Tag Archives: Forgiveness

The Transformative Power of Forgiveness

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Luke 23:34, Father, forgive them.Yeshua said this for his and our benefit, and not because it made any difference in the lives of those who crucified him. It was for his benefit, so that the sin of bitterness and unforgiveness wouldn’t take root in him. It is for our benefit, so that we’d have his example to follow when dealing with our enemies. 

There is a deep and transformative truth in the power of forgiveness. When we forgive our offender (it doesn’t matter whether they know about it or not), it prepares the way for the relationship to be restored. The miracle and beauty of the forgiveness process is that now we get to help those who have sinned against us in the healing of their own sin. 

Like so many of Elohim’s truths and Yeshua’s practices, this is counter intuitive to the natural way man thinks. When sinned against, man’s natural, knee-jerk response is to hold on proudly to bitterness and offense in hopes the other person will recognize their error and humbly repent of their sin to us, the offended party. This is delusional thinking on the part of the one sinned against, since it seldom works this way. 

Because of human pride, both the sinner and the one sinned against—if each follows their own natural and self-defensive inclination—will usually dig in and fortifies the position of their own self-rightness. The sinner is certain he is justified in his actions against the one he sinned against, while the offended party feels it is his right to walk in offense until the sinner admits his sin and repents. As such, each party remains frozen and polarized in his position and the break in the relationship is never resolved. Division and strife becomes the etched-in-stone norm. This is all based on human pride, which heads the list of the seven deadly sins that YHVH hates the most and views as an abomination (Prov 6:16) resulting in division between brethren (Prov 6:19). 

It is the devil who is our adversary, is the one who destructively divides (John 10:10) and accuser of the brethren (Rev 12:10), and the one who comes to kill, steal and destroy loves this. When we hold on to bitterness and unforgiveness against someone, we become their adversary and accuser. This results in strife and division between people.

This prideful division between people is not resolved until one of the parties chooses to follow the instructions and example of Yeshua to become a blessed peacemaker (Matt 5:9) and humbles himself and forgives his neighbor, so that the healing process can occur. On the cross, Yeshua initiated this process of relationship restoration in preparation for his role in heaven as our Great High Priest to act on our behalf before his Father to reconcile sinful man through himself to Elohim.

 

“Father, forgive them…”—Let the Healing Process Begin

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Luke 23:34, Father, forgive them. Yeshua said this for his and our benefit, and not because it made any difference in the lives of those who crucified him. It was for his benefit, so that the sin of bitterness and unforgiveness wouldn’t take root in him. It is for our benefit, so that we’d have his example to follow when dealing with our enemies. 

There is a deep and transformative truth in the power of forgiveness. When we forgive our offender (it doesn’t matter whether they know about it or not), it prepares the way for the relationship to be restored. The miracle and beauty of the forgiveness process is that now we get to help those who have  sinned against us in the healing of their own sin. 

Like so many of Elohim’s truths and Yeshua’s practices, this is counter intuitive to the natural way man thinks. When sinned against, man’s natural, knee-jerk response is to hold on proudly to bitterness and offense in hopes the other person will recognize their error and humbly repent of their sin to us, the offended party. This is delusional thinking on the part of the one sinned against, since it seldom works this way. 

Because of human pride, both the sinner and the one sinned against—if each follows their own natural and self-defensive inclination—will usually dig in and fortifies the position of  their own self-rightness. The sinner is certain he is justified in his actions against the one he sinned against, while the offended party feels it is his right to walk in offense until the sinner admits his sin and repents. As such, each party remains frozen and polarized in his position and the break in the relationship is never resolved. Division and strife becomes the etched-in-stone norm. This is all based on human pride, which heads the list of the seven deadly sins that YHVH hates the most and views as an abomination (Prov 6:16) resulting in division between brethren (Prov 6:19). 

It is the devil who is our adversary, is the one who destructively divides (John 10:10) and accuser of the brethren (Rev 12:10), and the one who comes to kill, steal and destroy loves this. When we hold on to bitterness and unforgiveness against someone, we become their adversary and accuser. This results in strife and division between people.

This prideful division between people is not resolved until one of the parties chooses to follow the instructions and example of Yeshua to become a blessed peacemaker (Matt 5:9) and humbles himself and forgives his neighbor, so that the healing process can occur. On the cross, Yeshua initiated this process of relationship restoration in preparation for his role in heaven as our Great High Priest to act on our behalf  before his Father to reconcile sinful man through himself to Elohim.

 

“YHVH, help us to forgive others as you have forgiven us…”

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Roman denarius—a small silver coin

Matthew 18:24, 28, Ten thousand talents…a hundred denarii. A talent was a unit of measure for gold and silver and was equivalent to about 75 lbs. One talent of silver at a rate of $15 per ounce would be worth $36,000. Ten thousand talents of silver would be worth about $18 million. A denarius was equivalent to a fair day’s wages (Matt 20:2). If one earns $40,000 in a year and works 260 days per year, then 100 denarii would be equivalent to about $15,384. 

The lesson of Yeshua’s parable abut the unforgiving servant is obvious. If one’s master forgives him of a debt that’s impossible to repay ($36 million), then one should forgive one’s neighbor the small debt of $15,384.

Likewise, if Yeshua through his death on the cross forgives a repentant sinner of the wages of sin, which is death (an impossible debt for a sinner to pay), then shouldn’t the same forgiven sinner likewise forgive those who have offended him (Matt 18:6–8) or sinned against him (verse 15–19)?

 

“Father forgive them…”—The Transformative Power of Forgiveness

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Luke 23:34, Father, forgive them. Yeshua said this for his and our benefit, and not because it made any difference in the lives of those who crucified him. It was for his benefit, so that the sin of bitterness and unforgiveness wouldn’t take root in him. It is for our benefit, so that we’d have his example to follow when dealing with our enemies.

There is a deep and transformative truth in the power of forgiveness. When we forgive our offender (it doesn’t matter whether they know about it or not), it prepares the way for the relationship to be restored. The miracle and beauty of the forgiveness process is that now we get to help those who have  sinned against us in the healing of their own sin.

Like so many of Elohim’s truths and Yeshua’s practices, this is counter intuitive to the natural way man thinks.

When sinned against, man’s knee-jerk response is to hold on proudly to bitterness and offense in hopes the other person will recognize their error and humbly repent of their sin to us, the offended party. This is delusional thinking on the part of the one sinned against, since it seldom works this way. Because of human pride, both the sinner and the one sinned against—if each follows their own natural and self-defensive inclination—will usually dig in and fortifies the position of  their own self-rightness. The sinner is certain he is justified in his actions against the one he sinned against, while the offended party feels it is his right to walk in offense until the sinner admits his sin and repents. As such, each party remains frozen and polarized in his position and the break in the relationship is never resolved. Division and strife becomes the etched-in-stone norm.

This is all based on human pride, which heads the list of the seven deadly sins that YHVH hates the most and views as an abomination (Prov 6:16–19). The devil who is our adversary, is the accuser of the brethren, and the one who comes to kill, steal and destroy loves this.

It is not until one of the parties chooses to follow the instructions and example of Yeshua to become a blessed peacemaker and humbles himself that the healing process can occur.

On the cross, Yeshua initiated this process of relationship restoration in preparation for his role in heaven as our Great High Priest to act on our behalf  before his Father to reconcile sinful man through himself to Elohim.

 

We all have been (or still are) an adulterous woman…

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Adultrous Woman

Numbers 5:11–31, This passages deals with a curious ritual involving wives suspected of adultery called the Law of Jealousies whereby the woman is hauled before the priest, her head is uncovered and, according to Jewish tradition, her dress is ripped open just above her breasts (b.Talmud Sota 7a). She then has the choice to drink a concoction of earth from the floor of the tabernacle mixed with the set-apart (kadosh) water from the bronze laver into which is dipped a piece of paper that contains the curses written on it. If she is guilty of the charges of adultery when she drinks the bitter waters, her belly shall swell and her thigh (Heb. yarek or side or loins,which are the seat of procreative power) shall rot as a result of a divine judgment. If she is guiltless, the bitter waters will have no effect on her. If she refuses to drink the bitter water and her husband still suspects her unfaithfulness, then he is free to divorce her, even though she has admitted no guilt. According to Jewish tradition, this legal procedure was carried out by Israel’s highest court in Jerusalem (Sota 7b).

Some biblical commentators see a parallel here between the adulterous woman and the trial and execution of Yeshua at the cross. After only a casual reflection on the issues, this may seem unlikely. But ponder this for a moment. Did YHVH liken his Continue reading →

 

The Ark of the Covenant and the Mercy Seat

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Ark of Covenant 2

Exodus 25:10–22, Ark. The ark of the covenant was a small box of acacia wood overlaid in gold, which contained the golden pot of manna, Aaron’s rod that budded and the two tablets of stone containing the ten statements of Elohim—commonly called the Ten Commandments. Against the ark was leaned a scroll of the complete Torah (Deut 31:26).

Covering the ark was a golden cap called the mercy seat or kapporet and is related to the word kippur as in Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. Both share a common Hebrew root, which is the word kapar (Strong’s G3722), which according to the Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (TWOT 1023) means “to make an atonement, make reconciliation, purge”) and the mercy seat—the golden “lid” covering the ark of the covenant located in the D’veer (i.e., the inner shrine of the Tabernacle of Moses)­—which in Hebrew is the word kapporet (Strong’s G3727, TWOT 1023c) was “the place of atonement or the place where atonement was made.” The TWOT defines what happened at the kapporet as follows:

“It was from the … mercy seat that [YHVH] promised to meet with the men [of Israel] (Num 7:89). The word, however, is not related to mercy and of course was not a seat. The word is derived from the root ‘to atone.’ The Greek equivalent in the LXX is usually hilasterion, “place or object of propitiation,” a word which is applied to [Messiah] in Rom 3:25. The translation ‘mercy seat’ does not sufficiently express the fact that the lid of the ark was the place where the blood was sprinkled on the day of atonement. ‘Place of atonement’ would perhaps be more expressive.”

The mercy seat covering the ark that contained the Torah is a vivid symbolic picture of Continue reading →

 

Repentance—The Law of Return & Key to Spiritual Breakthrough

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Now Is the Time to Repent of Sin

There is no better time to focus on repentence than during the biblical month of Elul, which occurs just prior to the fall biblical festivals. During this month, our focus is to be on repentance, restoration and preparation for the coming of the Messiah, which the fall feasts prophetically picture.

Yeshua wiped out the shame and penalty of sin by his death on the cross NOT the Torah!

Hebrew Word Definitions

There are two biblical Hebrew words that together present the complete picture of what true repentence is. The first word is nacham meaning “to be sorry, console oneself, repent, regret, comfort, be comforted.” According to The Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament (TWOT), The origin of the root of this word seems to reflect the idea of “breathing deeply,” hence the physical display of one’s feelings, usually sorrow, compassion, or comfort. The root occurs in the Ugaritic … and is found in OT proper names such as Nehemiah, Nahum and Menehem. The Greek lxx renders nacham by both metanoeo and metamelomai. The Greek word metanoeo means “to change one’s mind, i.e. to repent or to change one’s mind for better, heartily to amend with abhorrence of one’s past sins.” Wilson’s Old Testament Word Studies says this of nacham:

In regard to others, to pity,  to have compassion … in regard to one’s own doing, to lament, to grieve; hence to repent; in English, to rue; often of one who repents, grieves, for the evil he has  brought upon another.” The New Strong’s Expanded Exhaustive Concordance says of nacham: to breathe strongly, by implication, to be sorry … to repent means to make a strong turning to a new course of action. The emphasis is on turning from a less desirable course. Comfort is derived from ‘com’ (with) and ‘fort’ (strength). Hence, when one repents, he exerts strength to change, to re-grasp the situation, and exert effort for the situation to make a different course of purpose and action.  The stress is not upon new information or new facts which cause the change as it is upon the visible action taken.

The second Hebrew word is shuv (from which the Hebrew word teshuvah derives, which Continue reading →