Lesson 295: “Forgiveness"
I had the question posed to me; “who was the first man in the bible to forgive someone who ‘had done him wrong”’. I did not know the answer to this question so I started in the book of Genesis doing research. Although the words “I forgive you” I did not find, a definite indication of forgiveness was recorded in every book I scanned. I skipped Adam, although I feel certain he forgave Eve for “stuffing” the forbidden fruit in his mount, since he continued to procreate with her as his wife. The first actual account of one man forgiving another is the Pharaoh of Egypt sparing Abram’s life for lying and saying Sarai was his sister (Gen. 12:10-20). I would think sparing one’s life comes under the heading of forgiveness. Esau forgave Jacob for stealing his birthright (Gen. 33:4); Judah forgave Tamar (even though it was through his sins she became pregnant) and reversed his order to have her burned to death (Gen. 38:24-26). Joseph was the ultimate forgiver in allowing his brothers, who sold him into slavery, not only to live but he supported them and their families for the rest of their lives (Gen. 45:1-15). Read the book of Exodus to see how many people and how many times Moses not only forgave the Israelites but continuously prayed for God to forgive them as well. Through his forgiveness and prayers the disobedient, rebellious whiners were given chance after chance to shape up.
The book of Leviticus covers all the laws and sacrifices including forgiveness of those around them (Lev. 19:14-18) and the forgiving of debts (Lev. 25:8-28). The book of Numbers is just that; a book filled with the head count of the Israelites. But near the beginning (Num. 5:50 there is a command from the Lord for forgiveness, with an attached price and later the ever forgiving Moses saved Miriam from a sure death (Num. 12:1-1). Deuteronomy reiterates the canceling of debts (Deut. 15:1-18). Joshua took on the daunting task of leading the Israelites to Canaan after the death of Moses and continued to forgive their grumblings. He too stood in the gap for God’s people and they swore an oath to serve the Lord and did so throughout the rest of Joshua’s life (Jos. 24:31).
Judges does not have much on forgiveness but rather rebellion, battles, disobedience and the cutting off of toes and thumbs, all of which provoked the Lord to anger. God did the forgiving, raising up judges to save the Israelites from the hands of their enemies as long as the current judge lived. However, when the judge died (some died quickly after taking the seat of honor) the people turned back to their corrupt ways. Samson turned the Golden Rule around; “I merely did to them what they did to me” (Jud. 15:11b). In those days Israel had no king (they refused God as their King); everyone did as he saw fit” (Jud. 21:25). Vengeance is the Lord’s (Rom. 12:19) but the people never seemed to catch on to this and doing what he saw fit often included killing one another. Since God was not accepted as King and Ruler, vengeance and not forgiveness was in their hearts.
I am not sure if David forgave or took revenge on Nabal; he sort of forgave him through the request of Abigail (Nabal’s wife) and spared Nabal’s life; however, when Nabal died from “natural causes” (died from a heart attack caused by the fear of David), David then took Abigail as his wife and all that Nabal had denied he and his men. Forgiveness or sweet revenge? On the other hand, David always had a compassionate heart for King Saul, sparing his life more than once while the deranged king tracked him throughout the land with intentions of killing him. His respect for the fallen king continued as he brought Saul’s grandson, Mephibosheth, to eat at his table like one of his sons (2 Sam. 9:11). David forgave his son Absalom and in turn forgave the ones who killed his beloved son (2 Sam. 19:8).
The two books of the Kings hold little forgiveness but rather filled with hate, vengeance and that old wicked woman Jezebel (Rev. 2:20). To be a king meant, as with the judges, a short life in most cases; if someone else desired the throne they just killed the one reigning and took his place. The only true forgiveness I found is in 2 Kings 25:27 where King Evil-Merodach released Jehoiachin from prison and he ate regularly at the king’s table. Although the Old Testament ends on a “non-forgiving note”, Matthew has given us hope; “the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive” (Matt. 9:6). Jesus Christ taught forgiveness in His prayer to the disciples; “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your Kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread and FORGIVE US OUR DEBTS AS WE ALSO HAVE FORGIVEN OUR DEBTORS” (Matt. 6:9-15). Notice the end of this passage holds the tiny word “if”; if your do not forgive men their sins your Father will not forgive your sins. Another “if” shows up in 1 John 1:9: “if we confess our sins He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins”!
Moral of this story is that we need not worry about the sins and the forgiveness of the men in the Old Testament but to remember the ONE who will forgive our sins and do not forget the little “ifs”!