Tuesday | 22 October 2024
Commentary, or self-reflection, belongs to penance, which a person who is motivated by the fear of death employs to reinforce their religious self-image. It is idolatry. A messenger who receives and supports such a response is exposed to the same judgement as the sinner. Warning against this mode of counsel, the Lord said, ‘And if the prophet is induced to speak anything, I the Lord have induced that prophet, and I will stretch out My hand against him and destroy him from among My people Israel. And they shall bear their iniquity; the punishment of the prophet shall be the same as the punishment of the one who inquired.’ Eze 14:9-10.
The confession of a person who is sorrowing in a godly manner is an expression of faith that is received through illumination as they walk in the light of God’s word. Their confession, which is the communication of faith, will continue to progress in detail and in their understanding of the impact of their sin on others. This happens as they receive further illumination in the process of mourning. Highlighting this principle, the prophet Zechariah declared, ‘And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.’ Zec 12:10-11.
We see in this statement a progression from one’s acknowledgement of their sin against the Lord, to mourning for their sin against the little ones who belong to ‘the church of the firstborn’. Heb 12:22-23. In this regard, we note that ‘the firstborn’ is not only Christ, the Person; it refers also to the corporate body of Christ, the church. A repentant person will mourn for the impact of their sin upon their brethren as they continue to mourn for its wounding effect upon Christ.
Further Study:
ZECHARIAH 12
References:
Eze 14:9-10
And if the prophet is induced to speak anything, I the LORD have induced that prophet, and I will stretch out My hand against him and destroy him from among My people Israel. And they shall bear their iniquity; the punishment of the prophet shall be the same as the punishment of the one who inquired.
Zec 12:10-11
And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn. In that day there shall be a great mourning in Jerusalem, like the mourning at Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo.
Heb 12:22-23
But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect.