But the soul that doeth ought with a high hand, whether born in the land, or a stranger, he reproacheth Jehovah; and that soul shall be cut off from among his people.
Numbers 15 sets two kinds of wrongdoing side by side. For sin done in ignorance, God names an offering. For sin done "with a high hand," He names none. Older translations call the second kind sinning "presumptuously." Why does God provide an offering for one sin and none for the other?
A sin is high-handed not because it looks large, but because the person already knew the command he broke. Commentators point to the man who gathered sticks on the Sabbath, whose case comes later in this chapter:
This was clearly a presumptuous sin. It went straight against a plain and definite commandment of God. That is what marks a presumptuous sin and leaves it completely inexcusable. No one can plead ignorance when God has given a command.
So an act that looks trivial can carry the heaviest guilt. The contempt behind it is what counts:
The presumptuous sinner cannot plead ignorance. He breaks a command he knows well… To despise the word of the LORD is presumptuous. It is sin whatever the act itself may be… One man gathered sticks on the sabbath day, and another blasphemed the Name; both were stoned. In the one case the act was sin because it had been forbidden. The other was sin even if there had been no command. Each was equal to the other in guilt, despising the authority of God.
The sin offering earlier in the chapter has a fixed limit. It covers people who did not know or did not notice — and it stops there:
The sacrifice was for unintentional sins, done when a person was not watchful and not living in the fear of God. God made no provision for deliberate sins. Such sins showed man's will asserting itself high-handedly against God's commandments.
The verse says such a person reviles the LORD. The insult lands on God Himself, not just on a rule:
Presumptuous sins were not acts of gross immorality. They were direct insults to the majesty of the Law-giver, such as picking up sticks on the sabbath day. Now God deals out grace, not law, and He announces the effective work of His Son. So presumptuous sin now means dishonouring that work by going back to legal, self-righteous confidence in oneself.
Under the law the sentence was death, with nothing softened:
The person who sins presumptuously — someone who has no life in him — is to be cut off; "his iniquity shall be on him." Under the law the presumptuous sinner met the law in all its severity. No mercy; but "stone him with stones outside the camp."
What the law refused, grace can now give. Sins that once brought certain death can be forgiven today. What cannot be forgiven is knowing Christ and then giving Him up:
Under the law there was no forgiveness for sins done with a high hand. The law says clearly, "if one person sins unintentionally." Paul says he received mercy "because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief." So in earlier days, if a man sinned in pride, as in blasphemy, they stoned him. There is forgiveness for such sins now. But there is none if a man sins after full knowledge of Christ, so as to give Him up.
A warning in Hebrews picks up the same rule, and a troubled conscience often turns it on itself by mistake:
The Holy Spirit, in Hebrews 10:26, is no doubt referring to this. Sinning wilfully there does not mean a true child of God drifting from the Lord and falling into sin. It means someone who gave up Christianity altogether — a person who abandons the faith and denies the value of the precious blood. It does not refer to a backsliding Christian at all.
Some sins fall between the two — knowing failure that is not defiance:
Peter in the high priest's palace is a clear example. When he swore and cursed that he did not know the Man, it was not ignorance speaking; and yet he was not an "adversary." Through self-confidence he had got into a place where the pressure was too much for him… The passage before us does not deal with this kind of sin.
- Knowledge — A high-handed sin breaks a command the person already knew. Ignorance is no defence.
- Contempt — The insult strikes the Lawgiver, not just the rule. That is why gathering sticks could cost a man his life.
- Silence — God names an offering for sins of ignorance. Here He names none, and the law showed no mercy.
- Grace — Sins the law punished with death can be forgiven now. What cannot be forgiven is knowing Christ and then giving Him up.
- Comfort — A believer's fall, even one as bad as Peter's denials, is not the case this passage describes.
For he hath despised the word of Jehovah, and hath broken his commandment that soul shall surely be cut off; his iniquity is upon him.
Numbers 15 sets two kinds of sin side by side. For sin done in ignorance, God appoints an offering. For sin done on purpose, He appoints none. Verse 31 gives the reason for that difference. It is not the size of the act, but what the act says about a person's attitude to God's word.
The line between the two is not how bad the deed looks. It is whether the offender knew what God had said.
The presumptuous sinner cannot plead ignorance. His sin breaks a command he knew well… To despise the word of Jehovah is presumptuous. It is sin apart from the nature of the thing done.
That is why the excuse every heart reaches for is closed off here.
This surely was a presumptuous sin — it was flying in the face of a most plain and positive commandment of God. It is this that specially marks a presumptuous sin, and leaves it utterly inexcusable. Ignorance cannot be pleaded in the face of a divine command.
The chapter's own example is a man gathering sticks on the sabbath. Human judgment calls that trivial. Commentators say its very smallness is the point.
The presumptuous sin recorded in Numbers 15 seems trivial. That is to show the absolute and perfect obedience Israel was to render in that day… Compared with the blasphemer of Leviticus 24, human judgment would see a great difference between the two. It would give the blasphemer the heaviest penalty and treat gathering sticks on the sabbath as trifling. But in divine things human judgment is always wrong. Each was equal to the other in guilt, despising the authority of God.
The law appointed an offering for sins of ignorance. For this sin it appointed none. Even so, commentators find mercy in the distinction God drew.
God did not put to death everyone who sinned. He made a distinction between an act of weakness, which is sin, and the presumptuous deeds of a man who acts by the dictates of his own evil will. Had the Lord acted in righteousness alone, every sinner must have been cut off. There is no child of Adam who has not sinned (1 John 1:10)… So the Lord provided the sin-offering. It was a token that, on the ground of an accepted sacrifice, He could act in grace towards one who had sinned.
The verse leaves the guilt on the sinner himself. Commentators note what kind of person this describes, and how the law dealt with him.
The person who sins presumptuously — the case of one who has no life in him — is cut off: "his iniquity shall be on him." Under the law, the presumptuous sinner faced the law's rigour. No mercy; but "stone him with stones outside the camp."
David's adultery and murder fell under this verse. He had no sacrifice to bring. Only mercy could meet his case.
No sacrifice could be offered, for he had sinned presumptuously (Psalm 51:16; Numbers 15:30-31). There was nothing for him but the sovereign mercy of God. Could that be extended to him? God did not leave him in doubt for a moment. The prophet did not have to go away and wait before he could assure him of pardon. As soon as David confessed, Nathan declared it with authority: "The Lord has put away your sin; you shall not die."
What the law left without remedy, the blood of Christ now cleanses — with one exception.
For Israel under law, wilful sin was without resource. The law allowed none. Whoever committed it was to be put away from among the people. Take the case of Achan. He was a wilful sinner who had to be cut off. Israel on the same occasion had sinned through ignorance, and could be restored. Under grace there is a perfect resource for all sins — "the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin." Only one wilful sin is now without resource. That is apostasy from Christianity: the abandonment of Christ and His sacrifice. "If we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins" (Hebrews 10:26).
The safeguard against this whole category of sin is a conscience that still answers to Scripture.
A tender conscience always gives a true response to the action of the word of God. It bows down without a question to its plain statements… So long as it stays true to the touch of Scripture, as the Holy Spirit applies it, there is always a safe and sure regulating power. But if it becomes sluggish, hardened, or twisted — if it refuses to give a true response to "Thus says the Lord" — there is little if any hope.
- Knowledge. A sin is presumptuous because of the knowledge it defies, not because of its size. A known command leaves no room to plead ignorance.
- Contempt. The offence is despising God's word. The man gathering sticks and the blasphemer shared equal guilt, because both set aside His authority.
- Silence. The law appointed an offering for every failure done in ignorance. Here it appointed none, so the guilt stayed on the sinner's own head.
- Mercy. David sinned under this very verse and found no sacrifice to bring. Only the sovereign mercy of God met him, and it came the moment he confessed.
- Resource. Under grace the blood of Christ cleanses from all sin. One wilful sin still has no remedy: abandoning Christ and His sacrifice.