3 Sin in the Former and Latter Prophets and the Writings. Paul R. House
SIN IN THE FORMER AND LATTER PROPHETS AND THE WRITINGS
PAUL R. HOUSE 
Though other peoples appear in the Torah, given his audience Moses understandably focuses on Israel after Genesis 1–11. Yet these introductory chapters place Yahweh’s relationship with Israel in the context of the whole of creation. This indicates that the Bible’s interests far exceed a single nation, even one as significant as Israel, Yahweh’s kingdom of priests. The Former Prophets1 continue to focus on Israel’s story while noting the relationship of Israel to other peoples. The Latter Prophets2 hardly neglect Israel’s story, but they also include material on how God defines and judges sins among the nations. This chapter will survey particular contributions that each book of the Former Prophets makes to the Old Testament’s unfolding delineation of sin in Israel’s history, before offering syntheses and observations. It will then focus on some short passages in the Latter Prophets that demonstrate the universal scope of sin. Together the Former and Latter Prophets present comprehensive treatments of God’s relationship to his creatures and his creation.
Sin’s Stain on Israel’s History: The Former Prophets
The Former Prophets resume the narrative that the Law begins. As Joshua opens, a new generation of Israelites stands poised to enter Canaan. This time they obey and succeed because of Yahweh’s power. They do not rebel against Yahweh’s Word nor fail to believe his promises about conquering the land. As this generation fades from the scene, however, in Judges the people turn from God to the gods of the land. Thus begins a dark and gruesome era that eventually ebbs in 1–2 Samuel. New covenantal promises to David emerge. But once again the scene changes. In 1–2 Kings, the nation experiences the results of decades and centuries of faithlessness threatened in Leviticus 26:14–45 and Deuteronomy 28:15–68. It is not fair to act as if there were no godly persons in these books or as if the nation never did the right thing. Yet it is right to state that eventually the stain of sin so covered the nation that sin’s consequences overtook Israel.
Sin’s Threatening Presence: Joshua
Overall, Joshua is a very positive book, at least from the Israelites’ perspective. It is not so positive for the nations they defeat. This generation of Israelites generally follows the faithful lead of Joshua, who hews closely to God’s directions. At the outset of the book, Yahweh emphasizes that Joshua must follow the words that God gave to Moses (1:1–9). At the end of the book, the aging Joshua reminds the people of the same principle (23–24). Covenantal faithfulness to Yahweh remains the key to Israel’s future.
One episode particularly demonstrates that sin’s presence always lurks in the shadows,3 looking for an opportunity to undercut obedience to Yahweh. Since Israel’s venture into Canaan is partly God’s judgment on the region’s peoples (see Gen. 15:13–16; Lev. 18:1–3), God commands Israel not to hoard the treasures that they capture (Josh. 7:1). A man named Achan and his family break this crucial rule (vv. 16–21). When confronted, the guilty Achan confesses that he coveted the goods and took them (v. 21). He falls prey to the primary motive behind sin, just as Eve did. The whole nation suffers for his sin until it is uncovered and he and his family are executed (vv. 22–26). Even when Israel succeeds in its mission, the danger of sin perseveres.
Rejecting God’s Ways for One’s Own: Judges
In a way, one could write as much about sin in Judges as about sin in the entire Old Testament. Every one of the Ten Commandments is probably broken here, most of them evidently so. Greatly feared consequences develop. Many, many of the vilest deeds that humans perpetrate occur in these pages. Periodically the people realize their errors and cry out to God. He hears them and sends deliverers (judges) who lead them out of their troubles for a time. Still, the acts and results of sin permeate the book, and it closes with its main theme: “There was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (21:25; see 17:6). This concluding comment reflects the book’s three major sins: faithlessness to Yahweh (see 1:1–3:6), self-destroying moral individualism (see 3:7–16:31), and society-killing murderous savagery (see 17:1–21:25).
Sin’s Reality among God’s Greatest Servants: 1–2 Samuel
Even God’s greatest servants sin at times. The Old Testament has already revealed this fact. It honestly portrays Abraham as a man willing to put his wife in moral and physical danger to protect his own skin (see Gen. 12:10–20). It reveals Moses’ murderous past (Ex. 2:11–15) and sometimes tragically self-serving leadership traits (see Num. 20:10–13). Like these earlier great covenant bearers, David, to whom God makes the covenant promise of an eternal kingdom (see 2 Sam. 7:1–29) from which the messianic promise derives, breaks faith with God. He commits adultery, he lies, and he murders (11:1–27). Samuel and Saul are likewise imperfect men prone to pique and pride (see 1 Sam. 12:1–5; 15:1–32). All these key figures in 1–2 Samuel have strengths, and they all serve God in distinct and helpful ways. But none rises above sin.
Sin’s Nation-Killing Power: 1–2 Kings
The author of 1–2 Kings presents the next phase of Israel’s history as a tragedy. The account begins with the heights of David and Solomon’s reign (1 Kings 1–11) and concludes with the depths of defeat and exile (2 Kings 24–25). In between, the twelve tribes divide into two separate nations (1 Kings 12:16–24), Judah and Israel. Faithlessness to God too often typifies both nations. As Leviticus 26:14–45 and Deuteronomy 28:15–68 warned, the eventual result of this faithlessness was exile from the Promised Land.
This whole history, which spans 1010–560 BC, is summarized in 2 Kings 17:7–23, one of the Bible’s greatest comprehensive passages. Israel’s national tragedy occurred for many reasons, all of which relate to sin. The people feared other gods (v. 7). They acted like the nations around them (v. 8). They practiced idolatry (vv. 9–11) despite Yahweh’s clear words to the contrary (v. 12) and despite the clear teaching of the prophets whom Yahweh sent (v. 13). This behavior happened because they did not listen to God or believe him (v. 14). Instead, like the Israelites in Numbers 13–14, they despised God and his covenant (v. 15). Both Israel and Judah acted in this manner, so both suffered the consequences of their actions (vv. 19–20).
In short, lack of belief in Yahweh led to despising God and his Word, which in turn led to breaking God’s commandments, which over time led Yahweh to turn them out of the land. As verse 8 puts it so clearly, “They sinned.”4 They were not simply victims of overwhelmingly bad political odds. Left unattended, their sins stained centuries of the history of the kingdom of priests. It led to sorrows that the people could not have imagined. Interpreters of the whole Old Testament know that God’s redemptive plan has not been derailed by these events, but they also discern how necessary God’s redemption is by reading about them.
Synthesis
The Former Prophets reveal the motives, manners, and consequences of sin in historical context, or what is often referred to as “real life.” If readers find the Torah overly theoretical or rhetorical, then they surely find the Former Prophets down to earth. Each portion supports what the others teach about sin, yet each has its own contribution to make to the concept.
First, Joshua proves that sin can intrude into generally faithful times. It always has the potential to break out in the lives of people, harming them and those around them. Second, Judges shows that sin can become the dominant feature of life when people set aside Yahweh’s standards. When human beings chart their own path, it is simply a matter of time, opportunity, and circumstance before life becomes stained with some of humanity’s most ugly deeds. Third, 1–2 Samuel demonstrates that not even the best of Yahweh’s servants are free from sin. Sadly, sins by God’s best can harm others in proportion to their prior personal greatness or level of responsibility. Fourth, 1–2 Kings reveals that a whole nation can display a long-term pattern of breaking faith with Yahweh and suffer the consequences that he determines.
All these books introduce readers to faithful persons, and some of these persons appear in Hebrews 11, a decidedly positive text. Nonetheless, any consideration of the doctrine of sin must include these sad facts of sin in human history. Sin lurks, degrades, damages, and defeats individuals and Israel as a whole. Unbelief and rebellion have their way in some measure in every era.
Sin’s Stain on International History: The Latter Prophets
The Latter Prophets include parts of Israel’s and other nations’ history from c. 760 to 425 BC. These books interpret and add perspective on the history that Genesis—2 Kings depicts. They begin with Isaiah using most of the terminology found in Exodus 34:6–7 and in the Law and Former Prophets to describe Israel and Judah’s faithlessness to God (Isa. 1:1–31). They end with Malachi exhorting readers to follow God’s Word given through Moses lest judgment come (Mal. 4:4–6). In between, the books offer extended treatments of Israel’s breaking of the Ten Commandments (e.g., Jeremiah 7; 26; Hosea 4), Israel’s faithlessness to God (Jeremiah 2–6; Ezekiel 16; 20; and 23; Hosea 1–3; etc.), and Israel’s suffering of the consequences of their behavior (Jeremiah 39; 52; Zech. 1:1–6). They particularly demonstrate how Israel’s sin takes the shape of cruelty to the poor through injustice and exploitation (Amos 2:4–15; 4:1–5; 6:1–7). In these and other ways they agree fully with the historians who wrote the Former Prophets.
They also declare explicitly that sin’s stain extends beyond Israel and that Yahweh judges all nations. Addressing Babylon’s future, Isaiah 13:1–22 introduces the subject of worldwide sin by using two of the three major terms found in Exodus 34:6–7. The prophet claims that Yahweh will send a great day of judgment “to destroy its sinners [those who miss the goal] from it” (Isa. 13:9), which includes sinners in Babylon. Yahweh furthermore pledges to “punish the world for its evil, and the wicked for their iniquity [twisting God’s truth]” (v. 11). This “day of judgment” is the “day of the Lord” that several prophets highlight as the time (or times) in which people experience specific consequences for sin.5 On his day, God reasserts his sovereignty over local and international affairs. Malachi 4:5–6 closes the Latter Prophets with the same judgment image, though Malachi aims his message at Jews. In between this introduction and conclusion, Isaiah 13–23, Jeremiah 46–51, Ezekiel 25–32, Joel 3:1–21, Amos 1:3–2:3, Obadiah 1–21, Jonah, Nahum, Habakkuk 2:6–20, and Zephaniah agree with Isaiah and Malachi. Many other passages deserve examination and will be cited as evidence, but this section will analyze briefly three short representative texts: Amos 1:3–2:3; Jonah 3:1–4:2; and Nahum 1:1–8. These last two passages echo Exodus 34:6–7, thereby connecting the Latter Prophets to the Law on these subjects.
Transgression and the Nations: Amos 1:3–2:3
Amos may be the earliest of the canonical prophetic books. Set c. 760–750 BC during the reign of Jeroboam II of Israel, the book presents one of the Old Testament’s strongest treatments of sin’s nature, destructiveness, and consequences. Its opening salvo against “transgression” (pesa), or “rebellion,” the second word of the sin-defining triad in Exodus 34:6–7, nets every one of Israel’s neighbors.
Analysis
Having warned readers that Yahweh is roaring from Zion and that the result is mourning and withering below (1:2; see Joel 3:16), Amos exposes “transgressions” in several nations and declares the consequences. As in previous passages, this term refers to rebellion against God, who is these nations’ overlord6 because he is their Creator (see Amos 4:13; 5:8–9; 9:6). In swift succession he addresses the following places for the following rebellions: Damascus (1:3–5; treating people as objects);7 Gaza (vv. 6–8; delivering exiles over to slavery); Tyre (vv. 9–10; selling allies into slavery);8 Edom (vv. 11–12; implacable wrath against others); Ammon (vv. 13–15; war atrocities—ripping open pregnant women); and Moab (2:1–3; pursuing revenge even after death). Each transgression receives a severe penalty.
Synthesis
This telling text does not present a “Ten Commandments for Noncovenant Peoples.” Nonetheless, it reflects what one would consider basic human decency. Yahweh rejects inhumanity to others, the breaking of one’s word to others, the abuse of helpless ones simply to extend a border, and the enslaving of others. In short, Yahweh judges these nations based on the very simple principle that they do things to others that they do not want done to them. One could argue that these people have broken a lower standard than loving one’s neighbor. It seems that they do not even keep from abusing their neighbor, which is several moral stages below Leviticus 19:18. These places cannot manage to check their wrath or to value life, the basic ideals stated in the covenant with Noah in Genesis 8:20–9:17. The creator of all the earth will bring them to account.
Repentance and the Nations: Jonah 3:1–4:2
Jonah has long provided fodder for all sorts of debates. It is not necessary to survey those battles here. What all readers should agree on is that Jonah represents an extraordinary mission9 on Yahweh’s part. Yahweh sends a prophet to Nineveh to proclaim judgment so that this Assyrian city will turn to him. Yahweh offers grace to these Assyrians on the same basis as he does to Israel in Exodus 34:6–7, Numbers 14:18–19, and Joel 2:12–17. Their repentance represents their acceptance of Yahweh’s rule over them.
Analysis
When Jonah at long last reaches Nineveh, he preaches that judgment will occur in forty days (3:4). It is possible that this verse summarizes a much more detailed message, for the people believe (v. 5) and the whole city fasts to show that they know that they have sinned and are subject to punishment (vv. 5–8). The king expresses what they all hope, which is that Yahweh will relent of the disaster that he had threatened (v. 9). Their hopes are realized, for Yahweh indeed “relents” (v. 10), or “takes comfort” that he does not need to judge.10 Yahweh shows the type of compassion and covenant-type love that he has shown Israel. His love does not apply only to the kingdom of priests.
Yahweh’s kindness angers Jonah. Though the text does not state a specific reason for this anger, Jonah may accuse Yahweh of clearing the guilty. In a statement that includes a quotation of Exodus 34:6–7, Jonah registers his anger at Yahweh’s character (4:2). Given Yahweh’s graciousness and willingness to forgive, he did not wish to preach, for he likely thinks that Nineveh deserves punishment.11 Though Jonah acts badly, Yahweh explains his desires to him. Yahweh has pity for Nineveh (vv. 10–11), just as he has pity for Israel. This pity begins with the announcement of sin, requires faith to accept, involves repentance for past sins, and reflects Yahweh’s character.
Synthesis
It is tempting to focus on God’s forgiveness in Jonah, since that is the book’s major message. Still, for the purposes of this essay, it is necessary to observe that this forgiveness is needed because of Nineveh’s admitted sin. Yahweh does not state Nineveh’s specific sins, but he does say that the people there do not know their left hand from their right, presumably in the area of morality (4:10–11). As time passed, Assyria became known for all sorts of specific sins that Isaiah, Nahum, Zephaniah, and others expose. Nineveh’s change of heart and action reflects their belief that they had transgressed as surely as the places in Amos 1:3–2:3 had.
Judgment and the Nations: Nahum 1:1–8
Yahweh’s unwillingness to let guilty parties go free is highlighted in Nahum 1:1–8 but is balanced by the other characteristics that Exodus 34:6–7 mentions. The first verse announces that Nineveh is the subject of the book. Readers are thus alerted to passages ranging from the grace shown Nineveh in Jonah to the threats of judgment in other books noted above. By the second verse, readers grasp that Yahweh has no more patience with Nineveh, the seat of the great oppressing nation of Assyria. Yahweh will hold the world’s most important capital accountable for its actions. This introductory section of Nahum has two parts, both of which carry the same fearsome message that sin in Nineveh has led to its downfall.
Analysis
In 1:1–5, the text includes various echoes of Exodus.12 The prophet states that Yahweh is “a jealous and avenging God” (v. 2a), a concept from Exodus 20:5–6. Ralph Smith notes that to many current readers, this phraseology implies that Yahweh engages in “private retaliation.”13 He counters this notion by writing that in the ancient context, these terms most often referred to a person or group defending one of its own.14 So Yahweh does not judge Nineveh to avenge some wrong done just to him, but wrongs done to Israel and the other nations in the Assyrian empire. Nahum continues, “Yahweh is avenging concerning his adversaries, but controls his anger15 toward his adversaries. Yahweh is slow to anger and great in power, but Yahweh will by no means clear the guilty” (vv. 2b–3a). The phrase “slow to anger” appears in Exodus 34:6, and the phrase “will by no means clear the guilty” occurs in 34:7. Having stated Yahweh’s kindness and justice, Nahum in 1:3b–5 proceeds to express God’s power over creation in ominous terms that prepare readers for judgment imagery.
In verses 6 to 8, the prophet asserts that Yahweh is good (v. 7). He is good to those who take refuge in him (v. 7b) but pursues his enemies as long as necessary (v. 8). Those in relationship with Yahweh enjoy his protection, but those who are not face a very negative future. Clearly, Nineveh’s deeds have placed it outside friendship with Yahweh. Trust in God is the key to this confession. Elizabeth Achtemeier writes, “In trouble and affliction and persecution, faith knows that God is good—that all his history with his people has been the working out of his goodness.”16 God’s enemies cannot confess and experience what faith alone proves true.
As the book proceeds, Nahum explains that Nineveh shows itself Yahweh’s enemy by plotting against him (v. 9). They plot against him by endlessly shedding blood (2:12; 3:1) and by breaking alliances (3:4). War, violence, oppression, and deceit had become normal for Nineveh. This significant city had come to embody all the sins of all the places that Amos 1:3–2:3 highlights. Though Yahweh is good, kind, compassionate, and slow to anger, he must judge lest the guilty escape.
Synthesis
Nahum asserts that Yahweh does not show favoritism when defining and punishing sin. He holds the greatest city of its day accountable, just as he does lesser cities like Gaza, Damascus, and Jerusalem (see Amos 1:3–2:16). Nineveh’s sins are like those that Isaiah accuses Jerusalem of in Isaiah 1:1–31. Nineveh and Jerusalem have engaged in violence, oppression, mistreatment of the poor, and greed. The creator of the world does not show favoritism. Nahum’s message is that sin will be punished wherever it is found. Yahweh does not mistreat Nineveh to Israel’s advantage, nor does he treat the kingdom of priests more harshly than others. Sin remains breaking God’s Word because one does not believe Yahweh’s words. What the king of Nineveh confessed in Jonah was long neglected or forgotten there by Nahum’s time.
Conclusion
The Former and Latter Prophets agree in their view of sin in human history. The Former Prophets assert that person after person and generation after generation of Israelites have broken the various commandments that the Law presents. Time and time again, the people in these narratives do not believe God’s word to them. They turn to other gods or to alternative ways of worshiping Yahweh. Sadly, 2 Kings 17:7–23 bears out the seriousness of the warnings in Leviticus 26:14–45 and Deuteronomy 28:15–68. Idolatry, violence, injustice, mistreatment of one another—especially the poor and defenseless—sexual immorality, and perverting God’s word all occur in these accounts. Not even those who walk closest to God live sinless lives.
The Latter Prophets present great messages about Judah’s and Israel’s sins. They interpret the Law for generations of hearers and readers in Israel. But they do not just address sin in Israel. They have a universal vision of sin that mirrors their universal vision of salvation (see Isa. 19:16–25). The ancient nations knew of Yahweh and Israel’s claims about him. With some notable exceptions, though, the peoples of the nations simply did not believe those claims. Frankly, they did not live up to the ethical standards that their own cultures devised either. They abused the trust of other nations. They committed acts of violence that they would decry or avenge if the same were done to them. No nation keeps its own standards, much less Yahweh’s. In short, the Former and Latter Prophets claim that there is no question that the nations, no less than Israel, stand as sinners in need of grace before Yahweh, the creator and redeemer of all persons.
The Writings: Sin’s Personal and Corporate Depths
The books in the Writings are much more diverse than those in the Law and the Prophets. They range in genre from proverbs to narratives. They range in time from Moses to the postexilic era. Subjects covered include everything from advice for the young to comfort for the old. Intertwined into all these creative theological works one finds sin in all its various shapes and types. Psalms contains many confessions and descriptions of sin. Job begins with a deadly array of crimes against Job. Proverbs states how wisdom includes knowing what sin is and does. Ruth is the most “sin free” of the books in the Writings, followed by Song of Solomon, the most guilt free of the group. Ecclesiastes breaks this pleasant interlude by demonstrating how many ways that an intelligent person can neglect God’s ways. Lamentations confesses the sins that brought Jerusalem to destruction, and Esther displays the many ways that exiles face the inhumanity of their captors. Daniel confesses the sins that he and his countrymen have committed that led to their exile, and Ezra and Nehemiah do the same. Though more positive than 1–2 Kings in many ways, 1–2 Chronicles provides a fitting end to the canon’s comprehensive treatment of sin by noting one last time how repeated rebellion against God led to Israel’s demise. To be sure, these books are not devoid of hope. They share the whole Bible’s belief in redemption. Yet taken together they unearth the depths of human failure.
Given this wealth of material, it is once again hard to choose the best way to proceed. Several angles of vision could provide an accurate portrayal of this section’s contribution to the biblical doctrine of sin. Yet perhaps confession, one of the segment’s most comprehensive and heartfelt genres, connects the most vital contributions that the books make. Broadly speaking, “confessions” of many varieties exist in the Writings. Psalms contains numerous examples of individual and corporate confessions of sin and of laments over how a person has suffered for the sins of others. Job conveys confessions of sin by Job, not just complaints against God. Proverbs has fewer examples, but 30:1–9 includes the confession of a person who has failed to be wise. Ecclesiastes is one long confession of failed attempts to find wisdom outside of God’s teachings. Lamentations presents five very connected laments that express sin, sorrow, and cries for deliverance. Ezra and Nehemiah include passages in which prayers concerning past and present sin and calls for help figure prominently. In many of these instances, the writer elaborates on sins committed, the motives and origins of those sins, and the consequences related to the sins depicted. As a way of collecting the Old Testament instruction on sin, this part of the chapter will focus on Psalm 51 and Nehemiah 9:1–38. The former is a detailed confession by an individual, and the latter is an extensive confession by the people of God. Both these texts utilize language found in Exodus 34:6–7, and both point to the need for redemption found throughout the Bible.
The Depths of Individual Sin: Psalm 51
Psalm 51 is probably the most outstanding example of confessed sin in the Psalter. Though any conclusion on its original usage is debatable, the constant first-person references indicate that it was penned as an individual prayer. Hermann Gunkel rightly labels Psalm 51 a “penitential psalm,”17 for it portrays the inner struggle of a worshiper of Yahweh to confess his sin and find his way back to God. This psalm includes rich metaphors related to the consequences of sin. The one praying mentions a broken spirit, crushed spiritual bones, and feeling the loss of God’s presence. He confesses that his sins began the moment that he was conceived, have their roots in his sin-diseased heart, and are manifested as rebellion against a righteous creator and redeemer. At key places in the passage, the one praying uses language found in Exodus 34:6–7 to describe what he has done and what he needs from God.
Analysis
The psalm’s superscription places it after David’s sin with Bathsheba and the resulting murder of her husband, Uriah (see 2 Sam. 11:1–27). It is impossible to know if this was the exact setting, but the passage’s sentiments fit that situation. It also fits other situations that involve multiple serious sins. The chapter has as many as six parts: a plea for mercy (Ps. 51:1–2); a confession of sin (vv. 3–6); a prayer for forgiveness (vv. 7–9); a request for inner renewal (vv. 10–12); a request for renewed joy and thanksgiving (vv. 13–17); and a prayer for Jerusalem (vv. 18–19). While the whole psalm matters for understanding sin and forgiveness, the first twelve verses contain the most relevant details about sin.
The psalmist lays the foundation for his prayer in verses 1 and 2. He addresses God, for “he realizes that he is wholly dependent on God in everything. This is why the forgiveness of sins is equivalent to the restoration of the broken relationship with God, which forms an essential part of his life.”18 He needs a restored relationship with God. In the initial verse he uses four terms related to God’s character found in Exodus 34:6–7. He asks Yahweh to “be gracious” according to his “covenant-type mercy,” and according to the multitude of his “compassion” to “blot out” his “rebellions” (or, “transgressions”). In the next verse he continues his elaboration of his sins, adding “my iniquity” (or, “the twisting of God’s Word”) and “my sin” (or, “missing of the goal that God set”) to “my transgressions” from the previous verse. Only God’s kind character can bail him out of the web of rebellion that he has woven. In short, he prays for himself in a similar manner that Moses prayed for the Israelites in Numbers 14:18–19. He admits that he has committed every category of negative behavior that Yahweh says he forgives in Exodus 34:6–7.
In Psalm 51:3–6, the writer makes his culpability for what he has done quite plain. As he does so, he continues to use the same three terms for sin and even adds a fourth, “doing wrong” (or, “evil”). He begins by stating in verse 3 that his sin is always before him; it “looms up as an accusing presence.”19 He portrays his failures as a dangerous creature ready to stalk, threaten, and kill him. In verse 4 he once again expresses his realization that his sin is first and foremost an act against Yahweh. He is not so presumptuous as to claim that his sin did not wrong other people. Rather, he states that his sin is ultimately against the one who makes and regulates the behavior of human beings. Next, in verse 5 he notes that his sin goes back to his conception, which may mean that he recognizes sin’s ongoing staining of human existence (original sin) or that he admits that he has sinned from the moment he existed, or both. Regardless, it is clear that he confesses that there is no time in his life that sin has not been part of what he did. As J. A. Motyer writes, “The purpose of the verse is to reveal that as far back as the personal entity, David, can be traced, he has been (lit.) ‘in iniquity’ (51:5a), ‘in sin’ (51:5b). Sin is undeniably a fact of life and experience, but it is also a fact of inheritance and of personality.”20 In verse 6 he recognizes that his sins begin in his “inward being,” in his “heart.” Thus, there is no part of him unaffected. Sin starts internally and works outward.
The psalmist reemphasizes sin’s origins in the heart in his prayers for forgiveness in verses 7–12. He asks Yahweh the creator to “create in me a clean heart” (v. 10). He reckons that without Yahweh’s presence to guide him, all is lost (v. 11). He knows that no joy or willingness to remain faithful can occur unless God re-creates him from the inside (v. 12). Greater loyalty and fidelity to God (“a right spirit”) must come as a gift from God (v. 12). As before, sin is internal before it is external. People sin by rebelling against God. The only remedy is God’s kind character showing itself through pardoning, purifying, and blotting out rebellion’s effects. All ability to minister to others (vv. 13–19) must flow from Yahweh’s cleansing and restoring work.
Synthesis
This passage shows the depths of sin in an individual’s life. Sin is not simply on the surface of personal events. Sin comes from the heart, from the inner recesses of people’s beings. This psalm agrees with earlier canonical texts. In particular it resonates with Jeremiah 17:5, 9–10: “Thus says the LORD, ‘Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the LORD.’ . . . The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? ‘I the LORD search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.’” It also affirms other passages in Psalms, such as 14:1–3 and 53:1–3, that claim that all people sin. If one looks for a human being whose heart has never strayed from God, one will look in vain.
In both texts, sin begins when one’s trust strays from Yahweh. It takes root in the heart. Since God alone knows and can heal the heart, it is to God that worshipers must go when they sin. Left unchecked, sin can lead to “bloodguiltiness” (51:14) and to a “desperately sick” soul, which is the worst disease that humans can contract. Renewed trust in God through his life-giving pardon is the healing that must occur. Both texts also imply that individual sins do not often remain private. They spill over into other peoples’ lives, and they cause great damage (v. 14). The sooner sin is recognized and dealt with, the better. A restored relationship with God is the gateway to loving one’s neighbor again.
The Ravages of Corporate Sin: Nehemiah 9:1–38
Nehemiah comes near the end of the Hebrew canon, and its setting reflects some of the latest days that the Old Testament recounts. In the mid-fifth century BC, Nehemiah led efforts to restore Jerusalem’s walls, population, priesthood, and corporate worship. In Nehemiah 8–9, the people gather to hear God’s Word, confess sin, and renew their covenant vows. Priests lead a communal prayer that summarizes the sins that they and their fathers committed. Their prayer provides a fitting summary of the Old Testament’s teachings on sin and its ravages on Israel.
Analysis
In 9:1–38, the people offer a corporate prayer that testifies to Yahweh’s greatness, their ancestors’ sins, and their own failings. This historical summary parallels 2 Kings 17, Psalm 78, Psalms 104–106, and Psalms 135–136. As for Yahweh, the people confess that he is the creator (Neh. 9:6), the one who made a covenant with Abraham (vv. 7–8), the one who delivered Israel from Egypt (vv. 9–11), the one who helped them survive in the desert (vv. 12–21), and the one who gave them the Promised Land.21 He gave them “right rules and true laws, good statutes and commandments” (v. 13). He can also help them face depressing life with restored hope in postexilic Jerusalem (vv. 32–37). The key to their future is covenant renewal now (v. 38).
As for their fathers’ and their own deeds, their fathers “acted presumptuously and stiffened their necks” in that they disobeyed God’s commands (v. 16). They rebelled against God and Moses. Citing Exodus 34:6–7, the people confess that if Yahweh were not “a God ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love” and unwilling to forsake them, they would have been lost (Neh. 9:17; see Ex. 34:6–7; Num. 14:18–19). They later add that if he were not “gracious and merciful” (Neh. 9:31), another echo of Exodus 34:6–7, he would have destroyed them. Once in the land, their ancestors rebelled. They rejected God’s laws and killed God’s prophets (Neh. 9:26). The current generation has likewise “acted wickedly” (v. 33), yet another way of describing sinful behavior. The people of Ezra and Nehemiah’s days know that they suffer the punishments for what they have done (v. 37). They are not simply suffering for their ancestors’ sins; they have contributed to their own dire situation.
Synthesis
Because it is a summary passage, Nehemiah 9:1–38 continues to stress many previous truths about sin. I will not recount all of those again now. But it is important to note at least one particular contribution that this passage makes. Nehemiah 9:1–38 and passages like Lamentations 5 indicate that Old Testament writers do not share contemporary Western views of time and responsibility that consider the past irrelevant to sin and its sorrows. Nehemiah argues that the sins committed long ago continue to plague his generation. Actions taken decades ago affect persons unborn for good or ill. People long dead influence people alive now. Sinning can become a way of life in a nation’s history. People’s sins can pervade the culture, making disobedience to God’s Word a more natural course of action than it would have been under different conditions. Then people’s sins become more obvious, more callous and brazen. People kill God’s messengers, they mistreat one another, and they turn to false gods. Individual sins continue to matter in such settings, but corporate sins do as well. Both must be taken extremely seriously to avoid a lack of accountability in either area.
Furthermore, wise people take stock of the history of sin. They examine how long-term local and national practices have contributed to sinful behavior. They note the people who still provide a negative influence as well as look for positive examples of how to serve God. They observe how what once looked innocuous in the general scheme of things becomes something terrible over time. Israel’s history of sin did not unfold in a day, or even in a decade. Their sins slowly became the source of the people’s worst disasters. By Nehemiah’s time, postexilic Israel could see all this. Their confession reflects careful thinking and hard-earned wisdom.
Conclusion
A. N. Wilson reports that C. S. Lewis claimed that writing The Screwtape Letters was tiring, “entailing as it did the ceaseless identification of himself with the malign and diabolic point of view.”22 Wilson proceeds to praise Lewis for expressing the demon’s perspective “without succumbing to his terrible outlook.”23 Writing and reading about sin can be similarly tiring, for it forces readers and writers to face squarely our common human spiritual disease (see Jer. 17:9). It requires us to succumb to God’s outlook on our serial faithlessness to him and its effects on us, on others, and on the world around us. Frankly, it is easier to look away from sin’s wreckage to more positive topics, preferably to God’s redemptive work in Christ. But taking God’s perspective on sin requires perseverance. It is in that spirit that this section offers five summative statements about sin in the Old Testament.
First, sin is perversion. It is not part of God’s good creation described in Genesis 1–2. It distorts the people whom God made and thus the world over which they exercise stewardship (1:26–28). Sin harms people’s relationship with God, with one another, and with their environment (3:16–19). There is nothing fortunate about humanity’s fall from sinless to sinful.
Second, sin is active. That is, people sin by thinking, planning, and doing the things that God has prohibited and by not doing the good things that God commands. Sin amounts to twisting the truth, rebelling against God, and purposefully missing God’s goals (Ex. 34:6–7). It rejects God’s grace, mercy, longsuffering, and justice (Ex. 34:6–7).24 Thus, as Joyce Baldwin writes, “In the Old Testament the wrath of God is directed towards people, not to sin in the abstract, if there could be such a thing.”25 People sin deliberately. They are responsible for their actions. God’s punishment of sin always has redemption in mind, for it seeks to effect repentance. As Baldwin adds, Yahweh always saw “reason for hope in the present and future.”26
Third, sin is relational. When one sins, it is because that person, due to a lack of trust in God, rejects love of God and/or love of neighbor as defined in the Bible. It is a violation of a covenant, comparable to adultery in marriage. Sins committed by people harm people; sins committed by nations harm other nations. Broken relationships lead to and are caused by idolatry, lies, adultery, and coveting.
Fourth, sin is pervasive. Sin scars every person and portion of life. The amount of instruction in the Bible is amazing. This breadth reflects God’s grace in showing people who sin how to live in a world that they and their ancestors have harmed. Yet the scope of God’s teaching indicates the multitude of ways one may sin. Because sin begins in the human heart and mind, the types and effects of sin are as varied and creative as the human mind can conceive, and they are as dangerous as human opportunity allows. Twisting, rebelling, and missing God’s standards pertain to any and every human activity and are practiced at some level by every human being. These actions are so prevalent that they become a way of life, a sphere in which one walks (see Romans 7).
Fifth, sin is deadly. It harms what it touches, and it can kill wherever it goes. Left without remedy, it brings physical and eternal punishment. As Nahum 1:1–8 indicates, Yahweh is good and gracious to those who trust in him. But he pursues his enemies until they are subdued in darkness (see Isa. 66:18–24).
Because these principles are so sobering, they magnify God’s redemptive work in Jesus Christ. Christians cannot really fathom all that it means to have forgiveness through the saving blood of Jesus. There is no way to fully comprehend how much each person sins and how those sins harm life. So there is no way to thank God fully for what he has provided. Once again, only by faith can one respond to God’s promises, covenants, and teaching. Sheer divine grace alone prevails against sin.
1 Joshua; Judges; 1–2 Samuel; and 1–2 Kings.
2 Isaiah; Jeremiah; Ezekiel; and the Twelve (Minor Prophets).
3 For a good discussion of how the threat of sin is a part of Joshua, see Mark Boda, A Severe Mercy: Sin and Its Remedy in the Old Testament (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2009), 126–37.
4 The text uses a form of 
.
5 On the “day of Yahweh,” see Paul R. House, “The Day of the Lord,” in Central Themes in Biblical Theology: Mapping Unity in Diversity, ed. Scott J. Hafemann and Paul R. House (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2007), 179–224; and Paul R. House, “The Day of Yahweh as a Unifying Concept in Isaiah 1–12,” Trinity Journal for Theology and Ministry 3/1 (Spring 2009): 89–110.
6 Erling Hammerschaimb, The Book of Amos: A Commentary, trans. John Sturdy (Oxford, UK: Basil Blackwell, 1970), 22.
7 J. A. Motyer, The Day of the Lion: The Message of Amos, The Bible Speaks Today (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1974), 39–40. In other words, Damascus threshes Gilead as if the people there were wheat. This metaphor most likely reflects war atrocities.
8 Peter C. Craigie, Twelve Prophets, vol. 1, Daily Study Bible (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1984), 131.
9 For a comprehensive discussion of how the Bible portrays God’s redemptive mission in the world, see Christopher J. H. Wright, The Mission of God: Unlocking the Bible’s Grand Narrative (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2006).
10 For an explanation of this reading of 3:10, see Paul R. House, “God’s Character and the Wholeness of Scripture,” SBET 23 (Spring 2005): 9–11.
11 See Joyce Baldwin, “Jonah,” in The Minor Prophets, an Exegetical and Expository Commentary, vol. 2, ed. Thomas E. McComiskey (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1993), 584.
12 Donald E. Gowan, Theology of the Prophetic Books: The Death and Resurrection of Israel (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 1998), 90.
13 Ralph Smith, Micah–Malachi, WBC 32 (Waco, TX: Word, 1984), 73.
14 Ibid.
15 For this translation, see Ludwig Koehler and Walter Baumgartner, The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, vol. 1, rev. ed. (Leiden, UK: Brill, 2001), 695.
16 Elizabeth Achtemeier, Nahum–Malachi, Interpretation (Atlanta: John Knox, 1986), 9.
17 Hermann Gunkel, What Remains of the Old Testament and Other Essays, trans. A. K. Dallas (New York: Macmillan, 1928), 106.
18 Artur Weiser, The Psalms, OTL, trans. Herbert Hartwell (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1962), 402.
19 Derek Kidner, Psalms 1–72, TOTC (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1978), 190.
20 J. A. Motyer, Look to the Rock: An Old Testament Background to Our Understanding of Christ (Leicester, UK: Inter-Varsity, 1996), 133.
21 This outline is suggested in M. A. Throntveit, Ezra–Nehemiah, Interpretation (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 1992), 103.
22 A. N. Wilson, C. S. Lewis: A Biography (London: HarperCollins: 1991), 178.
23 Ibid.; emphasis added.
24 John Goldingay, Old Testament Theology, vol. 2: Israel’s Faith (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2006), 254–55.
25 Joyce Baldwin, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi, TOTC (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1972), 90.
26 Ibid.