Curse jars and Original Sin
Yesterday, Sally messed up, she took $5 from the cash drawer at her job.She had made several cash sales without receipts that day. Ok, so $5 isn’t much, but what does it represent and is it indeed sin? Most of us would say it is a sin. To me even taking a nickel or dime that does not belong to you–is stealing. But how does she get forgiven for this? And is it about blotting out this one action, or is it about the underlying tendency that causes the stealing? And if she has done this 100 times? Perhaps she is doing this compulsively? Well, psychology aside, sin is a big problem and it seems that all of us struggle with one form or another—be it stealing, cheating, lying, using profane speech or any other sin.
How does one get forgiven? And what happens to our past sins that have been overcome? Are they still registered somewhere? Is there a big black book in Heaven that will block us from Eternal Life if we don’t confess our sins? What is confession anyway?
In Christianity the forgiveness process is pretty much carte blanche, you sin again and you go to church or to your knees and Jesus blood covers you. You hope to stop sinning but many people keep on doing what they wish they didn’t do and some finally live in denial, believing that the sin is “not so bad.” So my question is, how did the blood help them?
In Judaism, there is the concept of Teshuvah, a Hebrew word for repentance, but it includes doing something more than just confessing a sin, something that costs you, requiring (in the case of stealing which is this is backed up by specific instructions in the Torah) where you pay at least double for what you have stolen.
In the case of Sabbath breaking even in an emergency, I have been told that fasting or spending time without something a person likes to do will fulfill the need that is caused through the sin. Perhaps this can take the place of the ancient sacrificial system and I can agree with some of this because, back then a sacrifice was given when a person acknowledged that they had done wrong. It was not enough to recognize the sin, there was also a payment that had to be made. And speaking of sacrifice, as I see it–it did not forgive anything, but it caused the sinner to see what they had done in a new light and give up a choice animal from the flock–that was not cheap!
Ever heard of a curse jar? People who want to cure themselves of swearing put money in the jar when they mess up. It makes some people think twice when they are going to use profanity, especially after losing money time and again. So, is it possible that the repentance process has to hurt so you don’t do it again so easily? There are people who discipline themselves to really come up to the plate so to speak, or “take the bull by the horns” and overcome a particular sin. Addictions are an example of repetetive sin. This area, especially in the case of substance abuse requires complete withdrawal from the substance in order to be free of it. How about losing one’s temper and hurting those close to you? How does one get over that? Perhaps giving up an amount of money or forgoing dessert or a vacation.
To the non-Jewish world, this could appear as what is referred to as “a religion of works.” There is an element of works involved, but what does the Bible say?–(I use the Tenakh or Old Testament) because that is where the law and the prophets spoke about such things.
So what about the ancient sacrifices required by the Torah? And what about today when animal sacrifice is no longer possible? And did these sacrifices ever serve to clear one’s guilt, or blot out sins?
Psa 40:6 Sacrifice and offering you did not desire–but my ears you have opened–burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not require.
1Sa 15:22 “…Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, As in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed (harken) than the fat of rams.”
The later prophets spoke of a turning of the heart rather than the need for sacrifice:
Jer. 25:5: ‘Turn now, everyone from his evil way and from the evil of your deeds, and live on the land which the LORD has given to you and your forefathers forever and ever;
Eze 18:30 Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, saith YHVH Elohim. Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin. 31 Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why will ye die, O house of Israel?
Is it possible that the entire sacrificial system originally was meant to bring people to recognize the seriousness of disobedience, much like the curse jar? Were they meant to turn one’s heart towards righteousness and away from sin? Besides the ceremony that was performed, the sacrifice carried with it the element of seeing the suffering of an animal because of one’s sin and also the loss of personal wealth. I believe it was never about any blood atonement. God is not pleased with the blood of animals any more than the blood of humans.
Isa 1: 11 “To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to Me?” Says YHVH. “I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams And the fat of fed cattle. I do not delight in the blood of bulls, Or of lambs or goats.”
What about our past sins? What does the Bible say about those? Do they accompany us for the rest of our lives as if strapped to our backs until the judgment when there is some type of punishment given us? Or worse, will they send us to a burning Hell? Would a blood sacrifice cover them? Or is our confession and turning away from them all that is needed?
Hos 14:2 “Take with you words, and turn to YHVH: say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously: so will we render the calves of our lips.”
Eze 18:27 “Again, when the wicked man turneth away from his wickedness that he hath committed, and does that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive. 28 Because he considereth, and turneth away from all his transgressions that he hath committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die.”
Ok, so what does Ezekiel mean? That what you did in the past is null and void if you change your ways. There must be a turning away, there has to be a change. And how that happens includes getting a new heart and mind. And the thing that makes this not about works is the following:
Eze 36:26 “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.”
God is the One who gives the new heart to us—but we have to ask for it and want it bad enough to change. No more justification for sin–it takes a broken heart and a willingness to change!
Joe 2:13 “And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto YHVH your Elohim: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil.”
But beyond this, God takes over in the discipline field. It is not all up to us, after all we are His kids!
Pro 3: 11: “My son, do not despise YHVH’s discipline or be weary of his reproof, 12 for YHVH reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights.”
The best evidence of forgiveness of a person’s past sins is that they don’t do it anymore! According to Ezekiel 18, the past sins are only held against us if we do not change. But if a righteous person stops being righteous none of his good deeds will be remembered…
We saw in Ezekiel 18 that one’s good deeds are not remembered when we turn to doing evil and we must remember that neither are our past evil deeds remembered if we change for the good. What does God do with the sins we confess and forsake?
Isa 38:17 “Behold, it was for my welfare that I had great bitterness; but in love you have delivered my life from the pit of destruction, for you have cast all my sins behind your back.”
Simple, isn’t it? Our judgment is based on who we are now and who we become. What about consequences for things we have done, decisions we have made? We all experience consequences, if we did not, we would be dead — and I see consequences as cause and effect, nor punishment. Even in purely secular science, there will always be a reaction to any action (see Newton’s 3rd law).
There is also the witicism acredited to Albert Einstein:
“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.”
So let’s stop touching the hot stove thinking it won’t hurt next time!
It is not easy for one that sins habitually to finally overcome. In the case of hurting others, there will be damage to the relationship as well as to both parties. Many times family and friends will never forgive and forget. The hardest thing we may ever face is the lack of forgiveness from people, but then God gives them free will just like He does us.
The judgment will not be about what we did in the past but what we do now and continue to do. And the simple answer to overcoming is that we want to overcome, we confess and repent and ASK God to give us a new heart. It also does include doing good deeds and amending the breach we have often made with others. It could mean separating from acquaintances that keep us trapped in certain bad behaviors.
Now what about Original Sin that there is so much discussion about? Christians say we all carry it from birth, and Judaism calls it the Evil inclination which Adam and Eve welcomed into the world when they ate of the forbidden tree, but what is this all about and are we indeed unable to overcome because of it? Does it have anything to do with generational sin? Are we judged for the sins of our fathers?
Eze 18:20 “The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.”
Exo 20:5: “… I am YHVH a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me…”
So here we see sinful tendencies, things we get from our DNA from our parents as well as from our upbringing. Original Sin? Not in this case. Adam and Eve chose the knowledge of good and evil and passed this on to us. But if we resist the curiosity to experiment with evil and rather choose the good we are counted as wise. The Original Sin idea carries with it the idea of paying for something we never did. A just God would not make us pay for our parents sins–only if we desire to
repeat them ourselves. It is all a personal matter. Each is judged for his own behavior. Right?
Psa 37:27 “Depart from evil, and do good; and dwell for evermore.”
Job 28:28 “And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.”
There is no such thing as bearing guilt for what we are born with. The tendency is not something that stacks guilt upon us—though it is true these tendencies make life harder, but our Father in Heaven has enough mercy to deal with us, to reprove and discipline us until we learn. It is not all on our shoulders to overcome sin, the Creator Himself is doing his recreating in forming us in His image. So it behooves us to connect ourselves to Him and trust and struggle together with His divine power in conquering what is wrong with us.
Job 23:10: “But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold. 11 My feet have closely followed his steps; I have kept to his way without turning aside. 12 I have not departed from the commands of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread.”
Halleluyah! We can do this!
Ariella Tiqvah,
If you enjoy my articles, please comment, like and share. It really helps to spread the word!
