The beauty and mystery of the Word of God never cease to amaze me. A verse in the New Testament that I have struggled to understand for many years states the following:
If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask and God will for him give life to those who commit sin not leading to death. There is a sin leading to death; I do not say that he should make request for this. – 1 John 5:16
This verse does not go into specifics in identifying which sins lead to death and which do not. How are we to know if someone has committed a sin unto death or not? What is this sin leading to death?
Like many spiritual concepts found in the Bible, we need to seek out the fuller understanding. Religion tries to put God in a box with black and white rules and some commandments are black and white, however, there are many principles in Scripture that we need to work through. This is one of those principles.
What is this “sin leading to death?”
I believe this week’s Torah Portion can help shed light on understanding this concept of a sin leading to death. The Law, which God originally gave to the nation of Israel with all of its statutes and ordinances, was to provide a holy standard to govern the individual and communal life of the Israelites after they came out of Egypt. God provided extremely detailed laws to explain how to handle any and every situation, including transgressions of the Law. In some instances restitution was made, in other circumstances sacrifices were to be offered, and in some situations the penalty for sin was death. There is a very clear example of a sin leading to death in this week’s Torah Portion.
A Sin Unto Death
This particular law describes a child who is defiant against his parents and the law states that this child could be punished by death. It is not that this child was disobedient once or twice but the texts states that even after his parents chastised him, he continued to be defiant and would not listen. His lifestyle was characterized by rebellion, gluttony, and drunkenness as the Scriptures detail in the following verses:
If any person has a stubborn and rebellious son who does not obey his father or his mother, and when they discipline him, he does not listen to them, then his father and mother shall seize him, and bring him out to the elders of his city at the gateway of his hometown. And they shall say to the elders of his city, ‘This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious; he does not obey us, he is thoughtless and given to drinking.’ Then all the men of his city shall stone him to death; so you shall eliminate the evil from your midst, and all Israel will hear about it and fear. – Deut. 21:18-21
The intention of this law was to remove the evil from the community and to let others hear of it and not imitate this rebellion. This is an example of a sin unto death, meaning a sin which had no other means of restitution, and there are many other laws mentioned in the Torah that would also fit into this same category.
This practice would be considered barbaric today and seems to resemble the atrocities that have been carried out by ISIS in Iraq and Syria. The major difference, however, is that ISIS used capital punishment to inflict death upon anyone who does not convert to their form of Islam or is viewed as an enemy of ISIS, whereas the Law in the Bible was instituted to judge evil according to God’s holy standard.
All Sin Brings Death
Taking the Bible in context and most importantly, understanding the Bible from the perspective of the New Testament and the teaching of Yeshua, I believe we have very clear instructions regarding this issue of sins that are worthy of death. First of all, I think it is important to understand that all sin brings death, as the Scriptures declare to us:
For the wages of sin is death, but the gracious gift of God is eternal life in Messiah Yeshua our Lord. – Romans 6:23
This is a biblical principle from the Garden of Eden until the end of time. Sin brings death. The consequences of sin, however, are judged by God in direct relation to our attitude and actions in responding to our sin. Repentance and faith are the keys to life as we read here in the book of Acts:
Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what are we to do?” Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Yeshua Messiah for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far away, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.” – Acts 2:37-39
This is not a Jew or Gentile issue but a human issue. We all must acknowledge and repent of sin, the evil that each one of us have done, and believe in the sacrifice of Yeshua for the forgiveness of sin.
The New Testament Perspective
Regarding “sins unto death” in New Testament terms, I believe this includes anyone who sins and continues in their rebellious ways, refusing to repent. Yeshua gave clear instructions regarding the person who is in the believing community and sins:
Now if your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that on the testimony of two or three witnesses every matter may be confirmed. And if he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the community, he is to be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven. – Matthew 18:15-18
The person who sins is to be confronted in a one on one manner with reproof by another believer who is aware of this sin. If the one who sins does not listen, then a witness (a second person) is to be brought along in another attempt to bring reproof and repentance. And finally, if the person continues in their sin and is unwilling to repent then the person who sins is to be brought before the community. If a person is still unwilling to repent, after this third stage of reproof, then they are to be excommunicated from the community.
In brief, I believe a “sin unto death” is any sin a person commits and refuses to repent of. This is specifically referring to a sin within a specific community. We as believers in God and in His Messiah, Yeshua, should not pray for those who call themselves believers, walk in open sin, and refuse to repent. This is never to be an individual decision but rather a community decision as outlined by Yeshua in Matthew 18.
Yeshua Himself illustrated this principle of when to pray and not pray for others in his relationships with Judas and Peter (Simon). Yeshua did not pray for Judas, as far as we know, when Judas betrayed Him. Judas continued in his sin which eventually led to his death. On the other hand, Yeshua prayed for Peter when he knew that he would sin:
Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded to sift you men like wheat; but I have prayed for you, that your faith will not fail; and you, when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers. – Luke 22:31-32
Peter later repented and turned back to follow Yeshua.
The central teaching of 1 John 5:13-17 is that we are to pray for one another. We have authority in our prayers and we are to be involved in each other’s lives in a good and godly way. We are to pray for healing when needed and lift one another up. We also need to have discernment and realize that there are certain situations that we should not pray for in regards to others, in particular, sins leading to death.
The Death Penalty
The irony in this week’s Torah Portion is that in the continuation of the reading after this example of a rebellious son who commits a sin unto death there is mention of the one who commits a sin unto death and is hung on a tree:
Now if a person has committed a sin carrying a sentence of death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, his body is not to be left overnight on the tree, but you shall certainly bury him on the same day (for he who is hanged is cursed of God), so that you do not defile your land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance. – Deut. 21:22-23
This one who is hung on a tree is considered cursed by God and must be buried that same day that he dies on the tree.
Yeshua who came to fulfill the Law and never sinned Himself, became sin for us and was punished as one who committed a sin unto death by dying on a cross (a tree) and becoming a curse for us (Gal. 3:13). This is the “Scandal of Grace” that we are privileged to be part of today. I recommend listening to a song by this same name, Scandal of Grace!
Scandal of Grace
The correlating Scripture in the prophets for this week’s Torah Portion is found in Isaiah 54. Last week it was found in Isaiah 51 & 52. Naturally this week should have corresponded to Isaiah 53, but the Rabbis have decided to skip Isaiah 53 in connection to this week’s Torah Portion. This is a scandal of a different sort as Isaiah 53 so clearly speaks of one who would be forsaken for us all: “But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him” (Isaiah 53:6b).
In some ways we have all committed a sin unto death but God has shown us grace and forgiveness in the sacrifice of His Son. Let us walk in holy fear and in a spirit of thankfulness to the One who has sacrificed His life for ours. It truly is a Scandal of Grace!
Shabbat Shalom!
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*All Scripture take from NASB Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
**The Hebrew name “Yeshua” is used in the biblical quotations in place of the English name “Jesus” to give emphasis to the meaning of this name, salvation. The word “Messiah” is also used in place of the word “Christ” to bring clarity to the office of Yeshua.
Thanks Jody. I appreciate your taking the time to read my posts and feel honoured to be a Prov. 27 friend 🙂 May we continue to sharpen one another for good.
Your writings often inspire me go deeper and consider something new from God’s word. This is one of those writings I must chew on. You really are my Proverbs 27:17 friend.