Key Verses: Leviticus 6:2, 6:6, 6:13
The guilt offering is extended to sins against a neighbor — deceiving, robbing, extorting, or lying about a lost item — sins the chapter frames as a “breach of faith against the LORD,” since to wrong a neighbor is to sin against God. The guilty party must make full restitution, add a fifth, and bring a ram as a guilt offering. The chapter then turns to instructions for the priests on handling the offerings: the burnt offering left on the altar overnight, the ashes carried out, and above all the command that “fire shall be kept burning on the altar continually; it shall not go out.”
Restitution “on the day he realizes his guilt” links worship to justice: one cannot be right with God while holding what was wrongly taken from a neighbor, a principle Jesus presses when He tells the worshiper to be reconciled to his brother before offering his gift (Matthew 5:23-24), and that Zacchaeus embodies in repaying fourfold (Luke 19:8). The perpetually burning altar fire, never allowed to die, pictures worship and atonement that must never cease — fulfilled in Christ, whose one sacrifice is of endless and unfailing value, and in the church’s continual offering of “a sacrifice of praise to God” (Hebrews 13:15).
Key Terms & Words:
- אֵשׁ תָּמִיד (esh tamid) - Leviticus 6:13 - “A perpetual fire”; the altar flame that must never be allowed to go out
- תּוֹרָה (torah) - Leviticus 6:9 - “Law” or “instruction”; here the priestly manual for each offering
- דֶּשֶׁן (deshen) - Leviticus 6:10 - “Ashes”; the remains of the offering, reverently removed
Cross-References:
- Numbers 5:5-7 - Restitution with a fifth added for wronging a neighbor
- Matthew 5:23-24 - Be reconciled to your brother before offering your gift
- Luke 19:8 - Zacchaeus restores fourfold what he had taken
- Hebrews 13:15 - A continual sacrifice of praise, the fruit of lips that acknowledge His name
Discussion Questions:
- Why does God treat a sin against a neighbor as “a breach of faith against the LORD”?
- What does the requirement of restitution add to confession and sacrifice?
- What might the fire that never goes out teach about worship and about Christ’s atonement?