forgiveness

No Secrets

I’m very glad that God doesn’t keep secrets from us about what he intends to do in our lives. The gift of prophecy is his way of letting us know what he knows about the future that is of concern to us. More than 20 years ago, I had a dream, I believe a prophetic dream, about my future. Although I didn’t understand everything the dream was communicating to me, I knew it was intended to be a guide that I could follow to assure me that God’s will was being carried out.

It is clear that Solomon was familiar with the books of Moses because most of the content of his prayer of dedication of the temple can be found in Leviticus and Deuteronomy. In particular, Solomon focused on prophecies that were given to Moses about Israel after they had settled in the Promised Land. The key issue in Solomon’s intercessory prayer was Israel’s repentance. He prayed to the LORD God of Israel:

If they sin against thee,  (for there is no man that sinneth not) and thou be angry with them, and deliver them to the enemy, so that they carry them away captives unto the land of the enemy, far or near; yet if they shall bethink themselves in the land whither they were carried captives, and repent, and make supplication unto thee in the land of them that carried them captives, saying, We have sinned, and have done perversely, we have committed wickedness; and so return unto thee with all their heart, and with all their soul, in the land of their enemies, which led them away captive…Then hear thou their prayer and their supplication in heaven thy dwelling place, and maintain their cause, and forgive thy people that have sinned against thee. (I Kings 8:46-50)

It was no secret that the Israelites would go into captivity, therefore, Solomon prayed as if it had already happened and asked the LORD in advance to forgive them.

You’re going the wrong way

The Global Positioning System (GPS) that enables electronic car navigation to work properly has a feature that is comparable to forgiveness. Once a destination has been identified and a route planned, GPS recalculates the route if the driver get’s off course.

David used three key words in Psalm 32 related to navigation, imputeth, transgression, and iniquity, that describe how God’s forgiveness works. David said, “Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity” (Psalm 32:2). The word translated imputeth, châshab (khaw – shab´) “signifies a mental process whereby some course is planned or conceived” (2803). When God charts the course of a person’s life, it is similar to entering an address into a navigation system. Once the coordinates are locked in, the system makes adjustments as necessary.

As with reaching a desired destination in traffic, life sometimes causes us to intentionally veer off course. David said, “I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD” (Psalm 32:5). The word translated transgressions, pesha‘ (peh´ – shah) signifies a revolt, “a willful rebellion from a prescribed or agreed upon path” (6588). Sin and transgression are sometimes used interchangeably to describe an offense against God. The important thing to note is that these words do not represent mistakes, like taking a wrong turn, they describe actions that are taken that ignore or circumvent the course that God has charted for us.

Occasionally, due to an accident or road construction, we are forced to take an alternate route. Iniquity is an alternate route that we take because we choose or want to avoid reaching our destination. David said, “I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid” (Psalm 32:5). The word translated iniquity, ‘avôwn (aw – vone´) portrays sin as “a perversion of life (a twisting out of the right way)” (5771). When David said that he had not hid his iniquity, he was not talking about it being hidden from God because that would be impossible. David had been deceiving himself, he thought that because he had Uriah killed in battle (2 Samuel 11:15), he was not guilty of murder. David’s navigation system tried to tell him he was going the wrong way, but his iniquity caused him to turn it off, so he didn’t have to listen to its annoying reminders.

After Nathan the prophet confronted him, David said, “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered” (Psalm 32:1). Nathan did not tell David he had sinned. David knew he had sinned before Nathan came to see him. God sent Nathan to tell David to turn his navigation system back on so God could start giving him directions again and correct his course. That’s what it means to be forgiven.

And justice for all

America’s pledge of allegiance ends with the words, and justice for all. I think there is an assumption that America’s justice system will fulfill this expectation, but the part of the pledge that assures justice is, one nation under God. Some people do not believe God is just. They accuse him of allowing sins to go unpunished when the criminal justice system fails them.

The thing that makes God just is not that he punishes the wicked, but that he paid the penalty for every sin. The Hebrew word nacah which is translated as lifted up in Psalm 93, “is used of the undertaking of the responsibilities for sins of others by  substitution or representation” (5375). Jesus died on the cross for every sinner and his blood paid for every sin that has or ever will be committed.

The Psalmist said in Psalm 92:4, “For thou, LORD, hast made me glad through thy work: I will triumph in the work of thy hands.” Many people equate punishment with justice, but the word for just in Hebrew, yashar means upright or righteous. It is also expressed as right or right in his eyes, in the same way that we think of doing the right thing.

In God’s justice system, doing the right thing meant paying the penalty for our sins himself. He offers each person a full pardon and forgives every sin that we have ever committed. Every person that accepts his forgiveness is a testimony, a believable witness that God is just and holiness or perfection is a fair standard of measurement.

They knew what they were doing

The family of Aaron had unique responsibilities which included making burnt offerings, “and were appointed for all the work of the place most holy, and to make an atonement for Israel” (1 Chronicles 6:49). Atonement or kâphar (kaw – far´) in Hebrew, was the process whereby the sins of the Israelites were covered over by the blood of the animals that were sacrificed on their behalf.

A young bull was designated for the sin offering. “After the elders laid their hands on the bull (to transfer the people’s sin to the bull), the bull was killed. The priest then brought some of the blood of the bull into the tent of meeting and sprinkled it seven times before the veil” (3722). This ritual enabled the people’s sin to be forgiven. “The Day of Atonement was celebrated only once a year. Only on this day could the high priest enter the holy of holies of the tabernacle or temple on behalf of the people of Israel and make atonement for them” (3722).

Most people probably think that Jesus’ death on the cross was a mistake, that the Jewish council that condemned him to death did not know what they were doing. The responsibility of making atonement for the people was specifically placed on the high priest because of the seriousness of the problem. If the people’s sin was not atoned for, they would not receive salvation when they died.

The council’s decision making process for putting Jesus to death  is recorded in John 11:47-53:

Then gathered the chief priests and the Pharisees a council, and said, What do we? for this man doeth many miracles. If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him: and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation. And one of them, named Caiaphas, being the high priest that same year, said unto them, Ye know nothing at all, nor consider that it is expedient for us, that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not. And this spake he not of himself: but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation; and not for that nation only, but that also he should gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad. Then from that day forth they took counsel together for to put him to death.

The word translated expedient, sumphero (soom – fer´ – o) means to bear together. It is derived from two words, phero (fer´ – o) which means to bear as in bearing or bringing forth fruit (5342) and sun (soon) which means with or together (4862). The idea behind these words is prosperity, to gather much fruit and receive benefit from it. So what Caiaphas was saying was that Jesus’ death would bring forth the fruit or final result of all of their sacrifices for the people’s sin.

He came down

He bowed the heavens also, and came down. And darkness was under his feet. And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly. Yea, he did fly upon the wings of the wind. (Psalm 18:9-10)

This picture of God’s active, sovereign, and mighty involvement in the affairs of men may conjure up images of Superman, but David’s vision of being rescued by his redeemer is not fiction. It is likely that David was imagining a time in the future when the Lord, Jesus would be actively engaged in the affairs of men.

David’s statement, “The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me” (Psalm 18:20) might seem pretentious unless you understand that David had devoted his heart and life to the service of the LORD and his godliness was the fruit of God’s gracious working in his heart.

The word translated recompense, shûwb (shoob) means to turn back. “The process called conversion or turning to God is in reality a re-turning or a turning back again to him from whom sin has separated us” (7725). David experienced conversion, not in the same way a New Testament Believer does, but he gave his life to the Lord and I believe he had a rebirth or regeneration of his spirit.

What David was lacking in the process of salvation was remission of his sins. It says in Hebrews 9:22, “almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.” The Greek word for remission, aphesis (af´- es – is) “denotes a release, from bondage, imprisonment, liberation from captivity and remission of debt. It also means forgiveness or pardon, of sins (letting them go as if they had never been committed)” (859).

David proclaimed, “I have kept the ways of the LORD, and have not wickedly departed from my God” (Psalm 18:21). David did not say he kept the laws of the LORD, he said he kept the ways of the LORD and did not depart from his God. David’s perfect record had to do with his relationship with the LORD. David walked with the LORD and kept to the path that God had chosen for him. He was obedient to the will of the LORD and confessed his sin throughout his entire life.

David said, “As for God, his way is perfect: The word of the LORD is tried” (Psalm 18:30) and concluded Psalm 18 by saying, “Great deliverance giveth he to his king, and showeth mercy to his anointed, to David, and his seed for evermore” (Psalm 18:50). The word evermore or ‘ôlâm in Hebrew means eternity. David knew that in eternity Christ would reign over Israel, therefore, David is stating that the Messiah would come from his seed or be one of his descendants. This must have been an amazing revelation for David. It is clear that David’s understanding of being God’s anointed meant that his seed or one of his offspring would eventually give birth to Jesus Christ who would come down from heaven and complete the process of salvation for David.

What did I do to deserve this?

A woman that is truly a victim knows she has not done anything to deserve the mistreatment she gets from an offender. Many times a guilty conscience can cause doubt as to whether something was deserved or not. The second time I was raped, I did not feel I was a victim, but was getting the punishment I deserved for a previous wrong action. It almost felt good to be punished because it took away the guilt, but it made it difficult for me to feel anger toward the man that raped me and at that time, I was not sure if I wanted or should escape from what was happening to me.

Somewhere in between I know I don’t deserve this and this is all my fault is the question that never seems to get answered, what did I do to deserve this? David had a fail proof system for clarifying whether or not he deserved the treatment he was getting from king Saul and his army. David said in Psalm 7:8-9, “The LORD shall judge the people: Judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness, and according to mine integrity that is in me. O let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end; but establish the just: for the righteous God trieth the hearts and reins.”

Basically, what David was saying was LORD, you be the judge. David knew it was pointless to judge himself, so he would turn every situation over to the LORD to work out according to his knowledge of David’s character and motives. The advantage to letting the LORD be the judge is that David did not ever live with guilt. He trusted that God was fair and just in dealing with his children and would not allow the wicked to triumph over the righteous. With regard to the wicked, David believed “His mischief shall return upon his own head, and his violent dealing shall come down on his own pate” (Psalm 7:16).

The story begins

When my children were young, I tried to teach them everything they needed to know to be able to take care of themselves, like how to cook, clean, and do laundry. Although there were many things they were able to do for themselves, there were some things I had to do for them because they couldn’t handle the responsibility. For instance, I had to pay the bills because they had no concept of earning a living, having a budget, or being responsible for debt.

God tried to teach the Israelites how to be holy, but they did not understand the concept of forgiveness. Forgiveness was the only way the Israelites could be holy because they, like all humans, had a sin nature and could not live a perfect life. When forgiveness occurs, it is like wiping the slate clean, there is no more evidence of the offense. But in order to do that, there has to be a departure or taking away of the sin. Sins do not magically disappear just because they have been forgiven. The sin is removed and placed on the sacrifice where it is atoned for.

The spirit of the LORD departed from Saul because of his disobedience, but the underlying problem was that his sins were not forgiven. Saul was not aware that he was carrying his sins around with him, that the accumulated weight on his spirit was making it impossible for the spirit of the LORD to function in his life. It wasn’t until the spirit of the LORD departed that Saul knew he was in trouble.

Saul sought out a man to soothe his spirit when he was troubled and the man he selected was the man God anointed to replace him. David is described as a man “that is cunning in playing, and a mighty valiant man, and a man of war, and prudent in matters, and a comely person, and the LORD is with him” (1 Samuel 16:18). David was the great grandson of Ruth and Boaz. At the time he was called to serve Saul, he was a shepherd responsible for tending his father’s sheep. The only thing he had in common with Saul was that he was also anointed to be king.