Systematic Theology - Sin

Sin and Passover

Professor: Dr. R.J. Rushdoony

Subject: Systematic Theology

Lesson: Government

Genre: Speech

Track: 14

Dictation Name: 14 – Sin and Passover

Year: 1980

In this, our second session, our subject is “Sin and Passover” and our scripture is from Isaiah 7:10-14. Our concern in these verses is not with the Messianic prophecy, important though it is, but with Ahaz and his sin.

Isaiah 7:10-14:

“10Moreover the Lord spake again unto Ahaz, saying,

11 Ask thee a sign of the Lord thy God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above.

12 But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the Lord.

13 And he said, Hear ye now, O house of David; Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary my God also?

14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”

The Old Testament, the Hebrew of the Old Testament, has about twenty words for sin. The most common perhaps of these words is one very much like the common New Testament word for sin which means missing the mark. However, other words in the Hebrew signify bent or crooked, evil, iniquity, transgression, rebellion, wickedness, breach of trust, vanity and so on.

Now there is a very interesting fact about the reference by the rabbis of ancient times to sin. When God forgives sin, He covers or hides sin. He passes over sin. And of course, the great and central fact of the Old Testament, setting forth God’s salvation is the Passover. Now, the rabbis had a word for sin closely related to this very fact. They spoke of sin as a passing over, using another word than the word used for Passover. Why? Because they saw in man’s sin a passing over the Word of God, a rejection of God’s Will. And therefore, they said here we have another kind of passover. God passes over sin and man in his sin, passes over God and His Word.

I think we have an excellent illustration of that in our text. To understand the meaning of this text, first we need to realize Ahaz’s predicament. Ahaz was king of Judah, the southern kingdom. The northern kingdom, Israel, led by Syria, was planning to form an alliance of small states against Assyria. They wanted Judah to join in that alliance, but Ahaz, king of Judah had other plans. He was trying to form an alliance with Assyria so that when this tremendous power moved into the area, it would destroy Syria and Israel, but protect Judah. And they hoped thereby to emerge as the only power in that area, protected by Assyria. As a result, Ahaz was doing everything to buy the favor of Assyria. In fact, he beggared Judah because of his attempts to meet the exorbitant demands for levies by Assyria.

On the other hand, the plan of Syria and Israel was also a foolish plan, so that both Syria and Israel to the North and Judah to the South were thinking very foolishly. At this point in time, Syria and Israel were planning to move southward besiege Jerusalem, destroy Ahaz and set up a puppet king who would put Judah on their side. In the first six verses of this chapter, Isaiah speaks of this fact. It is interesting that the puppet king is so insignificant that he is not even named; he is simply referred to as the son of Tabeal. We never hear his name. He’s not important. He’s a non-entity.

Now in this picture, we have three counsels. First, the counsel of Syria; second we have the counsel of Ahaz, in league with Assyria. Third, we have the counsel of God. And God through Isaiah says all the plans of Ahaz and of Syria and of Israel will come to naught, that if Ahaz puts his trust in the Lord, he shall have cause to rejoice and to triumph. When we read in the seventh verse what Isaiah has to say, it is interesting that Isaiah’s name at this point is not mentioned. Moreover, the Lord spake again unto Ahaz saying, ask thee a sign of the Lord, thy God. Ask it either in the depth or in the height above. This is significant. Normally when the prophet speaks, it’s thus saith the Lord. But at this point, the Word of God is so overpowering as it speaks to Ahaz that Isaiah is virtually blotted out. The Lord spake again to Ahaz, ask a sign.

Now early in the last century, J.A. Alexander in commenting on this verse says, “A sign is not necessarily a miracle, not necessarily a prophecy, but a sensible pledge of the truth of something else, whether present, past or future, sometimes consisting in a miracle, but sometimes in a mere prediction and sometimes only in a symbol, especially a symbolic name or action. He is allowed to choose not only the place of its exhibition but the sign itself. The offer is a general one including all the kinds of signs which have been mentioned.” In other words, God says to Ahaz, ask a sign, but Ahaz refuses to ask. And he quotes scripture to justify his refusal.

And E.J. Young, in his commentary on Isaiah write, “That Ahaz will not ask. He has no intention of obeying. He turns from God, but he turns, knowing precisely what God’s Will is and what God requires of him. He is commanded to believe. The gospel is preached to him, but he refuses to believe this to be attributed to the fact that he hates the Lord and leans on his own understanding.” With a show of humility and a pretended piety, Ahaz passes over the counsel of God. He rejects the counsel of Syria. He rejects the counsel of the Lord for his own counsel. And he quotes scripture, Deuteronomy 6:16, ye shall not tempt the Lord your God as ye tempted Him in Massa. (There is an irony here. Our Lord used those very same words in answering Satan. Here, Ahaz acts as though God were Satan, tempting him to go against the Word of God.)

Ahaz’s sin was to pass over the counsel of God, and this was Adam’s sin. God gave His counsel. God gave His Creation Mandate. God told Adam what was required of him. But from Adam to the present, sin is the counsel of man. Man passing over God’s Word and counsel in favor of his own.

Now sometimes, man’s counsel can resemble the godly way of life. Some of the things said and written after the Lee Marvin Case (you remember that, when Lee Marvin’s live-in girlfriend sued him) were very interesting. There were people who said and wrote that there wasn’t much choice for a man these days but to be faithful to his wife. It was very expensive and dangerous to have a live-in or to have a mistress or to have an affair because with women’s lib, any strain could cost a man a great deal. And so you had some saying they were going to have to re-assess their priorities, and in effect they said they were going to be outwardly moral. Superficially, we have a resemblance to biblical morality here. Actually, it is the counsel of man.

Sin is always man’s attempt to pass over God’s Will. God’s forgiveness of sins is also a pass over, but God and Christ effected our atonement and He regenerated us, but there is nothing like this in man’s passover; only death. Humanism wants a pass over of sins. All you have to do is to look at the humanistic proverbs, “forgive and forget,” (pass over sin). “I’m okay, you’re okay” (pass over sin).

And of course, the classic example of this in all of history is Julius Caesar. Some time back, I referred in passing to Julius Caesar and his ‘plan of salvation.’ Rome had been in a long civil war, intermittently for a few centuries. And now came Julius Caesar with a plan of salvation in one word: clementia (mercy, forgiveness), and as he proceeded to conquer Rome whenever anybody came to him with proof of the corruption of some government official or some enemy, he ordered the proof burned and destroyed. He reinstated these same men in office, and he said the past is wiped out. We’re going to pass over all these past sins and offenses. We’re going to make a new beginning now in the history of Rome. But Julius Caesar’s passing over of men’s sins did not change any man including himself. Julius Caesar was a depraved man and continued a depraved man. The men whom he forgave like Brutus and Cassius were not changed by that forgiveness. There was no redemption in it and they killed him in self-righteous anger at his sins, unmindful of their own.

The world continually seeks a false pass over for sin. But we can say joyfully, Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us. We are barred thereby from passing over God’s Law Word, God’s counsel, neglecting His person and living for ourselves. It is our life in Christ to seek first His kingdom and His righteousness. This for us is to live in Christ.

Are there any questions now?

No questions? Well, let us conclude then in prayer.

Almighty God, our Heavenly Father, we thank Thee that Jesus Christ is our Passover, that in Him there is atonement for our sins and that by Thy regenerating power, we have been made a new creation. Give us faith, grace, and a spirit of obedience that we may never pass over Thy Word, Thy requirements for us, that we might with joy, thanksgiving and thankfulness, serve and magnify Thee with all our heart, mind and being. We thank Thee for our fellowship one with another. Give traveling mercies unto all, a blessed night’s rest and prosper us all in Thy service. In Jesus’ name, amen.