014. Forgiveness. Psalm 32. A King Found Forgiveness

Posted on March 5, 2011 by Jim Holbeck

David was the sort of young man some parents hope would propose to their daughter. Handsome. Wealthy. Immensely strong physically. Well respected in the community. Musically gifted. Talented instrumentalist. Prodigious composer of many enduring hits. Familiar with the Royals. Deeply religious. Very courageous.

Where would you find such an excellent young man to introduce to your daughter? Well in the Bible actually. She would have to read about him there because he lived a long time ago.  We are thinking here of King David. A man chosen to be King because he was a man after God’s heart as Samuel told King Saul, 1Samuel 13:14  But now your kingdom shall not continue. The LORD has sought out a man after his own heart, and the LORD has commanded him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept what the LORD commanded you.”  BUT, he was human. He didn’t always live as he should have lived. He sinned against God and against the people he should have been protecting.

 PSALM 32. The blessing of forgiveness

David composed this Psalm which focussed on the theme of forgiveness. He could write about it because he had experienced the blessing of forgiveness personally.  We are not told exactly whether this Psalm was written as a result of David’s sin with Bathsheba so we will leave that aspect until Psalm 51 which was written with that in mind.

He began the Psalm outlining the blessing that forgiveness brings to those who receive it.  Psalm 32:1  Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.  We now come across some of the words we looked at in previous articles in this series.

“Forgiven” is the word “nasa” discussed previously. The transgression had been “lifted up” or “taken away” from him so that he no longer bore the guilt (and the shame) of it.  Many people over the ages have been familiar with the words of John Bunyan in Pilgrim’s Progress. It portrays the moment when Christian in the story comes to the cross. Bunyan wrote, So I saw in my dream, that just as Christian came up with the cross, his burden loosed from off his shoulders, and fell from off his back; and began to tumble, and so continued to do so until it came to the mouth of the sepulchre, where it fell in, and I saw it no more.” Shortly thereafter, Christian sang his song of deliverance: “Thus far did I come laden with my sin, nor could aught ease the grief that I was in, till I came hither. What a place is this! Must here be the beginning of my bliss? Must here the burden fall from off my back? Must here the strings that bound it to me, crack? Blessed cross! Blessed sepulchre! Blessed rather be the Man that there was put to shame for me.

 Since David wrote his Psalm and Bunyan wrote his famous work, millions of people have known the experience of a burden being taken from them when they turned to Christ as Saviour. In fact it was not unusual to see people come to the Healing Service at St Andrew’s Cathedral, Sydney, obviously very burdened. What a joy to see so many of those folk leave the service after receiving prayer, with a burden obviously having been lifted from them.  Many later testified having received such a blessing during the service.

 “Covered” is from the word “kasha” meaning to “cover up”.  David doesn’t mean that he tried to cover up or cover over his own sin. Rather as he confessed his sin to God it was as though God covered it over so that it was no longer in His sight. In fact the same verb is used in verse 5 where David explicitly said that he stopped trying to cover up his sin before God, Psalm 32:5  I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity. As David uncovered his sin before God, God “covered it over” as He forgave him. As we remarked before, it is probably true to say that the only sin God cannot “cover over” in His forgiving love and grace is the sin we refuse to “uncover” before Him in repentance and confession.

David further explained the blessing of God’s forgiveness using different terms in verse 2,  Psalm 32:2  Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. By repenting of his sin before God and asking for His forgiveness David had known the blessing that God was not holding those sins against him any longer. But it needed on David’s part a transparency before God so that there was no deceit in his spirit. God is never deceived by human deceit and David had to become honest before God to receive His forgiveness.  (We note in passing the statement in Proverbs 28:13, Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy. It is the same word that is translated in Psalm 32:1 as “cover”.) Sin needs to be uncovered before God to receive His mercy.

Did this come easily to David? No! He took his time to be honest with God and he suffered as a result. Psalm 32:3  For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away (became brittle, HCSBible) through my groaning all day long. 4  For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. He knew he had sinned before God but he wasn’t willing to bring his sin before Him. He suffered the debilitating physical and emotional consequences.

The great change came in his life when he told God about his sin. Psalm 32:5  I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. David in this verse used three different words to describe various aspects of evil-doing, namely sin, iniquity and transgressions. It was as though he was saying that no matter what form the sin took, God’s forgiveness was available to deal with it. But he had to acknowledge it, uncover it and confess it to the Lord.

It is true that God as the Omniscient One knows everything about us including the sins we have committed outwardly in our attitudes and actions and inwardly in our thought life. So we don’t tell Him about our sins to let Him know about them. He already knows.  But He has given us free-will and we can choose to confess our sins to Him or not. In confessing our sins to Him (uncovering them before Him) we are allowing Him to forgive us and to help us by His grace. David experienced a great release in doing that as the Psalm shows, “and you forgave the iniquity of my sin”.  It was from that experience of having his own sins forgiven that he could proclaim the blessedness of forgiveness from God in verses 1 and 2.

QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER by Groups or by Individuals. (Added on 14th Sept 2016)

Ques 1).In verse 1 David wrote of the blessing of having his sin “forgiven” (“lifted up” or “taken away” ) and “covered over”  when he confessed them to God. Is that how you see your sins or do you think they still weigh heavy upon you and are obvious to all, especially God Himself? In what ways could you come to have the freedom David expresses here?

Ques 2). Do you think John Bunyan’s description of Christian being released from the burden of his sin (in the words above from Pilgrim’s Progress) are a great exaggeration or are they realistic in today’s world?  Why do you think so?

Ques 3). In verses 3 and 4 David wrote about the burden that came from not confessing his sin. What effects did it have on him? Do yo think those same effects apply to people today who refuse to acknowledge their sins? Any personal experiences you would be willing to share?

Ques 4). What do you see in this Psalm as the great blessings that flow from being willing to confess our sins to God?

Ques 5). How would you read aloud verse 5 in your translation to emphasise the great release David experienced as he confessed his sins to God? Which translation below do you think expressed it most forcibly?

(ESV) Psa 32:5 I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.
(The Message)  Psa 32:5 Then I let it all out; I said, “I’ll make a clean breast of my failures to GOD.” Suddenly the pressure was gone– my guilt dissolved, my sin disappeared.
(NIV) Psa 32:5 Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD.” And you forgave the guilt of my sin.
(HCSB) Psa 32:5 Then I acknowledged my sin to You and did not conceal my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” and You took away the guilt of my sin.
(CEV) Psalm 32:5, So I confessed my sins and told them all to you. I said, “I’ll tell the Lord
each one of my sins.” Then you forgave me and took away my guilt.
(TLB)  I finally admitted all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide them. I said to myself, “I will confess them to the Lord.” And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone.
(AMPC)  I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I did not hide. I said, I will confess my transgressions to the Lord [continually unfolding the past till all is told]—then You [instantly] forgave me the guilt and iniquity of my sin.
(ERV) But then I decided to confess my sins to the Lord. I stopped hiding my guilt and told you about my sins. And you forgave them all!

Jim Holbeck. Blog No.014. Posted on Saturday 5th March 2011

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013. Forgiveness. Genesis 45-50. The Story Of Joseph

Posted on March 4, 2011 by Jim Holbeck

Ilsa suffered a lot of harm from many, many people when she lived as a young woman in Eastern Europe during the Second World War. (Ilsa was the woman we read about in our last article.) Then of course she was never in a position to seek vengeance. Her traumatic experiences had been in another country more than fifty years before. At that time she had been a vulnerable young woman in a country occupied by a foreign army. But what if she had had an opportunity for revenge back then? Would she have taken revenge? The reality was that there was no one to whom she could appeal. She just had to live with her memories for all those years. And there were many. It seemed to her that there was no chance of any closure and that her life would continue to consist of times when memories would come flooding back. With the memories often came the emotions associated with them. She wondered if she could ever be free.

Her healing came when she began to decline rapidly in health. She realised she needed to get rid of “all that stuff” that was always in her thoughts and memories. The good news is that she found an answer. She could learn to forgive those who had hurt her and let the hurtful things go. With some help and by God’s grace she was enabled to forgive all those people she remembered who had harmed her. Now there was closure. She was able to move on in life without wanting vengeance and as a result enjoyed dramatically improved physical and emotional health. The memories whenever they did return no longer had an emotionally crippling effect on her. She was free!

How about us in this 21st century? If it was possible for us to seek vengeance on those who had harmed us, knowing that we could get away with it, would we be tempted to do so? Such a temptation faced Joseph as he faced his brothers who had sold him into slavery. To punish or to forgive? That was the question! We see the answer in the first of the Old Testament passages we will be examining in this and in future articles.

1). GENESIS. Chapters 45 to 50. Whom Joseph forgave

Whom did Joseph need to forgive? Was he able to do so? Obviously he needed to forgive his brothers. They had sold him into slavery. He finished up far from home in Egypt. But God’s hand was on him. In the providence of God he rose to be second only to Pharaoh in the land of Egypt. Many years later when his brothers came to buy grain during a drought in Canaan he recognised them. He could easily have wreaked vengeance on them. But he didn’t. Joseph had a choice as he looked at his brothers.

One option was to cause them harm for the pain they had caused him. Because of his status in Egypt and the fact that his brothers were “foreigners” in Egypt he could easily have done so. No one but Joseph (and God) knew that these men were Joseph’s brothers. If he had put them to death no one but Joseph would have known that he was wreaking vengeance on his own brothers for their sin against him. It would have been so easy for Joseph to take revenge.

Joseph’s other option was to forgive them. That is what he chose to do. We see in the story many of the factors involved in true forgiveness.

Joseph did not live in denial. He recognised that his brothers had sinned against him. He knew that their sin had caused him to go through great anguish in Egypt. He didn’t deny what had happened but he chose to forgive them of their sin. (We will see in later articles that the reason some people can’t experience the release that forgiveness brings, comes from the fact that they are in denial of the sin committed against them. If you can’t see people as being guilty you can’t forgive them, even though they caused you much grief. It’s only as you recognise the sin of those who hurt you and make the decision to forgive those people, that the release and peace come.)

He wanted to bless those who had made his life so difficult. His generosity to them astounded them. He was seeking their best interests (which we will see later is a mark of Christian love.) Instead of dwelling on the hurt he had received in the past, he saw that God had over-ruled in what had happened. We can imagine what a shock it was when Joseph announced to them, Genesis 45:4 … “I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. 5 And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. His brothers may have sold him into slavery but Joseph saw that God had over-ruled his brothers’ sin to bring him to Egypt for a special purpose.

He saw the bigger picture. He saw that God can use any experience to His glory and to the benefit of His people. The brothers’ sin had been overruled by God for Joseph’s ultimate blessing, for the blessing of his family and for the blessing of the Egyptian people. Genesis 45:7 And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. 8 So it was not you who sent me here, but God.

Joseph could easily have seen himself as a victim, which he indeed was. But “victim mentality” gets one nowhere. Evil is always evil. Sin is always sin. Evil and sin always cause harm to those sinned against. There ARE victims as a result of other people’s sin. However the good news is that people can move from being “victims” to becoming “victors” in life by the grace and power of God.

When Joseph’s father Jacob died, his brothers were afraid that Joseph might at that time pay them back for the evil they had committed against him. His true forgiveness was again seen in the reassurance he gave them. Genesis 50:19 But Joseph said to them, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? 20 As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today. 21 So do not fear; I will provide for you and your little ones.” His forgiveness was motivated by his genuine compassion for his brothers, 21…Thus he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.

Sometimes the deepest hurts we experience in life come from members of our own family or extended family. That’s what Joseph experienced. We see in this biblical example of Joseph how true forgiveness operates towards those who could never deserve or earn it.

There may be those who wonder, “How could Joseph have been so forgiving towards his brothers?” The answer is given in the text in Joseph’s complete trust in God. He believed that He over-ruled in all the various circumstances of his life. The Lord’s hand had been on him, protecting him and exalting him so that he could bring blessing in the lives of countless people. Joseph’s forgiveness of his brothers brought great blessing into his life, and in the lives of his wider family.

Ilsa? She didn’t ever become number two in the land of Egypt, or in any other land for that matter. In fact she wouldn’t have been recognised as important by many people throughout her lifetime. But God knew her need. When she asked Him to help her forgive all those people, He gave her the grace to do so in an amazing way. So amazing that I was astonished and delighted with the change in her. Her own Pastor praised God with me for the healing He worked in her.

We will read of others in the days ahead who learned to forgive and knew great blessing and healing as a result.

QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER by Groups or by Individuals.  (Added on Thursday 11th  August 2016)

Ques 1). Do you think that people often live in denial about the hurts that people caused them? Why do you think that is so?

Ques 2). In the story of Joseph what sort of thoughts could have been going through his mind when he recognised his brothers when they came to Egypt for food? Have you had similar thoughts when you met someone who harmed you in the past?

Ques 3). In what way did Joseph see “the big picture” when confronted with his brothers?Is it always possible to see “the big picture” when you are going through difficult times caused by other people?

Ques 4). Joseph had been a victim at the hands of his brothers. Why do you think he did not have a “victim mentality” that could have made him want to seek revenge?

Ques 5). Why do you think Joseph was so forgiving towards his brothers? Are there things in his example that could help us to forgive others if we were to imitate them?

Jim Holbeck. Blog No.13. Posted on Friday 4th March 2011

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012. Forgiveness In The 21st Century. A Practical Example

Posted on February 28, 2011 by Jim Holbeck

Ilsa had a problem. In fact she had many problems. No wonder, I thought, when I heard her story. During the Second World War she was a very young Jewish woman in Eastern Europe. On one occasion she was badly burned. She had been wrapped in bandages so that she resembled in her words a “wrapped up mummy”. The Russian forces were approaching her district and people were deeply afraid. The Russians arrived and began to enter dwelling after dwelling.

Then came a day she would never forget. She was with another young woman in a home. Soldiers entered and barely glanced at a “mummy” lying in a corner of the room.  They directed their attention to her friend. Soon her friend had been stripped in front of her and became the victim of multiple rapes. Ilsa however was left alone. The incident left her with what some call “survivor guilt”. She had “survived” such terrible evil while her friend was so badly physically and emotionally damaged.

As the months went on she became a victim herself of many atrocities. Somehow she survived the war. She  eventually emigrated to Australia. Some years later she heard the Christian gospel about Jesus the Messiah who had died to make forgiveness available to those who wanted to know peace with God. Deeply moved she opened her heart to Jesus in a real surrender. Years later she developed a life-threatening cancer. Her Pentecostal pastor was not all that sure about healing. So he humbly suggested that she come to the Healing Ministry in St Andrew’s Cathedral in Sydney to see if we could help her.

When I met Ilsa she was in a bad way. Feeling sick because of the cancer. Depressed because she had been so badly treated in Eastern Europe and she still had so many memories coming back into her mind. Feeling “guilty” because she had “survived” when so many of her family and friends had not. Feeling disappointed because she had hoped her faith would have made her a much happier person.

It was a privilege to be able to minister to her with the blessing of her pastor. I was able to share some of the truths about forgiveness that we will meet in these series of articles. I shared from Ephesians 4:31-32 about the love of God in forgiving us completely in Christ and how we could be released through that experience to forgive those who had sinned against us,  Eph 4:31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. If God forgave us completely in Christ then we needed to completely forgive those who had hurt us as well. God could give us the grace to do so.

Ilsa realised that there were some people she needed to forgive. I suggested that she get a notebook and let the Lord remind her of people she needed to forgive. She could then write down their names and also the specific things that needed to be forgiven. Then we could work through the notebook together as she forgave the people of all the things they had committed against her. I remember her saying as she left, “I’ll just get a little exercise book. I don’t think there are all that many people that I’ll need to forgive.”

We arranged to meet several weeks later. When we did meet two things struck me. The first pleased me greatly. She seemed to be so much happier and more at peace than when I saw her the previous time.  The second didn’t bring me the same amount of joy. She wasn’t carrying a little exercise book. Rather she was carrying a large bundle of sheets of paper.  She must have noticed me staring apprehensively at the size of the bundle of papers and said with a smile, “There were actually more people I needed to forgive than I thought.”

What I didn’t realise when she returned the second time was that she had begun the process of forgiving people. She had gone through many of the sheets of paper and forgiven the people involved and the sins they had committed against her. We were then able to work through the remaining names. I remember thinking as I heard her forgive certain people of specific sins against her, “I don’t know how humans can treat fellow humans so abominably. How do people ever survive such brutality and abuse?”  I was amazed to find that that God had given her such a forgiving heart in such a short time.

Ilsa worked through the remaining sheets of paper and audibly forgave the people involved and the sins they had committed against her.  Then we went outside and together we tore up all the sheets of paper. We placed them in a metal drum and she reached in and set them alight.  We watched the papers burn. Ilsa stirred the embers with a long stick until there was only ash. She departed that day a different woman. She said as she left that she felt “so clean and so free”.  It was obvious that something deep had happened within her. Several months later her Pentecostal pastor rang to say “I don’t know what you did but Ilsa is so different, at peace and feeling so much better in every way.” However we both knew that it wasn’t anything I had done. God had been at work in Ilsa enabling her to forgive all those people. He had also brought her quite amazing physical and emotional healing in such a short time.  What God did in and through Ilsa He is able to do in today’s world.

In the articles to follow we will look at some significant Old Testament passages which describe how forgiveness operates in practice and the benefits of forgiving others.  In many of these verses we will see what might be described as God’s “Word Pictures” to enable us to understand and appreciate more fully how amazing is His grace and power towards His people as He forgives them and enables them to forgive others.

(The above story is a true story but the names have been changed for reasons of privacy and confidentiality.)

QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER by Groups or Individuals. (Added on Monday 8th August 2016) 

Ques 1). We saw that Ilsa suffered from what is called “survivor guilt”. (The guilt one feels when something bad has happened to another person and we feel guilty because we didn’t suffer as they did. We survived but they didn’t.) Can you think of a situation where someone might feel that sort of guilt even when they were not guilty of doing anything wrong? (Especially in work, friendship or family situations)?

Ques 2). The passage from Eph 4:31-32 seems to give a simple message, “Forgive as God forgave you.” Is it as simple as that? If not, why could it be more complicated?

Ques 3). If we forgive those who hurt us in the past, do we need to tell them that we have done so? Why or why not? Do we need to tell some of our friends that we have forgiven those other people? Why or why not?

Ques 4). How would you try to encourage someone to forgive a person who had hurt them? What do you think would be some of the “Do’s and don’ts” as you tried to encourage them?

Jim Holbeck.  Blog No. 012.  Posted on Monday 28 February 2011 

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011. Forgiveness. God Covers Over Our Sin. (Kaphar and Kasah)

Posted on February 27, 2011 by Jim Holbeck

Forgiveness. What an incredible release it brings to those who experience it!  Ted as a young man felt that his life had begun all over again when he was “born again” as he put it. He began to experience a whole range of feelings as a result. These included:- a load lifting off him; a real sense of freedom; a sense of being at peace with God; an excitement in discovering a purpose for living.  However there was one thing that still disturbed him. He had lived a pretty riotous life, by his own admission. As he reflected on his life he realised that there were many things he would not want other people to know about his life before his conversion.  He couldn’t forget the things he had said and done. Some memories brought him a renewed sense of shame. He wondered, “Will it always be like this? Will I ever forget those things or do I have to go through those feelings of shame for the rest of my life?”   

Ted discovered a Bible truth that made an incredible difference in his life. It meant that he could hold his head high as a new believer. What was the truth that had helped set him free in this way? The truth is contained in the concept described in our final two words. Both of them have the concept of God “covering over” sin in His forgiveness of people.

1)  “KAPHAR”. This is found in 93 verses and can have the meanings to appease, cover, cleanse, expiate, forgive, and make atonement. For convenience I will use a fairly recent translation, the English Standard Version (ESV) to see how it is translated in that version. These are some of the uses.

Annul. It means to make null and void something in existence. In Isaiah 28:18, it is a covenant with death that is annulled or made to be of no account.  The rulers of Jerusalem had turned to other nations and to other gods and had turned away from trusting in YHWH.  Instead of walking in obedience as the people in covenant with their God, they had formed allegiances with other nations. Isaiah 28:14  Therefore hear the word of the LORD, you scoffers, who rule this people in Jerusalem! 15  Because you have said, “We have made a covenant with death, and with Sheol we have an agreement, when the overwhelming whip passes through it will not come to us, for we have made lies our refuge, and in falsehood we have taken shelter”. However they could not escape the judgment of God. The covenant (those alliances) they relied on would be annulled and God would move against those who had rejected His rule over them.  Isaiah 28:18  Then your covenant with death will be annulled, and your agreement with Sheol will not stand; when the overwhelming scourge passes through, you will be beaten down by it.

 Appease. It is used only on the human level in terms of a person doing something to avert the anger of another person.  It is used in this way in Genesis 32 of Jacob sending presents ahead of him to ensure that Esau would not be angry with him. He commanded his servants, Genesis 32:20  and you shall say, ‘Moreover, your servant Jacob is behind us.'” For he thought, “I may appease him with the present that goes ahead of me, and afterward I shall see his face. Perhaps he will accept me.”

It is also found in Proverbs to give the good advice that it is wise to seek to pacify rulers who might have power to punish with death those who incur their anger, Proverbs 16:14  A king’s wrath is a messenger of death, and a wise man will appease it.  

 Cleanse. God would cleanse His people and their land by punishing His adversaries and by removing idolatry from the nation.  (Deuteronomy 32:43  “Rejoice with him, O heavens; bow down to him, all gods, for he avenges the blood of his children and takes vengeance on his adversaries. He repays those who hate him and cleanses his people’s land.” (This does not conflict with other passages showing that God is a forgiving God. Here God deals with those who remain His adversaries and continue to hate Him. They have no desire or intention to ask Him for forgiveness.) However we see that there was better news for those who turned away from their sin and turned back to God. Deut 32:45 And when Moses had finished speaking all these words to all Israel, 46 he said to them, “Take to heart all the words by which I am warning you today, that you may command them to your children, that they may be careful to do all the words of this law. 47 For it is no empty word for you, but your very life, and by this word you shall live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess.” God would not only cleanse the people’s land but He was also cleanse the people who turned back to Him.

 Expiation. This refers to the removal of sin. Numbers 35:33  ‘So you shall not pollute the land in which you are; for blood pollutes the land and no expiation can be made for the land for the blood that is shed on it, except by the blood of him who shed it, (in NASB, RSV and NRSV versions. “Atonement” in ESV).  Murder made the land unclean. Justice and cleansing demanded that the murderer be executed. There was no other expiation or sacrifice that could be made to cleanse the land.

Forgive. (Many instances of “Kaphar” are translated as “forgive” in some translations. However in the ESV it is usually translated as “atone” or “make atonement”.

 Make atonement or to atone

There are 12 occurrence where the words for “make atonement” ( karphar)  and “forgive” (salach which I have described in previous articles) are linked together. This is especially so in the book of Leviticus. It makes sense, because it is the process of offering the required sacrifices which brings about the atonement or “covering over” of sin. This is what makes forgiveness available. Just one example, (Leviticus 4:26)  And all its fat he shall burn on the altar, like the fat of the sacrifice of peace offerings. So the priest shall make atonement for him for his sin, and he shall be forgiven. Other verses with the same recurring theme  “make atonement”  …  “shall be forgiven” are found in Leviticus 4:31, 35, 5:10, 13, 16, 18, 6:7, 19:22.

The other references with the same linked themes are in Numbers 15 where the sacrifices are offered for the covering over (atonement) of unintentional sins,  (Numbers 15:25)  And the priest shall make atonement for all the congregation of the people of Israel, and they shall be forgiven, because it was a mistake, and they have brought their offering, a food offering to the LORD, and their sin offering before the LORD for their mistake.  ….  28)  And the priest shall make atonement before the LORD for the person who makes a mistake, when he sins unintentionally, to make atonement for him, and he shall be forgiven.  The people could express their repentance for their sin and their faith in God by bringing the necessary offering to enable God to cover over their mistakes.

2)  “KASHAH”.   Another word dealing with God “covering” sin

This is found in over 149 verses in the Old Testament and is used to indicate the covering of many things. It mainly refers to the covering or concealing of things or people. But it is also used for the covering of sin or transgressions. Some examples are these:-

Nehemiah asks God not to “cover” the sins of those who had hindered the rebuilding of Jerusalem. As such they were opposing God Himself,  Nehemiah 4:5  Do not cover their guilt, and let not their sin be blotted out from your sight, for they have provoked you to anger in the presence of the builders. Nehemiah is concerned for the glory of God. The sin of those who maintained their opposition to God should not be covered over. Nor should their ongoing sin be blotted out and forgiven while they remained God’s enemies.

 Job desired to be open with God and not like others who concealed their sin,  Job 31:33  if I have concealed my transgressions as others do by hiding my iniquity in my bosom.  In his openness to God he wanted to bring any sin before God rather than hiding it, Job 31:37  I would give him an account of all my steps; like a prince I would approach him.

 David spoke of the blessing of being open with God, Psalm 32:1  Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.  But he was not always like that. He had tried to hide his sin from God and went through great turmoil as a result. As he later uncovered his sin before God, God covered it over and forgave him.  In David’s words, I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Psalm 32:5

 King Solomon said much the same as David, in Proverbs 28:13, Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy. There is no blessing in hiding one’s sin. But to uncover them before God by confessing them to Him and then forsaking them, brings His mercy.  It could be said that the only sin God does not “cover over”, is the sin we humans fail to “uncover” before Him in repentance.

Ted rejoiced in the knowledge that though his sins were “pretty gross” as he put it, when he confessed them to God and asked His forgiveness, God forgave him. Not only that but He had “covered over” all those sins.  If God Himself was not going to keep looking at them, then Ted realised that he had no right to think about them either.

 In summary, as we look at these 2 words for God “covering over” sin in forgiveness, we can say a couple of things. The first is that the whole sacrificial system was instituted by God Himself. It was not set up by humans to try to appease Him.  It came from the grace of God in telling humans that sin mattered to Him; that it had to be dealt with; that a sacrifice had to be offered to cover over the sin (atonement); and that forgiveness became available as a result of offering the sacrifices He required.  In offering the sacrifices God had instituted, the people were acting in faith on what God had said. They were trusting in His provision for their sins to be covered over and forgiven.

Secondly what was needed for forgiveness to be received was a humble approach to God. This meant uncovering all one’s sins before Him and deciding not to try to hide them from Him as David apparently tried unsuccessfully to do. It also meant asking God for His forgiveness and allowing Him to cover over all those sins in His mercy, grace and forgiving love.

QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER by Groups or Individuals. (added Sunday 7th August 2016)

Ques 1. In our story Ted felt a lot of guilt even after he became a Christian. Did you have the same sort of experience and if so, how did you learn to overcome that feeling of guilt?

Ques 2. In the paragraph beginning with “Cleanse”it appears that God does not “cover over” the sins of those who refuse to turn to Him. What do these verses from 1 John 1:8 to 9 tell us about God cleansing His people when they turn to him in repentance?  (1 Jn 1:8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.) 

Ques 3. In the paragraph beginning “Make atonement or to atone” how do the people express their repentance and how do they seek to have their sin covered over?

Ques 4. Have you ever had an experience like that of King David in Psalm 32? How did you uncover your sin before God? How did you know that God covered over those sins?

Ques 5. What is the significance in the fact that God  Himself established the sacrificial system? What were the parts that God, the priest and the worshipper played in this sacrificial system?

Jim Holbeck. Blog No. 11.  Posted on Sunday 27February 2011

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010. Evangelism. Sharing Jesus with other people

Posted on February 23, 2011 by Jim Holbeck

“Timmy’s different, but Jesus loves him!” The words of a little 5 year old girl. But what an impact they had on me so that I still remember them over 50 years later! What was so powerful about those words?

At the time I was in my early twenties with no real contact with the church or with the Bible. The only thing I knew about Jesus was that He had been crucified on a cross.  I had come to know a little about Timmy the little girl’s brother. He was what was described then as “severely multi-handicapped”. So much so that he had to be institutionalised in a special facility for such children. Another description was that he was virtually “a vegetable” with no hope of ever leaving that facility.

The terms used to describe him seem to be very insensitive in today’s understanding of people with needs. But that was Timmy’s situation and his parents and his sister came often from the country to visit him.

Timmy was indeed “different” from other children.  From a previous conversation I had a picture of Timmy as having no real hope of every becoming more “normal” as we would have said in those days.  He would never make any “contribution” to society as we would have put it then. In the eyes of some people he would be “of no value”.  Even his sister said he was “different”.  

I wasn’t prepared for the words or the way in which they were said, when she added, “But Jesus loves him!” They were said by a sister who obviously loved him. They were said with the innocence of a young child. She had probably been taught those words by her parents.  But they impacted me big-time. Who was this Jesus that he could love such a human being? How could this Jesus see value in what some had described as virtually a “vegetable”?  Would this Jesus love me and others who needed to be loved?

“Timmy’s different, but Jesus loves him!” What an evangelistic message! At least it was to me. It made me want to read about this Jesus who had such love for such needy, needy people. I began to open a Bible and as they say, “the rest is history” or as I have discovered in life, “His story.”

As a Christian minister I have been involved in church ministry for over 40 years and in Cathedral ministry for close on 30 years. Because of this I have had the privilege of listening to some of the world’s greatest preachers.  Many of them have made some impact on my life but I have forgotten what most of them said.  What I have not forgotten even 50 years later is the message shared by a little 5 year old girl, “Timmy’s different, but Jesus loves him!”

Isn’t this what evangelism is all about? Sharing what we know about Jesus with other people?  The little girl couldn’t have passed New Testament Year 1 at a theological college at that time.  But she passed the test of sharing what she knew about Jesus with someone who at that time virtually knew nothing about Him. Her words helped motivate him to find out more about the Jesus who loves.

As a little 5 year old girl taught me, “Evangelism is sharing what you know about Jesus with other people.”

Jim Holbeck.  Blog No 10.   Posted on Wednesday 23February 2011.

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009. FORGIVENESS. God removes Our Sin From Us. “nasa.” Part 2

Posted on February 23, 2011 by Jim Holbeck

NOTE. This can be downloaded as aPDF file by clicking on this link.  009 nasa God removes our sin from us Part 2

Shirley became a different person. In the previous article we read of the great change in her life when she discovered that God was loving and forgiving. She reached out to Him for forgiveness.   As a result she was more at peace knowing that her sins were forgiven and that she had a God-given purpose in life.  She also experienced ongoing physical healing so that cancer that had led to surgery and other treatment, has never been a problem since that time.  She knew deep emotional healing as well, so that she became more open to other people.  When people open up to a loving forgiving God He can do wonderful things in their lives.

If it is true as we have seen before that God’s nature is to forgive, as Shirley discovered, then why does He tell us in His word that He did not forgive some people?  But first we look at why He forgives.

iv).       God did forgive humans. “Nasa” used for forgiveness by the removal of sin

Moses asked the Lord to forgive the sin of the nation in making and worshipping a golden calf, Exodus 32:32 But now, if you will forgive their sin–but if not, please blot me out of your book that you have written. Punishment was averted for the moment because of Moses’ prayer for them.  However the people needed to genuinely repent and turn back to the Lord for the forgiveness He could give them.  Later God did remind them that sin has its consequences if people do not turn from their sins and turn back to Him, Exodus 32:35  Then the LORD sent a plague on the people, because they made the calf, the one that Aaron made.

At Mt Sinai the Lord appeared to Moses and proclaimed aspects of His character to Moses,  Exodus 34:6  The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, 7  keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin… .  God forgave people because of those characteristics, namely His mercy, grace, patience, steadfast love and faithfulness.  But did His people appreciate Him and the manifestations of His forgiving love in His dealings with them?

 Obviously not!  It was at Sinai that the people rebelled against God.  They wanted to go back to Egypt. They were ungrateful for the way the Lord had protected them all the way from Egypt to Sinai. They tried to silence Joshua and Caleb who had urged them to enter the Promised Land. They wanted to stone them.  God said to Moses, Numbers 14:11  “How long will this people despise me? And how long will they not believe in me, in spite of all the signs that I have done among them? 12  I will strike them with the pestilence and disinherit them, and I will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they.”

 Moses prayed that God would forgive His people for their rebellion, reminding Him of His declaration to Moses at Sinai, Numbers 14:17  And now, please let the power of the Lord be great as you have promised, …  19  Please pardon the iniquity of this people, according to the greatness of your steadfast love, just as you have forgiven this people, from Egypt until now.”  The Lord forgave them of this latest sin, Numbers 14:20 Then the LORD said, “I have pardoned, according to your word. God did not strike them with pestilence as He had threatened to do.

 However the deliberate ongoing sin of Israel had a consequence. The people were not inflicted with pestilence, but they would miss out on entry into the Promised land,  Numbers 14:23 …  none of those who despised me shall see it.  The people were in ongoing rebellion against the Lord. The only people of that generation who would enter the Promised Land were those who believed God would enable them to take possession of Canaan, namely Joshua and Caleb, Numbers 14:24.

 The story of the history of Israel in these chapters is a wake-up call to those who today would say, “I can do what I like because I can always turn to God and ask Him to forgive me for the things I do or say that are wrong.”  That is dangerous thinking because when people deliberately venture into forbidden areas they can become trapped in them. I have often ministered to people who experimented with aspects of the occult or pornography only to be “hooked” by them.  They repented of their sin. They were forgiven by God. But some consequences often remained.

 King David, in a time of personal difficulty, cried out to God to forgive him, Psalm 25:18 Consider my affliction and my trouble, and forgive all my sins. He knew the blessing of forgiveness for he had experienced God’s forgiveness himself. He affirmed in Psalm 32:1 Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.  (In a later article we will look more closely at the many facets of forgiveness to be seen in Psalm 32). Here David saw the sin he confessed to the Lord as having been taken away and covered over by Him. He felt truly blessed and wrote of that blessing in the Psalm encouraging others to follow his lead and to confess their sin to God. Then they too could know the freedom that came from forgiveness.

The writer of Psalm 99 reflected on the story of God leading His people from Egypt towards the Promised Land. He affirmed what he believed about the character of God as he praised Him, Psalm 99:8  O LORD our God, you answered them; you were a forgiving God to them, but an avenger of their wrongdoings. God was always willing to forgive. Sadly the people were not always willing to ask Him for His forgiveness.

 We see in the final verses dealing with nasa that though God’s character is to forgive, there were some people He did not forgive. He could not forgive those who never asked Him to do so.

v).        God did not forgive some people

When the Israelites had journeyed to Shechem, Joshua renewed the covenant God had made with His people.  The people promised that they would never forsake the Lord who had kept them safe against their enemies, Joshua 24:18. Joshua reminded them what true commitment involved, 19  But Joshua said to the people, “You are not able to serve the LORD, for he is a holy God. He is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions or your sins.

 If their God was a forgiving God why would He not forgive them their sins? Joshua’s answer reminded them that He would not continue to forgive those who later forsook Him and turned to other gods, Joshua 24:20 If you forsake the LORD and serve foreign gods, then he will turn and do you harm and consume you, after having done you good.”  A deliberate turning away from God would render them guilty in His sight until they repented of their rebellion and asked Him for forgiveness.

Why would Isaiah ask God not to forgive people? Isaiah 2:9 So man is humbled, and each one is brought low— do not forgive them!  Isaiah may have meant that God’s people habitually disobeyed His will and turned away from Him.  In Isaiah 2:6-8 the prophet speaks of all the evil the people had done in following other gods. If that attitude were to continue, Isaiah asks God not to forgive them. We saw above that nasa can mean to “forgive” or to “spare”.  It could be that Isaiah was asking God not to spare them from punishment if they deliberately keep on sinning against Him. In either case his words were a warning to a new generation to walk in obedience to God, or else! As he added in verse 11, “in that day” when God acts, humans who exalt themselves against God will be humbled and the Lord alone will be exalted.  Now was the time to humble themselves in true repentance to receive His forgiveness.

The final verse which tells us that there was a time when God did not forgive is Hosea 1:6 . Hosea’s wife Gomer gave birth. She conceived again and bore a daughter. And the LORD said to him, “Call her name No Mercy, for I will no more have mercy on the house of Israel, to forgive them at all. No longer would the nation of Israel know the Lord’s mercy and protection. They had continued to rebel against the Lord. They didn’t want Him to control them. He would no longer forgive them because they saw no need to ask for His forgiveness.

The Greek version of the Old Testament (the Septuagint which was in use before Jesus was born) translates this verse as,   for I will no more have mercy on the house of Israel, but will surely set myself in array against them (Brenton translation).  The verb to set in array is antitassō which means to set oneself in opposition to, or, to resist. It is also found in Proverbs 3:34 where it is said that “the Lord resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.  Because Israel had taken their stand against the Lord (resisted Him) and not humbled themselves before Him, He would now take His stand against them and not show them mercy.  God’s mercy and forgiveness come only to those who humble themselves to receive them from Him.  Otherwise He cannot forgive them. Many Israelites, at different times in the history of the nation chose to close themselves to His grace and mercy.

We can see in all these references to “nasa” in the Old Testament a rich tapestry made up of various threads relating to God carrying His people, sparing and protecting them, releasing them from guilt and forgiving those who did not deserve such grace and love.

At the same time there is the sobering reminder that God is not to be trifled with. Those who never humble themselves to receive His grace in forgiveness, are not forgiven. Only God knows who such people might be in today’s world. In the meantime the gospel message (of what God has done for us in His Son Jesus Christ, and made available in Him) is meant to go out to the whole world. Then people around the world have the opportunity of hearing about a loving, merciful forgiving God; they can put their trust in His Son as their Saviour; they can come into an experience of the release of forgiveness which can bring them physical and emotional healing as well as knowing peace with God.  As the Lord says of Himself,  Exodus 34:6  The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, 7  keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin… .

QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER. For Groups or individuals.(Added on Wed 27 July 2016)

Ques 1. In Section iv) above Moses asked God to forgive the nation for making and worshipping a golden calf (Exodus 32). Why do you think they were initially forgiven but later, judgment came on them?  Does that have any application for us today?

Ques 2. Do you think that people in today’s world think about God in the terms God used of Himself in Exodus 34:6-7 above? If not, why not? How could their minds be changed?

Ques 3. As you read Numbers 14:11 above does it remind you of the world at large today? In what ways?

Ques 4. In Section v) above what are some of the reasons given as to why God will not forgive sin? Are there people today whom God has not forgiven? If so, how could they receive forgiveness from God?

 Jim Holbeck.  Blog No.9.   Posted Wednesday 23 February 2011

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008. FORGIVENESS. God Removes Our Sin From Us. (nasa). Part 1 of 2

Posted on February 22, 2011 by Jim Holbeck

Shirley said excitedly, “I feel that a whole load has lifted off my shoulders.”  She had come to see me because she felt so burdened. She had been through cancer surgery and other treatment and survived.  It soon became obvious as we talked that she was carrying a lot of resentment and unforgiveness. I shared the gospel message about Jesus who could forgive her of the things of which she said, she felt ashamed.  Not only that but He could help her forgive those who had hurt her. Then she would be able to move on in life without all the bitterness and pain she had been carrying.  I led her in a prayer of commitment to Jesus in which she thanked Him for dying for her on the cross. She then invited Him into her life.  The result was a different Shirley.  She was smiling and looking more at peace as she said those words above.

Had anything happened? Yes! A whole load of guilt had indeed been lifted from her as she prayed the prayer. She became even more relaxed in the weeks that followed. She began to understand more fully who Jesus was and the implications of what He had done for her on the cross. She began to know the peace that forgiveness brings to those who receive it from God. She also knew a greater ongoing release as she forgave more of the people she recognised had damaged her life in some way in the past. She has remained in good health many years later.

There were people in the Old Testament who had similar experiences of release through forgiveness.  One of the words used for “forgive” in the Old Testament is “nasa”. It refers to the lifting up or removal of sin leading to forgiveness in several of the 600 plus occurrences of that word in the Bible.  The word also means to lift up or carry away. It refers in a literal sense to the lifting up some part of the body such as the head, eyes, face, hands, or lifting up one’s voice.  It was used to show how God had lifted up and carried the nation of Israel to safety. We note how it is used in the following verses where nasa is underlined.

 i).            God spared His people from their enemies

The sin of the city Sodom was repugnant to God. He vowed to punish it. Abraham asked God to spare the city if there were fifty righteous people to be found in it.  His reply was “If I find at Sodom fifty righteous in the city, I will spare the whole place for their sake.” Genesis 18:26. It appears in the story that there were not even ten righteous people in the city and so punishment fell. If there had been ten, the widespread punishment of the city would have been averted; they would have been spared.

In Exodus 19 we read of the Israelites as they journeyed from bondage in Egypt towards the promised land of Canaan.  They came into wilderness of Sinai. There the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel:  Exodus 4)  You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Exodus 19:3, 4. He reminded them of His faithfulness in leading them out of Egypt.  (He “bore” [nasa] them on eagles’ wings).

There are many people in today’s world who relate to those verses. They feel that God did carry them through the difficult times they experienced. It is the theme behind the well -known poem “Footprints in the Sand” where the writer describes life as walking with the Lord in the sand. However she notices only one set of footprints in the sand at the difficult times of life. In the poem she enquires of the Lord, Why, when I needed you most, you have not been there for me?” The Lord replied, “The times when you have seen only one set of footprints, is when I carried you.”  Hundreds of people have shared with me over the years some very tragic stories of experiences in their lives. But many of them have shared that it was only as they thought back over those times much later on that they realised that God had indeed supported them or carried them through those times.

We see a similar reference to the Lord’s protection of Jacob in Deuteronomy 32 where again the word nasa is used for “bearing” the nation.  Deuteronomy 32:9, But the LORD’s portion is his people, Jacob his allotted heritage. 10 “He found him in a desert land, and in the howling waste of the wilderness; he encircled him, he cared for him, he kept him as the apple of his eye. 11 Like an eagle that stirs up its nest, that flutters over its young, spreading out its wings, catching them, bearing them on its pinions.  He had carried them. He had protected them. He remained trustworthy. But they needed to trust Him and to obey Him to enjoy the blessings He had in store for them in His covenant with them.

ii).          God saved His people by removing their sin from them

God taught His people in many ways that sin could be removed.  One such example was an instruction to Aaron the priest to lay hands on a live goat and confess the sins of the nation over it. Then the goat would be led into the wilderness. It was as though the sins of the nation were transferred onto the goat and the goat carried the sins far away from the people,  Leviticus 16:22 The goat shall bear all their iniquities on itself to a remote area, and he shall let the goat go free in the wilderness. The scapegoat was to bear and take away the sins of the people.

However the people of Israel were accountable to God for their sin. In many passages in Leviticus the phrase “he shall bear his iniquity” occurs where “bear” is “nasa’. (Leviticus 5:1, 17, 7:18, 17:16, 19:8, 20:17,19, 22:16). These verses speak about various kinds of sin but common to them all is the accountability to God of all the people involved.   Sin does matter to God but even in the Old Testament revelation we see the willingness of God to take away or to remove sin from those who would otherwise have to bear their sin and its consequences.

 Centuries later John the Baptist saw Jesus approaching him, (John 1:29)  The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away (Greek is airō = lift up or take away) the sin of the world!  And in John 1:36 and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!”  John the Baptist obviously believed that Jesus was the long promised Messiah, the One who had come to take away the sin of the world. John the apostle wrote of Jesus, 1John 3:5 “You know that he (Jesus) appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin.” The phrase “take away”  here is (airō) the same word he used in  describing what Jesus would do as the Lamb of God in Jn 1:29.

 iii).         Humans forgave fellow humans. (nasa here used in terms of forgiving.)

It is possible for people to forgive one another! It was even in Old Testament times. Joseph did so. When Jacob the father of Joseph and his brothers died, the latter were afraid that Joseph might now pay them back for selling him into slavery.  So they sent a message purportedly coming from the lips of Jacob before he died. Genesis 50:17 “Say to Joseph, Please forgive the transgression of your brothers and their sin, because they did evil to you.’ And now, please forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father.”  They needn’t have worried. Joseph had already decided to forgive them and not hold their sin against them.  Joseph in that sense released them from their sin against him.

 In Exodus 10 the story is of Pharaoh summoning Moses and Aaron when a locust plague came on the land of Egypt.  He recognised that he had sinned against the God of Israel and against the people of Israel in not allowing them to depart from the land. He asked Moses and Aaron, Exodus 10:17 Now therefore, forgive my sin, please, only this once, and plead with the Lord your God only to remove this death from me.” He wanted to be released from his guilt towards God’s people. He also wanted God to cancel the consequences of his sin in rejecting God’s will for His people by refusing to let them go. He asked for forgiveness. Unfortunately he forfeited it by hardening his heart again towards God’s people.

Abigail asked David to forgive her for her husband’s evil in showing contempt towards David and his servants. (1Samuel 25:28)  Please forgive the trespass of your servant. For the LORD will certainly make my lord a sure house, because my lord is fighting the battles of the LORD, and evil shall not be found in you so long as you live. She was not personally guilty but was willing to bear any punishment that might have been meted out to her husband Nabal and to the other men who had rejected David’s messengers. She recognised David and his men as fighting the battles of the LORD, 1Samuel 25:28. She asked this servant of God for forgiveness.  David was moved by her selflessness and chose not to destroy Nabal and the males of that place as he had previously vowed to do.

In the next section we will see that God not only spared [nasa] His people and saved [nasa] them but was willing to forgive [nasa] them. But we also are faced with verses which indicate that God did not forgive some people. We need to see what those verses mean if it is true, as the Bible states, that God’s nature is to forgive.

QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER by Groups or Individuals. (Added on Wed 27 July 2016)

Ques.1. In the story about Shirley what experiences did she have when she asked the Lord to forgive her? Can you relate to any of those experiences? Which ones?

Ques 2. In Section i) what does the expression “bore you on eagles wings” mean for you in your own Christian walk?  Can you share times when it seemed as though the Lord was carrying you?

Ques 4. In Section ii) what do you think is the significance of Aaron laying hands on the goat? What could have been in the minds of the gathered people as Aaron prayed over the animal and then led it into the wilderness?

Ques 5. In Section iii) what do you think was the difference in the attitudes shown by Pharaoh and Abigail as they asked God for forgiveness?

Jim Holbeck. Blog No.8.  Posted Tuesday 22 February 2011. Revisited 27 July 2016

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007. FORGIVENESS. God Brings Release To People. (Salach) Part 2 of 2

Posted on February 15, 2011 by Jim Holbeck

What marvellous answers to the prayers of a mother and daughter!  The mother was Dawn whose story we can read about in the previous article. Her prayers were answered. She saw her husband John transformed before her eyes as he turned to God for forgiveness and for strength to overcome his alcohol addiction. Helen was her daughter.  She too had a similar problem. Her husband Bill was also too fond of alcohol. It created a strain on their marriage. He was not violent like his father in law but he became insensitive and irresponsible when he imbibed too much.

Helen prayed with renewed vigour when she saw the change in her father.  If he had been changed so remarkably then it must be possible for her husband to change as well. She believed all Bill had to do was to turn to God for help.  Dawn and Helen agreed to pray together for Bill. They prayed that he would come to know the power of God in his life. The change in John had a great impact on Bill. Before long Bill also decided to give his life to the Lord. As a result he came to experience the release that forgiveness brings to those carrying guilt. He too experienced the power of God to give him victory over alcohol. Both women now had the Christian marriages for which they had longed and prayed for so many years.

Prayer brings the Lord into our human situations. He is able to release people from that which held them in bondage. For John and Bill it was bondage to alcohol. When He transforms people in answer to prayer, other people notice, as Bill did. It encourages them to trust God to work in their own circumstances.

Now for those other references to the word “salach” which has the sense of forgiveness bringing release. (Points i to iii are in Part 1 in the previous article).

iv).         It is used of forgiveness available to those who obeyed God in offering sacrifices

God made provision for forgiveness for His people in the Old Testament period. As people repented of their sin and offered the sacrifices He required as a sign of their repentance, He would forgive them. For example, for the sin offering,  Leviticus 4:20  …And the priest shall make atonement for them, and they shall be forgiven. The same expression,  And the priest shall make atonement for them, and they shall be forgivenis used for the peace offering in Leviticus 4:26, 31, 35; the burnt offering in Leviticus 5:10; and the guilt offering in Leviticus 5:13, 16, 18. (Similarly in Leviticus 6:7, 19:22, Numbers 15:25, 26, 28.) Penitent sinners acknowledged their need to offer the sacrifices God required. As they did so in faith and obedience they were accepting God’s provision for forgiveness.  They were released from the guilt of their sins.

v).           The extent of God’s grace in forgiveness and healing is seen in Psalm 103:3, who forgives all your iniquity.  There is no sin beyond the capacity of God to forgive. (Jesus did speak of the “unforgiveable sin”.  This is the sin of calling evil,  “good”, and calling good, ”evil” and never repenting of that attitude in one’s lifetime. Such people never turn to God to receive His forgiveness. That is why such sin is unforgiveable.)   That was seen in the Old Testament as well.  There would be no forgiveness for those who deliberately kept on rebelling against God. Such people were described in Deuteronomy 29:19 When someone hears the words of this oath, he may bless himself in his mind, thinking, ‘I will have peace even though I follow my own stubborn heart.’ This will lead to the destruction of the well-watered land as well as the dry land. 20 The LORD will not be willing to forgive him…. . God would not force His forgiveness on those who saw no need to ask Him to forgive them.     

 There is no illness beyond His capacity to heal.  Psalm 103:3 ……..who heals all your diseases.  We will look more closely at Psalm 103 and other aspects of healing in coming days, but suffice it to say here that finite humans are unable to perfectly appropriate all the resources of an infinite, omnipotent God who says of Himself in His word that He can heal all diseases.

vi).         Forgiveness would be a blessing in the new covenant God would make with His people.

In Jeremiah God promised a new covenant which would have additional blessings for His people. Not only would there be a deeper intimacy with Him, but His people would be motivated to ask for and receive forgiveness,  Jeremiah 31:34  And no longer shall each one teach his neighbour and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”    They would know a release from guilt as a result, Jeremiah 33:8 I will cleanse them from all the guilt of their sin against me, and I will forgive all the guilt of their sin and rebellion against me.  In later articles we will look more closely at more of the gems in these verses, especially the fact that when God forgives people of sin, He promises not to bring the sins back against them ever again.  They are released from them. What a blessed thought!

 Salach.  What a wonderful word tucked away in the Old Testament.   It is used only of God because only God can release people from guilt.  The guilt may have come from sin in many of the ways seen in in these verses, namely, vows in the form of rash statements, perverseness, error, iniquity, rebellion, evil ways and wickedness.  The good news seen in the word “salach” is that as people confess their sins and ask for His forgiveness, God forgives them and releases them from guilt.

Questions to Consider by Groups or Individuals. (Added on Monday 6th June 2016)

Question 1. In Section (iv) what did the people need to do to receive forgiveness from God? To what extent does our understanding of God help or hinder our seeking forgiveness from Him?
Question 2. As we look at Section (v) do think we need to be worried as believers about committing the unforgivable sin? Why or why not?
Question 3. From Section (v). God says in Psalm 103 that He can heal all diseases. It appears that many diseases are not being healed in today’s world and some people for whom we pray are not yet healed. What do you think would be needed for more healings to take place and for more prayers for healing to be answered?
Question 4. From Section (vi). In Jeremiah 31:34 God says “For I will forgive their iniquity and I remember their sin no more.” The Bible declares that He is omniscient, that is, He knows all things, past, present and future. Is it possible for God to forget our sins? If not, what wonderful truth about God is found in this verse?
Question 5. In Jeremiah 33:8 God says that he will “cleanse them from all the guilt of their sin against me and I will forgive all the guilt of their sin and rebellion against me.” In question 4 the words from Jeremiah 31:34 talk about God forgiving iniquity and sin but don’t mention “guilt”. Do you think that Jeremiah 33:8 says something different or do you think the verse adds something to our understanding of God’s forgiveness of humans?

Jim Holbeck.   Blog No.7.    Posted Tuesday 15 February 2011. (Revisited Mon 6th June 2016)

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006. FORGIVENESS. God Brings Release To People. (Salach) Part 1 of 2

Posted on February 14, 2011 by Jim Holbeck

 We saw in the last article how Dawn continued to love her husband John even when he became aggressive towards her when he was drunk. She loved him and didn’t want to walk out of the marriage.  She prayed. God answered. John gave his life to Jesus and was transformed.   He asked God to forgive him and to release him from the bondage of addiction to alcohol. He was set free by the power of God and remained set free.

How does God release people?  We gain some insight by looking at another Hebrew word in the Old Testament, “Salach”. This word has the sense of bringing release to someone.  It can be translated to release, to forgive, to be forgiven, to pardon, to spare.  It is always used of God as the One who forgives or who sets free. It occurs at least 45 times in the Old Testament. We look at the variety of meanings in many of those verses to discover how rich is the concept of forgiveness.

 i).            It is used of God releasing people from the guilt of making inappropriate vows

God saw vows as being binding on those who had made them.  Here it seems to refer to vows based on premature decisions made without mature counsel.  They were in the nature of “thoughtless utterances” or “rash statements”.  If young women living at home made such vows and their fathers opposed them on the issue, then the vow would not stand. God would forgive the woman for her “thoughtless utterances” made in the vow.  Numbers 30:5  … And the LORD will forgive her, because her father opposed her.

 Similarly if a woman who had made one of these inappropriate vows were to marry and share the vow with her husband, he could oppose the vow and make it void. Numbers 30:8  … he makes void her vow that was on her, and the thoughtless utterance of her lips by which she bound herself. And the LORD will forgive her.

In both situations men who loved and cared for their loved ones could protect them from their wrong vows, and God would forgive those loved ones.

There was a twofold release. The first, from the binding power of a vow. The second, from the guilt arising from making vows in the form of thoughtless utterances.

God can do the same today in the lives of those who make “ungodly” vows. That is, vows made in anger or deep hurt which leave God out of the equation.  I have often come across folk who have vowed, ”I will never forgive them as long as I live!” Such folk may be bound up in resentment and unforgiveness and need to be released and set free.  God can indeed set people free from the power of their vows. He can also convict them of the sin of making such vows and can release them from guilt when they ask Him to forgive them.

 ii).          It is used of humans pleading with God for forgiveness

We see it used in King Solomon’s prayer at the dedication of the temple.  He anticipated that the people of Israel would sin against their God.  He asks that when he or any other Israelite turned to God for forgiveness, He would forgive them,  (1Kings 8:30)  And listen to the plea of your servant and of your people Israel, when they pray toward this place. And listen in heaven your dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive. (The latter phrase is also found in 1 Kings 8:34, 36, 39, 50).

It is instructive in looking at 1 Kings 8 to see the expressions Solomon used.  He spoke of the people repenting of their sin, confessing it to God and thus receiving forgiveness from Him.  Notice the underlined words which Solomon saw as describing the determination needed by the people to turn from their sin and back to God. 1Kings 8:46  “If they sin against you–for there is no one who does not sin–and you are angry with them and give them to an enemy, so that they are carried away captive to the land of the enemy, far off or near, 47  yet if they turn their heart in the land to which they have been carried captive, and repent and plead with you in the land of their captors, saying, ‘We have sinned and have acted perversely and wickedly,’ 48  if they repent with all their mind and with all their heart in the land of their enemies, who carried them captive, and pray to you toward their land, which you gave to their fathers, the city that you have chosen, and the house that I have built for your name, 49  then hear in heaven your dwelling place their prayer and their plea, and maintain their cause.

 In Australian terms they had to be “fair dinkum” (genuine and sincere) in their turning away from their sin, confessing it to God and in turning back to Him.  We see that especially in how they were to turn in their hearts and not just their minds, verse 47; in their need to plead with God, verse 47, and in confessing their sin as being perverse and wicked. Their repentance, meaning a change of mind and a change of heart, was to be wholehearted,  with all their mind and with all their heart. No half measures here.  It was to be genuine repentance towards One who alone could forgive them.

Daniel also asked God to forgive His people.  He recognised that forgiveness could come to the people of God, not because they were righteous, but because He was merciful. Their plea to God for forgiveness had to be based on the mercy of God and not on anything they had to offer of themselves.  Daniel 9:18-19  O my God, incline your ear and hear. Open your eyes and see our desolations, and the city that is called by your name. For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy. 19  O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive. O Lord, pay attention and act….

 iii).         It is used of God’s forgiveness towards human wickedness and sin

God heard Solomon’s prayer at the dedication of the temple. Later the Lord appeared to him at night telling him that he had heard his prayer. He then promised Solomon that if His people humbled themselves to turn back to Him, He would forgive them and bless them, 2 Chronicles 7:14,  if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

 This is one of the most well-known passages in the Bible regarding forgiveness. It shows God’s willingness to hear His people’s request for mercy. It also shows the magnitude of His forgiveness. God encouraged Solomon by promising that should the nation sin against Him, they could be forgiven and know His ongoing blessing. However they needed to humble themselves. They had to sincerely repent of their sin. That meant turning away from it and turning back to Him.

Before we look at some other aspects of this word in Part 2 we turn to another true story which follows on from the story of Dawn and John.  It will be at the beginning of Part 2.

Questions for individuals or groups to consider. (Added Wednesday 25th of May 2016)

Ques 1). In section (i) can you think of ungodly vows that are made in today’s world? How can people be set free from the ungodly vows they have made?

Ques 2). In section (ii) we find a number of expressions that are used in seeking forgiveness from God. Which expressions do you think show genuine repentance?

Ques 3). Again from section (ii) what you think is the basis of forgiveness?

Ques 4). In section (iii) what is involved on our part in asking God for forgiveness? What does He promise to do for those who ask Him from the right motive?

Ques 5). Do you think the passage from 2 Chronicles 7:14 applies in today’s world? If so, what implications does it have for us today?

Jim Holbeck.   Blog No.6.      Posted Monday 14February 2011. Updated 25th May 2016

 

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005. FORGIVENESS. God’s Nature Is To Forgive. (Selichah)

Posted on February 11, 2011 by Jim Holbeck

How could Dawn ever forgive her husband John for his physical aggression towards her? We didn’t know how violent he could become until she came to our home wanting to stay the night. He had come home drunk again in a foul mood. We discovered that there had been other episodes where he had acted aggressively towards her. Many of her friends were telling her to get out of the marriage. But she told us that she loved him dearly, and that he wasn’t “really like that” when he was sober. It was when he was under tremendous pressure at work and began to drink that the violence was manifest.  I immediately thought of phrases like, “not really facing the problem” and “misplaced loyalty”.

I told her to take some notice of her friends who knew the situation more than we did. Perhaps her friends were right. There was no justification for a man ever to physically harm his wife.  But she was adamant she wanted to stay in the marriage because she loved him so much and he “wasn’t normally like that” as she put it. In her words he was a good man who had a problem, alcohol. As the months went on, there continued to be more drunken episodes.  Yet she hung on to her marriage knowing that she had many safe places to go if she needed to escape. She kept praying for him that he would change, that he would become the man God wanted him to be. She prayed specifically that he would have victory over his addiction to alcohol.

The story has a very happy ending.  John heard the good news of what Jesus Christ had done for sinners on the cross. He came to understand two things. Firstly he could confess his sins to God and ask for, and receive, His forgiveness. Not only that but he could ask God to help him overcome his addiction to alcohol.  That is what he did with genuine repentance and a commitment to become God’s man, with His help.

The result was quite amazing. In a very short time he vowed not to touch alcohol again because it had become a danger to his marriage. He prayed to be filled with the Holy Spirit.  His character was transformed.  Instead of the anger and bitterness that had characterised him in the past, he now began to show forth Christian characteristics, the fruit of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control,  (Galatians 5:22-23). He now had a much deeper appreciation of his wife Dawn who had loved him in spite of his “episodes” and who had been willing to forgive him while praying for him to change.

He had seen in Dawn something of the character of God in her loving, forgiving compassion towards him, not wanting to leave him and hoping that he would become the man he could become, by the grace of God.

SELICHAH is used of God’s forgiving character. We see that in three verses.  In Nehemiah  9:17 the writer states that God is motivated to forgive because that is His nature.  … But You are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in faithful love, and You did not abandon them.  God was willing to forgive His own people when they turned away from Him. His love remained constant as He showered His grace and compassion on them.  Such forgiveness and love meant that He did not give up on them, even as Dawn refused to give up on John.

 The word is also used in Psalm 130:4. God knows the evil that humans do.  But the writer of Psalm 130 looked beyond the fact that God knew about sin and could “mark” (or make a record of it) it if He wished. He saw Him as One who would listen to his cries for mercy and could forgive him. Psalm 130:3-4, If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?  4  But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared.  For him, God was characterised as having plentiful redemption (verse 7), and the One who would redeem or set His people free from their iniquities (verse 8).

It is a reminder to us today that God knows everything about us. He calls the sin in our lives by its true name, sin. At the same time He wants people to turn from their sin and to receive the forgiveness He offers  them in His Son.  As the apostle Peter was later to write in 2Peter  3:9  The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

The other verse is Daniel 9:9, To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against him 10 and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God by walking in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets.   Daniel recognised and confessed the sinfulness of all the people of God. Yet behind it all, he saw that God was a forgiving God who wanted people to return to Him to receive the forgiveness He was willing to offer them.

Later in Daniel 9:18-19 he asks God to forgive (salach) His people. In doing so Daniel recognised that forgiveness could be bestowed on the people not because they deserved it, but because God was merciful,  Daniel 9:18  O my God, incline your ear and hear. Open your eyes and see our desolations, and the city that is called by your name. For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy.

 So “selichah” is a marvellous word that describes the forgiving nature of God.  He forgives those who ask for His forgiveness because that is His nature. He hasn’t changed. He is still merciful and forgiving to those who come to Him today wanting to be forgiven.

QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER: (Added in May 2016)

1). What factors would govern the advice you gave to a friend (like Dawn in the story) who came to you for help whose spouse was becoming violent?

2). What were the factors that brought about such a great change in John?Why don’t some marriages have the same happy ending we see in John and Dawn’s marriage?

3). Do you think Dawn was being realistic or unrealistic in trying to hang onto her marriage? Give your reasons for thinking so.

4). In those verses which contain the Hebrew word “selichah”  for God’s forgiving nature do we get some clues as to why He forgives? What are some of those clues?

5). What does 2 Peter 3:9 tell us about God’s attitude to sinners? Is there a warning in the verse and if so what is it?

6). In the passage from Daniel 9:18-19 what can we see is the motivation and foundation for God’s forgiveness of us?

Jim Holbeck.  Blog No.5.  Posted Friday 11February 2011. (Re-visited May 2016)

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