Numbers 15:28, commentary and pictures

The verse provides that when a person sins without intent or knowledge before the Lord, the priest makes atonement for him and he is forgiven. Such ignorance does not make the act harmless, for it remains real transgression and guilt under God's law even when unfelt or unknown. The guilt is not removed until the sin is acknowledged, confessed and repented of with the appointed offering, and the sin is forsaken once light has come. Sins of ignorance are far less heinous than willful, presumptuous rebellion, for which no such remedy is given and whose end is to be cut off. The sin-offering itself did not take away sin but pointed to the death of Christ, whose blood cleanses through faith for those then as well as now.

Guilt and Forgiveness in Ignorance

When a soul sins unintentionally or unknowingly before the Lord, the priest is to make atonement for him and he shall be forgiven. The provision covers transgression of God's commandment committed in ignorance, and when atonement is made the sinner is forgiven. An Israelite who sinned unintentionally could receive forgiveness through the priest's atonement, upon repenting as soon as the sin became known. When the law reveals the ignorant transgression, the convicted person recognizes his condemned condition and must die to the law with Christ, be buried with him in baptism, and rise to a new life of obedience. The same principle applies to those who broke God's law by keeping Sunday without knowing the truth: ignorance can explain the sin but does not change or abolish the law, and Scripture is to be studied so as not to sin ignorantly.

Sin committed in ignorance is still real transgression and guilt before God's law, even when the sinner does not know it or feels no guilt. Lack of awareness does not make a person completely free from sin, and ignorance does not make the transgression harmless or leave the person free from need. Freedom from conscious guilt alone does not establish justification, for a sin committed in ignorance remains a real sin even when it leaves no feeling of guilt on the conscience. Such sins are less heinous in the Lord's sight than sins of presumption, yet they are still sins before God and require repentance and forgiveness. Even one who sinned ignorantly while professing to follow Christ needs atonement and forgiveness, since ignorance does not remove guilt.

The guilt remains unless atonement is made, and a person can sin without knowing it but when the sin becomes known he is held guilty. When the sin comes to knowledge it must be acknowledged, confessed, and repented of, with the required offering brought, and only then is forgiveness given. Forgiveness for sins of ignorance is given only when the sin comes to knowledge and is repented of with an offering brought, which in this dispensation is the sacrifice of Christ received by confessing and forsaking sin. The sinner must not continue in it once light has come, since it is no longer an act of ignorance after truth is known. The law of atonement for ignorance belongs to a law applying equally to the congregation and to the stranger living among them, giving the resident foreigner equal standing and participation in Israel's rites and privileges.

Contrast, Type, and Application

Sins committed in ignorance are less heinous in the Lord's sight than sins of presumption, yet lack of awareness does not leave a person completely free from sin. Atonement and forgiveness were provided for what was done unintentionally, when the sinner repented as soon as the sin became known, but those offerings provided no remedy for willful, persistent sin. Those who persisted in rebellion were cut off from Israel and from life, for the presumptuous sinner is cut off and his sin is worthy of death. Ignorance instead calls for forbearance rather than immediate punishment, with stoning to death belonging to willful transgression. The same chapter presents Sabbath-breaking as such a presumptuous sin rather than ordinary ignorance, showing Sabbath breaking to be a sin abhorrent to God and teaching about acceptable offering.

The prescribed sin-offering did not itself remove sin but represented Christ's death. Forgiveness came through faith in the cleansing power of his blood, which was effective for believers in Moses' time as well as now. In this dispensation that sacrifice is received by confessing and forsaking sin, with forgiveness for sins of ignorance given only when the sin comes to knowledge and is repented of with the offering brought. The offering for such sin thus teaches the value of atonement through Christ. Even one who sinned ignorantly while professing to follow Christ needs this atonement and forgiveness.

This provision applies to those who have transgressed God's commandment in ignorance. When the law reveals their sin, they recognize their condemned condition. They must then die to the law with Christ, be buried with him in baptism, and rise to a new life of obedience.

Ignorance can explain breaking God's law, as with keeping Sunday without knowing the truth, or hoeing weeds in a garden on Sunday without knowing Sunday work to be wrong, but it does not change or abolish the law. Not knowing excuses from being stoned, while knowingly and willfully doing it deserves stoning to death. People cannot honestly claim ignorance for conduct repeatedly and clearly condemned by God's word, especially when they would stop the conduct if they knew judgment was near. Ignorance gives some excuse, but rejecting known truth is presumptuous, and unbelief deepens the guilt of other sins. The verse therefore carries the warning to study Scripture so as not to sin ignorantly.