Thoughts on the Thirteen Attributes of God's Mercy - Part Three

From the Desk of Steven Hauer

For the last two weeks, we have been looking at the Thirteen Attributes of God’s Mercy. Here is a brief recap: God met with the children of Israel at Mount Sinai, where they entered into a covenant relationship with Him. God took Israel by the hand and pledged to be their God. The people accepted this relationship; it was almost like getting married. But the people betrayed God’s trust with the incident of the “Golden Calf.” Now, Moses is back on the mountain where God describes Himself with an explanation of how He will deal with His unfaithful “bride”. See Exodus 34:6-7

We looked at the first nine attributes. Now let’s look at the remaining four.

            10. Noseh avon – forgiving iniquity (depravity)

            11. V’feshah – and transgression (rebellion)

            12. V’chata’ah – and sin (habitual sin)

            13. V’nakeh – pardoning

An interesting aspect of the Hebrew in this passage is that the words describing God’s “forgiving wickedness” are literally “to lift or carry guilt.” In essence, the word “nosei” signifies the act of taking on something, whether it is a physical burden or the burden of spiritual transgression.

(NASB) [The sin offering] is most holy, and He gave it to you to bear away the guilt of the congregation, to make atonement for them before the LORD. (Leviticus 10:17)

(NASB) The goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to a solitary land; and he shall release the goat in the wilderness. (Leviticus 16:22)

Isn’t it interesting that the exact phrase that is applied to God in terms of forgiving sins is also applied to the atonement sacrifices which bore the sins of the people? There is another Hebrew word for forgiving sin, selach, meaning pardon, that could have been used, but bearing guilt is what God speaks of here.

(NASB) The goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to a solitary land; and he shall release the goat in the wilderness. (Leviticus 16:22)

Now, if you look at the translation of these words in most Bibles, you will not see anything about bearing iniquity or carrying the load; instead, you will see words like “forgiving iniquity,” and there is a sense in which that translation is exactly right. Clearly, when we say that God bears our sins, we mean to say that God forgives them.

But, we also lose something when we ignore the metaphor. Clearly, sin is a real, tangible thing in the world that has actual weight to be borne, and someone will have to carry that burden. If someone other than the original transgressor removes that weight, that's what we call forgiveness.

Because sin, as presented in the Torah, is an undeniable reality in the world, nothing can destroy it–all we can do is pass the burden on somehow or eventually it will make life unlivable. We can reach a point where we find ourselves weighed down by our past actions and the actions of others. However here, the Bible shows us another way that God views sin. The prophets, especially Isaiah, speak of sin not as a weight to be borne, but as a debt to be paid back. And just as, when I return to you the money that I owe you my debt is wiped off the books, disappearing and losing any independent existence, so too, when I repent, when I make amends, I wipe out the transgressions of the past. Think of it like this. You have a white board full of whatever words or doodles you put on it. You can wipe it clean with an eraser. A few swipes and the surface is clean, shiny and white. But now, look at the eraser. All of the blackness from the board has been “lifted” and is now carried by the eraser.

As believers, we can rejoice in the knowledge that our debt has been paid. But we also know that the effects of our sin can never be undone, repercussions cannot be nullified, burdens that cannot be made to disappear. That’s the other side of God’s forgiveness, and the beauty of true repentance…He paid the debt, but He also takes the burden upon Himself…the absolute lightening of our loads.

Here are two phrases from scripture that use the word nosei:

• Nosei esh: (נושא אש) carry/bear the fire - In order to carry fire, one has to bear its heat.

• Nosei avon: (נושא עון) carry/bear sin - In order to complete forgiveness of our depravity, God has to bear the burden.

And the beauty of the 13 Attributes lies in the understanding that there is nothing we can do that He can’t forgive. There is no burden He will not bear. Depravity, rebellion, our everyday habitual sins, unintentional and even intentional sins are all covered.

Isaiah tells us this in Chapter 53:10-11

But the LORD was pleased

To crush Him, putting Him to grief;

If He would render Himself as a guilt offering,

He will see His offspring,

He will prolong His days,

And the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand.

As a result of the anguish of His soul,

He will see it and be satisfied;

By His knowledge the Righteous One,

My Servant, will justify the many,

As He will bear their iniquities.

From the very beginning, It has always been God’s character to bear the sin, to carry the burden. As disciples of Yeshua, we are blessed to know that this is His gospel; when we return to the Lord, He pays the debt and bears the burden.

Blessings and Shalom,

Issachar Community