What the Old Testament Means to Us. . .No. 13

THE SINS THAT MATTER MOST

It is proper that we be concerned about the sins that matter most. While all sins are sins, all sins are not equally grievous to God. There are lesser sins and greater sins, and at least one that is described as unpardonable. Joseph lamented amidst temptation, “How can I do this great wickedness and sin against God” (Gen. 39:9). He saw adultery as especially sinful. David asked God to deliver him from presumptuous sins (Ps. 19:13), implying that some sins are not presumptuous. The New Testament speaks of “a sin unto death” (1 Jn. 5:16), again implying that some sins are not unto death. Jesus referred to those who committed certain sins against the innocent as receiving greater condemnation (Mk. 12:40). Roman Catholic doctrine divide sins into venal and mortal.

The medieval theologians were so intrigued by this question that they came up with what they called “the Seven Deadly Sins.” One only needs to review the seven they named to agree that they must be among the most serious of sins: pride, envy, anger, sloth, avarice, gluttony, lust. It is generally conceded that pride lies at the root of all sins, or that all sins are sins of pride. It is noteworthy that the seven deadly sins are mostly sins of the heart, which are generally believed to be more serious than sins of the mind (understanding), such as being honestly mistaken, and even sins of the flesh, such as adultery.

Our Lord seemed to have been more incensed by the sins of the scribes and Pharisees, such as self-righteousness and hypocrisy, than the sins of the prostitutes. And as shocking as it might be to some he found the sins of Sodom “more tolerable” than the sins of Capernaum (Mt. 11:24).

In 1973 Dr. Karl Menninger wrote a disturbing book on Whatever Became of Sin? in which he wrote about corporate sins as well as individual sins. He concluded that it is hate that links all sins, and that sins are by nature self-destructive, supporting the Biblical view that the wages of sin is death. Martin Luther saw sin as a turning away from God and it begins with ingratitude. Like Menninger, Augustine saw animosities as the basic sin, while Reinhold Niebuhr saw pride as the primal sin. Niebuhr referred to the pride of power, knowledge, virtue, and religion. Others name inordinate self-love as the most serious sin.

Since this series is on the Old Testament, I am asking in this installment, what sins matter most in the OT? Even when we limit ourselves to the OT we find that the answers differ somewhat from one part of the OT to the next. In Pro. 6:16 there is a list of seven deadly sins, referred to as “things the Lord hates,” which are: a proud look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that are swift in running to evil, a false witness, one who sows discord among brethren.

But in Ps. 15 where the question of who will go to heaven and who will not is answered, there is a different list of major sins, as well as some virtues. The sins are backbiting, doing evil to a neighbor, reproaching a friend, usury, taking a bribe.

It is significant that when Paul makes up a catalogue of sins in Rom. 3:10-18 in order to show that “There is none righteous, no, not one” he draws upon six OT passages to prove his point. The sins he names include: refusing to seek God, unprofitable lives, deceit, cursing, bitterness, murder, no fear of God. John also, when he emphasizes the sin of destroying one’s brother (by not loving him), draws upon the OT story of Cain cutting his brother’s throat (1 Jn. 3:10-12).

There are several “sin” stories in the OT that not only show which sins God hates most but also reveal the nature of sin. One is the story of Achan in Joshua 6 and 7, which is one of the grimmest stories in the Bible. When Israel conquered Jericho all the city was devoted to the Lord for destruction except Rahab the harlot (Josh. 6:17). All the silver and the gold were to be deposited into the treasury of the Lord (Josh. 6:19). The people were not to take anything in Jericho for spoil (Josh. 6:18).

These instructions were clear. But Achan disobeyed them by taking gold, silver, and an expensive garment for himself. This was discovered when God allowed Israel to be humiliated in a battle against Ai because of Achan’s sin. When Joshua brought Achan to account, he confessed his sin in these words: “When I saw among the spoils a beautiful Babylonian garment, two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them and took them. And there they are, hidden in the earth in the midst of my tent, with the silver under it.” For this sin Achan and all his family and his possessions, along with the stolen property, were stoned and burned with fire.

It is intended to be a grim story because sin against God has grim consequences. This was the sin of covetousness, which is one of the basic sins in the OT. Achan’s confession explicitly names the sin, “I coveted them and took them.” His sin was not simply desiring something that he did not have, which in itself is not wrong, but in desiring something that he had no right to. He also disobeyed God’s clear instructions, so it was rebellion against God as well as covetousness. Most all sin in the OT or the NT can be seen either as willful ignorance or rebellion against God.

“Thou shalt not covet” is not only one of the Ten Commandments, but the only one of the ten that moves from outward action to inward thoughts, which lays bare sin’s insidious nature. It was only this commandment that led Paul to come to terms with the sin that was deep within him: “I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died” (Rom. 7:10). In that same chapter he names the tenth commandment, “Thou shalt not covet,” as the commandment that brought home to him how sinful he really was, leading him to declare, “I am carnal, sold under sin.” It was this commandment, he said in verse 13, that caused him to see that sin is “exceedingly sinful.” He says in verse 11 that sin used covetousness to deceive him, and by it to kill him.

So, covetousness was the sin that “killed” Paul when none other did. This is because one might be able to control his outward behavior when he can’t control his inward thoughts. This was the conflict that raged within him: “I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind (vss. 22-23). This led him to cry out, “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” His only answer was: “I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!”

Since it was covetousness that did all this to Paul, we can conclude that he must have seen it as the most serious of sins, or perhaps as the source of all sin. He went on in Eph. 5:5 to say that covetousness is idolatry and in Col. 3:5 that a covetous person is an idolater. It is certain that he saw in covetousness that sin is exceedingly sinful. And he implies in Rom. 7:25 that it is the sin we have to go on dealing with even when we have Christ to help us: “So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.”

It is understandable, then, that theologians would see in humanity’s first sin the sin of covetousness. It was illicit desire - a craving for power and knowledge that they had no right to—that caused Adam and Eve to sin. It was of course a violation of God’s command, which is rebellion, but its source was covetousness. Gen. 3:6 serves as a good description of covetousness: “So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate.” Her sin began by desiring what she had no right to.

It is the sin that “kills” us all, to quote Paul once more, for we are all “sold under sin” when it comes to our inmost thoughts. Covetousness lurks in our church life more than we might realize—an unwarranted desire for power, attention, preeminence, what Niebuhr called the pride of righteousness and of religion. If covetousness is idolatry, as Paul charges, then it means that we make idols of these things, putting them before God.

So, it might not be too much to say that covetousness is the sin of the OT, or the source of all other sins. It is unlawful desire that causes one to murder, to steal, to lie, to defraud, to backbite, to fornicate. Cain cut his brother’s throat because he envied his righteousness (1 Jn. 3:12). The sin in building the Tower of Babel was the people’s inordinate desire for power and influence: “Come, let us make a name for ourselves” (Gen. 11:4).

When it comes to the sins that the prophets condemned the most, which were idolatry, injustice, and breaking of covenant, they still have their root in covetousness. In some cases the Hebrew word that is translated “covet” in the KJV is rendered “unjust gain” in the RSV, as in Jer. 6:13 where the KJV has “everyone is given to covetousness” appears as “everyone is greedy for unjust gain” in the RSV.

In other prophets covetousness is referred to in association with other grievous sins, such as Micah 2:1, “They covet fields and take them by violence, also houses and seize them. So they oppress a man and his house, a man and his inheritance.” The prophet goes on to say that it is because of such sins that God devises disaster for his people. In Ezek. 33:31 the worst of sins seems to take the form of hearing but not doing, and even this is related to covetousness: “So they come to you as people do, they sit before you as My people, and they hear your words, but they do not do them; for with their mouths they show much love, but their hearts pursue their own gain (covetousness).”

The meaning of covetousness is seen in its synonyms, such as envy, greed, cupidity, avarice. It is in the form of envy and avarice that covetousness is listed among the Seven Deadly Sins. Like all sin, covetousness enslaves its victim. If money is not our servant it will be our master. If we do not possess wealth it will possess us. Unless we are on our guard in this acquisitive world we will be like Tantalus, the king of Greek mythology, who was doomed in the lower world to stand in water that always receded when he tried to drink, and under branches of fruit that he could never reach. How many there are who are impoverished amidst plenty!

If the OT names the sins that matter most, it also points to the only cure, the grace and mercy of God. The great prophet who cried out against the blackest sins could also say, “Come now, and let us reason together, says the Lord, though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool” (Is. 1:18).

That is gospel and it is in the OT.—the Editor