These are the days between the Feast of Trumpets, or Rosh Hashanah, and Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. The other day, I heard the question in my spirit, "What does "forgive" mean?"
When I am asked a question by the Asker, I know it is something I am supposed to look into and learn. Because the question was asked of me in the first place, I know I'm going to be in for a surprise, and I was.
In English, the origin of the word from the Old English/German has the meaning of "give before". From this, I can learn that forgiveness is something given before a wrong is even committed, or a debt incurred. When I think of scripture, this makes sense because Jesus is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world (Rev. 13:8). Before man ever committed the sin, the provision for forgiveness and atonement was already in place.
Sometimes I feel very noble and "Jesus-like" when I say to myself that I have forgiven this person, or that incident. However, if I really want to be true to the real meaning of the word both in fact and in Spirit, then the forgiveness should have existed before the wrong act against me. There would be no need for me to have to stir up my "holy" attitude after the fact. If I am to forgive others as I have been forgiven (Mt. 6:12, Lk. 11:4), then it must be "given before".
The hurt and feelings of offense that come when a wrong is committed against me, may come because I have not given this forgiveness gift before, as God has. Perhaps it's why we always go back again and again, remembering the wrongs done, even though we say we have "forgiven". They haunt us, and stir up feelings of hurt and anger all over again. Just the other day, a memory of a wrong from my childhood popped up. I hadn't thought of it in many years, but, evidently, it is still there. A small thing like that came back before my eyes again. Perhaps this is why the internal question about forgiveness came up to begin with. I am going back now and forgiving before it happened so long ago, not only for the sake of the child involved, but for my own sake as well. I am saying, "It was already forgiven before it happened." If I can learn to "give before" in this little thing from the past, perhaps it will train me for those larger, more difficult things that have happened, and will happen in the future. Starting small is better than not starting at all!
The word "forgive" in Hebrew is also very interesting. It is the word nasa. It means "to lift, to bear up, to carry, to lift up, to bear, to support, to endure, to be lifted up, be exalted, to rise up, to be borne, to be carried, taken away, carried off, swept away, to bear continuously, to marry, to magnify, pardon, honorable, respect, armor-bearer (person who carries the armor or weapons of a warrior)". This awesome meaning has very little similarity to my previous understanding of forgiveness. However, it immediately stirs up a connection to something else.
The Hebrew meaning creates an image for me of Jesus carrying His own cross, and being lifted up upon it. This forgiveness was borne from the foundation, and carried, lifted up and exalted, at the cross. Jesus was the armor-bearer who carried His Father's armor and weapons of forgiveness, the cross. It is our armor and our weapon, as well. This forgiveness might have even been the power behind His resurrection (see nasa above: "to rise up").
The letters of nasa are nun (heir to the throne, son, faithfulness), shin (devour, consume, destroy, point of a rock), aleph (ox head, leader, power, authority, first, teach, Adonai). The Son has the power and the authority to forgive:
"But that you my know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins" - He said to the man who was paralyzed- "I say to you arise, take up your bed, and go to your house."
Mt, 9:6, Mk. 2:10, Lk. 5:24)
The gift of forgiveness was prepared and given to me before I was born, and I accepted it thankfully through Christ. Now I have to learn to prepare and give forgiveness the same way as my Father did for me - from the foundation.
The gift was already prepared and given, and needed only to be accepted. I will now try to give the gift to others in the same manner.
Our Father prepared and gave us forgiveness before we ever knew Him.
"Via Dolorosa"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67XrqXXTceM
The letters of nasa are nun (heir to the throne, son, faithfulness), shin (devour, consume, destroy, point of a rock), aleph (ox head, leader, power, authority, first, teach, Adonai). The Son has the power and the authority to forgive:
"But that you my know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins" - He said to the man who was paralyzed- "I say to you arise, take up your bed, and go to your house."
Mt, 9:6, Mk. 2:10, Lk. 5:24)
The gift of forgiveness was prepared and given to me before I was born, and I accepted it thankfully through Christ. Now I have to learn to prepare and give forgiveness the same way as my Father did for me - from the foundation.
The gift was already prepared and given, and needed only to be accepted. I will now try to give the gift to others in the same manner.
Our Father prepared and gave us forgiveness before we ever knew Him.
"Via Dolorosa"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67XrqXXTceM
No comments:
Post a Comment