Happy New Year 5764!
You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea. -Micah 7:19
A Bible Study by Jack Kelley
Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy. You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea. You will be true to Jacob, and show mercy to Abraham, as you pledged on oath to our fathers in days long ago. (Micah 7:18-20)
According to tradition the Jewish calendar tracks the number of years since Adam was created, and this weekend (9-26-03) the year 5764 began. But some believe that in ancient times God didn’t note the passing of time when His people were either out of their land or under the rule of a foreign oppressor. Depending on how you count them, there are 200 – 225 such years between the time the Israelites subdued the land under Joshua and the Romans put an end to the ancient nation.
If proponents of this view are correct, then the actual number of years since Adam is more in the 5964 – 5989 range. This fits nicely with the parallel view that the Age of Man will have a 6000-year duration (six being the number of man) and places the 2nd Coming 11 to 36 years away. Of course it might be just another of man’s admirable but misguided attempts to hasten the Lord’s return: time will tell. (In another article, The Terminal Generation, I’ve guesstimated that the 2nd coming will happen somewhere in the first quarter of this century, based on my understanding of Matthew 24:34, so I guess I’m as bad as the rest of them.)
Irrespective of these speculations Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year Festival that took place this weekend, presents a wonderful opportunity to see once again the consistency of Scripture in revealing God’s plan for man. On Friday afternoon, the first day of Rosh Hashanah, observant Jews performed a ceremony called Tashlich, from the root word meaning “to cast away.” Every year on this day they go to a flowing body of water, preferably one in which fish dwell, and empty their pockets of breadcrumbs or lint they’ve accumulated there. By tossing the crumbs into the water they symbolically “throw away” their sins. It’s based on Micah 7:19, “… and You will hurl (”ve-tashlich”) all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.” This ceremony begins the 10 Days of Awe culminating in Yom Kippur, their annual Day of Atonement. During these 10 days they attempt to right all the wrongs they’ve committed in the past year to make themselves right before God.
As Christians we can make much of the Tashlich ceremony; the breadcrumbs containing yeast symbolic of sin, the refuse we accumulate in our pockets standing for the sins we pick up without thinking in the course of our lives, and the fish who eats the crumbs representing our Lord Who took our sins away.
But to me the most illumination comes from reading the passage on which the tradition is based. “Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy. You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea. You will be true to Jacob, and show mercy to Abraham, as you pledged on oath to our fathers in days long ago.” (Micah 7:18-20).
This is the most eloquent definition of Grace to be found anywhere in the Old Testament, and along with scores of others written therein portrays our Creator as a compassionate, forgiving, merciful God. What is this God of the Old Testament versus God of the New? Our Lord is the same yesterday today and forever. (Hebr. 13:8) The difference between the Old and the New is that in the New Testament the sin problem was addressed, and as Micah clearly states, once that happens it’s a whole new ball game. Just as the fish takes away the crumbs cast upon the water, so our Lord takes away the sins cast upon Him. Then He delights to show mercy.
The benefit we have as New Testament believers is that we don’t have to wait up to a year to do this. Anywhere at anytime “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9) It’s our Tashlich. Happy New Year.
