Were You, O Yah, to watch for wrongs, Master, who could endure? For forgiveness is Yours, so that You may be feared. Psalm 130:3-4 Robert Alter Forgiveness – “I’m sorry. Please forgive me.” How often those words are offered to another person! And rightly so. We all make mistakes and we all need forgiveness. But Hebrew…
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…
“Turn back, rebellious sons, said the LORD, for I have claimed possession of you, and have taken you . . .” Jeremiah 3:14a Robert Alter Turn back – What does it take to achieve forgiveness and atonement? Jeremiah says, “Repent and turn back.” That’s what it takes. But Leviticus 16:30 says that Yom Kippur brings…
So if the Son sets you free, you really will be free. John 8:36 NASB Free – Did you read the statements of Jonathan Sacks from yesterday’s edition? Oh, if you didn’t, then go back before you read this. Do you remember what he wrote? “Atonement and forgiveness are the supreme expressions of human freedom –…
who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.” Exodus 34:7 NASB No means leave the guilty unpunished – Exodus 34:6-7 is one of the most important passages in the…
“But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralyzed man, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” Luke 5:24 NIV Authority on earth – I wrote Cross Word Puzzles seven years ago. A lot has changed since then. In…
Now the eyes of Israel were dim with age, so that he could not see. Genesis 48:10 NASB Dim– Ah, do you remember the first part of this story? Perhaps I can refresh your thinking. “When Isaac was old and his eyes were dim so that he could not see,” (Genesis 27:1 ESV). As always, Hebrew connects one…
The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! John 1:29 ESV Takes away – We continue. Luke is the only writer who suggests John’s preaching is connected to forgiveness. “And he came into all the district around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance…
The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! John 1:29 ESV Takes away– A few days ago (April 22) we examined the Greek and Hebrew roots of this idea. We noted, “Whether the sense in Jn. 1:29 is ‘to take up and carry,’…
If You, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But there is forgiveness with You, that You may be feared. Psalm 130:3-4 NASB Feared– Let’s fix this translation. Yes, the word is yārēʾ and it can be translated “fear” but is that what the psalmist is really saying? Is he saying that because YHVH overlooks our guilt…
