Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in steadfast love. He will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. You will show faithfulness to Jacob and steadfast love to Abraham, as you have sworn to our fathers from the days of old. (Micah 7:18-20)
The Ninth Attribute – He casts our sins into the Sea
The action of casting our sins into to the sea is acted out on Rosh HaShanah in the Tashlich service where the sins of the individual are symbolised by breadcrumbs, or lint or pieces of paper and cast into a moving body of water so that they float away and are eventually consumed or diminished to the point of no longer existing.
The statement that Hashem will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea is not just poetic imagery but has deeper implications that we need to investigate to understand the depth of the work of the death of King Yeshua ben David and the association with Yom Kippur and Azazel. In our last study we looked at the phrase “he will tread our iniquities underfoot” or as phrased within Tomer Devorah “He suppresses sin”. In our discussion we recognised that to suppress something does not mean that it has been eliminated, only that its impact is limited. We used the example of the person carrying a virus being placed in isolation to eliminate the contamination of the surrounding healthy environment. Therefore, the virulent element has been limited or supressed but not eliminated. This may be done to study the virus, and in some cases, to assist in creating an immune response that can then be used to assist in the immunisation of the rest of the population thereby turning the carrier of the virus into the carrier of the cure which can then be distributed to save life.
The response to the antigen that has been created can then be enhanced by the recipient by their own ability to maintain a healthy lifestyle that assists in boosting their immune system and examining their diet and behaviours that will either enhance the immune system and bring the person back to full health or continue to maintain their existing lifestyle which brought about the circumstances that introduced the vulnerability that caused their illness.
In many instances, other cures will be sought to annul the effects of the virus or to try and remove it. But it is only careful analysis that identifies the virus correctly and then is able to effect a cure. Any other treatment will only be temporary, and in itself may become its own form of harm, by dulling the effect of the virus which is then able to continue unchecked, ultimately bringing the potential for death, but, worse than this, lulling the individual into a false sense of wellbeing and negating the need for self-examination and adjustment, thereby dulling the senses to future issues, which, because of not having been dealt with at the root of the problem, have been allowed to continue unchecked.
When the truth is revealed
When the truth is revealed, that is the objective truth that exists outside of the rationality of man’s understanding, demands that it be acknowledged, the consequence of ignoring that truth then becomes an inevitable result, much like the parent who needs to discipline the child who refuses to do what it is asked, pushing the patience of the parent to the point where punishment has to be enacted.
The heart of this is the action of “repentance” which causes us to turn from the actions that have brought us to this point. This has to be voluntary. However, as we see in the scripture, even when the obvious consequence is before men, then they will still seek to move against the will of the Holy One. This is the conscious nature of wickedness within men which can only be given the breath of life by us, when we activate the rebellion in our own hearts.
Key examples of this are Pharaoh, Sennecherib and Nebuchadnezzar. Read Exodus, 2 Kings 18&19, Daniel 2&4
The expression of the verse in Micah speaking of how HaShem casts our sin into the sea is not just a symbolic statement. In joining these three kings together as examples of rebellion against the Holy One, we see another principle in play; the limitation of the actor who is deluded because of their own narcissism, which has been reinforced by their ability to take the lives of other men.
This subjective truth has led them to believe that their power and authority is supreme. We see this being acted out dramatically in film where there is always the belief that good somehow prevails over evil. A correct premise. But as we see it enacted on screen, the protagonists of the drama are not always clear cut in their roles. We look to everyday life and ask whether this portrayal before us is borne out in reality? There do not appear to be any superheroes who fly in and subdue the villains. In fact, even the superheroes are now flawed characters. Therefore, who do we rely on to solve the problems we encounter. Where does the justice come for the injustices? Those who are in positions of power are meant to be the ones who realise and understand the privileged position they are in and that in fact they are not there to be served but to serve, not just on the basis of the popular thought, but for the objective truth. If they don’t they become tyrants. But beyond that, if we rely on the “State” to be the only arbiter of justice while we neglect our role as individuals to also act justly, then we can only expect things to go badly. Even within this framework, we are still required to act in accordance with objective truth, not subjective justice, and that objective truth must transcend the precedents set down by an inability to see beyond the obvious before us. It must have “vision” that looks to the ultimate good and posittive outcomes, even if in the short term, pain and difficulty will be the immediate experience. This is the true message of Gethsemane, the Cross and the Resurrection.
So back to our original question: Where are the limits on power?
When he established the heavens, I was there; when he drew a circle on the face of the deep, when he made firm the skies above, when he established the fountains of the deep, when he assigned to the sea its limit, so that the waters might not transgress his command, when he marked out the foundations of the earth, Proverbs 8:27-29
As we have described elsewhere, the nations are associated with the metaphor of the seas.
Remember the days of old; consider the years of many generations; ask your father, and he will show you, your elders, and they will tell you. When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when he divided mankind, he fixed the borders of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God. But the LORD’s portion is his people, Jacob his allotted heritage. Deuteronomy 32:7-9
Although not a popular narrative, the “limit” in our world today is Israel and the attitude of the nations toward its people, bith on a national and personal level. This is a great burden for the nation to bear, and without this clear understanding, has caused it to reject its creator at times and turn to the surrounding nations for its help. We have seen this throughout recent history as well past history. And the response of the nations tot he people of Israel, bith natinally and individually will ultimately be either praise or indictment when all comes before the True Judge. We can be the “limit” if we abide in the Truth of Torah and our King Yeshua. It may mean that we lose our lives in this world, but if our premise is correct, then this present world that we exist in is only the isolation tent in which the virus is limited. We can act within it in away that encourages others to become well, or we can in with others and seek to become King of the Tent, which has a limited lifetime of existence.
But the wicked are like the tossing sea; for it cannot be quiet, and its waters toss up mire and dirt. There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.” Isaiah 57:20-21
Be appalled, O heavens, at this; be shocked, be utterly desolate, declares the LORD, for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water. “Is Israel a slave? Is he a homeborn servant? Why then has he become a prey? The lions have roared against him; they have roared loudly. They have made his land a waste; his cities are in ruins, without inhabitant. Moreover, the men of Memphis and Tahpanhes have shaved the crown of your head. Have you not brought this upon yourself by forsaking the LORD your God, when he led you in the way? And now what do you gain by going to Egypt to drink the waters of the Nile? Or what do you gain by going to Assyria to drink the waters of the Euphrates? Your evil will chastise you, and your apostasy will reprove you. Know and see that it is evil and bitter for you to forsake the LORD your God; the fear of me is not in you, declares the Lord GOD of hosts. Jeremiah 2:12-19
These verses present us with a picture that shows the limitation placed upon the nations and that even when they are in the midst of their turmoil
The voice of the LORD is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the LORD, over many waters. Psalms 29:3
Ah, the thunder of many peoples; they thunder like the thundering of the sea! Ah, the roar of nations; they roar like the roaring of mighty waters! The nations roar like the roaring of many waters, but he will rebuke them, and they will flee far away, chased like chaff on the mountains before the wind and whirling dust before the storm. Isaiah 17:12-13
These verses provide us with a picture of the futility of the turmoil of the waters in that in all the energy that they generate, they can never exceed the limits that are placed upon them. If the turmoil that they produce is just mire and dirt that will be cleansed, then in the reality of our present existence, we will find ourselves soiled by the violence of the waves. But this does not change the fact of the statement regarding the casting of our sins. In fact, it assists in explaining them.
The contaminated waters of the seas are the place where the contamination of sin is at its highest concentration, it is the repository of sin, just as it was at the time of the Flood, when all that was wicked and filthy in the world perished in the waters.
But the wicked are like the tossing sea; for it cannot be quiet, and its waters toss up mire and dirt. There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.” Isaiah 57:20-21
Rashi comments on the following three aspects of Isaiah 57:20
But the wicked who do not give a thought to repent.
like the turbulent sea This sea its waves raise themselves high and strive to go out of the boundary of sand that I made as a boundary for the sea, and when it reaches there, against its will it breaks. The next wave sees all this, yet does not turn back. Similarly, the wicked man sees his friend being punished for his wickedness; yet he does not turn back. Also, just as the sea has its mud and its offensive matter on its mouth, [i.e., on its surface,] so do the wicked have their offensive matter in their mouth; e.g., Pharaoh said, (Exodus 5:2) “Who is the Lord?” Sennacherib said (supra 36:20), “Who are they among all the Gods of the lands…?” Nebuchadnezzar said, (supra 14:14) “I will liken myself to the Most High.”
like the turbulent sea Like the sea, which is turbulent, that casts up all day mud and dirt.
Just as the sea is the repository for sin, so at Yom Kippur, the goat for Azazel is the repository for the sin of Israel. We see again the principle that the goat cannot stop the sin, but the blood of the can suppress the punishment of the sin. The goat is taken into the wilderness, the place the Adversary met with Messiah. It carries the sins of the nation upon it and is cast over the cliff top. King Yeshua’s refusal to bow the knee to the Adversary in the wilderness meant that Messiah’s future sacrifice as the Lamb who took away the sin of the world would not be invalidated by His own sin. Instead, He becomes Beersheva, the Well of the Oath, the Fountain of Living Waters, waters that will cover the sea.
They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea. In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples—of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious. Isaiah 11:9-10
Therefore, there is no longer any condemnation awaiting those who are in union with the Messiah Yeshua. Why? Because the Torah of the Spirit, which produces this life in union with Messiah Yeshua, has set me free from the “Torah” of sin and death. For what the Torah could not do by itself, because it lacked the power to make the old nature cooperate, God did by sending his own Son as a human being with a nature like our own sinful one [but without sin]. God did this in order to deal with sin, and in so doing he executed the punishment against sin in human nature, so that the just requirement of the Torah might be fulfilled in us who do not run our lives according to what our old nature wants but according to what the Spirit wants. For those who identify with their old nature set their minds on the things of the old nature, but those who identify with the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. Having one’s mind controlled by the old nature is death, but having one’s mind controlled by the Spirit is life and shalom. For the mind controlled by the old nature is hostile to God, because it does not submit itself to God’s Torah — indeed, it cannot. Thus, those who identify with their old nature cannot please God. But you, you do not identify with your old nature but with the Spirit — provided the Spirit of God is living inside you, for anyone who doesn’t have the Spirit of the Messiah doesn’t belong to him. However, if the Messiah is in you, then, on the one hand, the body is dead because of sin; but, on the other hand, the Spirit is giving life because God considers you righteous. And if the Spirit of the One who raised Yeshua from the dead is living in you, then the One who raised the Messiah Yeshua from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit living in you. Romans 8:1-11
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