Minimum Balance Payments

(Proverbs 7:14 KJV)  I have peace offerings with me; this day have I payed my vows.

According to an explanation of the different types of offerings given by Adam Clarke in his commentaries at the end of Leviticus 7, there are 21 different types of offerings.  You thought your pastor was original, right?  A quick look through of the list shows me that none of them are in the same spirit as our offerings today.  We think of an offering as passing the collection plate.  A purist would separate the concept of tithe, the 10%, from offerings, that given above the 10%.  In the Old Testament most offerings seem to be the objects brought to the temple as sacrifices to deal with the issues of sin.  Here it is the combination of “peace offerings” (8002) that are the issue.  Interestingly, “paid” (8002) is the same word in Hebrew.

Offerings were a part of repentance.  They were an acknowledgment of sin and in this case separation from God.  Too often we are like the woman here and think that because we have given or done, we are free to go out and continue in sin.

So?  Don’t take repentance as a type of minimum payment on your credit card.  It is also not an installment plan or a layaway plan.  As much as we like games, God is not a good sport when it comes to sin.