When?

Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols.  Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.  Ezekiel 36:25-26  NASB

Then – When are we forgiven?  When we cry out in desperation?  When we repent?  When we plead the blood of the cross?  When we accept the Savior?  When we say the Sinner’s Prayer?

Rabbi Akiva tackled this question in his examination of Ezekiel.  His conclusion might shock you.

Here’s some background:

“The virtue of Torah is exceedingly great, but there are times when a person cannot draw near to the Holy and Blessed One except through afflictions.”[1]

“‘When a person suffers afflictions, he must express gratitude to the Holy and Blessed One.  Why?  Because it is his afflictions that draw him to the Holy and Blessed One.’  Indeed, the Torah cannot be acquired except through affliction.”[2]

Okay, so suffering is an essential part of drawing close to God.  But how does that help us understand forgiveness?  Let’s continue:

“Rabbi Akiva made the following exposition: ‘Fortunate are you, O Israel!  Before whom are you purified?  Who purifies you?  Before your Father in heaven, as we read in Scripture, “I will sprinkle clean water up[on] you and you shall be clean” (Ezekiel 36:25).  It is also written, “The Lord is the hope of (mikveh) Israel” (Jeremiah 17:13).  Just as a mikveh (ritual pool) cleanses the impure, so does the Holy and Blessed One cleanse Israel.’  Rabbi Akiva is teaching us that even when a person is not awakened to repentance, the Holy and Blessed One will act, as the prophet Ezekiel said, ‘Not for your sake will I act, O house of Israel . . . and I will sprinkle clean water upon you.’”[3]

When does forgiveness happen?  When God acts.  Amazingly, Akiva does not say that forgiveness requires the human step of prior repentance.  He says that forgiveness is God’s decision and it can occur even when we have not yet reached the point of repenting.  When God acts, other things occur:

“Whoever rejoices in his afflictions helps bring salvation to the world.”[4]

“Afflictions are precious, and the righteous do not rebel against them—to them whatever God does is precious and beloved.”[5]

“When a community is in agony, the individual is obligated to share in that agony.”[6]

Apparently forgiveness is not only a divine prerogative, it’s also a communal obligation.  Often we feel as if our sins are so burdensome, so despicable, so intentional that they just couldn’t possibly be forgiven.  Of course, our cognitive theology tells us they are, but our emotional reality says otherwise.  In these circumstances, it’s important to hear Akiva’s words. We need the community to emotionally support us because we can’t emotionally support ourselves.

Ultimately, forgiveness is not up to us.  It isn’t about how much we repent, how much we mourn within ourselves, how much we beat ourselves to demonstrate our sincerity.  In the end, it’s about what God does, and what He does doesn’t actually depend on us.  I find comfort in this.  I often feel as if I could never make up for the things I’ve done.  I hear my conscience reminding me that I’m no good, a failure, not worthy of redemption.  At times I even wonder if I truly care.  Then Akiva proclaims that God cares even when I feel like nothing matters anymore.  God acts with grace toward me when I can’t find grace within me.  This I need to know and feel.

Topical Index: suffering, affliction, forgiveness, grace, Akiva, Ezekiel 36:25-26

[1] Abraham Heschel, Heavenly Torah as Refracted through the Generations, p. 132.

[2] Ibid., citing Rabbi Eliezer ben Jacob.

[3] Ibid., p. 184.

[4] Ibid., p. 133, citing Rabbi Joshua ben Levi.

[5] Ibid., p. 133.

[6] Babylonian Talmud Ta’anit 11a