us of the need to pray.

“First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, in order that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. (1 Tim. 2:1-4)

We need to pray those around the world withfor quiet and tranquil lives. We could all use more quietness and tranquility as we, like God, desire the salvation of all..

Be Strong And Courageous

The Book of Deuteronomy was Moses’ last great public act in Israel. When it concluded, he would passed the leadership of the people to Joshua and they will go from his tutelage in the wildness to possess the promised land. At this time of great transition, one of the repeated encouragements for both Joshua and the people is to “be strong and courageous.” 

Deut 11:8“You shall therefore keep every commandment which I am commanding you today, so that you may be strong and go in and possess the land into which you are about to cross to possess it”

“Be strong and courageous” will occur again in Deuteronomy in 31:6 & 7 and 31:23.  Then again inJoshua 1:6,7,9 & 18, and 10:25. 

As the people go from facing every challenge together as a whole group with a leader who had face to face communication with God, to 12 tribes each comfortably distant from each other to allow for a great national growth and the leadership of a faithful man, but not one who is the great deliverer and law giver, they will need to be assured and act confidently. They will need more courage than wandering in the wilderness ever demanded.  Since they would need a confident faith, Moses and God Himself supplied them with as much encouragement as possible.

Live Long And Prosper

In our reading this week, I ran across a passage that seemed to have a familiar ring to it. It was at the end of Deuteronomy 5, the warnings and blessings the that people were reminded of after the ten commandments.  

Duet. 5:33 “Follow the whole instruction the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live, prosper, and have a long life in the land you will possess.” (HCSB)

“Live, prosper and have a good life” sure sounds like the signature line of my of my favorite sci-fi character: Spock. This connection may be slightly hidden from most English Bible readers since the word “prosper” is rendered as “that it may go well with you” in nearly all English Bibles. 

But Leonard Nimoy, the originator of the famous phrase, wasn’t influenced by the King James or other standard translations. He was paraphrasing the English translation from Hebrew that he had heard from the synagogue rabbi that he remembered from his boyhood. 

It turns out this was not the only thing he remembered from his boyhood rabbi. The Vulcan split finger hand sign was drawn from a similar sign the rabbi made with two hands symbolizing a Hebrewletter (shin). That sign is sometimes made while reading the blessing of the priests found in Numbers 6:24-26. 

So ironically, one of the most enduring memories from the very secular world of Star Trek is based directly on the hope of a good life that God offered to His people if they would faithful follow His instructions. Living long and prospering is not fiction, but a hope accomplished by faithfulness to God.

The Majority Chose The Wrong Side

In one of the most organized threats to the God given order and leadership of Israel, Korah, the leader of a large family of Levites, and other men of renown in Israel, challenged Moses right to lead the people.

Numb. 16:1-3 “Now Korah the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, with Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took action,  2 and they rose up before Moses, together with some of the sons of Israel, two hundred and fifty leaders of the congregation, chosen in the assembly, men of renown.  3 And they assembled together against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “You have gone far enough, for all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is in their midst; so why do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the LORD?”

This rebellion was one of most dangerous that Israel faced because 1.) of the great influence that these leaders had over the people, and 2.) the success of their propaganda. Even after God destroyed the leading rebels by having the earth swallow them, and rest by fire directly by His hand, the people still sided with them. The leaders of rebellion were selfish (as Moses insightfully asked Korah, “And are you seeking for the priesthood also?” (vs. 20)), but they completely fooled the people. “All the congregation of the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron, saying, ‘You are the ones who have caused the death of the LORD’S people.’” (vs. 41) even after God directly destroyed them.  Korah and his men were obviously very popular, even after their execution. But popularacclaim didn’t save them or their followers, or make them right.

A Discouraging Word

Living here as we do on near the edge of the great western cattle country, we all can recall the words of the cowboy’s optimistic song, “Where seldom is heard a discouraging word, And the skies are not cloudy all day.”  How wonderful that people and nature seems to be for us. When we feel that way, it seems nothing can be against us. 

But this week in our reading of the history of Israel, the time came when it was exactly the opposite. 

Numb. 13:31,32 “But the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are too strong for us.” 32  So they gave out to the sons of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, “The land through which we have gone, in spying it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants; and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great size.” 14:1,2  “Then all the congregation lifted up their voices and cried, and the people wept that night. 2  And all the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron; and the whole congregation said to them, “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness!”

Behold the power of discouraging words!!  Israel failed even though God was with them. We know God would have been with them, but they didn’t believe it, in part because of the unfaithful words of the spies.

What about us today? Do we speak the words that encourage and build? Or do we speak the words the help people be doubtful and hesitant? Look at the ends of the 10 spies (14:37) and the faithful two.

Slaves Of God Alone

Towards the end of Leviticus, after the well known sections about sins and sacrifice, and clean and unclean things, there is a section of the Law of Moses instructing Israel to be different from the nations around them, to not be like the pagans. 

In Leviticus 25, this themes is developed in regard to Israel and slavery:

Lev. 25:39-55 “And if a countryman of yours becomes so poor with regard to you that he sells himself to you, you shall not subject him to a slave’s service.

40  ‘He shall be with you as a hired man, as if he were a sojourner; he shall serve with you until the year of jubilee.

55 ‘For the sons of Israel are My servants; they are My servants[slaves] whom I brought out from the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.”

No one in Israel was to make another Israelite their slave. They could be-come an indentured servant, a dependent servant, for a time. Foreigners and sojourners could fall into permanent slavery, but not those of Israel. The twice stated reason (vss. 42 and 55) is that God had already brought Israel out of slavery and they were His slaves/servants already.

This same truth, that God’s people are His own slaves is taught in the New Testament. (Ref. 1 Cor. 6:20, Rom. 6:18). This is the reason that Christians were not to become slaves. Just like Israel, we belong wholly to God. We cannot belong to another. 

1 Cor. 7:23“You were bought with a price; do not become slaves of men.”

Unintentional Sin

The fourth and fifth chapters of Leviticus have a regulations for offerings in cases of “unintentional sins.”

Lev. 4:2 “Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘If a person sins unintentionally in any of the things which the LORD has commanded not to be done, and commits any of them,

4:13  “Now if the whole congregation of Israel commits error, and the matter escapes the notice of the assembly”

4:22 “When a leader sins and unintentionally…”

4:27 “Now if anyone of the common people sins unintentionally…

5:15 “If a person acts unfaithfully and sins unintentionally …

5:18 “…So the priest shall make atonement for him concerning his error in which he sinned unintentionally and did not know it, and it shall be forgiven him.”

Learn:

• Anyone can become guilty of this type of sin: “a person,” “a leader,” “anyone.” We’d like to that that we, or those in charge, are above such things. Experience shows us that we are not. Only pride, naiveté, or both, makes us think so.
• Unintentional sin can be done singularly, or in groups: “the whole community.”
• While the Bible has 17 passages referring to the forgiving on unintentional sins, it does not have any telling about forgiveness of intentional sin.