real forgiveness

The speaker discusses the topic of real forgiveness and refers to a passage in Exodus where Yahweh describes himself as merciful and forgiving. He emphasizes the importance of reflecting Yahweh's character in our own lives and being witnesses for Him. Sin is defined as violating Yahweh's will and is seen as a barrier that separates us from Him. However, through repentance and the sacrifice of Yeshua, our sins can be forgiven and fellowship with Yahweh can be restored. The speaker critiques the idea of easy forgiveness and repentance, highlighting the need for genuine change and transformation. The topic of today's message is Real Forgiveness. Real Forgiveness. That's what we're going to talk about for the next few minutes or so. Real Forgiveness. Turn with me to Shemot, Exodus chapter 34. Moshe cries out to Yahweh, show me your face. He says, I want to know you. Now granted, this is after Moshe had already received the first set of tablets. This is after Moshe saw the burning bush. He cries out, show me your face in Exodus chapter 33. And in chapter 34, verses 6 and 7, Yahweh, it says, passes by him. And it says Yahweh proclaims his character. He proclaims who he is. And in verses 6 and 7, let's start at verse 5. Yahweh passed by before him and here's what Yahweh proclaimed. And in that, truth. This is how Yahweh describes himself. You might have an idea in your mind of a god like Thor that sits on a big throne or a mountain with a lightning bolt ready to strike you down. But this is how Yahweh describes himself. He is an El. He is Yahweh, Yahweh. Notice that first. Two Yahwehs. Yahweh, Yahweh. An El full of rakami, mercy and favor. Longsuffering, grace and truth. Keeping mercies for thousands. Forgiving iniquity. Forgiving sins and transgressions. Forgiving sins. This is how Yahweh describes himself. Now you think about it. If someone says, well tell me about you. If you go to a job interview and they say, well tell me a little bit about yourself. Are you going to tell them the bad things? Are you going to tell them, you know, well I snore at night? No, you're not going to tell them your breath stinks or that you snore. You're going to tell them the great things about you. And here's what Yahweh does. He takes Moshe's glory and he proclaims himself. And notice, this is in Judaism, it's referred to as the 13 attributes of mercy. And notice that the theme here, he's merciful and forgiving. Yahweh wants to extend his love and forgiveness. He makes it very clear here. And sometimes I think as we learn Torah, we get on the judgment side. We like a Yahweh that, you know, puts us in, out in the camp and does this and does that. And that's important and that's part of it. But his character is always the same. Yahweh does not change, right? And his character, he is merciful and forgiving. Yahweh is bigger than our boxes. He is more kind and more gracious than we can ever imagine. And nothing we can do can separate us from the love of Yahweh is what the Word tells us. Now what's interesting about this calling forth of the name of Yahweh, which we could go through and discuss because the rabbis preach about this a lot during the time leading up to the holy days, is that we're told in Ephesians in the New Testament, Ephesians 5.1, to be imitators of Yahweh, therefore, as dearly loved children. Just as a father imitates his parents, right? You know, as a child imitates his parents, we are to imitate our heavenly father. So, if Yahweh is merciful and forgiving and loving and full of truth and forgiving and full of truth and forgiving, keep saying that word, forgiving, then we are to be the same. We've been called. We are to reflect his character in our lives. I mean, it's called the fruit of the Spirit. As children mirror their parents, we are to show people how our heavenly father is. Every interaction you have with someone shows them your Elohim. Think about that. Oy vey. Right? Every time you go to McDonald's or Burger King and you don't get the right order, I'm guilty of that, right? I'm kind of like, I attract it. If I order no bacon, it comes with triple bacon. It's like the Baconator. Right? You've seen it. That's me. But how I treat that person shows them how great Yahweh is. Every interaction we have with our children, with our family, with strangers that we meet. Yeshua said, you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and all the ends of the earth. Right? Now, we didn't say we were going to witness for him good or bad. He just said we're his witnesses. No matter what you do, it witnesses for Yahweh Yeshua. It may witness against him. It may witness for him. Regardless of whether you ever preach a sermon or give out a tract, your actions, and even greater than actions, your attitudes and mine, tell people all about Yahweh. So is that amen or oh me? Which one is it? Right? A little bit of both. You know, it's been said you're the only Bible that some people read. Right? So let me ask you real quick as we get started. We're going to talk about Yahweh's forgiveness. It's called real forgiveness today. How are you doing as a witness? How do people, how would your co-workers, or the public, or your family, your sons, your daughters, describe you? Think about that for a minute. Because we are called to be imitators of Yahweh. Yahweh describes himself as merciful and forgiving. Notice he doesn't use the word harsh. Or stern. Or judgmental here. He makes it clear that all of that comes from his mercy and forgiveness. He does have a word that he wants us to follow. So the question is, what is he merciful and forgiving of? Sin, right? If someone's merciful and forgiving, they're forgiving of what? Trespasses against him. When someone offends you and you forgive them, you're acting like Yahweh. What is sin? That's a big question in the church today. People want to know, what is sin? We have an easy answer right out of the scriptures. But it's a violation of his will, right? Real basic. Sin is violating his will. In the middle of every sin is what? I. S-I-N. How do you like that? Torah, Torah, or what's called the law by Christianity, was given as an expression of his plan for man and a blueprint for living. Sin is a violation of Torah. Sin is rewriting the Master Builder's blueprint. You see, the Father said, here's how life on earth is supposed to be lived, in his word, Genesis through Revelation. And when we violate that, we therefore sin. It tells us in 1st Yochanan, 1st John 3-4, sin is lawlessness, is what it says in the King James Version. Or that would mean sin is Torahlessness. That's what lawlessness is, right? Not having any law, or having less of the law in your life. Sin separates us from Yahweh. We all know that. Yeshayahu 59, 1 and 2 says, Surely the arm of Yahweh is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your Elohim. Your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear. Our sins have hidden our face from him. Yeshayahu 59. Now I want you to understand something. This could be read two different ways. It could be read like, Yahweh is putting his, Yahweh is turning his face from us, so he doesn't hear us. That's not the case. Because Yahweh is always merciful, forgiving, and loving. Yahweh has always got his ear there. Yahweh is always there. It's us that move. We're the ones who put the boundary there. It's not Yahweh saying, talk to the hand. It's us saying, we're choosing our way, therefore here's a wall. Yahweh is always merciful and forgiving. He doesn't move. Amen? Praise Yahweh for that. So there's separation between you and Yahweh. Guess who moved? Sin is that separation. And how many know sin brings pain? Right? Sin brings pain. Love might be bliss, but sin is painful. Too bad ignorance isn't painful. Anyway, Yeshua gave his very life for us, right? Amen? Because of our sin. Because we have violated his Torah. Even on the tree, Yeshua said what? Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. Yet he's given us a bridge to approach him by, which is repentance. And through Yeshua's blood on the tree, our sins are dealt with. Fellowship is restored. So let's talk about repentance for a few minutes. The world and sometimes the church propagates an easy forgiveness. Easy repentance. Right? Just say you're sorry, and you're forgiven. And sometimes we're guilty of that. We go to our kids, and maybe a child has poked the other's eye out or done something crazy that they shouldn't have done. We just tell them you're sorry. That's an easy forgiveness. That's an easy repentance. Just say you're sorry. Confess your sins to a priest, right? That's how you're forgiven, right? Give your offering. Give your tithe every week. That's how you're forgiven, right? Or I've got this one. How about this one? Blame your childhood. Blame your chemical imbalance, and all is okay. Let me tell you a story real quick of an elderly Frenchman who's Catholic. You've got to love the Catholics, right? And he goes to confession, and he goes to the priest. He says, Father, I have been a very bad man. I have come to seek forgiveness for my sins because I know only you can give me forgiveness of my sins. So the priest can see the man. He can see that he's had a great deal on his mind. He says, Tell me what it is, my son. It cannot be that bad. So the man replies. He said, You know, during the recent war, a young Jewish lady came to me and asked me to hide her from the Germans. And I did. I made a place for her in the attic. The priest replies, But my son, this is an act of great kindness. This is wonderful. You will be greatly rewarded. Yes, said the man. But I was lonely, and in order to let her stay, I said she had to clean my house and cook my dinner and wait on me hand and foot. Oh, I see, said the priest. But my son, times were so hard then. That's been, you know, decades ago. You sought solace in the woman you were protecting. You are forgiven. Thank you, said the man. This is a great weight off of my shoulders. But while I'm here, do you think I should let her know World War II is over? Really, anyway, I think that's funny. The story is, but it's true, right? You go to your confessional, you pray your Hail Marys, and you're done. Now that's on one end of the spectrum. On another end of the spectrum is people get saved every other week because they've sinned the week before, right? And they go down, Oh, I need to get saved again. They get slain in the spirit. They get thrown in the floor, right? And they get saved and saved and saved over and over and over again. That's on the other end of the spectrum. Real forgiveness or real repentance is very different. Just saying you're sorry is not truly enough, we find out, in the biblical perspective. If you want popular repentance, you know, you want the Dr. Phil kind, just say you're sorry and go on. The Hebrew term for repentance is teshuva. Teshuva. Teshuva. And it comes from the root word teshuv. Teshuv. Which is sheen vet vet. Sheen, excuse me, sheen vav vet. And it means to shuv. It means to turn. If you're learning Israeli dance, if you're going in one direction and the dance leader says, Teshuv! He goes in the opposite direction. It's a lot of fun to do Shabbat shalom and dance in a circle. And every time you say shalom, you have to go in a different direction. I was a little confused there. But shuv means to turn. Teshuva. To turn from sin. And teshuva literally means to turn and to return. To turn and to return. And it starts with the recognition of the wrong. It's a confession of sin that includes not if I've offended you, but that. Teshuva is not easy repentance. Teshuva is not what we're used to. You see, I can go to my wife and say, well, I'm sorry if I offended you yesterday. And she's sitting there for broken heart because I said something or did something that I shouldn't have done. Teshuva says, Not if, but I'm sorry that I hurt you. I was wrong. Turning away from the action. And then, everybody's saying then. And then, righting the wrong. Teshuva is not just saying you're wrong, saying you're sorry, but doing something about it. It's a total abandonment of the evil act in a direct effort to correct the wrong. It includes regret and sorrow. You see, most times when people say they're sorry, that's just it. It's regret and sorrow. Kind of like they're sorry they got caught. But true Teshuva does not stop there. If my people who are called by my name will do what? Humble themselves and pray and turn from their wicked ways. Then I will hear from heaven. Is what Yahweh says. 2 Chronicles. It's not only hearing His voice, but turning from our wicked ways and seeking His face. Ezekiel 14.6 says, Teshuva, turn from your idols and renounce all your detestable practices. So, Teshuva includes not only saying you're sorry, but turning from them. In the Brit Hadashah, or what I like to call the newer testament, Moshe Shelechim or Acts chapter 3 verse 19 through 21, it says repent then and turn to Yahweh. So, you repent, you're sorry, and then you turn to Yahweh. So that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from Yahweh, and that He may send the Mashiach who has been appointed to you, even Yeshua. He must remain in heaven until the time comes for Elohim to restore everything. You know, this is a very popular Messianic verse because it talks about the restoration of all things, right? Notice that the key of the restoration is based on Israel or us doing Teshuva. The restoration of all things cannot come unless we are willing to do Teshuva, unless we are willing to repent, turn from our wicked ways, and seek His face. One rabbi said that Teshuva is changing the past so that yesterday is no longer yesterday. That's pretty powerful. But true Teshuva actually stops consequences from occurring in your life. We know the law of cause and effect. You do something, then there's the effect, right? There's a consequence. Well, we are taught that Teshuva actually stops it. True Teshuva. Not just saying you're sorry, but true Teshuva actually stops it. There's a phrase in Judaism called Baal Teshuva. Baal Teshuva, or Baal Teshuva, we would say. You say, oh my goodness, what are you talking about? Baal Teshuva actually means a master of repentance. A master of Teshuva. And that when a person wants to convert to Judaism who is not a Jew, they have to become a Baal Teshuva. A master of repentance. Because they're never going to make it. We know Yeshua taught the same thing, right? He said, I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of Yahweh unless he is born again. To be a Baal Teshuva, to really become a master of repentance. Not to follow Judaism, but to follow Mashiach, Messiah, Yeshua. One other verse from Ezekiel 18, verses 30-32. Ezekiel 18, 30-32, Therefore, O house of Israel, who's he talking to? Ephraim, the house of Israel, I will judge you, each one according to his ways, declares the sovereign Yahweh. Teshuva, repent. Turn away from your offenses. Then sin will not be your downfall. Don't just be sorry, he says next. Rid yourself of all the offenses you have committed. And get a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, O house of Israel? I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the sovereign Yahweh. Repent and live. Repent and live. And finally, Yeshua said in Matityahu 4.17, Matthew 4.17, From that time on, Yeshua began to preach, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near. He didn't say, ask Jesus to come into your heart. He said, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near. Accept what Yeshua has done for you. Become a Baal Teshuva. Become a master of Teshuva. So true Teshuva, or repentance, can change a person. It can restore relationships. It can heal the brokenhearted. And we need a return to that, right? But our teaching today is not called real repentance. It's called what? Real forgiveness. Real forgiveness. You see, we've all been and are in need of Yahweh's forgiveness. Therefore, the need is to do what? Teshuva to Him. Repent to Him. Yahweh calls us to repent and change. Repent. Repent, he says. The prophet said over and over and over. Yochanan, John the Immersion, he was doing the same thing, right? Yeshua sent His disciples preaching, repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Our sins have caused Yeshua great pain. Amen? So we approach Him through tefillah. That's another good Hebrew word. Tefillah, which is prayer. We do true Teshuva, and our sins are forgiven. If you confess your sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us of your sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1.9 Yahweh is able. Yahweh is able. And it tells us in the Word that our sins have been separated as far as the east is from the west in Psalm 103, verse 12. They've been thrown into the sea of forgetfulness. And He put up a sign that says, no fishing. That our sins have been forgiven, no matter what we did. No matter what has been done. No matter how we've offended someone. No matter what was said. No matter who was affected. Yahweh has forgiven. And when you come up to Him again and repent again, He says, what are you talking about? What are you talking about? Yahweh has and will forgive if we go to Him in Teshuvah. However, we know Romans 3.23 says what? The wages of sin is death. The payment for sin, our sins require payment. In the Torah, we learn about a judicial system that says that without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. Hebrews 9.22 Hebrews 9.22 Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. So, to have real forgiveness, Yeshua died for our sins. He paid the price. We all know that, right? But do we really know it? That He paid the price for all of our sins? Because of what He did on the tree. But, but, everybody say but, but, the pain caused by our rebellion still remains. The hands of Yeshua are still nail scarred. Even though He had forgiven them when He came to Thomas, Thomas said, I won't believe unless I place my hands where the nail scars were. They were still there. The people that we have hurt still remember, right? Psychologists, well-meaning people tell us, well, just forgive and forget. You get hurt, forgive and forget people. They should forgive and forget you. Yahweh can do this, I mean. Yahweh is great and greatly to be praised and His mind is greater than our mind. But nowhere specifically are we told in the Scriptures to forgive and forget. We're not told to ignore the pain that we have caused to other people or that has been caused in our lives. Sometimes we do that though, right? Somebody hurts us and we just try to ignore it. We try to forgive and forget. We try, but how many know when you sweep it under the carpet long enough, you stumble over it later, right? Instead we read, instead of forgive and forget, we read in Colossians 3.13. This is a great verse to memorize. This is one I'm working on right now. Bear with one another. Forgive each other. Whoever has a complaint against anyone. Just as Yahweh forgave you, so also should you forgive. Bear with one another. Forgive each other. Whoever has a complaint. Just as Yahweh forgave you, so also you should forgive each other. Now let's reason together. Come, let us reason together. We all have hurt people and we've all been hurt. I mean, that's just part of the human experience. And we each carry our, we could say, war stories of the pain that we've been through. You've been in ministry more than five minutes, you've been hurt by somebody, right? You got a family, you've been hurt. We all carry emotional scars. Whether we like to show them to others or admit them or not, that's another story. So I want you to just do something uncomfortable for a few minutes. Think about those emotional scars and the hurt inside your heart and in your life. Maybe caused by parents. Maybe some of the pain that you've had in your past. Maybe that you're dealing with, trying to get through. Maybe caused by your siblings, by your childhood, by maybe classmates, maybe even your pastor, your rabbi, a stranger. Maybe your children, husband, wife, someone you thought loved you, your boss, your co-worker. I mean, we all have tragedies, we all have sad things that have happened in our lives. The pain is inevitable, right? You stick around me long enough, I'm going to hurt your feelings. I guarantee it. I promise it. It's going to happen. Let's just make it clear right now. You're going to get your feelings hurt. Because the source of that is people, right? No man is an island. We can try to get away, but we can't. Again, Colossians 3.13. Bear with one another, forgive each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone, just as Yahweh forgave you. When we're hurt, because we are hurt right now, believe it or not, you might feel like the man of steel, but you know, even Superman had his feelings hurt sometimes. And sometimes it's real things that happen, right? Sometimes people talk about us, do things against us, they hurt us financially, they hurt us physically, they hurt us spiritually. There are three choices we have when we're hurt. The first is we can pretend it's not there. That's called escapism. You can just pretend it's not there. Forgive and forget. I'm going to forgive and forget, just like my badness preacher told me. I'm not going to knock on the badness. Bless Yahweh. Number two, we can dwell on it and not do anything. That brings about depression. Depression. If you've had depression in your life, it's probably because of something happened and there then something you were hurt by and you're dealing with getting over that and a lot of that deals with forgiveness. Sometimes we blame Yahweh for people passing away or for tragedies in our lives. Right? And so, we dwell on it and we don't do anything because sometimes there's nothing we can do about it, right? Number three, we can recognize it as a sign that something's wrong and do something about it. Because I submit to you today, no matter who has hurt you, no matter what you've been through, you can forgive, you can get over it, regardless of the other person. That's what I'm going to show you because the Hebraic concept of forgiveness is totally different than what we've been taught before. Because we know that there are people that have hurt us that we can't contact. They won't write us back. They won't pick up the phone. Maybe they're in heaven. Maybe they're elsewhere. We don't know. Maybe they won't respond at all. But if the hurt in our lives is not dealt with, what does it bring? Let me explain a couple things it brings. It brings anger, right? It brings bitterness. It brings stress. We put up walls. We get frustrated. Then we go turn to isolation, depression, and all of that builds around illness. Many times the sicknesses in our body are a direct result of unforgiveness or maybe we thought we'd dealt with it. We thought we'd forgiven, but it's still there. The hurt and the pain is still there. So I want to ask you to ask yourself, have the actions of others caused you to become those things? Bitter? Or negative? Or stressed out? Frustrated? If you're like me, we all deal with it, right? Yeshua offers healing and help for the brokenhearted and for the unforgiveness in our lives. We all have it somewhere. Think about it. You see someone at Walmart and you want to go the other way because you know you don't want to talk to them, right? Right? Maybe you see somebody at a worship service and it's like, I'm going in. I'm going in. And it's like, I'm going the other side. I'm going to sit on my side, right? We can't stand to hear people's names or certain situations or somebody that's caused us all this financial pain and it's constantly in our mind. Well, Yeshua offers healing and help. Amen? Matthew 12, 20 says, A bruised reed he will not break. Come unto me all who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest. So today we're going to learn for a few minutes how to release that pain and hurt for you. For you. Not them. Topic of today again, real forgiveness. Real forgiveness. As opposed to unreal forgiveness. As opposed to probably what we've all dealt with in our lives before. As opposed to what we've always done before. We have the pain and we release it different ways. Sometimes we release it in good ways. Sometimes we're able to forgive that person. To go past that. To work past that. And sometimes we can't. Sometimes, here's how we release it. We blow up at people. Right? We blow up at our kids. We tell them every time they've let us down we just let them know it. We yell at our spouse. Let them know how I really feel. Right? Sometimes you just got to let them know how you feel. Wrong. But sometimes we do that because we've got that pain. We've got that anger. We just let it all out. Or how about this one? We send an email or a letter. Right? I've done that. We've done that before, right? We send an email or a letter. Which does what? It only gets our side heard. And that's not a good way to release the pain. That's not a good way to release the pain. That's not a good way to release the pain. Yahweh wants to set you free. Amen? He wants us to live in forgiveness and freedom so that we can reflect His love to the world. Because what does it say in Exodus 34? He is loving. He is forgiving. He forgives sins and transgressions. And we're supposed to imitate Him. Ephesians 5.1 The Father's heart is for us to walk in forgiveness and for us to be forgiven. Amen? Ha-Ha-Satan, the adversary, wants us not to be forgiven and for us to walk in resentment and unforgiveness. Now we can learn much about this from one of our patriarchs. Turn with me to Bereshit, Genesis. And we're going to look at the story of Joseph. Chapter 43. I'm going to show you some things in this. You've probably never seen before. I had never seen them before. As I began to really meditate on this story and pray about this, the Father opened my eyes to something here. Joseph in Bereshit, in Genesis 43-45. We all know Joseph, right? The story of Joseph favored by his father, given the coat of many colors, had the great dreams. Have you ever seen Joseph in the Technicolor Dreamcoat? It's cool. He was loved by his father, favored by his father, but hated by who? His brothers. His own family. As we talk about Joseph, we're talking about you. We're not going to read the whole story of what happened, but we see in throughout the chapters of Genesis that he was taken captive by his brothers, sold into slavery, separated from his father, his family, his homeland, all that he knew. He was told that money was worth more than his life. He was told that he was not worth it. He was told that even though his father cared about him and loved him, that his own family, who were supposed to, didn't. Now somehow we know that Joseph goes from the pit to the palace, right? He gets thrown into the pit, sold off into slavery. Joseph becomes second in command of all of Egypt. Second only to Pharaoh. And years pass, and think about the time that passed, from the time he was sold to the time he becomes second in command. He has every right and every reason to hate his brothers. Every right. They cause him harm, they cause him pain. He could wish to do the same to them. So, as the story continues, and we see in chapter 43 of Genesis, that one day, in a strange turn of events, Joseph's brothers appear before him, begging for food. To make it through a famine that had hurt the land, they come to the one who had the food. They come to the one who could help them, not knowing it was their brother. Joseph, of course, knew them, right? He knew who they were. He remembered what they looked like, and how they talked, how they acted. So Joseph is faced with a choice. Now put yourself in his shoes for a minute. He's faced with a choice. They don't know who he is, so he could enact judgment. He could hold back the food and they would never know. He is the judge and jury, because he is second in command. He could punish them, he could let them starve, or he could show them forgiveness. Now, Joseph does the most amazing thing here. They come to the palace, basically seeking enough food to make it through a couple weeks. Maybe some seed to plant. And we read in Genesis 43, starting in verse 29, And he lifted up his eyes and saw his brother, Benjamin, his mother's son, and said, Is this your younger brother, about whom you spoke to me? And he said, Elohim, give you unmerited favor, my son. And Joseph hurried, and his emotions did yearn for his brother. And he sought somewhere to weep, and he entered into his room and wept there. Verse 31, And he washed his face, he went out to refrain himself, and said, Serve the food. He said, What? Serve the food? If you read it in context, you see that before filling their bags with seed and meeting their request, he showers them with food. Immediately. He showers them with blessing. He does not react in rage, in bitterness, in resentment. Instead, he shows us the biblical pattern of forgiveness. Back to Genesis 43. Verse 33. Chapter 43, verse 33. And they sat before him, the firstborn according to his birthright, the youngest according to his youth, and the men marveled at one another. And he took and sent portions to them from before them. But Benjamin's portion was five times as much as any of theirs. And they drank and had simcha, joy, with him. Joseph here shows us the biblical pattern of forgiveness. And what's amazing about this is he showers blessing on them and he forgives them before he is asked. Before he is asked. And they asked for just seed and he gives them a banquet and it says they had joy. They marveled with one another. You want to make your enemies marvel? You want to make the people that you marvel, your children, your family, your co-workers? Yeshua said it this way in Luke 6, 28. Bless them that curse you. Pray for them that despitefully use you. That's what Joseph did. It's powerful. Bless them that curse you. Those that talk about you, that wish to do you harm, those that have done you harm. Forgiving someone begins in the heart of the offended person. And biblical forgiveness, real forgiveness, begins before you are asked. Now we've been programmed to believe this. Forgiveness is for the forgiven. Not necessarily. True meaning of forgiveness? I like this one. I found this. It says surrendering my right to hurt you because you hurt me. That's tough. That's tough. Surrendering your right? I live in America. I've got rights. I'm a citizen. Well, real forgiveness is surrendering those rights. Even if that person does not know they're being forgiven, does not wish to be forgiven, or doesn't ask for it. Some people don't want to be forgiven because they don't acknowledge they've done anything wrong. And those are the tough ones to forgive. In Hebrew, the word for forgiveness in Hebrew, the word for forgiveness is mechila. Excuse me, mechila. And it actually means to forgive the debt. Mechila. To forgive the debt. There are three levels of forgiveness in Hebraic thought. We're going to go through all three of those. But the first is the most basic. It's the word used in Israel today means to forgive. Mechila. It simply means to forgive the debt. Like a criminal that's been pardoned. The crime remains, but the debt is forgiven. You follow me? You see, biblical forgiveness does not wipe away the fact that the crime occurred with people because we know you can't. Someone runs over your toe and you've got a cast on your foot, you just can't, you can't forgive because every time you look at that, you can't forget. Because every time you look at that foot, you remember. When the person who was driving the car comes to sign your cast, you remember, right? Right? But with mechila, you forgive the debt. You pardon them. You say, instead of taking you to court for running over my foot, I'm not going to do that. Instead of filing an insurance claim because you hit my car, I'm going to pardon you. I'm going to show you mechila. Here's the truth. When a person sins against another person, one incurs the obligation to right the wrong. In Torah, it's spoken of as justice, right? In our justice system, right? If someone mistreats you, that's called an injustice. For no reason. That's called an injustice, right? Well, with justice, in our society today, if you go to the police, on certain crimes, you have the right to press charges. But you don't have to. Mechila is not pressing charges. It's acknowledging the fact of what has happened, but it's not holding them to the punishment. For example, we read in Deuteronomy, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. That is what the law calls for. That is what the word calls for. It tells us this. It mentions this in Deuteronomy 19, 21. Life for a life, eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth, hand for a hand, foot for a foot. That's right. Unless the person offended chooses to offer Mechila. Even during Torah times, if the person offended forgave, the judge then was accountable and was held to forgive. Yahweh forgave, and justice was not enacted. See, justice here says eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth. But if the person chose mercy over justice, it tells us in the book of James, mercy triumphs over justice, right? That this commandment did not have to be enacted. In the book of Matthew chapter 5, verse 38, Yeshua says, you've heard it said, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, but I tell you, do not resist an evil person. Give to one who asks you. Do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you. When He said this, He was reminding them of the heart of Torah. It was not to go out and mutilate people. It was not to have a blind nation of Israel. It was for the people to have opportunities to show forgiveness, to show Yahweh. Isn't that powerful? The eye for an eye. The time equals the crime. It was only enacted basically to stop certain crimes, and it was against certain individuals and could be avoided if the person who was hurt offered Mechilla and said, you know what? And because you hurt Me, I have this pain. However, and I could go and I could do this, and I cannot talk to you for the rest of your life, and I can hold it against you, but I'm going to offer you real forgiveness. Amen. The second type of Hebraic forgiveness is silikha, silikha. Very similar to the word silikhot, which are the prayers spoken in the synagogues during the holy days, especially Yom Teruah, Feast of Trumpets, Yom Kippur and Sukkot. In Hebrew, the word silikhot means basically, excuse me, forgive me. You bump into somebody on the bus, you say, silikhot. Excuse me, pardon me. Silikhot is an act of the heart. This level of forgiveness is when you as the person who has been hurt shows empathy towards the other person. You see the troubledness in their life. You're not embracing the offender, but realizing that we're all human. Again, Colossians 3.13 Bear with one another, forgive each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone. Just as Yahweh forgave you, so also should you forgive. Just as a mother forgives her child without being asked. Think about it. That little baby can pull the hair and really hurt, right? And that mother forgives the child without being asked. And that mother does not withhold milk and does not withhold love, does not say, you pulled my hair, I'm not going to change your diaper. Let's see how you do now. Aha! Right? Can you imagine a mother doing that? With silikhot, we forgive in view of our own sinfulness. We realize that we too are full of sin. Who am I to hold something against Joe? I'm a sinner too. Who am I to hold something against my brother in Yeshua when I've done probably the same exact thing He's done against me? And it's to release. Silikhot is to release and it's to release something in you. Forgiveness starts in the person who has been hurt, not the person who did the hurting. If you've been hurt and you're waiting on somebody to come to you, it might not ever happen. Let me show you something really interesting about forgiveness. The word mechilah, mechilah, in Hebrew for forgiveness, is from the root word machol. Machol means a circle. A circle. Makes sense, doesn't it? That life, real forgiveness is like a circle. And to stop forgiving is to stop living. But to deal with the real pain there is to start living. Yeshua said that we must forgive. More than just pardon and look past the pain, release the person from the debt whether they ever ask us or not. They said, Yeshua, how many times do I have to forgive? He said 70 times out of 70. He wasn't asking them a math question. He was saying infinite times. But it starts in our heart before the person ever comes to us. You see, all of us are just like Joseph, right? We all have people that have hurt us. They've traded our lives. They've traded our value. They've traded our worth. They've traded us for something else. And every time you're hurt, that's what it is. So let's look at his example again. Bless our enemies. The same concept is in, this is wild, the same concept is in the Psalms. Tehillim 23. Psalm 23. You'll never read it again. The same. This will change the way you read Psalm 23. Yahweh is my shepherd. I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my being. He leads me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, though I'm hurt, I'm here on the earth, right? I experience pain, emotional, physical, spiritual, financial, whatever. Though I've been hurt, I will fear no evil. For you are with me. You're rod and your staff, they comfort me. Verse 5. For Yahweh, you prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. Yahweh is constantly giving us opportunity to forgive. He is preparing a table before us in the presence of our enemies just like with Joseph. There at the dinner table, giving them a banquet saying, will you forgive or will you have anger and resentment and hold it against them? It's pretty neat. Yahweh wants to see if we will forgive and eat with our enemies and fellowship with them and have joy with them. He's not preparing for us. You know, I always read it like, oh, I got a big meal. I got like an Easter ham, you know what I'm saying? And I've got a big meal I'm ready to eat and all my enemies are starving and they're eating me. And you know what? I don't care. Foo on them. Right? Come on. That's right. But Yahweh says, I prepare a table in the midst of the enemies so He gives us the choice to, in Exodus 34, show forgiveness. To be imitators of Yahweh. Ephesians 5.1. To do what He would have done. Do you think Yeshua and the table of His enemies would have held back from them? No. But yet we do. We do, don't we? I know I do. We do. We're in the same boat. We all need forgiveness. The people that have hurt you. The people that have hurt me. We need forgiveness from each other. To show to each other. To receive from each other. We need forgiveness from Yahweh constantly. You know, sometimes people have to come to grips of forgiving Yahweh. They blame Yahweh for stuff. There's a bad tragedy, an accident, someone died. They blame Yahweh for it. This is the third type of forgiveness. Kippurah. It means atonement. Just like Yom Kippurim. The day of atonement. Like Kippur. Like a kipper. The hat that you wear. It means a covering. That's what Kippurah means. Kippurah means a covering. A total wiping away. And the truth is, this is only available from Yahweh. You can't totally wipe away. No human can atone. But we have Yeshua that came for us. Amen? Who gave His life for us. His very blood. The pain He went through. So that we could have fellowship with Him. He is the sacrifice. He died once for all. The book of Hebrews says. Remember in Exodus 34 it says, Yahweh is loving. He is forgiving. Extending mercy to many. Yahweh passed by and He proclaimed, Yahweh, Yahweh and El, full of Rahamim, mercy and favor, longsuffering, abundant, entove, chesed, good, grace and truth. Keeping mercy for thousands. Forgiving iniquity, transgression and sin. That's Yahweh. He extends His forgiveness to us and guess what? He expects us to model His forgiveness to others. The way you show forgiveness to someone else is a picture of Yeshua. Remember the parable He told of the person who owed millions and millions of dollars? He said, oh, forgive me, forgive me, forgive me. And His Master said, ok, you're forgiven. And then His Master saw Him going up to someone that owed Him five dollars or so. Saying, send Him to jail. He was showing harsh judgment. We're kind of like that sometimes. We show judgment against others because they've offended us, when in reality we've offended Yahweh even more. He expects us to show that forgiveness. So, as we approach the holy days of Yom Teruah and Yom Kippur and Sukkot, the Jews at this time begin going to people and asking for forgiveness. Picking up the phone. Doing what you can to do teshuvah. Not releasing all this hatred and pain in a sense of, I'm sorry if I did something. You know, you really hurt me. Yada, yada, yada, yada. That's a good Yiddish word. Yada, right? But contacting people that we know we've hurt and extending forgiveness. Working on our own pain for the people that have hurt us. Because you know what? You pick up the phone to call people, but don't expect folks to call you. Amen? Don't expect to get an email. Don't expect to get a letter at this time. You need to prepare your heart just like Yosef did all those years. For the time that you're going to see that person. Remember we read it said that he was overcome with emotions? It's not easy. Let me tell you, it is not easy. It is emotional. It is hard. It said he had to go to the other room. Put water on his face. After baptism, he had to mikvah himself. We wash ourselves with the water of the word. And that allows us the power to go forward. And we prepare ourselves so when they come to us begging us maybe for bread or maybe passing them at Walmart, we are ready to feed them. What Yeshua's been doing in our lives. How he's healed us. So I would ask everybody to make two lists. Just to make two lists. Not to be seen by anyone else. But to make a list, number one, of people that you need to forgive. Maybe put yourself on it. Because sometimes we have to forgive ourselves. So number one, people that you need to forgive. And right beside that list, Matthew 6, 14-16. Write the words Matthew 6, 14-16. For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Abba, Father, will also forgive you. But if you forgive not men their trespasses, not men their trespasses, neither will your Abba forgive your trespasses. If you don't forgive, you cannot be forgiven. It's very clear. So people you need to forgive. Whether they come to you or not, whether they ask you or not, prepare your heart. List number two. List number two. List number two. People you have offended and need to ask forgiveness of. People you know that just are hurt with you. People you know that maybe you stopped them or you've done something. Maybe you didn't even mean to. I want to encourage you for that list there to include your family, your children, people that you love the most and go to them and say, I am sorry I have been wrong. I love you. I have hurt you. And I'm sorry that I've done that. You know what? The only thing that hurts is your pride. And it hurts your pride. But that's all it hurts. The Talmud says that sins between one person and another, Yom Kippur does not atone for until one appeases his friend. Wow. Very similar to what Yeshua said, right? Forgive your brothers. You won't be forgiven. Go to people and make amends. Make it right. If you can. Let me make something clear. Some of the most misunderstood verses in the Scripture deal with Matthew 8 and Matthew 18. When people go out and they say, if you have offense to your brother, go to him. But take another. Those are some of the most misunderstood passages in the world. I've never seen anybody do it right, including myself. If you have alt against your brother, if you have a problem with him, I do suggest go to him with someone and talk to them. If he's offended you, go to him if you need to. But here's my point. If you're already forgiven them, what's the need? If they've already been forgiven, why? Well, it says in Romans chapter 12, verse 8, to live at peace with all people. Yes, that's right. And sometimes it is good to go to someone and say, do you have a problem? Can we talk? Right? But if they say no, that's all you can do. You can forgive them in your heart. You can do mechila, right? You can forgive them. You can forgive the debt they owe you. You can do silica. You can just wash over it the best that you can. But I do not suggest going to them and opening up a can of worms. Nobody wants to eat worms. Right? Those are some of the most misunderstood passages. If praying, it says Mark 11, 25. And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him so that your father in heaven may forgive you your sins. Forgive them at that moment. That doesn't mean you've got to run to them and beg their forgiveness. You may need to beg their forgiveness. But forgive them then. Forgive them. Forgive them in your heart. That's what Yahweh's saying. Don't stop praying, but forgive them in your heart. Amen? Amen? So to understand the true Hebraic forgiveness is to deal with the hurt in your life that you've got right now. To deal with the pain, because just like Yeshua has forgiven us all, but the scars remain. We all have scars. Amen? To deal with the hurt you've caused in others and to deal with the hurt you've caused in Yahweh. Mekhilah Tzalikah Kaporah. The story is told of one rabbi. He's quoted as saying this. He says, Do Teshuvah, repent, one day before your death. And his disciples, they asked him, they said, Rabbi, Rabbi, we don't understand. How is it possible since we do not know the day on which we will die? The rabbi replied, So much more. So much more the reason that we should do Teshuvah, repent every day. Every day. Lest that day be the last one we have on earth. Real Teshuvah is looking at your life as if today was your last chance. And not only repenting of your sins, but forgiving others just as Yahweh has forgiven you. Every day could be our last. To ask forgiveness, to demand forgiveness, and to model forgiveness. Ephesians 5.1. Be imitators of Yahweh. Challenge is to do that in the realm of real forgiveness. Amen? Father Yahweh, we come before you right now. And to our best of our ability, we think about that list we have of people that we need to forgive. We pray that you would help us. It's not easy. We've been through hard times. Things have been said about us. People have hurt us. Financially, spiritually, emotionally. We've been through divorce. We've been through pain. We've been through children rebelling. We've been through things not going our way or even your way. We've had the door slammed on us. And Father, we know that all that pain in our lives is taking up room that you want. So Father, right now, we pull down that stronghold of unforgiveness. And we ask right now through the power of the Ruach HaKodesh that you would help us, minister through us and to us to offer v'chillah, to offer forgiveness, to release the debt that that person rightfully owes us. And Father, you prepare a banquet in the midst of our enemies for us, before our enemies. You give us the choice and the decision to offer forgiveness. So help us. Help us, Father. To reflect your love before they even ask, may we be ready. May we release the pain, release the hurt just as Yeshua did for us 2,000 years ago. Father, there are people that we need to contact Father, there are people that we need to contact and just do teshuvah, not just say, oh, forgive me, Father, because I've hurt this person's feelings. But go to them and ask them to forgive us as well. Father, we know you've forgiven us. Your Word tells us that you've cast our sins as far as the east is from the west, never to be remembered anymore. But Father, our friends and our family that we've hurt, they remember. So help us to be bold and to be strong and to go to them from our heart and offer teshuvah. Father, I thank you for opening our eyes to real forgiveness, to giving us your heart and for telling us the words, bear with one another, forgive each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone. Just as Yahweh has forgiven you, so you should also forgive one another. Father, may we live these words of Colossians 3.13. May we be an example and a light to the world of your love, your mercy, and your forgiveness. Father, every time we have an interaction with someone, we're either witnessing for you or against you. Help us to share the love of our Messiah, Yeshua. In His name we pray and in Him we live and move and have our being. B'Shem Yeshua. Hamoshiach. Amen. And Amen.