I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. I had been using One Year Bible Online, but it was time for a change.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Leviticus 5-7.

    This is another passage that I would probably skim over, or not even read, if I was not committed to writing this blog (I apologize from now if this refrain becomes repetitive over the next few weeks). However, the first thing which struck me was that it is a sin to refuse to testify about something which you have knowledge of. We have an obligation to testify about things we have seen, or know about. We should testify if we know something that will exonerate the person on trial and if we know something which will incriminate that person.

    The passage then goes on to describe how to make good when we have defiled or stolen property, or defrauded someone out of value. In these circumstances God’s commands is to make restitution of the value we destroyed for someone else, plus 20%. Then His command was to make an offering to God. While we no longer practice the sacrificial system laid out in the Old Testament, there is still something to be learned from these guidelines. When we steal from or defraud others, we have sinned both against them and against God. It is not enough to restore what we took from them, we must give them more than we took. Then we must make right once more our relationship with God. Fortunately for us, God has since this was written offered the sacrifice necessary to restore our relationship, but we must still acknowledge that we damaged that relationship.