July 1998 Issue

Automatic Forgiveness ???

Sins of Ignorance - #2
By Patrick T. Donahue

Sins Of Ignorance In The Old Testament

Although Jesus blotted "out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, ... and took it out of the way, nailing it to His cross" (Colossians 2:14), the things "written aforetime were written for our learning" (Romans 15:4), so it might be valuable to see how sins of ignorance were dealt with in the Old Testament. Let's go back and see.

Leviticus 4 and 5

All of Leviticus chapters 4 and 5 deals with what a person under the law of Moses had to do if he committed a sin of ignorance. The sets of instructions given in the chapters are typified by the requirements given "if the whole congregation of Israel sin through ignorance" in Leviticus 4:13-21. Verse 13 says that they are "guilty" even though the sin was done through ignorance. Verse 14 shows that when the sin became "known, then the congregation shall offer a" sacrifice for the sin (vs.14-21). After the sin became known, after the sacrifice was made, then and only then was the sin of ignorance "forgiven" (v.20). In fact, in every instance in the two chapters, the sin of ignorance was not forgiven until the offering for the sin (the condition) was made. Of course, the sin had to become known before the people could know to make the sacrifice as the passages indicate. Not only would the sin have to become known, Leviticus 5:5 says "that he shall confess that he hath sinned in that thing." Leviticus 5:17 sums up my point from these passages by reading " ... if a soul sin, ... though he wist (knew) it not, yet is he guilty, and shall bear his iniquity."

I Kings 13

As an illustration of this teaching, let's go to the Old Testament example of a sin of ignorance found in I Kings 13. Verse 1 talks about a "man of God" going "unto Bethel." Verses 7-9 show that the man of God was "charged ... by the word of the Lord, saying, Eat no bread, nor drink water, nor turn again by the same way that thou camest." But verses 11, 18, and 19 explain that an old prophet in Bethel lied to the man of God, saying that an angel had spoken to him by the word of the Lord, telling him that it was all right for the man of God to come to his house to eat. The man of God consented and thereby sealed his death. Because he had "disobeyed the mouth of the Lord, and" had "not kept the commandment which the Lord" had commanded him (v.21), a lion "slew him" (v.24) after he left the old prophets house. Was this a sin of ignorance? Yes, he believed a lie (see II Thessalonians 2:8-12 in this connection). Was he automatically forgiven because he committed the sin through ignorance? No, he was held responsible for obeying God under all circumstances and was given the death penalty when he didn't obey.

Conclusion

We have learned that in the Old Testament, sins of ignorance were punished; they had to be learned of and confessed in order to be forgiven. What about sins of ignorance under the New Testament? Matthew 15:14 reads, "If the blind (read old prophet) shall lead the blind (read man of God), both shall fall into the ditch."

[Editor's Note: Thanks to Pat Donahue for the article! He can be reached at: Pat.Donahue@MSFC.NASA.GOV, 4607 Old Railroad Bed Road, Harvest, AL 35749, (256) 721-0726]

Email the Editor at markjward@yahoo.com