[Leviticus 6] To Catch a Thief! In Leviticus 6, God gives Moses laws relating to fraud, theft, and consecration offerings. Under the law, when a theft was revealed, the culprit was required to pay back, with 20% added. If you’ve experienced loss in your life, where does this originate? Is it the devil assaulting you or, as some allege, sometimes God causes the suffering you are going through? This is an important question to consider. Satan is a master at blaming his work on God himself. When you expose the lie of the enemy, restitution, and restoration of all that was lost must be made. The chapter goes on to discuss the portion of offerings and sacrifices that were to be rendered up to the priests. In almost every offering a person would make in the Tabernacle, one part went only to God, and the remainder went to the priest. Even the priests as well were to give a portion to God of that which they received. When our response mirrors what we see here, we likewise will live in that miraculous provision.
[Lev 6:1-30 KJV] 1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 2 If a soul sin, and commit a trespass against the LORD, and lie unto his neighbour in that which was delivered him to keep, or in fellowship, or in a thing taken away by violence, or hath deceived his neighbour; 3 Or have found that which was lost, and lieth concerning it, and sweareth falsely; in any of all these that a man doeth, sinning therein: 4 Then it shall be, because he hath sinned, and is guilty, that he shall restore that which he took violently away, or the thing which he hath deceitfully gotten, or that which was delivered him to keep, or the lost thing which he found, 5 Or all that about which he hath sworn falsely; he shall even restore it in the principal, and shall add the fifth part more thereto, [and] give it unto him to whom it appertaineth, in the day of his trespass offering. 6 And he shall bring his trespass offering unto the LORD, a ram without blemish out of the flock, with thy estimation, for a trespass offering, unto the priest: 7 And the priest shall make an atonement for him before the LORD: and it shall be forgiven him for any thing of all that he hath done in trespassing therein. 8 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 9 Command Aaron and his sons, saying, This [is] the law of the burnt offering: It [is] the burnt offering, because of the burning upon the altar all night unto the morning, and the fire of the altar shall be burning in it. 10 And the priest shall put on his linen garment, and his linen breeches shall he put upon his flesh, and take up the ashes which the fire hath consumed with the burnt offering on the altar, and he shall put them beside the altar. 11 And he shall put off his garments, and put on other garments, and carry forth the ashes without the camp unto a clean place. 12 And the fire upon the altar shall be burning in it; it shall not be put out: and the priest shall burn wood on it every morning, and lay the burnt offering in order upon it; and he shall burn thereon the fat of the peace offerings. 13 The fire shall ever be burning upon the altar; it shall never go out. 14 And this [is] the law of the meat offering: the sons of Aaron shall offer it before the LORD, before the altar. 15 And he shall take of it his handful, of the flour of the meat offering, and of the oil thereof, and all the frankincense which [is] upon the meat offering, and shall burn [it] upon the altar [for] a sweet savour, [even] the memorial of it, unto the LORD. 16 And the remainder thereof shall Aaron and his sons eat: with unleavened bread shall it be eaten in the holy place; in the court of the tabernacle of the congregation they shall eat it. 17 It shall not be baken with leaven. I have given it [unto them for] their portion of my offerings made by fire; it [is] most holy, as [is] the sin offering, and as the trespass offering. 18 All the males among the children of Aaron shall eat of it. [It shall be] a statute for ever in your generations concerning the offerings of the LORD made by fire: every one that toucheth them shall be holy. 19 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 20 This [is] the offering of Aaron and of his sons, which they shall offer unto the LORD in the day when he is anointed; the tenth part of an ephah of fine flour for a meat offering perpetual, half of it in the morning, and half thereof at night. 21 In a pan it shall be made with oil; [and when it is] baken, thou shalt bring it in: [and] the baken pieces of the meat offering shalt thou offer [for] a sweet savour unto the LORD. 22 And the priest of his sons that is anointed in his stead shall offer it: [it is] a statute for ever unto the LORD; it shall be wholly burnt. 23 For every meat offering for the priest shall be wholly burnt: it shall not be eaten. 24 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 25 Speak unto Aaron and to his sons, saying, This [is] the law of the sin offering: In the place where the burnt offering is killed shall the sin offering be killed before the LORD: it [is] most holy. 26 The priest that offereth it for sin shall eat it: in the holy place shall it be eaten, in the court of the tabernacle of the congregation. 27 Whatsoever shall touch the flesh thereof shall be holy: and when there is sprinkled of the blood thereof upon any garment, thou shalt wash that whereon it was sprinkled in the holy place. 28 But the earthen vessel wherein it is sodden shall be broken: and if it be sodden in a brasen pot, it shall be both scoured, and rinsed in water. 29 All the males among the priests shall eat thereof: it [is] most holy. 30 And no sin offering, whereof [any] of the blood is brought into the tabernacle of the congregation to reconcile [withal] in the holy [place], shall be eaten: it shall be burnt in the fire.
In verses 1-5, we see instructions of the law regarding property theft and negligence. Does God care about such every day things in our lives? It is common to believe that God doesn’t care about material things or natural things of life. Yet here is a passage where God expresses concern even about such mundane things as personal property. There are five areas of this kind of loss addressed:
1.) Lost Trust;
2.) Broken Partnership;
3.) Stolen property;
4.) Property obtained by fraud;
5.) Lost property
In v. 5, we see that when the thief was caught, the offender was required to restore the theft with the 5th part (or, 20%) added to the full value. What can we learn from this? In the gospel, Jesus identifies for us who the thief and the robber is:
[Jhn 10:10 KJV] 10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have [it] more abundantly.
God’s laws are unchangeable. What is true in the Old Testament has an application in the New Testament as well. If you, as a believer, find the thief or expose the liar, God’s law says he must repay and add 20% to it. You are not exempt from the requirement of God, and neither is the devil. We have this word of promise given to us so we can identify the thief and expose his lies and demand and require the restoration of all that has been stolen from us by the enemy of our souls. This is an important aspect of spiritual warfare. How do we do this today? We mix our faith with the words we find here and in prayer declare and decree that which was taken by the enemy must be restored – and God will back His word bringing this very thing to pass in your life.
In verses 8-10, the law of the burnt offering is given. The burnt offering is a consecration offering. It was an offering of worship and intimacy with God. There is specific mention of how carefully a priest is to dress himself when offering a consecration offering when it was given. When a priest would handle a consecration offering, it was a holy thing, and he had to cover his flesh with “linen breeches” or pants lest he contaminate the worshipper’s offering in some way. What does this say to us? As leaders, we are not to allow our flesh or shortcomings to spoil the consecration to God of those who interact with us. Likewise, as a believer, you have to keep your eyes on God and not be scandalized by the shortcomings of leadership. You don’t want to get your flesh or allow someone else’s flesh to come between you and your intimacy with God.
The fire used to consume the burnt offering was to be taken from a flame that never went out. When the Tabernacle was originally set up, the Lord Himself answered by fire to burn the first sacrifices. The priests had preserved this fire from generation to generation, making sure it never went out. Other fire kindled by natural means was considered strange fire and was unacceptable.
This tells us that God is always online to accept your worship and your love and consecration.
In vs. 14-22, we see that the priests were allowed to take a portion of the consecration offering for themselves. People give themselves to God when they serve God’s ministers for their good – but great care is taken to remember and maintain focus on who the worship is directed to. Each offering or sacrifice given with few exceptions included a share for the priests. God makes provision for those who serve in His behalf to be cared for. He connects giving and sacrifice to Himself by providing for his ministers. The apostle Paul was accused regarding offerings and gifts, and here was his answer:
[1Co 9:3, 7 KJV] 3 Mine answer to them that do examine me is this, … 7 Who goeth a warfare any time at his own charges? who planteth a vineyard, and eateth not of the fruit thereof? or who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock?
Jesus said in Matt. 6:19 “… where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” What you don’t give to or respond financially will have little value to you. Is there any wonder the word of God is of none effect in so many lives today? Many ministers boast about ministering without pay, and in so doing, they act in defiance of the scriptural mandate that those who preach the gospel should live of the gospel. Suppose you, as a minister or pastor, do not expect people to respond financially to the preaching of the word of God. In that case, you are despising the gospel you are called to preach and rob the people of the very blessing that God intended for them to receive in the first place. Because of the cultural contamination of Christianity that began with the medieval vow of poverty – there is a prejudicial attitude in our culture against God’s ministers being rewarded for their work. Paul made this statement:
[1Ti 5:17-18 KJV] 17 Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine. 18 For the scripture saith, Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn. And, The labourer [is] worthy of his reward.
When we support our ministers from God’s perspective, we are giving them honor. Jesus talked about this as well in Matthew’s gospel:
[Mat 10:41 KJV] 41 He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward; and he that receiveth a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward.
Interestingly, prophetic ministry is the only ministry mentioned by name that Jesus encouraged people to support. At times people complain that they are encouraged to give when receiving prophetic ministry. Can you imagine a pastor’s response if you walked up to him on Sunday and told him you expect him to do what he does without remuneration?
Jesus further dealt with this in Mark’s gospel:
[Mat 10:7-10 KJV] 7 And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. 8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give. 9 Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purses, 10 Nor scrip for [your] journey, neither two coats, neither shoes, nor yet staves: for the workman is worthy of his meat.
Many look at this passage and suggest that ministers are to serve without donations being given. However, the word “freely” in verse 8 means “undeservedly” and does not refer to a prohibition on receiving contributions. In verse 9 (the very next verse), Jesus clarifies this by instructing them not to go out on their own resources but to expect to be received and taken care of by those they minister to. Those who refused to take care of them (despising to support them), the ministers were to shake the dust off their feet.
In vs. 23-29 of Leviticus 6, we also notice that the priest was to give offerings to God. When a priest made offerings, he did not take out of his own offering a portion for himself. This is another grievous problem when ministers tithe and give back into their own churches and ministries rather than giving away from themselves. If you are a leader, you are expected by God to have faith enough to give away from yourself and your own interests. It is a common situation where we find ministers who emphasize giving but are not givers themselves. We wonder why so many pastors are broke without enough money for their families or to pay their bills. These same ministers then complain about the people not giving, but they are not giving; therefore, their unbelief is being reproduced in the people they serve.
These are difficult subjects to address because of the rebellious attitude in Christians about finances. And yes, there have been abuses. There were abuses in Moses’ time as well, and God dealt with that, but there was never a suspension of the laws relating to these things because someone handled them dishonestly. Under the law, God considered rejection of these things to be robbery committed against Himself. We are not under the law today; however, God desires us to give from the heart as an act of worship so that He might pour out blessing upon us and spare us from the distraction of poverty in our pursuit of His kingdom.
