Yahweh: The God Who Bears the Sins of His People

                             
                                                    Yahweh: The God Who Bears the Sins of His People



                                                                                                              

                                                                                                                    By Matt Hedges              




Islam is very emphatic in rejecting the Christian concept of atonement. Many Muslim apologists will appeal to certain passages in the Hebrew Bible (aka the Old Testament) in order to support their views. However, as we will demonstrate in this article, the Old Testament repeatedly declares that Yahweh can and has bore the sins of others.


Exodus 34:6-7

"The Lord passed before him and proclaimed  'The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin (נֹשֵׂ֥א עָוֺ֛ן וָפֶ֖שַׁע וְחַטָּאָ֑ה), but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children, to the third and the fourth generation.' "

One may wonder: How does this prove that Yahweh bears others' sins when it simply says he forgives sins. The answer is found in the Hebrew text, which I provided a portion of it above. The word for "forgive" in this verse is the Hebrew verb נָשָׂא . It should be translated as "bear" rather than "forgive" in this verse. We know this because when this word appears in the Old Testament, it is most often translated as "bear" or "lift" or something with a similar meaning:

" Cain said to the Lord, 'My punishment is more than I can bear (נָשָׂא).' (Genesis 4:13)

"For forty days the flood kept coming on the earth, and as the waters increased they lifted (נָשָׂא) the ark high above the earth." (Genesis 7:17)

"After Ehud had presented the tribute, he sent on their way those who had carried (נָשָׂא) it." (Judges 3:18)

"Whenever the king went to the Lord’s temple, the guards bore (נָשָׂא)the shields, and afterward they returned them to the guardroom." (1 Kings 14:28)

Many Jewish commentators have taken note of the things that have been presented above. Here is Rabbi Yaakov Tzevi's commentary:

"Iniquity (avon) refers to intentional sin; transgression (pesha) to acts of rebellion and sin (cheit) to inadvertent infractions. The vav between “transgression” and “sin” does not mean “and” but “like.” Thus the sense of the verse is, “Bear iniquity and transgression as if they were only inadvertent sins” (Rabbi Yaakov Tzevi, Haketav Vehakabbalah)

Note how this verb is used in Leviticus 18:22, in its connection with Yom Kipporim (the Day of Atonement):

"The goat will carry (נָשָׂא) on itself all their sins to a remote place; and the man shall release it in the wilderness."

    

 This goes to show that the passage is talking about actual sin. This makes it so Muslims will not able to tap dance (or do mental gymnastics) and ignore this verse. Exodus speaks with clarity hear when we study it carefully. 

Psalm 32:5

"I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” and you forgave (נָשָׂא) the iniquity of my sin."

The same issue with Exodus 34 is here as well. נָשָׂא is more properly translated as "bear", rather than "forgive" (although either translation is still adequate). 

Matthew W. Barrett, in his collected work The Doctrine on Which the Church Stands or Falls: Justification in Biblical, Theological, Historical, and Pastoral Perspective, has an entire section on the meaning of Psalm 32 and its relation to justification. He touches briefly on verse 5 and notes the following:

"The first expression for forgiveness, at the opening of this psalm [32], is a regular one in the Hebrew Bible and one that occurs in very significant contexts. In particular, the usage of the phrase "to bear sin" (נָשָׂ֔א חֵטְא) in Isaiah 53:12 must be taken into consideration, along with the parallel expression "to carry iniquity" (סְבַל עָוֹן) in 53:11." (Matthew W. Barrett, The Doctrine on Which the Church Stands or Falls, pg. 79)

We have seen clearly that this word נָשָׂא must be seen in light of its use in Isaiah 53. 

We can conclude with rational justification that Muslim polemicists are in error to assume that the Old Testament restricts God bearing the sins of others, in their attempt to refute the Christian idea of atonement.