Numbers 5: Making Wrongs Right

⁵ The Lord said to Moses, ⁶ “Say to the Israelites: ‘When a man or woman wrongs another in any way and so is unfaithful to the Lord, that person is guilty ⁷ and must confess the sin he has committed. He must make full restitution for his wrong, add one fifth to it and give it all to the person he has wronged. -Numbers 5:5-7

The Old Testament law provided clear instructions regarding how to make restitution when one person did something wrong to another. Specifically, the person was required to 1) confess the sin, 2) make full restitution for the wrong, and 3) add a fifth to the amount.

In other words, if a person cheated a neighbor by stealing his donkey, he would be required to confess he had done it, pay back the value of the donkey, and also pay twenty percent more to the owner. This response included both a moral and financial component. The person had to admit his or her wrong as well as pay for the sin financially.

Much could be said about this principle, but one observation I reflected upon was the deep connection between our spiritual and physical lives. God did not separate the sins of our heart from our finances. Both matter to him; both are connected. Perhaps this is why the Bible also mentioned that from the overflow of the heart he mouth speaks. Our words reveals our attitude. Our actions are unmistakably connected to our attitude.

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Dillon Burroughs is the author and coauthor of numerous books and is handwriting a copy of all 31,173 verses of the Bible at HolyWritProject.com. Find out more about Dillon at Facebook.com/readdB or readdB.com.