Divine Judgment Against the Saints in the “Age of Grace”???

Acts 5:1–11, The deaths of Ananias and Sapphira. Why did Elohim kill them? It is because they committed the unpardonable sin in that they willfully and in a premeditated plot lied to the Elohim. There is no sacrifice or forgiveness for willful sin. YHVH was showing us that even in the age of the New Covenant, the so-called “age of grace,” Elohim’s grace doesn’t cover willful sin. Let us all fear YHVH Elohim and tremble before him all the time!

Some scholars suggest that YHVH killed them because they violated the Torah laws regarding the handling of devoted things, for which there was a death penalty (Lev 27:28–29). Perhaps so. Whatever the case, it’s interesting to note that YHVH struck Ananias and Sapphira dead after the cross in, what many Christians call, the dispensation of grace era when, in their minds, sin doesn’t carry the same severe penalty us under “old covenant,” law of Moses era. What we learn from this is that YHVH still views sin as sin, and the wages of sin is still death (Rom 6:23). This has never changed before or after the cross of Yeshua. Just because one isn’t struck dead immediately upon having sinned doesn’t mean one hasn’t incurred the death penalty. That death penalty is only waived when one repents of their sin and asks for YHVH’s forgiveness through faith in Yeshua whose death paid the death penalty price for our sins.

Likely, such divine judgments still occur in our day more frequently than we realize. It may not involve the death of the individual, but rather sickness, demonic attacks, financial setbacks and other adversities that occur to us. The problem is that because of human pride and spiritual deafness and blindness, most people fail to recognize the cause of their problems. We attribute them instead to random circumstances and time and chance instead of to YHVH’s hand of judgment against us because of our sin, which we fail to recognize and repent of. 

Paul addresses this issue in 1 Cor 11:27–32 with regard to those who eat of the communion elements in a careless or indifferent manner.

Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.

But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup.

For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.

For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep.

For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged.

But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world.

 

Unintentional Sin Vs. Willful Sin

Leviticus 4:1–33, Atonement for unintentional sin.

Listed in this chapter are the steps priests (verses 3–12), the people (verses 13–21) and the leaders (verses 22–26), or people of the land (verses 27–35) had to take to deal with sin. These four categories cover all people on earth: the priests, the Israelites, the leaders of Israel, and everyone else (all the Gentiles). Yeshua’s blood atonements is sufficient to cover all humans. The steps to make atonement for unintentional sin prophetically point to Yeshua’s death as a sin offering for man. They include offering a young bull on the altar (i.e., Yeshua’s death on the cross), the sinner laying his hands on the bull (i.e., confession of one’s sins and transferring those sins to Yeshua), sprinkling the blood of the sacrifice before the veil of the holy of holies (i.e., a picture of Yeshua’s blood being presented before the throne of Elohim on man’s behalf), sprinkling blood on the altar of incense (i.e., Yeshua interceding on the sinner’s behalf before the throne of Elohim, and the sinner himself worshipping YHVH and offering up prayers of repentance), the blood is then sprinkled on the ground at the base of the altar of sacrifice (i.e., the earth is cleansed from defilement because of man’s sin.

14522398

Leviticus 4:2, Sins unintentionally.

This chapter deals with the sin offering for unintentional or inadvertent sins that occur through carelessness. By contrast, there is no animal offering to atone for an intentional sin (The ArtScroll Tanach Series Vayikra Commentary, p. 72). Elsewhere, the Torah spells out the fate for those who sin presumptuously or intentionally. They were to be cut off from Israel, which is tantamount to a death sentence (Num 15:30). YHVH pronounced such a harsh sentence on the willful sinner because he had defiantly despised the word of YHVH—the Torah (Num 15:31). After this exhortation in Numbers, the Torah then gives an example of one who had sinned willfully. The penalty for this was death (Num 15:32–36). The Testimony of Yeshua discusses this type of sinful behavior as well in what has become known as the unpardonable sin (Heb 10:26 cp. 6:4–6).

 

No Forgiveness for Willful Sin—OUCH!

Numbers 15:27–31, Two types of sin are delineated in this passage. They are the sin of ignorance and the sin of presumption (i.e., willful sinning, or literally, “sinning with a high hand”). For the first sin there is an offering or atonement. For the second sin, the penalty is death as illustrated by the example of the Sabbath-breaker in verses 32–36. It is interesting to note that breaking the Sabbath is the example the Torah uses to illustrate willful or presumptuous sin. Why is this? Likely, YHVH in his prescience realized that Sabbath observance would be a great bone of contention and point of struggle for his people. Indeed, even to this day, the idea of resting on the seventh day Sabbath still raises the antagonism of many in the church.

Who me???

Who me???

Numbers 15:30–36, The person who does anything presumptuously. Here we see an example of presumptuous sin with regard to the Sabbath. Presumptuous sinners despise the Torah-commands in YHVH’s Word thinking themselves to be above the laws of Elohim thus refusing to be ruled by it. The act of gathering the sticks on the Sabbath was an affront both to the law and the Lawgiver (Henry, p. 133).

Here are some word definitions:

  • Presume means “to assume, to undertake without leave or clear justification, dare.”
  • Presumptuous meansaudacity; overstepping due bounds, taking liberties.”

The Hebrew word for presume is ruwm (Strong’s H7311) meaning “to rise up, be high, be lofty, be exalted, to exalt oneself, magnify oneself, to be rotten, and to be wormy.”

Reflect on your own life. Are there areas of disobedience of which you need to repent? Many times we sin out of human weakness, not willful disobedience. Can such sin, if not eliminated, lead to presumptuous sin? Can we become so callous to sin that we become brazen and willful? Paul talks about those whose consciences have become seared (1 Tim 4:2). What does this mean? In the Testimony of Yeshua, willful or presumptuous sin is often known in common parlance as the unpardonable sin. Note what the writer of Hebrews has to say about this (see Heb 6:6–7 and 10:26–31).