We strive to hear God’s voice, to live in His presence. This alone can be a daunting, complex task, one that requires many actions on our part. We must be obedient and subservient to God. We must live according to His word to be sanctified, set apart for service, to worship Adonai. We must maintain holiness and purity before Him, to walk and live according to His ways. We cannot have love of this world in our hearts if we are to align our heart with His. All of this and more comes after the first requirement of reconciling unto God-repentance. The act of repenting is receiving Yeshua as our sacrifice which washes away our sins to be known no more. In Hebrew its Teshuvah (Repentance), turning away from sin and turning towards Adonai. Another act, as important and critical as repentance, yet it is rarely discussed or mentioned outside of Ancient Paths, is Forgiveness. The Torah first mentions forgiveness in the context of forgiveness when Yosef’s brothers remind him of their father, Ya’akov’s words in:
Genesis 50:17. 'Say to Yosef, "I beg you now, please forgive (na sa' {na -saw'}: to lift up, take away, carry off, forgive, take, to spare, bear, to carry, to receive, to suffer, to respect, to endure, to pardon, to forget) your brothers' crime and wickedness in doing you harm."' So now, we beg of you, forgive the crime of the servants of the God of your father. "Yosef wept when they spoke to him;
Right away we see a complexity surrounding this simple Hebrew verb. Forgiveness is not just something we say, it’s a complex verb of actions and deeds that we perform or carry out in order to implement the act of forgiveness. Forgiveness encompasses a whole range of activity, release, and most interestingly the first understanding of this Hebrew word is to lift up! We have a specific reference for lifting up:
John 3:14. Just as Moshe lifted up (hupsoo {hoop-so'-o}: to lift up on high, to exalt) the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up;
Yeshua was lifted up on a stake like the pole and bronze Serpent was lifted up by Moshe which is in:
Numbers 21:5-9. The people spoke against God and against Moshe: "Why did you bring us up out of Egypt? To die in the desert? There's no real food, there's no water, and we're sick of this miserable stuff we're eating!" 6 In response, ADONAI sent poisonous snakes among the people; they bit the people, and many of Isra'el's people died. 7 The people came to Moshe and said, "We sinned by speaking against ADONAI and against you. Pray to ADONAI that he rid us of these snakes." Moshe prayed for the people, 8 and ADONAI answered Moshe: "Make a poisonous snake and put it on a pole (Al-nes: something lifted up, standard, signal, signal pole, ensign, banner, a sign). When anyone who has been bitten sees it, he will live." 9 Moshe made a bronze snake and put it on the pole; if a snake had bitten someone, then, when he looked (Ve’re’ah: to see, look at, perceive, consider, discern, heed) toward the bronze snake, he stayed alive.
This bronze serpent is a sign, Oth in Hebrew, a sign or symbol of God’s divine intervention in the affairs of humanity. When this divine inspired symbol was set upon a standard by Moses at the Divine command of God, the people perceived, they discerned the power of Adonai! When they looked at this bronze symbol of the supernatural, they understood that it is a heavenly sign saving them from death just as Yeshua did when He was lifted up! Isaiah 7 records Yeshua’s supernatural birth from a virgin to be a sign, an Oth of Gods intervention in humanity and when all the world looks up Yeshua, the sign, lifted up they will realize the kingdom of God, repent, and return to God!
In both cases, the bronze serpent and Yeshua, sin led to their being lifted up. These two stories contain the two elements I started with. In Numbers 21:7 the people repented of their sins. Their redemption from the poisonous snakes did not come until they repented, then Moshe prays after which Adonai forgave them, He then gave Moshe the instructions of how to end the plaque. Yeshua, who was without sin, came as the divine Son of God to be our substitute sin sacrifice. Yeshua forgave us after He was nailed to the stake:
Luke 23:33-34. When they came to the place called The Skull, they nailed him to a stake; and they nailed the criminals to stakes, one on the right and one on the left. 34 Yeshua said, "Father, forgive (aphiemi {af-ee'-ay-mee}: forgive, forsake, lay aside, leave, let go, omit, send away, remit) them; they don't understand what they are doing." They divided up his clothes by throwing dice.
The last act, the last deed Yeshua performed as He is about to die, nailed to a stake was the act of forgiveness. This testifies to the critical importance of every Tamid, every Disciple of Yeshua engaging in continuous forgiveness. This differentiates forgiveness from an apology or from feelings. Forgiveness is not an emotion, feeling, or a placation through words (lip service). Forgiveness is an action. Forgiveness is an act, an intentional act of granting full absolution to one who does not deserve it. It is the action of surrendering one’s rights to be both wronged and restituted. Forgiveness is an action, something that you are commanded to do!
Matthew 6:14-15. For if you forgive others their offenses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; 15 but if you do not forgive others their offenses, your heavenly Father will not forgive yours.
Refusing to forgive is a sin. If we are to receive God’s forgiveness, we must first forgive those who have intentionally or unintentionally sinned and hurt us. What I’m talking about here is immediate, instantaneous forgiveness. To wait 5 minutes, 20 minutes, two days, 20 years creates a soul tie to unforgiveness that creates grudges, anger, bitterness, offence, and vengeance which is not our area of responsibility:
Romans 12:19. Never seek revenge, my friends; instead, leave that to God's anger; for in the Tanakh it is written, "ADONAI says, 'Vengeance is my responsibility; I will repay.'"
Sha’ul is quoting from:
Deuteronomy 32:41. if I sharpen my flashing sword and set my hand to judgment, I will render vengeance (naqam {naw-kawm'}: avenge, quarrel, vengeance, to entertain revengeful feelings, to grudge, to punish) to my foes, repay those who hate me.
Here is where we get into the meat of this. When your grievance, offence, hurt, whatever you are the victim off is not immediately released and forgiven by you, the victim, you are in defiance of God, you hold on to things, you begrudge. To hold a grudge is an action of the flesh. This is done so that you may take revenge upon your tormentor inflicting punishment or pain upon that person so that you may take the glory and feel good about yourself vice releasing to God so that He will make vengeance and receive the Glory! To not forgive is a sin of the flesh and if you do not immediately, instantaneously forgive you are sowing seeds of a grudge which is directly against God’s commands.
Leviticus 19:18. Don't take vengeance (naqam {naw-kawm'}: avenge, quarrel, vengeance, to entertain revengeful feelings, to grudge, to punish) on or bear a grudge (titor: to keep, keep guard, reserve, maintain) against any of your people; rather, love your neighbor as yourself; I am ADONAI.
This is what I mean by a soul tie, when you maintain a grudge, you’re holding onto the grievance, you guard it, you tend it, you even make it grow and fester to something even worse than what the original issue was. You harbor the grudge which grows into anger, bitterness, murmuring, complaining, gossip, slander etc…. which incurs the wrath of God.
That doesn’t mean we forget the offense or trust that person! What if the person we have an issue with is blameless? What it you’re the person with an issue, an unhealed wound and someone acts, or speaks in a manner that takes you back to the original hurt, but you don’t realize it. You’ll become enraged at the person who in fact isn’t your issue, your anger, grudge, and unforgiveness are the issue. God won’t strike the innocent; He’ll deal with you but if you are the vehicle of vengeance upon the innocent now you’ve sinned against that person and God.
That is the grave danger of vigilantism. The innocent are punished while the guilty are rarely caught. Thousands if not more innocent black men have been lynched over the last 350 years of our history in the name of vengeance and vigilantism. Forgiveness means releasing the other from blame, leaving the situation in God's hands (who knows the truth, not just your side of it) and move on. We may resume a relationship with the person, or we may not, there is no biblical obligation to become friends with those that have transgressed us. Forgiveness is such a critical area that Yeshua taught upon it with a parable:
Matthew 18:21-22. Then Kefa came up and said to him, "Rabbi, how often can my brother sin against me and I have to forgive him? As many as seven times?" 22 "No, not seven times," answered Yeshua, "but seventy times seven!
Let’s stop here and do a quick review. Kefa (Peter) is asking a critical question regarding forgiveness in a numerical fashion in order to gauge how important forgiveness really is in the Kingdom of Heaven. He asks Yeshua: ” Rabbi, how often can my brother sin against me and I have to forgive him? As many as seven times?" Seven in Hebrew is Sheva and is represented by the letter Zain. Seven (Sheva) is the central key to God’s creation and design. Sheva is the building blocks of the universe. The world was created in Sheva (seven) days. There are Sheva (seven) feasts of the Lord in the annual feast day cycle.
There are Sheva festival days when work is forbidden in Torah. Sheva days of Matzah! Sheva days of Sukkot. Sheva (seven) is the number of creation and the number of perfection. There are Sheva (seven) days in the week. There is the shenat ha-sheva, the seventh year or Sabbatical year in which the ground is to lay fallow. Sheva shabatot shanim-seven sabbatical years are counted (49 years) which bring in the Yovel, the Jubilee on the 50th year! All of creation streams towards the Sheva Millennia, the seventh thousand year which heralds the Messianic age.
Yeshua says: "No, not seven times," answered Yeshua, "but seventy times seven!” 70 always has and always will represent the nations! Seventy is a direct connection to all of humanity, this isn’t just a Jewish issue, this is the world’s issue. 70 is a term of judgment, Judah went into captivity in Babylon for Seventy Years! But the most critical understanding is Daniel's 70 weeks prophecy. God revealed to Daniel that ANOTHER prophecy would affect both the Jewish People and Jerusalem.
Daniel 9:24-25. "Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and for your holy city for putting an end to the transgression, for making an end of sin, for forgiving iniquity, for bringing in everlasting justice, for setting the seal on vision and prophet, and for anointing the Especially Holy Place. 25 Know, therefore, and discern that seven weeks [of years] will elapse between the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Yerushalayim until an anointed prince comes. It will remain built for sixty-two weeks [of years], with open spaces and moats; but these will be troubled times.
Seven times seventy years, 490 years is the length of time God has established for freeing the people from the oppression and slavery to sin. This prophecy foretold the coming of Yeshua, the coming to Jerusalem of the Kingdom of God in the flesh.
70 'weeks' times 7 equals 490 years. This prophetic time would begin from the very "decree" found in Jeremiah and read by Daniel which formally ended the 70 years of exile in Babylon/Persia. Thus, the number 490 marks the product of spiritual perfection (7) regarding the working out of Jerusalem's number (70) that brought the Kingdom of Heaven to Earth. Yeshua is revealing to Kefa who He really is and that to enter into this Kingdom you must forgive your brother 70 times 7 equaling 490 in order to walk in purity and holiness. To break that tie to vengeance, grudge, bitter and anger you must forgive 70 times 7. Yeshua directly correlates forgiveness to the Kingdom of Heaven:
Matthew 18:23-27. Because of this, the Kingdom of Heaven may be compared with a king who decided to settle accounts (logos: speech, the sayings of God, decree, mandate or orders of God, the moral precepts given by God) with his deputies. 24 Right away they brought forward a man who owed him many millions; 25 and since he couldn't pay, his master ordered that he, his wife, his children and all his possessions be sold to pay the debt. 26 But the servant fell down before him. `Be patient with me,' he begged, `and I will pay back everything.' 27 So out of pity for him, the master let him go (apoluo {ap-ol-oo'-o}: let go, loosed, released, gave him liberty) and forgave (aphiemi {af-ee'-ay-mee}: forgive, forsake, lay aside, leave, let go, omit, send away, remit) the debt.
In order to settle accounts or, as the Greek actually states to live according to the decrees, moral precepts, mandates, and orders of God the King didn’t give him a longer time to pay back, he loosed him, he releases the man and forgave the debt. The king loosed him, it placed him into an atmosphere of Jubilee, Yovel, freedom!! The king was owed but he released it to God which in turn gave freedom and jubilee to the one who owed! It’s the same exact term Yeshua used to forgive back in Luke 23. But the servant, like an overwhelming majority of believers today, didn’t comprehend the lesson, He didn’t walk in the love, mercy, and forgiveness that was granted unto him.
Matthew 18:28-35. "But as that servant was leaving, he came upon one of his fellow servants who owed him some tiny sum. He grabbed him and began to choke him, crying, `Pay back what you owe me!' 29 His fellow servant fell before him and begged, `Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.' 30 But he refused; instead, he had him thrown in jail until he should repay the debt. 31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were extremely distressed; and they went and told their master every thing that had taken place. 32 Then the master summoned his servant and said, `You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt just because you begged me to do it. 33 Shouldn't you have had pity on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?' 34 And in anger his master turned him over to the jailers for punishment until he paid back everything he owed. 35 This is how my heavenly Father will treat you, unless you each forgive your brother from your hearts."
Unforgiveness is your prison, it’s the trap of HaSatan. To enjoy Yovel, freedom, you must immediately and instantaneously forgive! If not, you are imprisoned, you are held captive by grudges, bitterness, and anger. You are entrenched and estranged from the mercies and forgiveness of God. Forgiveness is required for prayer:
Mark 11:25 (NLT).But when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins, too. "
Forgiveness is a product of spiritual growth. As followers of Yeshua, may we press on to live in the joy of our own forgiveness through our trust and faith in Him. Let every day be an opportunity to share what we have received with those who need it so desperately.
Blessings,
Rabbi Eric S Carlson
Genesis 50:17. 'Say to Yosef, "I beg you now, please forgive (na sa' {na -saw'}: to lift up, take away, carry off, forgive, take, to spare, bear, to carry, to receive, to suffer, to respect, to endure, to pardon, to forget) your brothers' crime and wickedness in doing you harm."' So now, we beg of you, forgive the crime of the servants of the God of your father. "Yosef wept when they spoke to him;
Right away we see a complexity surrounding this simple Hebrew verb. Forgiveness is not just something we say, it’s a complex verb of actions and deeds that we perform or carry out in order to implement the act of forgiveness. Forgiveness encompasses a whole range of activity, release, and most interestingly the first understanding of this Hebrew word is to lift up! We have a specific reference for lifting up:
John 3:14. Just as Moshe lifted up (hupsoo {hoop-so'-o}: to lift up on high, to exalt) the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up;
Yeshua was lifted up on a stake like the pole and bronze Serpent was lifted up by Moshe which is in:
Numbers 21:5-9. The people spoke against God and against Moshe: "Why did you bring us up out of Egypt? To die in the desert? There's no real food, there's no water, and we're sick of this miserable stuff we're eating!" 6 In response, ADONAI sent poisonous snakes among the people; they bit the people, and many of Isra'el's people died. 7 The people came to Moshe and said, "We sinned by speaking against ADONAI and against you. Pray to ADONAI that he rid us of these snakes." Moshe prayed for the people, 8 and ADONAI answered Moshe: "Make a poisonous snake and put it on a pole (Al-nes: something lifted up, standard, signal, signal pole, ensign, banner, a sign). When anyone who has been bitten sees it, he will live." 9 Moshe made a bronze snake and put it on the pole; if a snake had bitten someone, then, when he looked (Ve’re’ah: to see, look at, perceive, consider, discern, heed) toward the bronze snake, he stayed alive.
This bronze serpent is a sign, Oth in Hebrew, a sign or symbol of God’s divine intervention in the affairs of humanity. When this divine inspired symbol was set upon a standard by Moses at the Divine command of God, the people perceived, they discerned the power of Adonai! When they looked at this bronze symbol of the supernatural, they understood that it is a heavenly sign saving them from death just as Yeshua did when He was lifted up! Isaiah 7 records Yeshua’s supernatural birth from a virgin to be a sign, an Oth of Gods intervention in humanity and when all the world looks up Yeshua, the sign, lifted up they will realize the kingdom of God, repent, and return to God!
In both cases, the bronze serpent and Yeshua, sin led to their being lifted up. These two stories contain the two elements I started with. In Numbers 21:7 the people repented of their sins. Their redemption from the poisonous snakes did not come until they repented, then Moshe prays after which Adonai forgave them, He then gave Moshe the instructions of how to end the plaque. Yeshua, who was without sin, came as the divine Son of God to be our substitute sin sacrifice. Yeshua forgave us after He was nailed to the stake:
Luke 23:33-34. When they came to the place called The Skull, they nailed him to a stake; and they nailed the criminals to stakes, one on the right and one on the left. 34 Yeshua said, "Father, forgive (aphiemi {af-ee'-ay-mee}: forgive, forsake, lay aside, leave, let go, omit, send away, remit) them; they don't understand what they are doing." They divided up his clothes by throwing dice.
The last act, the last deed Yeshua performed as He is about to die, nailed to a stake was the act of forgiveness. This testifies to the critical importance of every Tamid, every Disciple of Yeshua engaging in continuous forgiveness. This differentiates forgiveness from an apology or from feelings. Forgiveness is not an emotion, feeling, or a placation through words (lip service). Forgiveness is an action. Forgiveness is an act, an intentional act of granting full absolution to one who does not deserve it. It is the action of surrendering one’s rights to be both wronged and restituted. Forgiveness is an action, something that you are commanded to do!
Matthew 6:14-15. For if you forgive others their offenses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; 15 but if you do not forgive others their offenses, your heavenly Father will not forgive yours.
Refusing to forgive is a sin. If we are to receive God’s forgiveness, we must first forgive those who have intentionally or unintentionally sinned and hurt us. What I’m talking about here is immediate, instantaneous forgiveness. To wait 5 minutes, 20 minutes, two days, 20 years creates a soul tie to unforgiveness that creates grudges, anger, bitterness, offence, and vengeance which is not our area of responsibility:
Romans 12:19. Never seek revenge, my friends; instead, leave that to God's anger; for in the Tanakh it is written, "ADONAI says, 'Vengeance is my responsibility; I will repay.'"
Sha’ul is quoting from:
Deuteronomy 32:41. if I sharpen my flashing sword and set my hand to judgment, I will render vengeance (naqam {naw-kawm'}: avenge, quarrel, vengeance, to entertain revengeful feelings, to grudge, to punish) to my foes, repay those who hate me.
Here is where we get into the meat of this. When your grievance, offence, hurt, whatever you are the victim off is not immediately released and forgiven by you, the victim, you are in defiance of God, you hold on to things, you begrudge. To hold a grudge is an action of the flesh. This is done so that you may take revenge upon your tormentor inflicting punishment or pain upon that person so that you may take the glory and feel good about yourself vice releasing to God so that He will make vengeance and receive the Glory! To not forgive is a sin of the flesh and if you do not immediately, instantaneously forgive you are sowing seeds of a grudge which is directly against God’s commands.
Leviticus 19:18. Don't take vengeance (naqam {naw-kawm'}: avenge, quarrel, vengeance, to entertain revengeful feelings, to grudge, to punish) on or bear a grudge (titor: to keep, keep guard, reserve, maintain) against any of your people; rather, love your neighbor as yourself; I am ADONAI.
This is what I mean by a soul tie, when you maintain a grudge, you’re holding onto the grievance, you guard it, you tend it, you even make it grow and fester to something even worse than what the original issue was. You harbor the grudge which grows into anger, bitterness, murmuring, complaining, gossip, slander etc…. which incurs the wrath of God.
That doesn’t mean we forget the offense or trust that person! What if the person we have an issue with is blameless? What it you’re the person with an issue, an unhealed wound and someone acts, or speaks in a manner that takes you back to the original hurt, but you don’t realize it. You’ll become enraged at the person who in fact isn’t your issue, your anger, grudge, and unforgiveness are the issue. God won’t strike the innocent; He’ll deal with you but if you are the vehicle of vengeance upon the innocent now you’ve sinned against that person and God.
That is the grave danger of vigilantism. The innocent are punished while the guilty are rarely caught. Thousands if not more innocent black men have been lynched over the last 350 years of our history in the name of vengeance and vigilantism. Forgiveness means releasing the other from blame, leaving the situation in God's hands (who knows the truth, not just your side of it) and move on. We may resume a relationship with the person, or we may not, there is no biblical obligation to become friends with those that have transgressed us. Forgiveness is such a critical area that Yeshua taught upon it with a parable:
Matthew 18:21-22. Then Kefa came up and said to him, "Rabbi, how often can my brother sin against me and I have to forgive him? As many as seven times?" 22 "No, not seven times," answered Yeshua, "but seventy times seven!
Let’s stop here and do a quick review. Kefa (Peter) is asking a critical question regarding forgiveness in a numerical fashion in order to gauge how important forgiveness really is in the Kingdom of Heaven. He asks Yeshua: ” Rabbi, how often can my brother sin against me and I have to forgive him? As many as seven times?" Seven in Hebrew is Sheva and is represented by the letter Zain. Seven (Sheva) is the central key to God’s creation and design. Sheva is the building blocks of the universe. The world was created in Sheva (seven) days. There are Sheva (seven) feasts of the Lord in the annual feast day cycle.
There are Sheva festival days when work is forbidden in Torah. Sheva days of Matzah! Sheva days of Sukkot. Sheva (seven) is the number of creation and the number of perfection. There are Sheva (seven) days in the week. There is the shenat ha-sheva, the seventh year or Sabbatical year in which the ground is to lay fallow. Sheva shabatot shanim-seven sabbatical years are counted (49 years) which bring in the Yovel, the Jubilee on the 50th year! All of creation streams towards the Sheva Millennia, the seventh thousand year which heralds the Messianic age.
Yeshua says: "No, not seven times," answered Yeshua, "but seventy times seven!” 70 always has and always will represent the nations! Seventy is a direct connection to all of humanity, this isn’t just a Jewish issue, this is the world’s issue. 70 is a term of judgment, Judah went into captivity in Babylon for Seventy Years! But the most critical understanding is Daniel's 70 weeks prophecy. God revealed to Daniel that ANOTHER prophecy would affect both the Jewish People and Jerusalem.
Daniel 9:24-25. "Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and for your holy city for putting an end to the transgression, for making an end of sin, for forgiving iniquity, for bringing in everlasting justice, for setting the seal on vision and prophet, and for anointing the Especially Holy Place. 25 Know, therefore, and discern that seven weeks [of years] will elapse between the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Yerushalayim until an anointed prince comes. It will remain built for sixty-two weeks [of years], with open spaces and moats; but these will be troubled times.
Seven times seventy years, 490 years is the length of time God has established for freeing the people from the oppression and slavery to sin. This prophecy foretold the coming of Yeshua, the coming to Jerusalem of the Kingdom of God in the flesh.
70 'weeks' times 7 equals 490 years. This prophetic time would begin from the very "decree" found in Jeremiah and read by Daniel which formally ended the 70 years of exile in Babylon/Persia. Thus, the number 490 marks the product of spiritual perfection (7) regarding the working out of Jerusalem's number (70) that brought the Kingdom of Heaven to Earth. Yeshua is revealing to Kefa who He really is and that to enter into this Kingdom you must forgive your brother 70 times 7 equaling 490 in order to walk in purity and holiness. To break that tie to vengeance, grudge, bitter and anger you must forgive 70 times 7. Yeshua directly correlates forgiveness to the Kingdom of Heaven:
Matthew 18:23-27. Because of this, the Kingdom of Heaven may be compared with a king who decided to settle accounts (logos: speech, the sayings of God, decree, mandate or orders of God, the moral precepts given by God) with his deputies. 24 Right away they brought forward a man who owed him many millions; 25 and since he couldn't pay, his master ordered that he, his wife, his children and all his possessions be sold to pay the debt. 26 But the servant fell down before him. `Be patient with me,' he begged, `and I will pay back everything.' 27 So out of pity for him, the master let him go (apoluo {ap-ol-oo'-o}: let go, loosed, released, gave him liberty) and forgave (aphiemi {af-ee'-ay-mee}: forgive, forsake, lay aside, leave, let go, omit, send away, remit) the debt.
In order to settle accounts or, as the Greek actually states to live according to the decrees, moral precepts, mandates, and orders of God the King didn’t give him a longer time to pay back, he loosed him, he releases the man and forgave the debt. The king loosed him, it placed him into an atmosphere of Jubilee, Yovel, freedom!! The king was owed but he released it to God which in turn gave freedom and jubilee to the one who owed! It’s the same exact term Yeshua used to forgive back in Luke 23. But the servant, like an overwhelming majority of believers today, didn’t comprehend the lesson, He didn’t walk in the love, mercy, and forgiveness that was granted unto him.
Matthew 18:28-35. "But as that servant was leaving, he came upon one of his fellow servants who owed him some tiny sum. He grabbed him and began to choke him, crying, `Pay back what you owe me!' 29 His fellow servant fell before him and begged, `Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.' 30 But he refused; instead, he had him thrown in jail until he should repay the debt. 31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were extremely distressed; and they went and told their master every thing that had taken place. 32 Then the master summoned his servant and said, `You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt just because you begged me to do it. 33 Shouldn't you have had pity on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?' 34 And in anger his master turned him over to the jailers for punishment until he paid back everything he owed. 35 This is how my heavenly Father will treat you, unless you each forgive your brother from your hearts."
Unforgiveness is your prison, it’s the trap of HaSatan. To enjoy Yovel, freedom, you must immediately and instantaneously forgive! If not, you are imprisoned, you are held captive by grudges, bitterness, and anger. You are entrenched and estranged from the mercies and forgiveness of God. Forgiveness is required for prayer:
Mark 11:25 (NLT).But when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins, too. "
Forgiveness is a product of spiritual growth. As followers of Yeshua, may we press on to live in the joy of our own forgiveness through our trust and faith in Him. Let every day be an opportunity to share what we have received with those who need it so desperately.
Blessings,
Rabbi Eric S Carlson
Posted in September 2024
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