What's My Sin?

Day 36:  Genesis/Psalm 36, Judges 12

Today I want to pull a little bit from the reading of Psalm and Judges because I think there is a connection here that is worth noting.

In Judges Jephthah who is the current judge of Israel has crossed the Jordan river and fought against his enemy, the Ammonites.  Apparently Jephthah had requested help from the tribe of Ephraim, their brothers, but they refused to help, or didn't come to their aid fast enough, so Jephthah and the men of Gilead went out to fight Ammon on their own.  When they had successfully routed Ammon the men of Ephraim came to Jephthah and were angry that they did not get to share in the victory of the Ammonites.  Jephthah explains that they did not come soon enough.  In the end the men of Gilead went to war with their brothers from Ephraim.

Have you even been in a situation when you were upset because of how you perceived a situation and so you went on the offensive against someone you "thought" was your enemy?  Perhaps you even found out that it wasn't personal toward you but you were already angry and so you just couldn't let it go.  How did that turn out?  Did you end up fighting with someone for what turned out to be a ridiculous reason?

Anger clouds the mind.  It is impossible to think clearly and rationally when you're angry.  So you often end up doing things that should never have been done.  In fact, for me, I usually discover in the end that what I thought was the issue or the problem was not accurate at all and I end up going to war with someone or with some issue or challenge or problem and never needed to!

David says this in the first two verses of Psalm 36, "Transgression speaks to the ungodly within his heart; There is no fear of God before his eyes.  For it flatters him in his own eyes concerning the discovery of his iniquity and the hatred of it."

There were three types of sin in the Old Testament language:
1.  Sins - these were unintentional sins where a person just "missed the mark" they were aiming for.
2.  Transgressions - this was willful disobedience that was intentional sin.
3.  Iniquities - premeditated with out repentance so they were continuing in the iniquity.

David is saying that the willful choice to sin speaks to the heart of the ungodly where they "plan" out sin without considering the consequence or having any fear of God.  This sin speaks to him and flatters him so that the discovery of the act as sin and the hatred of it is covered up.

To be fair David is speaking to the ungodly, remember that.  However, sin is no less flattering to you and I when we engage in it.  Often, when we get angry about something sin creeps in and flatters us into thinking we are 100% right and the other person is 100% wrong.  The reality is that most of the time it is a 50/50 split.  Because we are not perfect in our behaviors and thoughts we can never fully blame the other person.  We might say it was all their fault but our own behaviors and thought patters fed into the situation.  Sin blinds us to our own failures while magnifying the failures of others.

That was most likely the situation with Jephthah and the Ephraimites.  Each was probably guilty of sin but instead of recognizing their own sins and seeking repentance and reconciliation they pushed ahead assuming each was faultless and the sin was all the others.

In the end, what could have been resolved peacefully is escalated to all out war.  Each side regretting the actions done in haste and anger.  At that point forgiveness and reconciliation is hard to come by.

So, if you are currently in a situation where you are blaming someone else for some perceived or actual sin against you ask yourself this question, "what is my sin?"  Ask God to reveal to you what your part in the situation was and how you can repent and reconcile for that.  And if you're thinking, "I didn't do anything wrong!"  Remember what the Bible says, "if you claim to be without sin the truth is not in you" (1 John 1:8) and that is sin.