Numbers 5:7. “Then they shall confess their sin which they have done: and he shall recompense his trespass with the principal thereof, and add unto it the fifth part thereof, and give it unto him against whom he hath trespassed.”
THE FIFTH PART. Restitution – not revenge. The concept – new at that time – was Unique, because it stopped a cycle of wrongs. Pay-back time was not bloody. This way – there could be a stop. The fifth part took care of that.
Robbery, a trespass, a law broken – Now was the time to get your rights met. The guilty was found out. The guilty was confronted. The guilty was condemned. He faces that – and the fifth part.
Restoration takes place; The loss must be paid for in full. The wrong must be made right. The loss is only part of it all – Trauma, suffering, the upset caused – The fifth part is added – to compensate.
Apologies, though appropriate, are not enough. Awareness of guilt and acknowledgement – Right though they are – is not enough. Tears of repentance and sobbed out words;
Not enough to fully make restitution. The fifth part is required.
The victim has a right to what is his – After all, he earned it or received it legally. The loss must come back in full – But how is the lesson learned by all involved? What makes them able to look at each other? The fifth part!
Measure the full amount – make up the full value. Let all see and know its worth. The accounting is important to the solution. Put it down in writing – not guess-work; 20% has to be added to the sum - The whole, plus the fifth part.
Twenty years of sinning? Four years of serving. The fifth part is 20% of the same thing – compensation. Thirty years of holding back what belongs to God? 10% of $500.00 per week = $50.00 to give to God. You forgot? 30 years: $72,000 + 18,000 = $90,000. The fifth part added thereto.
We don’t strike back and claim unfairness. Vengeance is not the answer God allows. Apologies are nice – and right – and expected. Restitution of that which was lost is fully made. But I must go farther – in my life or whatever – I must add the fifth part.
“O God of righteousness and fairness: I have tried to keep my accounts up to date so that what is gained is not lost to the dirt and chaff of this world. Give me spiritual eyes to see where true value lies. Enable this world-prone mind, to rise above what the natural man sees as important, and look at everything through eyes anointed with eye-salve from above. Keep me back from keeping back – that which belongs to Thee and others is not mine. Neither is the fifth part. Amen.”