7 different perspectives on sin from Isaiah

This verse caught my attention recently:

Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the Lord, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward. (Isaiah 1:4)

I count seven different perspectives on the cause and problem of sin in this verse.

1)    “sinful nation” – The nation was full of sin, like a cup full of water.

2)    “a people laden with iniquity” – No one likes to carry a load they don’t have to, but these people were loaded down with iniquity like a donkey carrying an oversized load of sticks.

3)    “a seed of evildoers” – They learned how to sin from their parents, and they hadn’t learned to be critical of those bad traditions and escape them.

4)    “children that are corrupters” – Children are supposed to be innocent, but these children weren’t. They corrupted those who came in contact with them, spreading wickedness like a disease.

5)    “they have forsaken the Lord” – This gives the sense of the runaway or the unfaithful spouse who doesn’t care anymore. They were with Him, and then all of a sudden, they left.

6)    “they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger” – This gives the sense of one who sins in spite of knowing the truth. They do it deliberately to irritate, just to thumb their nose at spiritual authority. (This type tends to glorify their rebellion.)

7)    “they are gone away backward” – This is the person who stays facing the Lord the whole time, but slowly backs away, getting farther and farther with every step and every choice they make. They claim they are faithful, but other things incessantly take higher priority.

It’s useful to think about these different types with reference to our own lives and determine if there is something we’re doing that matches this. And then repent.

We could also extrapolate from Isaiah’s words what we want to be instead.

--A nation full of righteousness

--A people buoyed up by goodness

--A seed of do-gooders

--Children that are sanctifiers

--who have come to the Lord

--who have pleased the Holy One and gained His favor

--who are pressing forward

Iniquity leads to danger

There are these verses as Mormon describes how Nephites lost some ground:

8 And now it came to pass that the armies of the Lamanites, on the west sea, south, while in the absence of Moroni on account of some intrigue amongst the Nephites, which caused dissensions amongst them, had gained some ground over the Nephites, yea, insomuch that they had obtained possession of a number of their cities in that part of the land.

9 And thus because of iniquity amongst themselves, yea, because of dissensions and intrigue among themselves they were placed in the most dangerous circumstances. (Alma 53:8-9)

Now, this may seem like the most obvious principle, but it is worth pointing out, just in case we need to be bonked on the head – sin puts people in danger.

We can see that because the Nephites allowed dissension instead of keeping unified, and because they engaged in intrigue and deception instead of plain-dealing, they allowed the Lamanites too close, and then Nephite lands got taken over.

Maybe they thought they could be secret buddies with the Lamanites and still retain independence, but that was obviously not so. You let the Lamanites close, and they take over. Or they threaten you next. And suddenly…you’re in danger.

Once again, iniquity puts you in perilous circumstances. It puts you in danger.

Jacob trying to keep his people from provoking God

 

Wherefore we labored diligently among our people, that we might persuade them to come unto Christ, and partake of the goodness of God, that they might enter into his rest, lest by any means he should swear in his wrath they should not enter in, as in the provocation in the days of temptation while the children of Israel were in the wilderness. (Jacob 1:7)

Here Jacob tells us his major concern about his people—that with their stubbornness they would provoke the Lord into decreeing that they would not enter the rest of the Lord.

It is clear to me that Jacob used the stories of the children of Israel in the wilderness as an example of the consequences of rebelling, murmuring, and not believing the Lord. He realized that this wasn’t an isolated incident, but there was a danger it would happen in each generation of Israelite descendants. (And of course that means there is a danger it can happen today in the church.)

Jacob's words seem to have been influenced by Psalms 95:7-11:

7 For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. To day if ye will hear his voice,

8 Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness:

9 When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work.

10 Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways:

11 Unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest.

In Psalms it is pointed out that the Israelites saw the Lord’s work, tested Him, but apparently hardened their hearts anyway. That provoked the Lord.

We also gain more insight about what might have been taught if we read Hebrews 3:7-19:

7 Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice,

8 Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness:

9 When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years.

10 Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways.

11 So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.)

12 Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.

13 But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.

14 For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end;

15 While it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation.

16 For some, when they had heard, did provoke: howbeit not all that came out of Egypt by Moses.

17 But with whom was he grieved forty years? was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcases fell in the wilderness?

18 And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not?

19 So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.

Paul’s warning to the Saints is that they make sure they don’t depart from the Lord, follow the deceitfulness of sin, become hardened, and die in their sins.  Instead, they were to hold their confidence steadfast to the end.  In short, this appears to be about the need to endure to the end.

Lehi’s argument for the existence of God

And if ye shall say there is no law, ye shall also say there is no sin. If ye shall say there is no sin, ye shall also say there is no righteousness. And if there be no righteousness there be no happiness. And if there be no righteousness nor happiness there be no punishment nor misery. And if these things are not there is no God. And if there is no God we are not, neither the earth; for there could have been no creation of things, neither to act nor to be acted upon; wherefore, all things must have vanished away. (2 Nephi 2:13)

I think it is interesting how Lehi argues for the existence of God with a series of negated circumstances. “Take away this, and you don’t have this other thing, which removes this other thing.”

I’m going to go through his reasons with the positive side, because there is at least one step that I’ve had troubles with that required me to fill a wider gap and follow Lehi’s reasoning. 

Looking at the beginning and the end points, Lehi argues that the existence of a law (by which I think he means moral law) leads him to believe in a God.

If there is a law, then there is righteousness and sin. Some will follow the law, and some don’t.

If there are some that follow the law, then there must also be some that have mastered the law, who keep it in every particular and use it to benefit others. These must be what we would call God(s).

Also, if there be righteousness and sin, then there must also be consequences—reward and punishment. Otherwise there is no significance and meaning to either righteousness or sin.

If there is a Master of the law, then it would make sense for the Master to have a hand in reward and punishment. (In fact, we require our earthly dispensers of justice to be as morally upright as possible, and we are terribly annoyed and distrustful when they are not.)

Then there is a bit of a leap between laws with consequences and the creation. If there’s no righteousness or sin, then there is no God. Stated slightly differently and adding steps, If there is no law to master, then there is no Master of it, thus no God.  If God is not, then we and the earth are not.  So it implies there is a link between moral mastery and the powers of creation. One who keeps the moral laws will certainly find out and follow all the laws of the elements and material existence and follow these too, prolifically creating new things to benefit others, and perhaps being so clever as to streamline things such that creations create more of themselves.

The practical side of this is that laws exist, and we can either find out what they are through trial and error, or we can learn from the Master and make faster progress.  If we learn quickly and follow, we are promised righteousness and happiness proportional to our obedience.  Moral laws have been given to us, and we have the opportunity of learning about the laws of nature through experimentation. 

Probably this line of reasoning would not satisfy relativists. People versed in philosophy might have troubles with definitions and say this is all intuiting too far, but to me Lehi’s argument is satisfying.  In an extremely brief way, it points out our conscience is one of the best indicators that there is a God. I think C.S. Lewis gave  a more extended version of a similar line of reasoning in his book “Mere Christianity” that is also worth reading.

Factors that remove hearts from God

Whoredom and wine and new wine take away the heart. (Hosea 4:11)

It is fascinating that Hosea observed how immorality and drunkenness took people’s hearts away from God. Today there is scientific evidence for how pornography in particular has terrible effects on brain chemistry. Also chemical addictions stunt real spirituality with counterfeit sensations.  Basically, both practices rewire the brain so that it takes pleasure in sin and indulgence instead of God’s commandments and doing righteousness.

Everyone has an inner soul hunger that yearns to be satisfied and tries to find ways of filling that up.  But the wrong things just make it worse.  We have to turn to Christ instead.

 Christ promises, “But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.” (John 4:14)

When I turn to Christ and bring Him my empty soul, He fills me as I contemplate His sacrifice. I can testify to that.

Various Curses

18 And behold, if a man hide up a treasure in the earth, and the Lord shall say—Let it be accursed, because of the iniquity of him who hath hid it up—behold, it shall be accursed.

19 And if the Lord shall say—Be thou accursed, that no man shall find thee from this time henceforth and forever—behold, no man getteth it henceforth and forever. (Helaman 12:18-19)

When I started thinking more carefully about this, I thought, Huh, it seems kind of silly to curse riches. Riches aren’t alive and can’t feel anything. But then I realized that the curse is related to the people who own them or want them.

To a person who is wicked, riches would be a curse because the riches 1) increase their ability to do more iniquity, thus adding to their sins, and 2) insulate them from the temporal need that usually humbles people and brings them to seek the Lord.

Further, riches can be a curse whether they are accessible or not, as the above verses show. Inaccessible riches can be a curse because of all the effort and time diverted to trying to access them.  As an example, all you need is a rumor of buried treasure somewhere, and greed crawls out of the woodwork.  I’m sure you can think of other instances when riches seem just out of reach and people go to extraordinary lengths (honest and otherwise) to obtain them.

Then there are curses that come upon man.

20 And behold, if the Lord shall say unto a man—Because of thine iniquities, thou shalt be accursed forever—it shall be done.

21 And if the Lord shall say—Because of thine iniquities thou shalt be cut off from my presence—he will cause that it shall be so.

22 And wo unto him to whom he shall say this, for it shall be unto him that will do iniquity, and he cannot be saved; therefore, for this cause, that men might be saved, hath repentance been declared.  (Helaman 12:20-22)

At first read, these seem like two ways of saying the same thing, but I think they actually describe two different kinds of people. In v20 is someone who never knew the Lord and refused to ever repent.  They love darkness rather than light and prefer their iniquities.  Without repentance, they really are cursed forever.   In v21 is someone who once knew the Lord, but fell into sin and would not repent.  They are cut off from the Lord’s presence.  (They had to be in the Lord’s presence in the first place to be cut off.)    Both of those sound pretty awful. 

Happily, Mormon goes on to say that repentance is declared to try to save people from being accursed like this.

Curses and being accursed is kind of a negative thing to think about, but if we think about it as the opposite of a blessing, that might make it a little less weird.   I think it can help us if we look at our own lives and try to see if we can discern where there might be a consistent pattern where we just can’t seem to catch a break or make any progress, or where we might be regressing.  That might indicate a place where our iniquities are bringing a curse upon us.  There might be a principle we are neglecting or a commandment we are deliberately breaking, and the way it plays out through our life and relationships brings a curse on us.   Those kinds of sins are often very deep-seated and require a lot of work to repent of.  But they have to be addressed.

Seeking the praise of the world

And let him repent of his sins, for he seeketh the praise of the world. (D&C 58:39)

This was written of Martin Harris about the time that Joseph Smith and other church leaders had arrived in Jackson county Missouri to have the land of Zion revealed.

I think it is worth it to ask some questions about this quality of seeking the praise of the world, which the Lord calls a sin.

Is seeking praise the problem, or is it seeking it from the wrong people—the world—that is wrong?

One thing I see is that seeking praise tends to cause us to confine our efforts to things that are the most visible, but the visible is very often not as important as the things that no one sees.  How many godly character traits are developed and practiced inside us where no one can see?  How much of prayer and repentance will be observed by others?  Should we neglect these things simply because we can’t get a pat on the back for them?

Another problem is that not everybody praises the same things, and it is a sad truth that the better a person becomes, the less his or her goodness is appreciated and praised by the masses.  So it matters very much the quality of people we accept praise from.  Joseph Smith was told in D&C 121:1-2 that the pure, wise, noble, and virtuous would seek blessings and counsel from him, while fools would deride him and hell would rage against him.  Could Joseph Smith expect the praise of the world?  No, he would not get it, and if he intended to do the Lord’s work, he could not expect any praise from the foolish or from those who sided with hell.

It is also worth thinking about what appeal praise from the world has and what we hope it will do.  From the perspective of economic survival, we hope that praise from the world (or at least a nice letter of recommendation) will encourage others to accept us, take a chance on us, trust us, give us jobs that will help us provide for ourselves, and increase our influence so we can do good in the world.

But sometimes we take it farther than that and want that praise to be a sign that we have worth, that we are good people, that we are adequate. But can the world really tell us the eternal truth about those things? No. Two of those things we can only really know from God. And as for signs that we are adequate, are we likely to reach out to God for help if we are convinced of our own adequacy?

What do you think? 

God shows men that they were lost so they need repentance

And the days of the children of men were prolonged, according to the will of God, that they might repent while in the flesh; wherefore, their state became a state of probation, and their time was lengthened, according to the commandments which the Lord God gave unto the children of men. For he gave commandment that all men must repent; for he showed unto all men that they were lost, because of the transgression of their parents. (2 Nephi 2:21)

Here Lehi is explaining the probationary period of life to his son Jacob. I was reading that last bit and it kind of rubbed me wrong: “for he showed unto all men that they were lost, because of the transgression of their parents.” 

It sounds like what he says is all parents’ transgressions cause their children to be lost spiritually. But I don’t think that’s what he means.

Actually, what I think Lehi was trying to say is that all men are lost, and the account of our first parents’ Fall (Adam and Eve) is the tool God uses to show us this. 

The account of the Fall shows a commandment being given, the commandment being broken through the enticing of Satan, the shame of guilt, the confrontation over the commandment, and the consequences of spiritual death.  (Of course, in the temple we also get the providence of a Savior, additional commandments to keep, and the promise of being reclaimed from the Fall.)

Without an account of God directly confronting people over their sin and giving consequences, how would we know sin is offensive to God and that He punishes? The thing that gives the story such power is that it makes a direct confrontation by God over sin a real possibility. It is a type and shadow of judgment and also a type of the experience we have when we yield to Satan’s temptations. We know what yielding feels like. We see the guilt is real, whether one yields by one’s self or yields because of other people’s enticing.

When we read Adam and Eve are confronted over eating the fruit, we know God would also confront us over our sins and there is no hiding them. When we read of Adam and Eve cast out of the Garden of Eden as consequence of their sin, we know we face real consequences for our sins that have a real impact on us and make things hard.

And the rest of the Bible gives us plenty of types of God’s efforts to reclaim people from their sin, types to teach us to believe in Christ as the Savior of the world who would intercede for us.

So, because of the story of the Fall we know to expect to be confronted by God over our sins, whether in this life or in the afterlife. And in the time we have before then, we can repent through faith in Christ to save us.

What does a culture say about sin?

I ran across this interesting bit from Hugh Nibley that I thought was worth sharing.

Incidentally, it is an interesting thing that repentance is missing from all the ancient religions except the Old Testament. The word repentance doesn’t exist for the Egyptians and the others. I have been reading a lot of Egyptian wisdom literature, and the idea that you should repent [doesn’t exist there]. What you want is luck. They never connected what you have done in the past with your moral behavior. You’ve done what you’ve done, and that’s that. It’s an interesting thing that there is no word in Egyptian for sin.  And in America today sin is having the wrong ideology. It’s being on the wrong side. The Ten Commandments are only fifty percent binding. They bind us but they don’t control our behavior toward bad people. We shall not kill, we shall not lie, we shall not steal from good people. But you can do it with bad people all you want [according to this philosophy]. And they do it everywhere else. We call that revenge because they have been bad. (“Teachings of the Book of Mormon,” semester 2, lecture 52, Alma 19-22, publications.maxwellinstitute.byu.edu)

Really, as a social commentator, Hugh Nibley was excellent.  To distill so many impressions of practical American morality (or lack thereof) at into such a succinct summation is incredibly perceptive.  

Once you know where your culture’s blind-spots are, you can repent and rise above it.

Some Latter-day Saint Flavors of Boasting

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Are there Latter-day Saint flavors of boasting? 

What about boasting about miracles?

In D&C 84:66-72, there is a whole list of wonderful works and signs that believing members will be able to do through faith: cast out devils, heal the sick, open the blind eyes, unstop deaf ears, cause the dumb to speak, live after being given poison or being bit by venomous snakes.  But there is also a commandment associated with these miracles which the Lord wants the Saints to observe.

But a commandment I give unto them, that they shall not boast themselves of these things, neither speak them before the world; for these things are given unto you for your profit and for salvation. (D&C 84:73, emphasis added)

Why are the Saints not to boast of themselves of miracles or speak them before the world? 

I think it has something to do with the fact that when the miracles happen, it will be in response to a crying need of some sort.  So when the need has been filled, it would be awful to go out and say (or think) something like, “I opened the eyes of the blind! Aren’t I special and righteous?”

Verse 73 says these things are given to us “for your profit and for salvation.”  Profit there means it is meant for our growth.  And if it is given for our salvation, then it was given to save us from temporal and spiritual danger, not because we are anything great.  It was an act of mercy and deliverance, not a commendation or something to make us look good.  So we have no reason to boast of miracles.

It’s also why Alma says elsewhere, “This was not of any righteousness of myself” when he tells Helaman about his extraordinary conversion experience with the angel. That experience was only meant for his profit and salvation, not for boasting about.

How about casting out evil spirits?

31 Wherefore, it shall come to pass, that if you behold a spirit manifested that you cannot understand, and you receive not that spirit, ye shall ask of the Father in the name of Jesus; and if he give not unto you that spirit, then you may know that it is not of God.

32 And it shall be given unto you, power over that spirit; and you shall proclaim against that spirit with a loud voice that it is not of God—

33 Not with railing accusation, that ye be not overcome, neither with boasting nor rejoicing, lest you be seized therewith.  (D&C 50:33)

Evidently the Lord wanted to underline His warning against boasting in connection with casting out evil spirits, since He must have known that mankind has a tendency to feel over-pleased with themselves when they command something and it obeys.

Boasting is such a malignant thing, that if a person casts out an evil spirit and then boasts about it, that invites the evil spirit into them instead.  It’s a magnet for evil.

Sounds pretty serious, huh?

I take hope in the fact that these principles were given us to keep us safe so that we could be alert and avoid falling into sin out of ignorance.  The Lord wants us to avoid not just the big blatant sins, but also the sins that seem more culturally acceptable in our society.  Because even if they are culturally acceptable, they will still hurt us and block our progression.

Warning Principles about Boasting

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The Doctrine & Covenants has a really good warning about boasting and what eventually happens because of it. It’s so good, it gives us a pattern for discernment in ourselves:

For although a man may have many revelations, and have power to do many mighty works, yet if he boasts in his own strength, and sets at naught the counsels of God, and follows after the dictates of his own will and carnal desires, he must fall and incur the vengeance of a just God upon him. (D&C 3:4)

I think this is so important because it shows us that having revelation and great power is no defense when someone starts to boast.  Anyone, no matter how great, who boasts in their strength and wisdom will then disregard the counsels of God and they will eventually fall and incur the vengeance of God.  The vengeance of God is merited because of sin committed when setting aside God’s counsels and following one’s own will and carnal desires.

There’s a great case study in the Book of Mormon of a particular person who made the mistake of boasting--Corianton.  Alma describes what happened:

2 For thou didst not give so much heed unto my words as did thy brother, among the people of the Zoramites. Now this is what I have against thee; thou didst go on unto boasting in thy strength and thy wisdom.

3 And this is not all, my son. Thou didst do that which was grievous unto me; for thou didst forsake the ministry, and did go over into the land of Siron among the borders of the Lamanites, after the harlot Isabel.  (Alma 39: 2-3)

After learning those principles from D&C 3:4, it is perfectly obvious that Corianton followed that negative pattern.  Because Corianton boasted in his strength and wisdom, he ignored counsel from Alma his father, set the counsels (and commandments) of God at naught, followed his own carnal desires for the harlot Isabel, and promptly fell to temptation.

See? Textbook case. And if any of us make the mistake of boasting, we will similarly get into trouble. 

I’ve boasted in my journal to keep from boasting out loud, but evidently it is just as proud. I’ve boasted sometimes in bearing testimony of what I’ve learned and then found that later I am weak again and fall into disobedience. It didn’t feel like boasting at the time, but the effect afterwards is the same as boasting, so it must have been that.

Unfortunately, it is only too true that boasting comes too easily to all of us.

Yea, how quick to be lifted up in pride; yea, how quick to boast, and do all manner of that which is iniquity; and how slow are they to remember the Lord their God, and to give ear unto his counsels, yea, how slow to walk in wisdom’s paths! (Helaman 12:5, emphasis added)

This is a great reminder. Simply because we are human and mortal and don’t know everything, we have this ridiculous tendency to turn quickly to boasting and iniquity, but we’re slow to remember the Lord.

Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth! (James 3:5)

The tongue says, “I will go to a party,” but by itself it can’t go anywhere without the legs.  Likewise we boast things we are not even able to do without lots of help that we don’t even realize. 

Boasting also eventually leads to hurting others.

But it came to pass in the twenty and ninth year there began to be some disputings among the people; and some were lifted up unto pride and boastings because of their exceedingly great riches, yea, even unto great persecutions; (3 Ne. 6:10, emphasis added)

Note that pride and boasting in riches led directly to persecuting others greatly.  When we think we’re all that because of our success, we frequently look with scorn on others and eventually tell them more and more forcefully how pathetic they are.  Because if they would just get a grip and do what we do, they would not be such losers!  Right?  Right!

Hmm. I noticed myself wanting to do that in a particular respect a few days ago.  Not good…

Ye do not remember the Lord your God in the things with which he hath blessed you, but ye do always remember your riches, not to thank the Lord your God for them; yea, your hearts are not drawn out unto the Lord, but they do swell with great pride, unto boasting, and unto great swelling, envyings, strifes, malice, persecutions, and murders, and all manner of iniquities. (Hel. 13:22 emphasis added) 

The Nephites’ boasting of their riches without gratitude to God led to worse sins.  And now we know why because of D&C 3:4.  After boasting, they disregarded the counsel of God and followed their carnal desires, so they fell to temptation.

The Sin of Boasting

When reading about the Zoramites, I happened to notice that one of their problems was that they “lifted up their hearts unto great boasting in their pride.” (Alma 31:25, emphasis added) 

My attention was caught by this and I felt like I needed to gain greater perspective and insight about what boasting is and why it is bad. I knew it was related to pride, but in what way I didn’t know. 

So I did research.  And what follows was very interesting to me because I got to find it and synthesize it and put it together, and discover things I needed to work on.  But I’m sharing it because I hope someone else might get a little benefit from it too.

Wikipedia was helpful.  It said boasting is attention-seeking by exaggerating accomplishments or their importance or one’s credit in a venture.  It may consist of one-upmanship.  It also said that boasting may also include exaggerating our obstacles and problems to bolster self-esteem.  Or it may consist of magnifying our injuries or discomforts in order to avoid responsibility and malinger.  There is usually some element of deception in boasting.

I was also interested in reading what the scriptures said about boasting.  I found principles, case studies, warnings, and results.  I found so much helpful stuff that I’m going to break it into several posts. 

To start off, here is what Christ said that relates to boasting:

9 And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:

10 Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.

11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.

12 I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.

13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.

14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. (Luke 18:9-14)

Who is boasting in this parable?  Clearly it is the Pharisee.  Who is he boasting to?  Strangely enough, to God!  How weird is that?

Also, notice in verse 12 that the Pharisee is using his obedience to two particular commandments on which to base his trust in his own righteousness.  The problem is there aren’t just two commandments.  There’s a lot more than that.  Yes, the first and second great commandments encompass the rest, but those aren’t the one’s this Pharisee mentions. He just talks about fasting and tithing.  So we are led to conclude that the commandments the Pharisee doesn’t mention are the ones he’s bad at keeping because if he kept them, he would have mentioned them too.  

Another thing he does is he says, “I am not as other men are” and a list of other people’s sins follows. He thinks he is different from other sinful men, and yet.. doesn’t everyone have a few commandments they are good at keeping and certain sins they aren’t tempted by?  What then makes him so special?  The truth is he’s really no different than other men.

The lovely thing about this parable is that it illustrates the kind of boasting we may make to God, even in our prayers, and how this actually has the effect of keeping us from God.  If we find we imitate the Pharisee, we claim reconciliation that we actually do not have and can’t ever obtain until we see things how they really are--we are sinful and need mercy.

I also like that it shows in the publican a proper attitude of humility and the proper action of pleading for mercy for the sins and weakness he discerned in himself.

More on boasting to come later..

Re-examining Job's Friends' Views of Who is Wicked

Some time ago I listened to a Maxwell Institute podcast with Mark Larrimore about how the Book of Job hasbeen viewed through the ages, and I found it interesting to see how the way Job is read could change so much over time.  (I highly recommend the podcast, by the way; the hour it takes is worth it, though don’t be afraid to skip forward a few minutes at the beginning to get to the meat of the discussion.)

One line of thought in the podcast that was suggestive of further avenues of studying Job was that these three friends talking to Job instead of just one suggests they all have slightly different views, and since they explore the difference between the righteous and the wicked, that suggests their views on that are slightly different as well.  It challenged me to go back and look at what Job’s friends say, all with the understanding that ultimately God is not pleased with what they say, since God rebukes them at the end.

What became pretty clear to me is that Job’s friends speak in sweeping generalities about what happens to the wicked, and yet, they also claim to tell what they have observed.  So they each have specific cases of people in mind that they talk about, people they consider wicked.  And we may know people like this, which makes us often agree with them.  But the fact God is not pleased with their views should warn us that our views are just as morally skewed as Job’s friends’.

So ultimately, if we can figure out where Job’s friends go wrong, we will also be able to correct our own wrong views about how God’s justice plays out in this life and not be so quick to judge others.

First let’s look at what Eliphaz says in Job 5:2-7, 12-14:

2 For wrath killeth the foolish man, and envy slayeth the silly one.

3 I have seen the foolish taking root: but suddenly I cursed his habitation.

4 His children are far from safety, and they are crushed in the gate, neither is there any to deliver them.

5 Whose harvest the hungry eateth up, and taketh it even out of the thorns, and the robber swalloweth up their substance.

6 Although affliction cometh not forth of the dust, neither doth trouble spring out of the ground;

7 Yet man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward….

12 He disappointeth the devices of the crafty, so that their hands cannot perform their enterprise.

13 He taketh the wise in their own craftiness: and the counsel of the froward is carried headlong.

14 They meet with darkness in the daytime, and grope in the noonday as in the night.

Eliphaz refers to the foolish, the silly one, the crafty, the wise, and the froward.  But what is going on in their lives, if we ignore all the name-calling by pretending the name-calling is just blanks?

Someone is killed by an angry man (v2).  Another is killed out of envy (v2).  Another person’s children die in accidents where no one is there to save them (v4).  Another person’s crops are stolen secretly (v5) or they are robbed of their produce (v5), taken by force.  Another person makes plans and then can’t carry them out (v12-13).  Another has no idea what to do when to everyone else it is completely obvious (v14).  

Are we to reason that because these things happen, the people they happen to were wicked?  Eliphaz seems to argue it is so.  Really?  I don’t think so.  

This tells us that we should read carefully to distinguish whether Job's friends are describing a sin or whether they are describing what they consider to be a consequence of sin.

Next let’s look at what Bildad says in Job 8:11-19:

11 Can the rush grow up without mire? can the flag grow without water?

12 Whilst it is yet in his greenness, and not cut down, it withereth before any other herb.

13 So are the paths of all that forget God; and the hypocrite’s hope shall perish:

14 Whose hope shall be cut off, and whose trust shall be a spider’s web.

15 He shall lean upon his house, but it shall not stand: he shall hold it fast, but it shall not endure.

16 He is green before the sun, and his branch shooteth forth in his garden.

17 His roots are wrapped about the heap, and seeth the place of stones.

18 If he destroy him from his place, then it shall deny him, saying, I have not seen thee.

19 Behold, this is the joy of his way, and out of the earth shall others grow.

Note that Bildad refers to these people as “all that forget God” and as “hypocrites” in v13.  But if you just look at what occurs in their lives, he’s talking about people who seem to prosper very early on and then fall just as quickly (v12, 16-17).  Or these people hoped for something that doesn’t come to fruition (v14).  Or they depend on their families to help and their families let them down (v15, 18).  But that could happen to anyone.

Let’s see what Eliphaz says in Job 15:20-35: 

20 The wicked man travaileth with pain all his days, and the number of years is hidden to the oppressor.

21 A dreadful sound is in his ears: in prosperity the destroyer shall come upon him.

22 He believeth not that he shall return out of darkness, and he is waited for of the sword.

23 He wandereth abroad for bread, saying, Where is it? he knoweth that the day of darkness is ready at his hand.

24 Trouble and anguish shall make him afraid; they shall prevail against him, as a king ready to the battle.

25 For he stretcheth out his hand against God, and strengtheneth himself against the Almighty.

26 He runneth upon him, even on his neck, upon the thick bosses of his bucklers:

27 Because he covereth his face with his fatness, and maketh collops of fat on his flanks.

28 And he dwelleth in desolate cities, and in houses which no man inhabiteth, which are ready to become heaps.

29 He shall not be rich, neither shall his substance continue, neither shall he prolong the perfection thereof upon the earth.

30 He shall not depart out of darkness; the flame shall dry up his branches, and by the breath of his mouth shall he go away.

31 Let not him that is deceived trust in vanity: for vanity shall be his recompence.

32 It shall be accomplished before his time, and his branch shall not be green.

33 He shall shake off his unripe grape as the vine, and shall cast off his flower as the olive.

34 For the congregation of hypocrites shall be desolate, and fire shall consume the tabernacles of bribery.

35 They conceive mischief, and bring forth vanity, and their belly prepareth deceit.

What have we got here?  Eliphaz seems to think that those who suffer in constant physical pain all their days without knowing how long their life will last has to be an oppressor (v20), probably reasoning that a person suffering chronic pain must have caused chronic pain to someone else and is just getting a taste of karma.  Then he describes the pessimistic rich man (v21-24).  He also seems to think in v25-27 that a person is directly fighting against God if they become really fat. (Huh?)  Then he describes the rich man who lives all alone in a big house (v28) or in a house that is falling to pieces (v28), or who has sudden financial reverses (v29-33). 

He ends with a scatter-shot of curses—the hypocrites will be made desolate, those who take bribery will be burned, as well as the mischievous, vain, and deceitful.  Okay, we know hypocrisy and bribery is definitely bad.

But the thing about hypocrisy is that the bad stuff usually happens in secret.  It is usually pretty difficult to detect hypocrites, so it is a good bet Eliphaz is referring more to people who say one thing and do something different, but all in public.  And there are degrees of this behavior inconsistency, as there are to all things.

Bildad gives his contribution in Job 18:5-21:

5 Yea, the light of the wicked shall be put out, and the spark of his fire shall not shine.

6 The light shall be dark in his tabernacle, and his candle shall be put out with him.

7 The steps of his strength shall be straitened, and his own counsel shall cast him down.

8 For he is cast into a net by his own feet, and he walketh upon a snare.

9 The gin shall take him by the heel, and the robber shall prevail against him.

10 The snare is laid for him in the ground, and a trap for him in the way.

11 Terrors shall make him afraid on every side, and shall drive him to his feet.

12 His strength shall be hungerbitten, and destruction shall be ready at his side.

13 It shall devour the strength of his skin: even the firstborn of death shall devour his strength.

14 His confidence shall be rooted out of his tabernacle, and it shall bring him to the king of terrors.

15 It shall dwell in his tabernacle, because it is none of his: brimstone shall be scattered upon his habitation.

16 His roots shall be dried up beneath, and above shall his branch be cut off.

17 His remembrance shall perish from the earth, and he shall have no name in the street.

18 He shall be driven from light into darkness, and chased out of the world.

19 He shall neither have son nor nephew among his people, nor any remaining in his dwellings.

20 They that come after him shall be astonied at his day, as they that went before were affrighted.

21 Surely such are the dwellings of the wicked, and this is the place of him that knoweth not God.

Bildad seems to be describing those who don’t know what to do (v5-6), those who can’t catch a break and those who are hampered by their own weaknesses (v7-8), those who are victims of others’ wickedness, (v9-10), those who suffer from generalized anxiety (v11, 14), and the weak (v12), even those who have no sons or who lose all their children, extended relatives, or even progenitors (v13, 16-17, 19)..

But what have they actually done that is wrong?  Or is he just reasoning backward and saying that since those bad things happened, that is an automatic indication of wickedness? 

Then there is Zophar’s assessment in Job 20:5-29: 

5 That the triumphing of the wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment?

6 Though his excellency mount up to the heavens, and his head reach unto the clouds;

7 Yet he shall perish for ever like his own dung: they which have seen him shall say, Where is he?

8 He shall fly away as a dream, and shall not be found: yea, he shall be chased away as a vision of the night.

9 The eye also which saw him shall see him no more; neither shall his place any more behold him.

10 His children shall seek to please the poor, and his hands shall restore their goods.

11 His bones are full of the sin of his youth, which shall lie down with him in the dust.

12 Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth, though he hide it under his tongue;

13 Though he spare it, and forsake it not; but keep it still within his mouth:

14 Yet his meat in his bowels is turned, it is the gall of asps within him.

15 He hath swallowed down riches, and he shall vomit them up again: God shall cast them out of his belly.

16 He shall suck the poison of asps: the viper’s tongue shall slay him.

17 He shall not see the rivers, the floods, the brooks of honey and butter.

18 That which he laboured for shall he restore, and shall not swallow it down: according to his substance shall the restitution be, and he shall not rejoice therein.

19 Because he hath oppressed and hath forsaken the poor; because he hath violently taken away an house which he builded not;

20 Surely he shall not feel quietness in his belly, he shall not save of that which he desired.

21 There shall none of his meat be left; therefore shall no man look for his goods.

22 In the fulness of his sufficiency he shall be in straits: every hand of the wicked shall come upon him.

23 When he is about to fill his belly, God shall cast the fury of his wrath upon him, and shall rain it upon him while he is eating.

24 He shall flee from the iron weapon, and the bow of steel shall strike him through.

25 It is drawn, and cometh out of the body; yea, the glittering sword cometh out of his gall: terrors are upon him.

26 All darkness shall be hid in his secret places: a fire not blown shall consume him; it shall go ill with him that is left in his tabernacle.

27 The heaven shall reveal his iniquity; and the earth shall rise up against him.

28 The increase of his house shall depart, and his goods shall flow away in the day of his wrath.

29 This is the portion of a wicked man from God, and the heritage appointed unto him by God.

Zophar describe the rich man whose children feel the need to give restitution (v5-10), the miserly and dissatisfied rich man (v12-14), the rich man who is finally forced to give back (v15-18), the rich man who dies leaving nothing to his descendants because he spent it all himself (v19-21), the rich man who is killed and robbed of everything (v23-28). 

Zophar obviously does not have a good opinion of rich people in general.

The sins that he describes the wicked having committed are that they have 1) oppressed and forsaken the poor, and 2) violently taken away houses he didn’t built.   It sounds like Zophar is describing money lenders when they have to eventually confiscate collateral when people default on their debt.  However, those who borrow money and don’t pay it back are technically “thieves and robbers,” according to the law of Moses, so lenders are within their rights to collect.

Then we have Elihu’s view in Job 36:9-14:

9 Then he sheweth them their work, and their transgressions that they have exceeded.

10 He openeth also their ear to discipline, and commandeth that they return from iniquity.

11 If they obey and serve him, they shall spend their days in prosperity, and their years in pleasures.

12 But if they obey not, they shall perish by the sword, and they shall die without knowledge.

13 But the hypocrites in heart heap up wrath: they cry not when he bindeth them.

14 They die in youth, and their life is among the unclean.

Elihu describes those who were warned of their wickedness by misfortune and refused to listen and who died violent deaths in a state of ignorance (9-12).  Then he describes as wicked those who keep making people mad (v13), those who don’t complain when they are imprisoned or handicapped (v13), those who die young (v14), and those who live among the unclean (which I think he means spiritually unclean and dirty) (v14).

You know, I’m not so sure that some of those things Elihu describes are actually bad things.  You show me handicapped person who doesn’t complain or a person in prison who doesn’t complain and I’ll show you someone who has amazing self-control. Also, you can easily imagine some of those things happening to both good people and bad alike.  (Who among us is so good that they never make anyone mad? Or never repeat an offense?)

Again, Job’s friends hardly ever describe specific acts of wickedness, but instead describe the misfortunes that happen to those they think are wicked.  It is as if they reason backwards from circumstances.  “You had this bad thing happen, therefore you are a bad person.” 

Now, compare this with how Job himself describes what happens to the wicked:

7 Wherefore do the wicked live, become old, yea, are mighty in power?

8 Their seed is established in their sight with them, and their offspring before their eyes.

9 Their houses are safe from fear, neither is the rod of God upon them.

10 Their bull gendereth, and faileth not; their cow calveth, and casteth not her calf.

11 They send forth their little ones like a flock, and their children dance.

12 They take the timbrel and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the organ.

13 They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment go down to the grave.

14 Therefore they say unto God, Depart from us; for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways.

15 What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? and what profit should we have, if we pray unto him?

16 Lo, their good is not in their hand: the counsel of the wicked is far from me.

17 How oft is the candle of the wicked put out! and how oft cometh their destruction upon them! God distributeth sorrows in his anger.

18 They are as stubble before the wind, and as chaff that the storm carrieth away.

19 God layeth up his iniquity for his children: he rewardeth him, and he shall know it.

20 His eyes shall see his destruction, and he shall drink of the wrath of the Almighty.

21 For what pleasure hath he in his house after him, when the number of his months is cut off in the midst? (Job 21:7-21)

Job, in contrast, explores the often prosperous circumstances that the wicked enjoy.  Clearly he has seen people who sin, who do not repent, and who nevertheless live long lives and gain great resources and influence (v7).  He lists their pleasant position:

--They get to see their children grow up and establish families of their own (v8)

--Their families aren’t afraid of anything, nor do they seem to be chastised by God (v9)

--Their livestock multiplies like normal (v10)

--They have scads of happy children (v11)

--They make and enjoy music just like everyone else (v12)

--The live in wealth (v13)

To judge by what happens to them, they do not seem wicked at all.  Yet, Job asserts they are when they don’t want to learn anything about God and they think their material prosperity means they don’t need to know God or serve him and they think there is not advantage or profit in serving God or praying (v13-15).

I think this is an important point. When Job describes the wicked here, he doesn’t even mention people who do unkind and oppressive acts. (He takes it for granted that his friends understand that is wicked.) Instead, he points out how wickedness is a matter of the heart—the disregard for God, which leads to neglect of faith, repentance, and obedience that would ensure an eternal reward.

He also points out that despite how the wicked enjoy their pleasant earthly circumstances, if they don’t repent God still lays up their iniquity, which is another way of saying that the pile of sins they are collecting is growing bigger and bigger by the day, and eventually they will know the bitter reward of wickedness (v19-20).

In another place, Job discourses on the variety of wickedness in the earth:

2 Some remove the landmarks; they violently take away flocks, and feed thereof.

3 They drive away the ass of the fatherless, they take the widow’s ox for a pledge.

4 They turn the needy out of the way: the poor of the earth hide themselves together.

5 Behold, as wild asses in the desert, go they forth to their work; rising betimes for a prey: the wilderness yieldeth food for them and for their children.

6 They reap every one his corn in the field: and they gather the vintage of the wicked.

7 They cause the naked to lodge without clothing, that they have no covering in the cold.

8 They are wet with the showers of the mountains, and embrace the rock for want of a shelter.

9 They pluck the fatherless from the breast, and take a pledge of the poor.

10 They cause him to go naked without clothing, and they take away the sheaf from the hungry;

11 Which make oil within their walls, and tread their winepresses, and suffer thirst.

12 Men groan from out of the city, and the soul of the wounded crieth out: yet God layeth not folly to them.

13 They are of those that rebel against the light; they know not the ways thereof, nor abide in the paths thereof.

14 The murderer rising with the light killeth the poor and needy, and in the night is as a thief.

15 The eye also of the adulterer waiteth for the twilight, saying, No eye shall see me: and disguiseth his face.

16 In the dark they dig through houses, which they had marked for themselves in the daytime: they know not the light.

17 For the morning is to them even as the shadow of death: if one know them, they are in the terrors of the shadow of death.

18 He is swift as the waters; their portion is cursed in the earth: he beholdeth not the way of the vineyards.

19 Drought and heat consume the snow waters: so doth the grave those which have sinned.

20 The womb shall forget him; the worm shall feed sweetly on him; he shall be no more remembered; and wickedness shall be broken as a tree.

21 He evil entreateth the barren that beareth not: and doeth not good to the widow.

22 He draweth also the mighty with his power: he riseth up, and no man is sure of life.

23 Though it be given him to be in safety, whereon he resteth; yet his eyes are upon their ways.

24 They are exalted for a little while, but are gone and brought low; they are taken out of the way as all other, and cut off as the tops of the ears of corn. (Job 24:2-24)

Job tells his friends that for all the wickedness people do and seem to get away with, they may be exalted for a little while, but eventually they die.  They may seem to live in safety, but God sees everything they do and rewards them according to their works.

13 This is the portion of a wicked man with God, and the heritage of oppressors, which they shall receive of the Almighty.

14 If his children be multiplied, it is for the sword: and his offspring shall not be satisfied with bread.

15 Those that remain of him shall be buried in death: and his widows shall not weep.

16 Though he heap up silver as the dust, and prepare raiment as the clay;

17 He may prepare it, but the just shall put it on, and the innocent shall divide the silver.

18 He buildeth his house as a moth, and as a booth that the keeper maketh.

19 The rich man shall lie down, but he shall not be gathered: he openeth his eyes, and he is not.

20 Terrors take hold on him as waters, a tempest stealeth him away in the night.

21 The east wind carrieth him away, and he departeth: and as a storm hurleth him out of his place.

22 For God shall cast upon him, and not spare: he would fain flee out of his hand.

23 Men shall clap their hands at him, and shall hiss him out of his place. (Job 27:13-23)

Further, he describes as wicked those who oppress and he says that their children will be massacred (v14) and dissatisfied (v14), that they won’t be mourned by their surviving spouse (v15), and even if they gather riches, at the end the just and innocent will enjoy those riches instead (v16-17).  He also says the rich’s power is temporary (v18-19) and only confined to this life, and they are punished with fear (v20) and natural disasters (v20-22), and social storms that hurl them out of their place (v23).

I notice that Job states the final results of wickedness, and the earthly punishments that come upon the wicked, but he doesn’t make the mistake of saying that all those who experience those things are wicked.

While his friends insisted Job had to have done something wrong that made him deserve all his suffering, and while they argued that God could only be just to allow what happened, Job knew that what had happened to him was unjust because he knew what true justice was.

Job’s friends pointed out a lot of human weaknesses and labeled it wickedness. They also pointed out a lot of tragedy thinking it was indicative of wickedness.  But they also said that man was born to trouble as the sparks fly upward, so there was at least an acknowledgement that man could not escape trouble.

From this exercise, I think I’ve learned that some things I’ve thought were indicative of sin were actually just human weaknesses, like those who just can’t catch a break. I also learned that some of the suspicions we harbor against the rich are unjust too.  It teaches me that to condemn others because of what happens to them would be a sin. I hope I can remember what I learned so that I am less likely to judge others.  It also teaches me that everyone deserves help in adversity.

As a postscript, I want to re-mention that I’ve realized the implications about divine justice from the story of Job are that if God allowed that suffering to come on Job, God could not leave the divine scales of justice out of balance indefinitely.   If suffering was given, then later compensation would be given too.   This brought me to the intriguing idea that God allowed that suffering to come on Job knowing it would qualify him for much greater blessing, some of which came in mortality, and some of which would come afterward.