{"id":6977,"date":"2015-08-20T07:14:02","date_gmt":"2015-08-20T14:14:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hoshanarabbah.org\/blog\/?p=6977"},"modified":"2015-08-20T07:14:02","modified_gmt":"2015-08-20T14:14:02","slug":"repentance-the-law-of-return","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hoshanarabbah.org\/blog\/2015\/08\/20\/repentance-the-law-of-return\/","title":{"rendered":"Repentance\u2014The Law of Return & Key to Spiritual Breakthrough"},"content":{"rendered":"

Now Is the Time to Repent of Sin<\/strong><\/p>\n

There is no better time to focus on repentence than during the biblical month of\u00a0Elul<\/i>, 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.<\/p>\n

\"Yeshua<\/a><\/p>\n

Hebrew Word Definitions<\/b><\/p>\n

There are two biblical Hebrew words that together present the complete picture of what true repentence is. The first word is nacham<\/i> meaning \u201cto be sorry, console oneself, repent, regret, comfort, be comforted.\u201d According to The Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament <\/i>(TWOT), The origin of the root of this word seems to reflect the idea of \u201cbreathing deeply,\u201d hence the physical display of one\u2019s feelings, usually sorrow, compassion, or comfort. The root occurs in the Ugaritic \u2026 and is found in OT proper names such as Nehemiah, Nahum and Menehem. The Greek lxx renders nacham<\/i> by both metanoeo<\/i> and metamelomai<\/i>. The Greek word metanoeo<\/i> means \u201cto change one\u2019s mind, i.e. to repent or to change one\u2019s mind for better, heartily to amend with abhorrence of one\u2019s past sins.\u201d Wilson\u2019s Old Testament Word Studies<\/i> says this of nacham<\/i>:<\/p>\n

In regard to others, to pity,\u00a0 to have compassion \u2026 in regard to one\u2019s own doing, to lament, to grieve; hence to repent; in English, to rue; often of one who repents, grieves, for the evil he has\u00a0 brought upon another.\u201d The New Strong\u2019s Expanded Exhaustive Concordance<\/i> says of nacham<\/i>: to breathe strongly, by implication, to be sorry \u2026 to repent means to make a strong turning to a new course of action. The emphasis is on turning from<\/i> a less desirable course. Comfort is derived from \u2018com\u2019 (with) and \u2018fort\u2019 (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.\u00a0 The stress is not upon new information or new facts which cause the change as it is upon the visible action taken.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The second Hebrew word is shuv<\/i> (from which the Hebrew word teshuvah <\/i>derives, which means \u201crepentance\u201d) meaning \u201cto return, turn back, refresh, repair, restore.\u201d The TWOT<\/i> in its discussion of the Hebrew verb shuv<\/i> states,<\/p>\n

The Bible is rich in idioms describing man\u2019s responsibility in the process of repentance. Such phrases would include the following: \u201cincline your heart unto [YHVH your Elohim]\u201d (Josh 24:23); \u201ccircumcise yourselves to YHVH\u201d (Jer 4:4); \u201cwash your heart from wickedness\u201d (Jer 4:14); \u201cbreak up your fallow ground\u201d (Hos 10:12); and so forth. All of these expressions of man\u2019s penitential activity, however, are subsumed and summarized by this one verb shub.<\/i> Far better than any other verb it combines in itself the two requisites of repentance: to turn from evil and to turn to the good.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In order to repent accroding to biblical criteria, one must understand that Scripture defines sins as the violation of YHVH\u2019s Torah, or instructions or teachings in righteousness (1 John 3:4). Sin<\/i> or chet<\/i> in Hebrew, in a loose sense, means \u201ca failure in our relationship with Elohim.\u201d Our goal should be to continually move closer to Elohim, but \u201cchet\u201d <\/i>is behavior that causes us to move away from Elohim.<\/p>\n

If YHVH requires his people to turn away from sin and turn to righteousness (the act of which is called repentance<\/i>), then what is therefore involved in repentance? Repentance<\/i> as expressed in the Hebrew word teshuvah<\/i>, which comes from the Hebrew word shuv <\/i>meaning \u201cto return.\u201d In the biblical context, it means \u201cto return to Elohim\u201d and to the righteous behavior he requires of his people; in other words, return to obeying his word or his commandments, which is the opposite of sin. While we must deeply regret our movement away from Elohim, we must not despair, for YHVH has provided the way for our return to him and he tells us that when we repent, he forgives without delay.<\/p>\n

According to Scripture, there are, several basic steps to repentance. They are:<\/p>\n

1) We must first recognize that we have a problem \u2014 that we are sinful to the core (Jer 17:9; Rom 8:7; Rom 3:10\u201318, 23; Isa 64:6). For this to happen, we have to come to grips with the fact that we have broken Elohim\u2019s laws, which define sin (1 John 3:4). Human pride makes this step the hardest one to take.<\/p>\n

2) We must confess our sin before YHVH (Lev. 5:5; Num. 5:7).<\/p>\n

3) We must manifest heartfelt regret for our wrong actions by evidencing remorse and contrition before YHVH and our fellow man, if applicable. The Hebrew word for this is nacham<\/i> and according to the TWOT means, \u201cto reflect the idea of \u2018breathing deeply,\u2019 hence the physical display of one\u2019s feelings, usually sorrow, compassion, or comfort.\u201d Wilson\u2019s Old Testament Word Studies<\/i> says this of nacham<\/i>: \u201cIn regard to others, to pity,\u00a0 to have compassion \u2026 in regard to one\u2019s own doing, to lament, to grieve; hence to repent; in English, to rue; often of one who repents, grieves, for the evil he has\u00a0 brought upon another.\u201d The New Strong\u2019s Expanded Exhaustive Concordance<\/i> says of nacham<\/i>: to breathe strongly, by implication, to be sorry \u2026 to repent means to make a strong turning dto a new course of action. The emphasis is on turning from<\/i> a less desirable course. Comfort is derived from \u2018com\u2019 (with) and \u2018fort\u2019 (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.\u00a0 The stress is not upon new information or new facts which cause the change as it is upon the visible action taken.\u201d<\/p>\n

4) We must turn from our sins and resolve to stop sinning. This is expressed in the Hebrew word teshuvah\u00a0<\/i> meaning \u201cto repent,\u201d which is from the root word shub <\/i>or shuv. <\/i>The TWOT defines shuv <\/i>as follows:<\/p>\n

The Bible is rich in idioms describing man\u2019s responsibility in the process of repentance. Such phrases would include the following: \u201cincline your heart unto [YHVH your Elohim]\u201d (Josh 24:23); \u201ccircumcise yourselves to YHVH\u201d (Jer 4:4); \u201cwash your heart from wickedness\u201d (Jer 4:14); \u201cbreak up your fallow ground\u201d (Hos 10:12); and so forth. All of these expressions of man\u2019s penitential activity, however, are subsumed and summarized by this one verb shub.<\/i> Far better than any other verb it combines in itself the two requisites of repentance: to turn from evil and to turn to the good.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

5) An offering of the legally prescribed sacrifice must be made for the sin (Lev 5:1\u201320). Yeshua, the Messiah of Israel, became that sacrifice for our sin once and for all when he died on the cross (Isa 53:5; Heb 4:14\u20135:10; 7:14\u20138:6; 9:11\u201310:22).<\/p>\n

6) When we have sinned against our fellow man, not only is confession and forsaking that sin required, but we must make restitution in full of whatever has been wrongfully obtained or withheld something from our fellow man (Lev 5:14\u201319; Matt 5:23\u201325).<\/p>\n

7) We must then accept our Heavenly Father\u2019s unconditional mercy and grace (Ps 103:3\u20134, 10\u201317).<\/p>\n

What the\u00a0Scriptures Say About Repentance
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