41 Then the Lord spoke to Moses , saying , 2 "Speak to the sons of Israel , saying , 'If a person sins unintentionally in any of the things which the Lord has commanded not to be done , and commits any of them, 3 if the anointed priest sins so as to bring guilt on the people , then let him offer to the Lord a bull e e without defect as a sin offering for the sin he has committed . 4 'He shall bring the bull to the doorway of the tent of meeting before the Lord , and he shall lay his hand on the head of the bull and slay the bull before the Lord . 5 'Then the anointed priest is to take some of the blood of the bull and bring it to the tent of meeting , 6 and the priest shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle some of the blood seven times before the Lord , in front of the veil of the sanctuary . 7 'The priest shall also put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of fragrant incense which is before the Lord in the tent of meeting ; and all the blood of the bull he shall pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering which is at the doorway of the tent of meeting . 8 ' He shall remove from it all the fat of the bull of the sin offering : the fat that covers the entrails , and all the fat which is on the entrails , 9 and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them, which is on the loins , and the lobe of the liver , which he shall remove with the kidneys 10 (just as it is removed from the ox of the sacrifice of peace offerings ), and the priest is to offer them up in smoke on the altar of burnt offering . 11 'But the hide of the bull and all its flesh with its head and its legs and its entrails and its refuse , 12 that is, all the rest of the bull , he is to bring out to a clean place outside e the camp where the ashes are poured out, and burn it on wood with fire ; where the ashes are poured out it shall be burned .
13 ' Now if the whole congregation of Israel commits error and the matter escapes the notice of the assembly , and they commit any of the things which the Lord has commanded not to be done , and they become guilty ; 14 when the sin which they have committed becomes known , then the assembly shall offer a bull of the herd for a sin offering and bring it before the tent of meeting . 15 'Then the elders of the congregation shall lay their hands on the head of the bull before the Lord , and the bull shall be slain before the Lord . 16 'Then the anointed priest is to bring some of the blood of the bull to the tent of meeting ; 17 and the priest shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle it seven times before the Lord , in front of the veil . 18 'He shall put some of the blood on the horns of the altar which is before the Lord in the tent of meeting ; and all the blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering which is at the doorway of the tent of meeting . 19 ' He shall remove all its fat from it and offer it up in smoke on the altar . 20 'He shall also do with the bull just as he did with the bull of the sin offering ; thus he shall do with it. So the priest shall make atonement for them, and they will be forgiven . 21 'Then he is to bring out the bull to a place outside e the camp and burn it as he burned the first bull ; it is the sin offering for the assembly .
22 'When a leader sins and unintentionally does any one of all the things which the Lord his God has commanded not to be done , and he becomes guilty , 23 if his sin which he has committed is made known to him, he shall bring for his offering a goat e , a male without defect . 24 'He shall lay his hand on the head of the male goat and slay it in the place where they slay the burnt offering before the Lord ; it is a sin offering . 25 'Then the priest is to take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering ; and the rest of its blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering . 26 ' All its fat he shall offer up in smoke on the altar as in the case of the fat of the sacrifice of peace offerings . Thus the priest shall make atonement for him in regard to his sin , and he will be forgiven .
27 'Now if anyone e of the common people sins unintentionally in doing any of the things which the Lord has commanded not to be done , and becomes guilty , 28 if his sin which he has committed is made known to him, then he shall bring for his offering a goat , a female without defect , for his sin which he has committed . 29 ' He shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and slay the sin offering at the place of the burnt offering . 30 'The priest shall take some of its blood with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering ; and all the rest of its blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar . 31 ' Then he shall remove all its fat , just as the fat was removed from the sacrifice of peace offerings ; and the priest shall offer it up in smoke on the altar for a soothing aroma to the Lord . Thus the priest shall make atonement for him, and he will be forgiven . 32 'But if he brings a lamb as his offering for a sin offering , he shall bring it, a female without defect . 33 ' He shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and slay it for a sin offering in the place where they slay the burnt offering . 34 'The priest is to take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering , and all the rest of its blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar . 35 'Then he shall remove all its fat , just as the fat of the lamb is removed from the sacrifice of the peace offerings , and the priest shall offer them up in smoke on the altar , on the offerings by fire to the Lord . Thus the priest shall make atonement for him in regard to his sin which he has committed , and he will be forgiven .
51 'Now if a person sins after he hears a public adjuration to testify when he is a witness , whether he has seen or otherwise known , if he does not tell it, then he will bear his guilt . 2 'Or if a person touches any unclean thing , whether a carcass of an unclean beast or the carcass of unclean cattle or a carcass of unclean swarming things , though it is hidden from him and he is unclean , then he will be guilty . 3 'Or if he touches human uncleanness , of whatever sort his uncleanness may be with which he becomes unclean , and it is hidden from him, and then he comes to know it, he will be guilty . 4 'Or if a person swears thoughtlessly with his lips to do evil or to do good , in whatever e matter a man may speak thoughtlessly with an oath , and it is hidden from him, and then he comes to know it, he will be guilty in one of these . 5 'So it shall be when he becomes guilty in one of these , that he shall confess that in which he has sinned . 6 'He shall also bring his guilt offering to the Lord for his sin which he has committed , a female from the flock , a lamb or a goat e as a sin offering . So the priest shall make atonement on his behalf for his sin .
7 'But if he cannot afford e a lamb , then he shall bring to the Lord his guilt offering for that in which he has sinned , two turtledoves or two young pigeons , one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering . 8 'He shall bring them to the priest , who shall offer first that which is for the sin offering and shall nip its head at the front of its neck , but he shall not sever it. 9 'He shall also sprinkle some of the blood of the sin offering on the side of the altar , while the rest of the blood shall be drained out at the base of the altar : it is a sin offering . 10 'The second he shall then prepare as a burnt offering according to the ordinance . So the priest shall make atonement on his behalf for his sin which he has committed , and it will be forgiven him. 11 'But if his means are insufficient for two turtledoves or two young pigeons , then for his offering for that which he has sinned , he shall bring the tenth of an ephah of fine flour for a sin offering ; he shall not put oil on it or place incense on it, for it is a sin offering . 12 'He shall bring it to the priest , and the priest shall take his handful e of it as its memorial portion and offer it up in smoke on the altar , with the offerings of the Lord by fire : it is a sin offering . 13 'So the priest shall make atonement for him concerning his sin which he has committed from one of these , and it will be forgiven him; then the rest shall become the priest's , like the grain offering .' "
14 Then the Lord spoke to Moses , saying , 15 " If a person acts unfaithfully and sins unintentionally against the Lord'S holy things , then he shall bring his guilt offering to the Lord : a ram without defect from the flock , according to your valuation in silver by shekels , in terms of the shekel of the sanctuary , for a guilt offering . 16 " He shall make restitution for that which he has sinned against the holy thing , and shall add to it a fifth part of it and give it to the priest . The priest shall then make atonement for him with the ram of the guilt offering , and it will be forgiven him. 17 "Now if a person sins and does any of the things which the Lord has commanded not to be done , though he was unaware e , still he is guilty and shall bear his punishment . 18 "He is then to bring to the priest a ram without defect from the flock , according to your valuation , for a guilt offering . So the priest shall make atonement for him concerning his error in which he sinned unintentionally and did not know it, and it will be forgiven him. 19 "It is a guilt offering ; he was certainly guilty before the Lord ."
29 "But immediately after the tribulation of those days THE SUN WILL BE DARKENED , AND THE MOON WILL NOT GIVE ITS LIGHT , AND THE STARS WILL FALL from the sky , and the powers of the heavens will be shaken . 30 "And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky , and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn , and they will see the SON OF MAN COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF THE SKY with power and great glory . 31 "And He will send forth His angels with A GREAT TRUMPET and THEY WILL GATHER TOGETHER His elect from the four winds , from one end of the sky to the other .
32 "Now learn the parable from the fig tree : when its branch has already become tender and puts forth its leaves , you know that summer is near ; 33 so , you too , when you see all these things , recognize that He is near , right at the door . 34 "Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place . 35 " Heaven and earth will pass away , but My words will not pass away .
36 "But of that day and hour no one knows , not even the angels of heaven , nor the Son , but the Father alone . 37 "For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah . 38 "For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking , marrying and giving in marriage , until the day that Noah entered the ark , 39 and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away ; so will the coming of the Son of Man be. 40 "Then there will be two men in the field ; one will be taken and one will be left . 41 " Two women will be grinding at the mill ; one will be taken and one will be left . 42 "Therefore be on the alert , for you do not know which day your Lord is coming . 43 "But be sure of this , that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming , he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. 44 "For this reason you also must be ready ; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.
45 " Who then is the faithful and sensible slave whom his master put in charge of his household to give them their food at the proper time ? 46 "Blessed is that slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes . 47 "Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions . 48 "But if that evil slave says in his heart , 'My master is not coming for a long time ,' 49 and begins to beat his fellow slaves and eat and drink with drunkards ; 50 the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour which he does not know , 51 and will cut him in pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites ; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth .
(Read Matthew 24:29-41)
Christ foretells his second coming. It is usual for prophets to speak of things as near and just at hand, to express the greatness and certainty of them. Concerning Christ's second coming, it is foretold that there shall be a great change, in order to the making all things new. Then they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds. At his first coming, he was set for a sign that should be spoken against, but at his second coming, a sign that should be admired. Sooner or later, all sinners will be mourners; but repenting sinners look to Christ, and mourn after a godly sort; and those who sow in those tears shall shortly reap in joy. Impenitent sinners shall see Him whom they have pierced, and, though they laugh now, shall mourn and weep in endless horror and despair. The elect of God are scattered abroad; there are some in all places, and all nations; but when that great gathering day comes, there shall not one of them be missing. Distance of place shall keep none out of heaven. Our Lord declares that the Jews should never cease to be a distinct people, until all things he had been predicting were fulfilled. His prophecy reaches to the day of final judgment; therefore he here, ver. 34, foretells that Judah shall never cease to exist as a distinct people, so long as this world shall endure. Men of the world scheme and plan for generation upon generation here, but they plan not with reference to the overwhelming, approaching, and most certain event of Christ's second coming, which shall do away every human scheme, and set aside for ever all that God forbids. That will be as surprising a day, as the deluge to the old world. Apply this, first, to temporal judgments, particularly that which was then hastening upon the nation and people of the Jews. Secondly, to the eternal judgment. Christ here shows the state of the old world when the deluge came. They were secure and careless; they knew not, until the flood came; and they believed not. Did we know aright that all earthly things must shortly pass away, we should not set our eyes and hearts so much upon them as we do. The evil day is not the further off for men's putting it far from them. What words can more strongly describe the suddenness of our Saviour's coming! Men will be at their respective businesses, and suddenly the Lord of glory will appear. Women will be in their house employments, but in that moment every other work will be laid aside, and every heart will turn inward and say, It is the Lord! Am I prepared to meet him? Can I stand before him? And what, in fact, is the day of judgment to the whole world, but the day of death to every one?
(Read Matthew 24:42-51)
To watch for Christ's coming, is to maintain that temper of mind which we would be willing that our Lord should find us in. We know we have but a little time to live, we cannot know that we have a long time to live; much less do we know the time fixed for the judgment. Our Lord's coming will be happy to those that shall be found ready, but very dreadful to those that are not. If a man, professing to be the servant of Christ, be an unbeliever, covetous, ambitious, or a lover of pleasure, he will be cut off. Those who choose the world for their portion in this life, will have hell for their portion in the other life. May our Lord, when he cometh, pronounce us blessed, and present us to the Father, washed in his blood, purified by his Spirit, and fit to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light.
