The Legal Right to Receive Restitution
Priests had a legal right to receive restitution.38 When it comes to this restitution payment in the Numbers 5 passage, it is an additional payment on top of their ram of atonement offering. The ram offering is given to the injured party or his relatives. However, if the injured party dies and has no near relative, the restitution is given to the priest. The restitution is in addition to the sacrificial ram that the priest performs a purification ritual for.
In the modern day, the blood of Jesus Christ is enough restitution for our sins. However, as in Number 5, the penalty to be paid is in addition to the sacrificial lamb of Christ. It’s not to add to what Jesus did on the cross. However, additional restitution is to make amends for something one has done to contribute to the liveliness of the priests.
Numbers 5:9-10 underscores that the priests play a vital role in reestablishing the ceremonial purity of the people. In this way, the livelihood of the priests is also upheld. In the verse, special offerings to the Lord belong to the priest. Târumah or offering is translated as gift or donation that goes to the priest. Holy things are holy in the sense that they are offered to the Lord. When they are offered to the Lord, they go to the priest for their provision and portion.
The Hebrew practice is this: “When someone makes an offering to the Lord, he hands it over to the priest. Whatever someone gives to a priest belongs to the priest.”
Experience the Power of Prophecy as a gift to open your mind to receive the Mind of Christ.