Joseph Truly Forgave His Brothers For The Evil They Did To Him

Genesis 50:15-21 reads,

50:15When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, "It may be that Joseph will hate us, and will fully pay us back for all of the evil which we did to him. 50:16They sent a message to Joseph, saying, "Your father commanded before he died, saying, 50:17"So will you tell Joseph, ‘Now please forgive the disobedience of your brothers, and their sin, because they did evil to you.’ Now, please forgive the disobedience of the servants of the God of your father." Joseph wept when they spoke to him. 50:18His brothers also went and fell down before his face; and they said, "Behold, we are your servants." 50:19Joseph said to them, "Don’t be afraid, for am I in the place of God? 50:20As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save many people alive. 50:21Now therefore don’t be afraid. I will nourish you and your little ones." He comforted them, and spoke kindly to them.

Joseph gives us an example of true forgiveness - from the heart! Not only did he not seek to cause his brothers who sinned against him to pay the debt they owed him, he undertook to both nourish them and their little ones, and comforted them and spoke kindly to them. He truly forgave his brothers.

Learning from Joseph, who greatly suffered over several years on account of his brothers' sin against him, we should likewise forgive those who wrong us and cause us suffering on account of their misdeeds against us.

 

Pharaoh Declared His Sin And Sought Forgiveness

Exodus 10:16-19 reads,

10:16Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron in haste, and he said, "I have sinned against Yahweh your God, and against you. 10:17Now therefore please forgive my sin again, and pray to Yahweh your God, that he may also take away from me this death."

10:18He went out from Pharaoh, and prayed to Yahweh. 10:19Yahweh turned an exceeding strong west wind, which took up the locusts, and drove them into the Red Sea. There remained not one locust in all the borders of Egypt.

That Pharaoh declared his sin and sought forgiveness placed him in good stead to be forgiven by merciful Yahweh. And Yahweh duly removed the locusts from Egypt that had been inflicting so much damage upon Egypt.

 

Yahweh Punishes For Sins He Doesn't Forgive

Exodus 32:31-35 reads,

32:31Moses returned to Yahweh, and said, "Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made themselves gods of gold. 32:32Yet now, if you will, forgive their sin— and if not, please blot me out of your book which you have written."

32:33Yahweh said to Moses, "Whoever has sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book. 32:34Now go, lead the people to the place of which I have spoken to you. Behold, my angel shall go before you. Nevertheless in the day when I punish, I will punish them for their sin." 32:35Yahweh struck the people, because they made the calf, which Aaron made.

Moses declared before Yahweh the people's sin, and sought their forgiveness. Nevertheless, Yahweh chose not to forgive the sin, but to postpone the time he would punish them on account of it. In the interim he would honour his word to them, of delivering them to the land he promised to their ancestors. But he scheduled a period in future when he would punish them for their sin.

It should therefore be evident that Yahweh punishes for sin. But he doesn't necessarily do this immediately the sin is committed, choosing his own time for punishing sinners.

 

Yahweh! Yahweh, A Merciful And Gracious Mighty One!

Exodus 34:4-7 reads,

34:4He chiseled two tablets of stone like the first; and Moses rose up early in the morning, and went up to Mount Sinai, as Yahweh had commanded him, and took in his hand two stone tablets. 34:5Yahweh descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of Yahweh. 34:6Yahweh passed by before him, and proclaimed, "Yahweh! Yahweh, a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger, and abundant in lovingkindness and truth, 34:7keeping lovingkindness for thousands, forgiving iniquity and disobedience and sin; and that will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, and on the children’s children, on the third and on the fourth generation."

 

Yahweh Forgives Unwitting Sins When Discovered And Atoned For

Leviticus 4:13-35 reads,

4:13"‘If the whole congregation of Israel sins, and the thing is hidden from the eyes of the assembly, and they have done any of the things which Yahweh has commanded not to be done, and are guilty; 4:14when the sin in which they have sinned is known, then the assembly shall offer a young bull for a sin offering, and bring it before the Tent of Meeting. 4:15The elders of the congregation shall lay their hands on the head of the bull before Yahweh; and the bull shall be killed before Yahweh. 4:16The anointed priest shall bring of the blood of the bull to the Tent of Meeting: 4:17and the priest shall dip his finger in the blood, and sprinkle it seven times before Yahweh, before the veil. 4:18He shall put some of the blood on the horns of the altar which is before Yahweh, that is in the Tent of Meeting; and the rest of the blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering, which is at the door of the Tent of Meeting. 4:19All its fat he shall take from it, and burn it on the altar. 4:20Thus shall he do with the bull; as he did with the bull of the sin offering, so shall he do with this; and the priest shall make atonement for them, and they shall be forgiven. 4:21He shall carry forth the bull outside the camp, and burn it as he burned the first bull. It is the sin offering for the assembly.

4:22"‘When a ruler sins, and unwittingly does any one of all the things which Yahweh his God has commanded not to be done, and is guilty; 4:23if his sin, in which he has sinned, is made known to him, he shall bring as his offering a goat, a male without blemish. 4:24He shall lay his hand on the head of the goat, and kill it in the place where they kill the burnt offering before Yahweh. It is a sin offering. 4:25The priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger, and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering. He shall pour out the rest of its blood at the base of the altar of burnt offering. 4:26All its fat he shall burn on the altar, like the fat of the sacrifice of peace offerings; and the priest shall make atonement for him concerning his sin, and he will be forgiven.

4:27"‘If anyone of the common people sins unwittingly, in doing any of the things which Yahweh has commanded not to be done, and is guilty; 4:28if his sin, which he has sinned, is made known to him, then he shall bring for his offering a goat, a female without blemish, for his sin which he has sinned. 4:29He shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering, and kill the sin offering in the place of burnt offering. 4:30The priest shall take some of its blood with his finger, and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering; and the rest of its blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar. 4:31All its fat he shall take away, like the fat is taken away from off of the sacrifice of peace offerings; and the priest shall burn it on the altar for a sweet savor to Yahweh; and the priest shall make atonement for him, and he will be forgiven.

4:32"‘If he brings a lamb as his offering for a sin offering, he shall bring a female without blemish. 4:33He shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering, and kill it for a sin offering in the place where they kill the burnt offering. 4:34The priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger, and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering; and all the rest of its blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar. 4:35All its fat he shall take away, like the fat of the lamb is taken away from the sacrifice of peace offerings; and the priest shall burn them on the altar, on the offerings of Yahweh made by fire; and the priest shall make atonement for him concerning his sin that he has sinned, and he will be forgiven.

When a person sins unwittingly, but later becomes aware of his sin, and acknowledges it, and makes atonement for it, Yahweh forgives the person for the sin committed.

It is noted that the sin is forgiven at the time of its awareness, acknowledgement and atonement, implying that prior to then it remains unforgiven.

 

Yahweh Forgives Sins Confessed And Atoned For

Leviticus 5:4-19 reads,

5:4"‘Or if anyone swears rashly with his lips to do evil, or to do good, whatever it is that a man might utter rashly with an oath, and it is hidden from him; when he knows of it, then he shall be guilty of one of these. 5:5It shall be, when he is guilty of one of these, he shall confess that in which he has sinned: 5:6and he shall bring his trespass offering to Yahweh for his sin which he has sinned, a female from the flock, a lamb or a goat, for a sin offering; and the priest shall make atonement for him concerning his sin.

5:7"‘If he can’t afford a lamb, then he shall bring his trespass offering for that in which he has sinned, two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, to Yahweh; one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering. 5:8He shall bring them to the priest, who shall first offer the one which is for the sin offering, and wring off its head from its neck, but shall not sever it completely. 5:9He shall sprinkle some of the blood of the sin offering on the side of the altar; and the rest of the blood shall be drained out at the base of the altar. It is a sin offering. 5:10He shall offer the second for a burnt offering, according to the ordinance; and the priest shall make atonement for him concerning his sin which he has sinned, and he shall be forgiven.

5:11"‘But if he can’t afford two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, then he shall bring his offering for that in which he has sinned, the tenth part of an ephah of fine flour for a sin offering. He shall put no oil on it, neither shall he put any frankincense on it, for it is a sin offering. 5:12He shall bring it to the priest, and the priest shall take his handful of it as the memorial portion, and burn it on the altar, on the offerings of Yahweh made by fire. It is a sin offering. 5:13The priest shall make atonement for him concerning his sin that he has sinned in any of these things, and he will be forgiven; and the rest shall be the priest’s, as the meal offering.’"

5:14Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 5:15"If anyone commits a trespass, and sins unwittingly, in the holy things of Yahweh; then he shall bring his trespass offering to Yahweh, a ram without blemish from the flock, according to your estimation in silver by shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary, for a trespass offering. 5:16He shall make restitution for that which he has done amiss in the holy thing, and shall add a fifth part to it, and give it to the priest; and the priest shall make atonement for him with the ram of the trespass offering, and he will be forgiven.

5:17"If anyone sins, and does any of the things which Yahweh has commanded not to be done; though he didn’t know it, yet he is guilty, and shall bear his iniquity. 5:18He shall bring a ram without blemish from of the flock, according to your estimation, for a trespass offering, to the priest; and the priest shall make atonement for him concerning the thing in which he sinned and didn’t know it, and he will be forgiven. 5:19It is a trespass offering. He is certainly guilty before Yahweh."

When we sin unwittingly, but later become aware of our sin, we should acknowledge it and take our trespass or sin offering to Yahweh, that he may forgive us. For Yahweh forgives those who sin unwittingly and later repent of their sin when they become aware of it.

 

Payment Of Reparations Essential In Receiving Forgiveness From Yahweh In Sins Against Another

Leviticus 6:1-7 reads,

6:1Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 6:2"If anyone sins, and commits a trespass against Yahweh, and deals falsely with his neighbor in a matter of deposit, or of bargain, or of robbery, or has oppressed his neighbor, 6:3or has found that which was lost, and dealt falsely therein, and swearing to a lie; in any of all these things that a man does, sinning therein; 6:4then it shall be, if he has sinned, and is guilty, he shall restore that which he took by robbery, or the thing which he has gotten by oppression, or the deposit which was committed to him, or the lost thing which he found, 6:5or any thing about which he has sworn falsely; he shall restore it even in full, and shall add a fifth part more to it. To him to whom it belongs he shall give it, in the day of his being found guilty. 6:6He shall bring his trespass offering to Yahweh, a ram without blemish from the flock, according to your estimation, for a trespass offering, to the priest. 6:7The priest shall make atonement for him before Yahweh, and he will be forgiven concerning whatever he does to become guilty."

When a person acquires property unjustly, he is to restore that property upon being found to have acquired it unjustly, plus adding a fifth part more to it. He is then to offer to Yahweh his trespass offering, and when atonement has been made for him he is forgiven his transgression.

Why does Yahweh stipulate that a fifth of the value of unjustly acquired property be paid together with the unjustly acquired property upon restoration of it? Is this to compensate the unjustly deprived person of the use of the property while it was out of his use?

 

The Punishment Of Death On Account Of Sin

Leviticus 19:20-22 reads,

19:20Whoever lies carnally with a woman, who is a bondmaid, pledged to be married to a husband, and not at all redeemed, nor freedom given her; they shall be punished; they shall not be put to death, because she was not free. 19:21He shall bring his trespass-offering to Yahweh, to the door of the tent of meeting, even a ram for a trespass-offering. 19:22The priest shall make atonement for him with the ram of the trespass-offering before Yahweh for his sin which he has sinned: and the sin which he has sinned shall be forgiven him.

It should be noted that different sins incur different degrees of penalties. Some incur the death penalty, while others incur lesser penalties.

What penalty does the sin that will not be forgiven either in this age or that to come, blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, incur? Does it incur the death penalty - everlasting death, the second death, seeing that it is not forgiven?

It would seem that sins that incur a penalty less than the death penalty, such as the fornication between a man and a slave-woman betrothed for marriage thought not yet married, are forgivable. Those that are not forgiven are those that result in death. Seeing that the sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is not forgiven, either in this age or in that to come, being an eternal sin, it would seem that the penalty for committing it is death - the second and permanent death!

 

Punishment For Despising And Disbelieving Yahweh

Numbers 14:11-24 reads,

14:11Yahweh said to Moses, How long will this people despise me? And how long will they not believe in me, for all the signs which I have worked among them? 14:12I will strike them with the pestilence, and disinherit them, and will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they. 14:13Moses said to Yahweh, Then the Egyptians will hear it; for you brought up this people in your might from among them; 14:14and they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that you Yahweh are in the midst of this people; for you Yahweh are seen face to face, and your cloud stands over them, and you go before them, in a pillar of cloud by day, and in a pillar of fire by night. 14:15Now if you shall kill this people as one man, then the nations which have heard the fame of you will speak, saying, 14:16Because Yahweh was not able to bring this people into the land which he swore to them, therefore he has slain them in the wilderness. 14:17Now please let the power of the Lord be great, according as you have spoken, saying, 14:18Yahweh is slow to anger, and abundant in lovingkindness, forgiving iniquity and disobedience; and that will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and on the fourth generation. 14:19Pardon, Please, the iniquity of this people according to the greatness of your lovingkindness, and according as you have forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now. 14:20Yahweh said, I have pardoned according to your word: 14:21but in very deed, as I live, and as all the earth shall be filled with the glory of Yahweh; 14:22because all those men who have seen my glory, and my signs, which I worked in Egypt and in the wilderness, yet have tempted me these ten times, and have not listened to my voice; 14:23surely they shall not see the land which I swore to their fathers, neither shall any of those who despised me see it: 14:24but my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and has followed me fully, him will I bring into the land into which he went; and his seed shall possess it.

 

Distinction Between Forgiving A Person And Extending Benefits To Him

There is a DISTINCTION between pardoning or forgiving a person, and additionally extending to them benefits. When a person is pardoned or forgiven for his sin, the ultimate penalty for his sin is not held against him. He might be required to pay a lesser penalty, such as receive punishment, but not the ultimate penalty - death!

When Yahweh forgave the children of Israel after their rebellion and derision of him in the matter of the 12 spies, Yahweh forgave them, at Moses' intercession, the penalty of death he was about to inflict upon them. Nevertheless, the benefit they would have received, of being brought into the land promised to their ancestors, was denied them. It therefore appears that just because a person is forgiven the ultimate penalty incurred upon his trespass does not automatically equate to a right of that person receiving benefits he might have received had he not committed the trespass.

 

Death Is The Penalty For Blaspheming, Despising And Defying Yahweh

Numbers 15:22-36 reads,

15:22When you shall err, and not observe all these commandments, which Yahweh has spoken to Moses, 15:23even all that Yahweh has commanded you by Moses, from the day that Yahweh gave commandment, and onward throughout your generations; 15:24then it shall be, if it be done unwittingly, without the knowledge of the congregation, that all the congregation shall offer one young bull for a burnt offering, for a sweet savor to Yahweh, with the meal-offering of it, and the drink-offering of it, according to the ordinance, and one male goat for a sin-offering. 15:25The priest shall make atonement for all the congregation of the children of Israel, and they shall be forgiven; for it was an error, and they have brought their offering, an offering made by fire to Yahweh, and their sin-offering before Yahweh, for their error: 15:26and all the congregation of the children of Israel shall be forgiven, and the stranger who sojourns among them; for in respect of all the people it was done unwittingly. 15:27If one person sin unwittingly, then he shall offer a female goat a year old for a sin-offering. 15:28The priest shall make atonement for the soul who errs, when he sins unwittingly, before Yahweh, to make atonement for him; and he shall be forgiven. 15:29You shall have one law for him who does anything unwittingly, for him who is home-born among the children of Israel, and for the stranger who sojourns among them. 15:30But the soul who does anything with a high hand, whether he be home-born or a sojourner, the same blasphemes Yahweh; and that soul shall be cut off from among his people. 15:31Because he has despised the word of Yahweh, and has broken his commandment, that soul shall utterly be cut off; his iniquity shall be on him.

15:32While the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering sticks on the Sabbath day. 15:33Those who found him gathering sticks brought him to Moses and Aaron, and to all the congregation. 15:34They put him in custody, because it had not been declared what should be done to him. 15:35Yahweh said to Moses, The man shall surely be put to death: all the congregation shall stone him with stones outside of the camp. 15:36All the congregation brought him outside of the camp, and stoned him to death with stones; as Yahweh commanded Moses.

Unwitting sin is forgiven when it is discovered, acknowledged and an offering made for it. But sinning with a high hand is blasphemy against Yahweh and incurs the death penalty!

15:32-36 suggests that the man found gathering sticks on the Sabbath day did so with a high hand. He was fully aware that he was not to be so doing, seeing that Yahweh had forbidden the children of Israel from so doing. Nevertheless he defied Yahweh and went ahead regardless. He therefore paid with his own life for his defiance and derision of Yahweh's word!

The above account in Numbers reiterates the penalty to be incurred by those who commit the eternal sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. Such incur the death penalty and will not be forgiven their death penalty - the second and permanent death, from which there is no resurrection!

 

Circumstances Where Those Under Authority Are Forgiven

Numbers 30 reads,

30:1Moses spoke to the heads of the tribes of the children of Israel, saying, This is the thing which Yahweh has commanded. 30:2When a man vows a vow to Yahweh, or swears an oath to bind his soul with a bond, he shall not break his word; he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth. 30:3Also when a woman vows a vow to Yahweh, and binds herself by a bond, being in her father’s house, in her youth, 30:4and her father hears her vow, and her bond with which she has bound her soul, and her father holds his peace at her; then all her vows shall stand, and every bond with which she has bound her soul shall stand. 30:5But if her father disallow her in the day that he hears, none of her vows, or of her bonds with which she has bound her soul, shall stand: and Yahweh will forgive her, because her father disallowed her. 30:6If she be married to a husband, while her vows are on her, or the rash utterance of her lips, with which she has bound her soul, 30:7and her husband hear it, and hold his peace at her in the day that he hears it; then her vows shall stand, and her bonds with which she has bound her soul shall stand. 30:8But if her husband disallow her in the day that he hears it, then he shall make void her vow which is on her, and the rash utterance of her lips, with which she has bound her soul: and Yahweh will forgive her. 30:9But the vow of a widow, or of her who is divorced, even everything with which she has bound her soul, shall stand against her. 30:10If she vowed in her husband’s house, or bound her soul by a bond with an oath, 30:11and her husband heard it, and held his peace at her, and didn’t disallow her; then all her vows shall stand, and every bond with which she bound her soul shall stand. 30:12But if her husband made them null and void in the day that he heard them, then whatever proceeded out of her lips concerning her vows, or concerning the bond of her soul, shall not stand: her husband has made them void; and Yahweh will forgive her. 30:13Every vow, and every binding oath to afflict the soul, her husband may establish it, or her husband may make it void. 30:14But if her husband altogether hold his peace at her from day to day, then he establishes all her vows, or all her bonds, which are on her: he has established them, because he held his peace at her in the day that he heard them. 30:15But if he shall make them null and void after that he has heard them, then he shall bear her iniquity. 30:16These are the statutes, which Yahweh commanded Moses, between a man and his wife, between a father and his daughter, being in her youth, in her father’s house.

Women living in the houses of their fathers or husbands are under the authority of the latter. Their words are not effective unless and until they are ratified by those in authority over them - their fathers and husbands. But women without a man in authority over them, such as widows and those divorced, do not need ratification of their words, for their words hold.

 

Shed Innocent Blood Must Be Accounted For

Deuteronomy 21:1-9 reads,

21:1If one be found slain in the land which Yahweh your God gives you to possess it, lying in the field, and it isn’t known who has struck him; 21:2then your elders and your judges shall come forth, and they shall measure to the cities which are round about him who is slain: 21:3and it shall be, that the city which is nearest to the slain man, even the elders of that city shall take a heifer of the herd, which hasn’t been worked with, and which has not drawn in the yoke; 21:4and the elders of that city shall bring down the heifer to a valley with running water, which is neither plowed nor sown, and shall break the heifer’s neck there in the valley. 21:5The priests the sons of Levi shall come near; for them Yahweh your God has chosen to minister to him, and to bless in the name of Yahweh; and according to their word shall every controversy and every stroke be. 21:6All the elders of that city, who are nearest to the slain man, shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley; 21:7and they shall answer and say, Our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen it. 21:8Forgive, Yahweh, your people Israel, whom you have redeemed, and don’t allow innocent blood to remain in the midst of your people Israel. The blood shall be forgiven them. 21:9So shall you put away the innocent blood from the midst of you, when you shall do that which is right in the eyes of Yahweh.

Innocent blood can afflict a people, when those people do not take due remedial action for the innocent blood shed in their midst. For those who shed innocent blood are required to pay due penalty for so shedding.

To be forgiven the penalty of innocent blood having been shed in one's midst, one should make due offering to Yahweh and seek his forgiveness for the sin committed - that of shedding innocent blood and no appropriate action having been taken in recompense. And when those who so seek Yahweh's forgiveness are abiding in his word, he does indeed forgive them the consequences that would have been incurred on account of the innocent blood having been shed in their land.

 

Yahweh Does Not Pardon Those Who Defy Him

Deuteronomy 29:14-28 reads,

29:14Neither with you only do I make this covenant and this oath, 29:15but with him who stands here with us this day before Yahweh our God, and also with him who is not here with us this day 29:16(for you know how we lived in the land of Egypt, and how we came through the midst of the nations through which you passed; 29:17and you have seen their abominations, and their idols, wood and stone, silver and gold, which were among them); 29:18lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart turns away this day from Yahweh our God, to go to serve the gods of those nations; lest there should be among you a root that bears gall and wormwood; 29:19and it happen, when he hears the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart, to destroy the moist with the dry. 29:20Yahweh will not pardon him, but then the anger of Yahweh and his jealousy will smoke against that man, and all the curse that is written in this book shall lie on him, and Yahweh will blot out his name from under the sky. 29:21Yahweh will set him apart to evil out of all the tribes of Israel, according to all the curses of the covenant that is written in this book of the law. 29:22The generation to come, your children who shall rise up after you, and the foreigner who shall come from a far land, shall say, when they see the plagues of that land, and the sicknesses with which Yahweh has made it sick; 29:23and that the whole land of it is sulfur, and salt, and a burning, that it is not sown, nor bears, nor any grass grows therein, like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which Yahweh overthrew in his anger, and in his wrath: 29:24even all the nations shall say, Why has Yahweh done thus to this land? What means the heat of this great anger? 29:25Then men shall say, Because they forsook the covenant of Yahweh, the God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, 29:26and went and served other gods, and worshiped them, gods that they didn’t know, and that he had not given to them: 29:27therefore the anger of Yahweh was kindled against this land, to bring on it all the curse that is written in this book; 29:28and Yahweh rooted them out of their land in anger, and in wrath, and in great indignation, and cast them into another land, as at this day.

Yahweh certainly punishes for idolatry.

 

Yahweh Punishes For Idolatry

Joshua 24:19-21 reads,

24:19Joshua said to the people, You can’t serve Yahweh; for he is a holy God; he is a jealous God; he will not forgive your disobedience nor your sins. 24:20If you forsake Yahweh, and serve foreign gods, then he will turn and do you evil, and consume you, after that he has done you good. 24:21The people said to Joshua, No; but we will serve Yahweh.

 

Yahweh Rejects Those Who Reject Him

1 Samuel 15:22-29 reads,

15:22Samuel said, Has Yahweh as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of Yahweh? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams. 15:23For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as idolatry and teraphim. Because you have rejected the word of Yahweh, he has also rejected you from being king. 15:24Saul said to Samuel, I have sinned; for I have transgressed the commandment of Yahweh, and your words, because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice. 15:25Now therefore, please pardon my sin, and turn again with me, that I may worship Yahweh. 15:26Samuel said to Saul, I will not return with you; for you have rejected the word of Yahweh, and Yahweh has rejected you from being king over Israel. 15:27As Samuel turned about to go away, Saul laid hold on the skirt of his robe, and it tore. 15:28Samuel said to him, Yahweh has torn the kingdom of Israel from you this day, and has given it to a neighbor of yours who is better than you. 15:29Also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent; for he is not a man, that he should repent.

For one to be forgiven or pardoned one's sin, one's confession of sin must be genuine, accompanied by genuine repentance from the heart. As Saul had not genuinely repented, Yahweh decreed his penalty upon Saul for his rebellion - rejection from being king over Israel.

 


[Previous Section] [Contents] [Next Section]


Your comments on this article

Click here to inform a friend about this article

Go to Christ the Lamp web site Contents page

Go to Christ the Lamp Home page

© 2001, Isaac Aluochier, All rights reserved. Published by Christ the Lamp, a division of Servants of Yahweh, P O Box 78, Royston, SG8 7WF, United Kingdom. E-mail: christthelamp@christthelamp.org. Permission is hereby GRANTED to reproduce this and other publications in the Christ the Lamp web site, http://www.christthelamp.org, unless otherwise stated.

Financial contributions, payable to Servants of Yahweh, and sent to P O Box 78, Royston, SG8 7WF, United Kingdom, are welcome and gratefully received. These facilitate the effective distribution of the word Yah'shuah has given us, both in electronic and hard copy formats. Not all have easy access to the Internet and therefore cannot easily access our web site, http://www.christthelamp.org, for this information where it is freely available. These need hard copies of the information published on our web site. Production and distribution of books and booklets is significantly more costly than publishing and distributing material over the Internet. In this regard your financial contributions, whether by way of tithes and/or freewill offerings, go a great way in disseminating the word Yah'shuah has given us to the people he wills it to reach. May Yahweh and Yah'shuah richly bless you for your financial contributions to Servants of Yahweh.