Numbers 5:6-7

⁵ Adonai said to Moshe, ⁶ “Tell the people of Isra’el, ‘When a man or woman commits any kind of sin against another person and thus breaks faith with Adonai, he incurs guilt. ⁷ He must confess the sin which he has committed

 Confession is good for the soul, right?  So why isn’t it all the rage?  Why is it that we humans usually spend more time and energy on the things we do right then the things we do wrong?  Bruce’s sweet mom used to say, “the hardest 5 words for most of us to say are ‘I’m sorry, I was wrong.’” Maybe we should take a moment to ask why? 

Now, if you are really good at confessing your sin on a regular basis, to God and people, with little to no compunction, please feel free to skip down to the Shabbat Shalom.  You get a gold star.  I would ask that you start conducting classes to teach the rest of us humans so that our world may improve. Thanks in advance!

As for the rest of us, or maybe it’s just me 😊, let’s talk about the stumbling blocks that we allow to keep us from confessing our sin.  First let’s talk about what is sin.  Now let’s keep it simple… sin is breaking the Law of Adonai – the Torah.  When I was first saved, I thought this was very simple.  Metaphorically speaking… don’t drink, don’t smoke, and don’t dance the hoochee coo.  Get rid of all the external sins, the noticeable sins.  Then God showed me all my hidden sins, the ones that take place in your mind – pride, non-righteous anger, self-pity, bitterness, resentment.  I think here is where we will find the stumbling blocks.

To put it plainly, our flesh hates confession, and so does the enemy.  Personally, I find that anytime those two are on the same side, I better beware.  It is all too easy talk yourself out of needing to confess.  Unless you are well practiced at tuning out the voices of pride, anger, self-pity, bitterness, resentment, they are all cheering your flesh on.  Telling you, “It’s not really your fault.  You didn’t really do anything wrong.  You didn’t mean to do it.  What you did wasn’t as bad as what other people do.  It’s their fault you did it.  They started it. Nothing good will come out of admitting it.”  Pride refuses to admit wrong.  Anger takes it out on others.  Self-pity justifies the behavior.  Bitterness and resentment argue against the good of confession.  They are a nasty gang of liars.

Sometimes those voices say even worse things.  Heaping shame on us.  Telling us that even if we do confess we won’t be forgiven… even nastier lies.

So, going back to the verse at the beginning, the thing that stuck out to me is that it says we MUST confess.  Not should or could… MUST, not optional.  Now, if we acknowledge that the Torah is holy, good, and just, and that its ways are ways of pleasantness and all its paths are peace, and that God gave us the law to help us stay close to Him, then this commandment that we MUST confess our sin MUST be good for us.  We don’t like confession because it makes us vulnerable and most of us have learned in life that being vulnerable is a bad thing or at least an extremely uncomfortable thing.  But if our relationships with people are to be successful vulnerability is necessary.  To have a successful relationship with our Heavenly Father vulnerability is compulsory and a fact – He is all powerful, we are not, we ARE vulnerable – fact.  Unlike some of our relationships here on earth, He is completely trustworthy because He is completely loving.  There are numerous verses that attest to the fact that God will forgive us when we confess.  Here’s one from 1 John…

 1 John 1:9 Complete Jewish Bible (CJB)

⁹ If we acknowledge our sins, then, since he is trustworthy and just, he will forgive them and purify us from all wrongdoing.

I like that it says He will not only forgive us but also purify us from all wrongdoing – make us clean.

When I first started on the Messianic path, I asked someone why do we need to celebrate Yom Kippur if all our sins are already forgiven?  Some time later, I attended my first Yom Kippur service and the reason became very clear to me.  The prayers on Yom Kippur are prayers of confession, confessing every possible way we could transgress the Torah.  It was mind-blowing for me.  It occurs to me that we could probably use those prayers daily.

I’ll end with prayer…

Father God, Thank You that You are so merciful.  Please continue to draw us close to You and Your ways.  Please help us see the sin we need to confess, give us the courage to confess it.  Please make us deaf to the lies that would enable us not to admit our wrongdoing.  Thank you, Father, that you not only forgive us but also wash us clean and put our iniquity in a sea of forgetfulness.  In Yeshua’s Name… Amen.

Shabbat Shalom,

Sam Dotson