Numbers 15
1Then the LORD said to Moses, 2“Speak to the Israelites and tell them: After you enter the land that I am giving you as a home 3and you present an offering made by fire to the LORD from the herd or flock to produce a pleasing aroma to the LORD—either a burnt offering or a sacrifice, for a special vow or freewill offering or appointed feast— 4then the one presenting his offering to the LORD shall also present a grain offering of a tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with a quarter hin of olive oil. 5With the burnt offering or sacrifice of each lamb, you are to prepare a quarter hin of wine as a drink offering. 6With a ram you are to prepare a grain offering of two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with a third of a hin of olive oil, 7and a third of a hin of wine as a drink offering, a pleasing aroma to the LORD. 8When you prepare a young bull as a burnt offering or sacrifice to fulfill a vow or as a peace offering to the LORD, 9present with the bull a grain offering of three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with half a hin of olive oil. 10Also present half a hin of wine as a drink offering. It is an offering made by fire, a pleasing aroma to the LORD. 11This is to be done for each bull, ram, lamb, or goat. 12This is how you must prepare each one, no matter how many. 13Everyone who is native-born shall prepare these things in this way when he presents an offering made by fire as a pleasing aroma to the LORD. 14And for the generations to come, if a foreigner residing with you or someone else among you wants to prepare an offering made by fire as a pleasing aroma to the LORD, he is to do exactly as you do. 15The assembly is to have the same statute both for you and for the foreign resident; it is a permanent statute for the generations to come. You and the foreigner shall be the same before the LORD. 16The same law and the same ordinance will apply both to you and to the foreigner residing with you.” 17Then the LORD said to Moses, 18“Speak to the Israelites and tell them: When you enter the land to which I am bringing you 19and you eat the food of the land, you shall lift up an offering to the LORD. 20From the first of your dough, you are to lift up a cake as a contribution; offer it just like an offering from the threshing floor. 21Throughout your generations, you are to give the LORD an offering from the first of your dough. 22Now if you stray unintentionally and do not obey all these commandments that the LORD has spoken to Moses— 23all that the LORD has commanded you through Moses from the day the LORD gave them and continuing through the generations to come— 24and if it was done unintentionally without the knowledge of the congregation, then the whole congregation is to prepare one young bull as a burnt offering, a pleasing aroma to the LORD, with its grain offering and drink offering according to the regulation, and one male goat as a sin offering. 25The priest is to make atonement for the whole congregation of Israel, so that they may be forgiven; for the sin was unintentional and they have brought to the LORD an offering made by fire and a sin offering, presented before the LORD for their unintentional sin. 26Then the whole congregation of Israel and the foreigners residing among them will be forgiven, since it happened to all the people unintentionally. 27Also, if one person sins unintentionally, he is to present a year-old female goat as a sin offering. 28And the priest shall make atonement before the LORD on behalf of the person who erred by sinning unintentionally; and when atonement has been made for him, he will be forgiven. 29You shall have the same law for the one who acts in error, whether he is a native-born Israelite or a foreigner residing among you. 30But the person who sins defiantly, whether a native or foreigner, blasphemes the LORD. That person shall be cut off from among his people. 31He shall certainly be cut off, because he has despised the word of the LORD and broken His commandment; his guilt remains on him.” 32While the Israelites were in the wilderness, a man was found gathering wood on the Sabbath day. 33Those who found the man gathering wood brought him to Moses, Aaron, and the whole congregation, 34and because it had not been declared what should be done to him, they placed him in custody. 35And the LORD said to Moses, “The man must surely be put to death. The whole congregation is to stone him outside the camp.” 36So the whole congregation took the man outside the camp and stoned him to death, as the LORD had commanded Moses. 37Later, the LORD said to Moses, 38“Speak to the Israelites and tell them that throughout the generations to come they are to make for themselves tassels for the corners of their garments, with a blue cord on each tassel. 39These will serve as tassels for you to look at, so that you may remember all the commandments of the LORD, that you may obey them and not prostitute yourselves by following your own heart and your own eyes. 40Then you will remember and obey all My commandments, and you will be holy to your God. 41I am the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God. I am the LORD your God.”
Life is short. Where are you going?
You just read God’s own words, and one day every one of us will stand before Him. “What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes” (James 4:14). This life will be over sooner than you think — do you know where you are going when it is?
The Bible says, “Man is appointed to die once, and after that to face judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). If you died today, would you be ready?
Are you a good person?
Most of us think we are. But God doesn’t measure us against other people — He measures us by His Law. Look honestly at the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:3–17):
- You shall have no other gods before Me.
- You shall not make for yourself an idol.
- You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.
- Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.
- Honor your father and mother.
- You shall not murder.
- You shall not commit adultery.
- You shall not steal.
- You shall not bear false witness.
- You shall not covet.
Have you ever told a lie — even a small one? Have you ever taken something that wasn’t yours? Have you ever used God’s name as a curse word? Have you ever wanted what belongs to someone else? Jesus said that anyone who looks with lust “has already committed adultery … in his heart” (Matthew 5:28), and the Bible says “everyone who hates his brother is a murderer” (1 John 3:15).
If we’re honest, we have all broken God’s Law — and “whoever keeps the whole law but stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it” (James 2:10). “There is no one righteous, not even one … there is no one who does good, not even one” (Romans 3:10–12).
That leaves every one of us guilty before a holy God. “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23), and “whoever rejects the Son will not see life. Instead, the wrath of God remains on him” (John 3:36). This is why our world is full of tragedy — and without Christ, every life ends in the greatest tragedy of all.
But God made a way
“God proves His love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). Jesus lived the perfect life we never could, and on the cross He took the punishment we deserved: “God made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Three days later He rose from the dead (1 Corinthians 15:3–4).
It’s like standing guilty in court when the judge steps down and pays your fine himself. Forgiveness is a free gift — you can’t earn it: “It is by grace you have been saved through faith … it is the gift of God, not by works” (Ephesians 2:8–9). “The gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come that they may have life, and have it in all its fullness.” Jesus — John 10:10
What will you do with Jesus?
“Repent and believe in the gospel!” (Mark 1:15). Turn from your sin, and put your trust in Jesus alone — “if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9). Don’t put it off — “now is the time of favor; now is the day of salvation!” (2 Corinthians 6:2).
And when you turn to Him, you won’t be met with a frown — you’ll be met with a celebration. Jesus said, “there is joy in the presence of God’s angels over one sinner who repents” (Luke 15:10). God says, “I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked should turn from their ways and live” (Ezekiel 33:11). He is “mighty to save. He will rejoice over you with gladness … He will rejoice over you with singing” (Zephaniah 3:17). Like the father who ran to embrace his lost son, He is waiting with open arms — and heaven throws a party when you come home (Luke 15:20–24).
If you died today, where would you spend eternity? Today you can be forgiven, made new, and have real, abundant life — now and forever.
Scripture quotations are from the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), which is in the public domain.