In this daily Bible reading God spoke to Moses regarding the various sacrifices that were required to atone for unintentional sins committed by the people. The keyword here is ‘unintentional.’ Sometimes a person would unintentionally sin and be unaware of their sin. Atonement was not required until the person became aware of their sin. When they became aware, then atonement was required.
Intentional sins were dealt with more harshly. Intentional sins were not forgiven. The person who intentionally sinned was punished for their sin. In many cases the punishment was death. In other cases, the person had to make restitution for the crime or sin.
Today, people are still punished for committing crimes. And God punishes people for sinning. I believe that many if not most physical afflictions are due to the sins in people’s lives.
Jesus’ sacrificial death will atone for the worst of sins, if a person truly repents. The punishment will still be applied while the person lives. However, where they go after they die will be determined by Jesus’ forgiveness of their sins.
