Sin – Light from the Word

Until I Acknowledged My Sin

Sin is a trap ready to hold man enslaved to its power. Embedded in the soul and DNA of men, even before birth, when he was being created, it became part of man’s behavior, because he lost God’s image, when he inherited the sins of iniquity, which are carried from generation to generation. Psalm 51 says, Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity; my mother was sinful who conceived me [and I too am sinful]. “The DNA, as an organic chemical of complex molecular structure, codes genetic information for the transmission of inherited traits.” It is complex, because it is God’s signature. It registers God’s deep wisdom and knowledge men can never figure it out scientifically on their argument to support evolution. Years of trying to carry on their belief in evolution, men get stuck on the theory, without proof. Complex as man is in his formation, created in the image of God Himself, according to Elliott’s commentary, “the verb created indicates, first, that man shows that he was never a development or evolution, but he is without a doubt, the most perfect work of the creative energy, and he is different from the animals and he is an organized body, indicating the rejoicing of the Deity at the completion of God’s purpose.” So, man is not only flesh and blood and skeleton; he is much more than that. He is spirit- the eternal part, he is soul the part that defines who he is. And body, the physical and visible part. Man was created in the image and likeness of God (Gen.1:27)

Created in perfect harmony with the Creator’s plan, without sin, pure and blameless, living in a perfect and peaceful environment nested in a beautiful garden, the Garden of Eden. We have no idea of the length of time men lived in that perfect environment, before they sinned, but we do know that it came to an end at the time they sinned. David, the man after God’s heart, found himself in gross sinful behavior, when he committed the sin of adultery and homicide. Victim of the consequences of his sinful behavior, King David suffered spiritually, mentally and emotionally and physically. Continuing living his life as if nothing had happened, it came a time when he was stricken by God. He said, When I kept silence, my bones wasted away through my groaning all the day long; for day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; my moisture was turned into the drought of summer (Ps. 32:3-4). King David was suffering from arthritis and kidney problems. He was pressured to do what was right in order to restore his relationship with God, once enjoyed. Diseases are for most part, a result of sin in our life, expressed through our mental and physical experiences. We pray for healing, but continue committing the very sin that has brought us diseases. Prayers are not answered, at that time, but it will be, when we acknowledge our sins before God with repentance to receive forgiveness. King David took this route and enjoyed forgiveness through the healing of his mental and physical ailments. Acknowledgment of sins with repentance is the key to open heaven. As King David prayed, “Have mercy upon me O God, according to Your steadfast love; according to the multitude of Your tender mercy and loving-kindness, blot out my transgressions; wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and guilt and cleanse me and make ne wholly pure from my sin! For I am conscious of my transgressions and I acknowledge them; my sin is ever before me. Against You, You only, have I sinned and done that which is evil in Your sight, so that You are justified in Your sentence and faultless in Your judgment” (Ps. 51). Until he acknowledged his sin before God, King David carried the weight of his non-confessed sin’s guilt. The spirit of guilt is without a doubt, a tormenting spirit. It can either lead us to repentance, or remorse. In the case of Judas, and Peter in relationship with the betrayal and denial of YAHSHUA, one suffered remorse and committed suicide; Peter repented and was forgiven and restored.

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Where Everything Is Visible, There Is Light

God created two great lights to brighten the earth; one for the day, the other for the night. Light is this case, gives life, warmth, and good health. The world very much depends on this great light, called the sun. It thrives on its warmth as its beams reach far and widely day after day, and without It, vegetation, as our food source, would not survive, and without its warmth our body would not function; our soul would fall into depression. “From promoting the growth of plants and crops to keeping people warm, sunlight is essential for life. In addition, many people enjoy the feeling of sunlight, and there is increasing evidence to support its many health benefits.” All lives depend on the light of the sun. Places where the sun is limited, people are prone to cancer of various types. So, the sun is life sustainer. Its light rises up lowly in the dark of the day, announcing its arrival with its rays dispersing the dark of the night, bringing in the dawn, the beginning of a new day. Everything becomes visible at its light and fear disappears. This is the Lord God displaying His faithfulness day after day. The Bible says, Of the heavens has God made a tent for the sun, which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber and it rejoices as a strong man to run his course. Its going is from the end of the heavens, and its circuit to the ends of it; and nothing is hidden from the heat of it (Ps. 19). While the sun makes its round, the earth rests; we close our eyes as in a sleep till the sun wakes us up with its light, calling us to our duty. Our earthly life functions around the sun’s schedule.

As our physical life depends on the light and warmth of the sun, so does our spiritual life. YAHSHUA is the sun of the earth; He is Light, exposing the darkness in us and in the world. He said, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not be walking in the dark, but will have the Light which is life; you will have the Light only a little while longer. Walk while you have the Light, so that darkness may not overtake and overcome you. He who walks about in the dark does not know where he goes. While you have the Light, believe in the Light, that you may become sons of the Light and be filled with Light.” (John 8:11; 12:34-36a). “In Him was Life and the Life was the Light of men; and the Light shines on in the darkness, for the darkness has never overpowered it. There was – the true Light coming into the world that illumines every person.” (John 1:4-5). His presence in us shines truth, guiding us in the way we must go, keeping us from stumbling and falling.

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I Said, I Will Confess My Sins to the Lord

“Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven.” This a very uplifting statement to the transgressors, as in all of us. The Bible tells us that YAHSHUA was wounded for our transgressions. He was wounded emotionally and physically, although He never transgressed or violate a law, a command, moral code or boundary. He suffered the wound of our transgressions. In the cause and effect, transgression has its effect on the body through diseases. YAHSHUA took that upon Himself and for a moment, He suffered the pain transgression causes. Isaiah 53:6 says, “We all like sheep have gone astray, we have turned everyone to his own way; and the Lord has made to light upon Him the guilt and iniquity of us all.” To go astray is to deviate from the right way rebelliously, in order behave as we please. This sounds to me as sin of transgression. Transgression is knowing what is right and not doing it. We all suffer the consequences of transgression. One example is in our eating habits. Day after day, we transgress the law of nature which our Lord established for the well-being of our body. He created living foods to nourish our living cells; but knowingly, we choose man created dead foods, filled with harmful chemicals to feed the body. Worse yet, is when we ask God to bless the poison we are about to partake for the destruction of our health in the name of YAHSHUA. Diseases have taken our body as a result. Not connecting the dots, we continue eating for our destruction and asking God to heal us. The sin of transgression will continue destroying us, unless we admit we have sinned and have a change of heart toward God and what He has created for us to eat. This is only one aspect of the sin of transgression that affect all of us. Don’t you know, asks Paul “that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit Who lives within you, Whom you have received from God? You are not your own, You were bought with a price, so then honor God and bring glory to Him in your body” (I Cor. 6:19-20).

We transgress God’s law in many aspects of life. In the law of marriage – ‘till death us part, disloyalty in our relationship with Him and with others. Israel, when in their pilgrimage to the Promised Land, lived a life of transgression against God’s Laws. Blessed above all nations, Israel has not understood her responsibility to obey God. Israel committed a grave sin that of having other gods besides Him after God covenanted with her. They did not repent and continued throughout their lives serving and worshiping false gods. A sin of transgression against God has not been dealt with to this day. YAHSHUA suffered much for the sin of transgression. The world is without excuses to continue transgressing against God today, after He has provided a way to be forgiven through His Son. David suffered much for not dealing with his sins. In his silence concerning his sin, his groaning was continuously all day long. Pain in the bones and in his kidneys, kept him suffering under God’s heavy hand upon him. That led him to acknowledge his sin to God, hiding nothing from Him. He confessed his transgression and he was forgiven from all he had confessed to God. A relief, with wings of peace took him from that estate of guilt and freed him. As a result, he had this to say from the heart: “Blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputes no iniquity and in whose spirit there is no deceit” (Ps. 32). The Bible assures us that when God forgives us, He remembers our sins no more. “He has not dealt with us after our sins nor rewarded us according to our iniquities, for as the heavens are high above the earth, so great are His mercy and loving-kindness toward those who reverently fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us” (Ps. 103:10-12).

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Eve and the Prohibited Fruit

No one knows what kind of fruit-tree was in the garden which Satan tempted Eve with. We know however, that it was a special tree, the tree whose fruit opened the eyes of Adam and Eve to know the difference between good and evil. The Bible only mentions it to be “The fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden.” Satan, the father of lies, presented the temptation to Eve by means of a question doubting God’s command: Can it really be that God has said, You shall not eat from every tree of the garden? Eve, then corrected the devil saying, We may eat the fruit from the trees of the garden, except the fruit from the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, You shall not eat of it lest you die was Eve’s answer (Gen. 3:1-3). This dialog resulted in the fall of mankind. It changed everything that man represented at his creation. Had Eve walked away, perhaps sin would not have entered into the world or into the soul of man, for when Eve and Adam ate the prohibited fruit, they lost the image of God and received the image of sin and their DNA was corrupted. The sin of rebellion shown through their disobedience penetrated into their DNA and into their soul, carrying to all generations after them. This is the reason why we became sinners and our tendency is to fall into sin. Man’s soul is directedly connected with its sinful nature. The mind, the will and the emotion are vehicles to cause the body to sin. Temptation started in the level of the soul. Our thoughts, our desires and emotions are all connected to perform evil. Sin is manifested through the flesh. It expresses anger in a hurtful and physical way, when one is angry; it expresses vengeance when one is emotionally hurt; when the mind of man is evil, it expresses corruption in the form of sexual perversion and other means. Without the renewal of the soul, we are lost and condemned to perish forever.

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In Remembrance, I Bow Down

(Lamentations 3)

The cries of Lamentations’ writings detail the sufferings of Israel’s people when taken away as captives by Babylon. “How solitary sits the city that was full of people!… all Zion gates are desolate… all her people groan and sigh seeking for bread; should and shall women eat the fruit of their own bodies, the children whom they have tended and swaddled with their hands?” (Lamentations 1,2).

Calamity had come to the city of Jerusalem-Judah and its people for their sins were grave before the Lord. Israel had been warned by Moses when yet in the wilderness of the consequences if they deviated from obeying the commandments of the Lord. The prophets also warned them of the coming judgment if they continued in their idolatry. But Israel’s heart was hard toward the Lord. “Jerusalem has grievously sinned; therefore, she has become an unclean thing and has been removed…her filthiness was in and on her skirts; she did not consider her final end (1:8a,9a).

In 589 BC Nebuchadnezzar II laid siege to Jerusalem; In 587 BC the culmination of the destruction of the city and temple happened. The Jewish people were then deported to Babylon, including Daniel and his friends, who God used mightily to change the heart of the King; He used Daniel to serve as prophet for the Jewish nation. God, in His love and mercy, allowed seventy years of captivity for the Jewish nation for having failed to keep seventy Sabbath years. It is written in the book of Leviticus that a Sabbath year comes every seventh year: But in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a Sabbath to the Lord, you shall neither sow your field nor prune your vineyard. What grows of itself in your harvest you shall not reap and the grapes on your uncultivated vine you shall not gather, for it is a year of rest to the land…and you shall number seven sabbaths or weeks of years for you, seven times seven years, so the total time of the seven weeks of years shall be forty-nine years (Lev. 25: 4-8). The number seventy is embed in the prophecy of Daniel chapter 9:24: Seventy weeks [of years, or 490 years] are decreed upon your people and upon your holy city to finish and put an end to transgression, to seal up and make full the measure of sin to purge away and make expiation and reconciliation for sin to bring in everlasting righteousness… When the disciples asked YAHSHUA how many times should one forgive, He gave them the answer found in the period of 490 years given the Jewish people in the prophecy of Daniel, illustrating the validity of Daniel’s prophecy’s time frame given them for forgiveness.

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In the Year King Uzziah Died

The Prophet Isaiah registers a beautiful experience he had with God after King Uzziah died. King Uzziah was a very successful king in the early years of his career as king. The secret laid on the fact that he sought the Lord. It was his desire to seek God (2 Chron. 26: 5). God blessed him and he became very successful in all he did. He was a distinguished and successful politician. He went against the Philistines and broke down the walls of Gath, of Jabneh, and of Ashdod, and built cities near Ashdod and elsewhere among the Philistines, and God helped him against the Philistines and the Arabs who dwelt in Gur-ball and the Meunim. That Ammonites paid tribute to Uzziah, and his fame spread abroad even to the border of Egypt, for he became very strong (II Chron. 26: 6-8).

But King Uzziah’s successes turned him into a prideful king. The Bible says, but when [King Uzziah] was strong, he became proud to his destruction; he trespassed against the Lord his God, for he went into the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense (vs. 16). Burning incense by other than the sons of Aaron was a terrible breach of the Levitical Law. He well knew about it, but for whatever reason, he was driven to commit this evil against the word of the Lord. His pride arouse when the priest Azariah confronted him. He was enraged; and while he was enraged with the priests, leprosy broke out on his forehead before the priests in the house of the Lord. King Uzziah was a leper to the day of his death, and being a leper, he dwelt in a separate house, for he was excluded from the Lord’s house (II chron. 16:18-21).

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Iniquity, As Ice On God’s Love

Iniquity, the condition of men’s heart, runs deeply into generations from the beginning of time. Its roots reach far into generations, controlling men’s behavior and bringing them generational curses of diseases. Because men sinned, they are the recipient of its evil fruit. Iniquity is the inherited weakness in men’s DNA and in his soul. Therefore, Paul said, as sin came into the world through one man, and death as the result of sin, so death spread to all men, because all men sinned (Rom. 5:12). The transfer of sin from generation to generation constitutes the sin of iniquity. It is its power taking over our desire to do good. David said, Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity; my mother was sinful who conceived me (Ps. 139:5). Iniquity, is above all other definitions, the root of evil. It remains with a generation even to the third and fourth generation. (Ex. 34:7). Iniquity is willful sin; it is the hardness of the heart toward following what is right. The Prophet Micah gave this warning: Woe to those who devise iniquity and work out evil upon their beds! When the morning is light, they perform and practice it because it is in their power (2:1).

Mankind under such condition, is hopeless, and seemly without a way out of it. That’s why man needs a Savior, a Redeemer to uproot this evil from all of us, for we all have sinned and come short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23); we are condemned to die spiritually when without our Savior YAHSHUA’S redemption. Paul said, For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot perform it. For I fail to practice the good deeds I desire to do, but the evil deeds that I do not desire to do are what I am doing… O unhappy and pitiable and wretched man that I am! Who will release and deliver me from this body of death? O thank God! He will…(Rom 7:18-19,24).

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Prayer for America

O America, return to the Lord your God, for you have stumbled and fallen due to your iniquities. America, recognize and understand that the Lord, is your God; the faithful God, Who keeps covenant and steadfast love and mercy with those who love Him and keep His commandments to a thousand generations; acknowledge Him Who is leading you through this great and terrible wilderness of uncertainties with its serpents, and scorpions ready to consume you; America, pull down the altars of Baal, where you sacrifice your children disregarding their cries of pain at your mercy! Examine your ways and return to the Lord; the Lord, the Lord, is compassionate and gracious; He will forgive you! Return to the Lord, put away your abominable false gods, for a lion has gone up from his thicket, and a destroyer of nations is on his way. He has gone forth from his place to make your land a desolate waste; and your cities shall be left in ruins without an inhabitant; for this, gird yourselves with sackcloth, lament and wail; the evil time is upon you America, for truth has fallen on the streets and uprightness cannot enter [the courts of justice]. Shake yourself from the dust, loose yourself from the bonds of your neck, O America, God shed His blood for you and crowned you with loving-kindness; seek the Lord while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near; His precious blood will cleanse you clean, when you repent of your wicked ways and turn to Him. Take away from your midst yokes of oppression. Your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden His face from you; you know not your way to peace. The Lord waits for you, America; He will be pleased to bless you again, when you turn to Him with your whole heart and mind.

The stripes YAHSHUA suffered in His body was for you, America! The bruises He suffered in His soul was for you America, His blood shed through the crown pierced on His head, through the nail pierced hands and feet was for you America; the merciless floggings applied on His body, was for you America. Annul your contract with the darkness and death; come to the Light, let justice run down like waters and righteousness as a mighty and ever-flowing stream, then the glory of the Lord, His holiness and goodness will shine on you from east to west, from north to south. Seek good and not evil that you may live, and the Lord, the God of hosts, will be with you. Know in all your heart and in your soul that not one thing has failed of all the good things which the Lord has promised concerning you. Return to the Lord, America, circumcise your heart to the Lord and be revived to receive His blessings.

PRAYER

O Lord God of heaven, You Who keep covenant, loving-kindness, and mercy for those who love You and keep Your commandments, let You ear now be attentive and Your eyes open to listen to the prayer of Your servants which we pray before You day and night for America, confessing her sins which she has sinned against You. We acknowledge our sins and the sins of our nation before You. We have acted very corruptly against You and have not kept the commandments statutes and ordinances which You commanded. O Lord, let Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servants who delight to revere and fear Your name. O my God, incline Your ear and hear, for we do not present our supplications before You, for our own righteousness and justice, but for Your great mercy and loving-kindness. Lord, we Your people are crying to You for mercy; hear us from heaven according to Your loving-kindness; O Lord, according to all Your righteousness and justice, we beseech You, let Your anger and Your wrath be turned away from us, Your people; listen to and heed the prayer of Your servants and their supplications and for Your sake cause Your face to shine upon us. You are just in all that has come upon us, for we have acted wickedly. God, be merciful and gracious to America and bless her and cause Your face to shine upon her and among her, that your way may be known upon earth, and Your saving power among the nations; O You Who hears prayer, to You shall all flesh come; O Lord hear! O Lord forgive! O Lord give heed and act! Do not delay, for Your own sake, O my God, because Your people are called by Your name. You Who still the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves and the tumult of the peoples, You, O God, You are our God! In Your wrath, remember mercy, so that Your people who call on Your name, will not be destroyed. For who knows the power of Your anger? And Your wrath, who connects it with the reverent fear that is due You?

In You, O Lord, do we put our trust and confidently take refuge; let us never be put to shame or confusion! Deliver us in Your righteousness and cause us to escape; bow down Your ear to us and save us! Be to us a rock of refuge in which to dwell, and a sheltering stronghold to which we may continually resort, which You have appointed to save us, for You are our Rock and our Fortress. We will wait and hope for You O Lord. We call on Your name for our salvation, drag us not away with the wicked, with the workers of iniquity, for we are your people. Arise, O Lord and vindicate Your holy name among the nations.

In the most precious name, the name of YAHSHUA, amen!

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The Walls of Jericho

(Joshua 6: I-21)

Walls are a means of protection, and privacy. In the early days they served well in big cities as Jericho, to mark boundaries, as we read here in the first verse of Joshua chapter one. Now Jericho was tightly closed because of the Israelites; no one went out or came in. They sought protection behind their walls, as usually they did, but this time, there would be no wall that would withstand the power of the Almighty God behind Israel’s strength! Israel’s reputation had reached their ears concerning the places and kings Israel had destroyed. According to Rahab, the people were trembling with fear of them. She said, I know that the Lord has given you the land and that your terror is fallen upon us and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you, for we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were on the side of the Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. When we heard it, our hearts melted, neither did spirit or courage remain any more in any man because of you, for the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath (Joshua 1:9-11).

After days of marching around the city, as God commanded Israel to do, the walls of Jericho came down and Israel conquered the city. They were to march around the enclosure, all the men of war going around the city once, for six days, seven priests were to bear before the ark seven trumpets of rams’ horn and on the seventh day they were to march around the enclosure seven times, and the priests were to blow the trumpets, when at the long blast of the trumpets, the people were to shout with a great shout and the wall would fall down (vs. 3-5). The battle to conquer Jericho belonged to the Prince of the Lord’s host. But Israel had to fight against it physically. The victory was certain and powerful. The people had no chance to fight Israel and so, no one escaped besides Rahab and her family, as it was promised her. Conquered in 1599 years B.C., Jericho was visited by the Lord YAHSHUA many years later, this time not as the Prince of the Lord’s host, but as a Savior, bringing salvation to a short Jewish man, called Zacchaeus and his family. YAHSHUA proclaimed, Today, salvation came to this household, since Zacchaeus too is a son of Abraham; for the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost (Luke 19:1-10). Zacchaeus’ wall came down when he admitted his sinful condition to the Lord. Salvation came to him and to his family as a result.

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Planting Seeds

(Galatians 6:7; Numbers 32:23)

. . . But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against God and know that your sin will find you out (Numbers 32:23).

Life is a tool for planting seeds wherever we go, whatever we do, or say. In fact, we are marked by our past, through the seeds we plant and fruits we harvest- good or bad. It is like nail on a board; although the nail is removed, its mark remains. We plant seeds from the time we know between good and evil. Every seed we plant carries consequences affecting our future. Moses, the servant of God, warned Israel a few times about the consequences of their disobedience, saying: Behold, you have sinned against God and know that your sin will find you out (Numbers 32:23). The seed of disobedience is a spirit of rebellion against God. Its consequences will follow us as long as we live, for it will bear fruits of all kinds that will affect our future, if not dealt with. Rebellion is defiance; it is a refusal to submit to established authority. A clear example of it is Satan leading the angels’ revolt against God, resulting in a consequential outcome for mankind, when our first parents fell prey to him. From that time on, mankind has been indirectly planting generational seeds. However, we do plant seeds marked by our choice of decision we make every day. Whatever we sow, that we will reap many times over. We can never plant a seed and gather only one fruit. It just does not work that way in nature; it does not happen in life, either. For this reason, the Apostle Paul instructed us not to be deceived, God will not be mocked, for whatever we sow, that we will harvest. The law of sowing and reaping in life it is certain as it is in nature.

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