Introduction
The Divine provision of the forgiveness of sins is implicit in God’s promises to Abraham, and Gentiles are related to the covenants of promise through the blessedness of forgiven sins in Christ Jesus. But so too for natural Israel, the forgiveness of sins is an integral element of their introduction into the New Covenant (Abrahamic). This fact is sometimes neglected in the discussion of God’s purpose with the nation of Israel and the fulfillment of God’s covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Punishment for sin
In Leviticus 26 God forewarns of the calamities which would overtake Israel as a punishment for sin; “And if ye will not be reformed by Me by these things, but will walk contrary unto Me; then will I also walk contrary unto you, and will punish you yet seven times for your sins” (vv. 23,24). Sin must be punished. The history of the nation of Israel testifies to their waywardness. Repeatedly they refused to hearken to God’s Word and to do His commandments. They despised His statutes and turned aside for the pursuit of evil. But the hand of God falling upon them in judgement was also extended in mercy. If they would return to Him, He would return to them and remember His covenant:
“If they shall confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers, with their trespass which they trespassed against Me, and that also they have walked contrary unto Me; and that I also have walked contrary unto them, and have brought them into the land of their enemies; if then their uncircumcised hearts be humbled, and they then accept of the punishment of their iniquity: then will I remember My covenant with Jacob, and also My covenant with Isaac, and also My covenant with Abraham will I remember; and I will remember the land” (vv. 40-42).
The chastisement was a necessary corrective to effect their reformation. Suffering and woe, accomplishing its designs, gives place to blessedness. This process can be traced out in the prophecy of Isaiah, and has been well described as the ‘gospel’ of the prophet.
The Gospel of Isaiah
The sins of Israel estranged them from their Maker. Isaiah declares in chapter 59: “Your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid His face from you, that He will not hear” (v. 2). Isaiah enforces upon the minds of the people the need to acknowledge sin for what it is. He emphasizes the necessity of true repentance and of forsaking the way of persistent wrongdoing. God is attentive to the response of the heart; He can and will hear, for:
“Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither His ear heavy, that it cannot hear” (v. 1).
God reveals Himself as their Saviour. Salvation is possible, and it is the work of the Lord. But the nation must respond by confessing with their mouth and repenting with their heart. The climax of the prophet’s message is a picture of Israel’s restoration, the time when God remembers His covenant:
“And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the Lord. As for Me, this is My covenant with them, saith the Lord (cf. Gen. 17:4); My spirit that is upon thee, and My words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed’s seed, saith the Lord, from henceforth and for ever” (vv. 20,21).
In that day Israel will fulfill the mission for which they were called. They will testify for the Lord and declare His Word so that the Gentiles might learn of God and His salvation.
In Isaiah 43 we are informed of the means whereby Israel may obtain this salvation; God says:
“Thou hast brought Me no sweet cane with money, neither hast thou filled me with the fat of thy sacrifices: but thou hast made Me to serve with thy sins, thou hast wearied Me with thine iniquities. I, even I, am He that blotteth out thy transgressions for Mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins” (vv. 24,25).
Salvation is available through the forgiveness of sins. A servant whom God raised up is the one through whom forgiveness is effected. Isaiah delineates the course of “the arm of the Lord revealed”, the righteous servant who is given as a covenant for the people, thereby intimating that forgiveness and salvation become available through his death and resurrection. The Lord Jesus Christ applied this prophecy of “the servant” to himself when he said: “the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many” (Matt. 10:45).
Isaiah 40 proclaims that compassion has been granted to those who formerly had not been comforted because of their sinfulness (cp. Isa. 27:11). Redemption becomes the portion of that which had been given up to desolation and captivity (cp. Isa. 54:11):
“Comfort ye, comfort ye My people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the Lord’s hand double for all her sins” (vv. 1,2).
The weariness and punishment for sins has passed to the quietness of restoration through the mercy of God. It has been pointed out’ that the statement rendered “her iniquity is pardoned” may also be translated “her guilt is accepted”. This directs the mind back to the verses quoted from Leviticus 26:41-43. It is interesting that the verb ‘pardoned’ or ‘accepted’ and the noun ‘iniquity’ only occur together in these two passages. Thus, once again, the forgiveness of sins is connected with God’s covenant. Furthermore, when God remembers His covenant with the fathers the nation is described by Him in the fullest sense as “My people” (cp. Lev. 26:44). The threads of these thoughts are woven together by the prophet in chapter 61, where he associates the New Covenant with the “blessing” of forgiven sin:
“For I the Lord love judgment, I hate robbery for burnt offering; and I will direct their work in truth, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them. And their seed shall be known among the Gentiles, and their offspring among the people: all that see them shall acknowledge them, that they are the seed which the Lord hath blessed” (vv. 8,9).
Men will be able to learn from the experience of the nation of Israel that sin must be punished. But not only that, for through their chastisement the Divine love is revealed in God drawing men to Himself as the One Who forgives sins.
Restoration and the prophets
Tenderly, God appealed to the people through the voice of His prophets, reminding them of the promise to remember His covenant. The prophets attach considerable importance to the forgiveness of sins as they encourage their hearers with a vision of Israel’s future and the fulfilment of God’s promises. Jeremiah 31 records details of the introduction of Israel into the New Covenant. The restored nation is described as God’s people (v. 33), for then they will have experienced a moral and spiritual transformation. God’s law is written in the hearts which humbly respond to the redeeming love which has delivered them (see v. 3). The prerequisite for this transition is defined in verse 34: “for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more”.
Micah anticipates the time when the Redeemer comes to Zion, and views the final deliverance of the nation from the hand of its enemies. He speaks of the one who has conquered their enemy as the one who has vanquished the greatest adversary, Sin: “Who is a God like unto Thee (note the play on the name Micah: ‘Who like God’), that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He retaineth not His anger for ever, because He delighteth in mercy. He will turn again, He will have compassion upon us; He will subdue our iniquities; and Thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea” (7:18,19). How appropriate that Micah’s next utterance should call to mind the promises! “Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, which Thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old” (v. 20).
Both Ezekiel (36:25-28) and Zechariah add details to the process of Israel’s reception to Divine favour. It appears from Zechariah 12 and 13 that the order of their transformation is repentance (12:10), conversion (12:10-14), and forgiveness (13:1). Repenting, they acknowledge their sin, and “accept of the punishment of their iniquity”. Conversion, we suggest, is the practical expression of true repentance which begins when they “look upon Me Whom they have are fulfilled, so that David can finally exult: “and men shall be blessed in him” (v. 17). It is convenient to tabulate some of the connections between the psalm and God’s revelation to Abraham recorded in Genesis.
Genesis
“this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates” (15:18)
“thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies” (22:17)
“in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed” (22:18).
Psalm 72
“from the river unto the ends of the earth (erets, land)” (v. 8)
“his enemies shall lick the dust” (v. 9) “men shall be blessed in him” (v. 17).pierced”. Then, with their “uncircumcised hearts . . . humbled”, their sins are remembered no more (13:1).2
Thus he comes to “turn away ungodliness from Jacob” (cp. 13:2). It is interesting that Peter’s injunction to his fellow countrymen (Acts 3:19) refers to this process in the same order as Zechariah: “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord”.
The promises fulfilled
In Psalm 72 we foresee the season of refreshing. The psalmist sings of the King who reigns in righteousness. His sway extends “from the river unto the ends of the earth”, and he commands the obedience of all (vv. 8,9). The promises made to Abraham, encompassing the forgiveness of sins,
At the last “all Israel shall be saved”. God’s dealings, embracing Jew and Gentile alike, forcibly remind us that, “If Thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?” (Ps. 130:3). “But …” what volumes of thought are condensed into this conjunction!
. . . there is forgiveness with Thee, that Thou mayest be feared” (v. 4). So too there is encouragement for natural and spiritual Israel: “Let Israel hope in the Lord: for with the Lord there is mercy, and with Him is plenteous redemption. And He shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities” (vv. 7,8).
References
- See Speaker’s Commentary on this verse.
- Does the word “fountain” (13:1; Heb. makor), which may refer to an artificial reservoir for water storage, suggest that Israel will be baptized?
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One