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Preparing for Life After Death:

The Way of Forgiveness in the Tanakh

Ron Elkin
Ammi Ministry

What does the Tanakh say about sin, forgiveness, and eternal life? Seven important facts are made clear for us. First, consider the fact that ALL MANKIND ARE SINNERS

Psalm 14:1-3:

They are corrupt, they have committed abominable deeds;
There is no one who does good.

The LORD has looked down from heaven upon the sons of men
To see if there are any who understand,
Who seek after God.

They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt;
There is no one who does good, not even one.

Jeremiah 17:9:

The heart is more deceitful than all else
And is desperately sick;
Who can understand it?

Isaiah 6:5:

Then I said,
"Woe is me, for I am ruined!
Because I am a man of unclean lips,
And I live among a people of unclean lips;
For my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts."

Second, we are told that OUR SINS SEPARATE US FROM GOD

Isaiah 59:2:

But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God,
And your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear.

Exodus 32:33:

The LORD said to Moses, "Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him out of My book.

Daniel 12:2:

Many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt.

Third, as good as we think we are, we must acknowledge that OUR GOOD DEEDS ARE NOT ENOUGH

Isaiah 64:6 (vs. 5 in the Hebrew Bible):

For all of us have become like one who is unclean,
And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment;
And all of us wither like a leaf,
And our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.

Fourth, if our good deeds are not enough, what then? GOD GAVE A BLOOD ATONEMENT

Leviticus 17:11

For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood by reason of the life that makes atonement.

Ex.12:7,13:

Moreover, they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses in which they eat it...

The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live; and when I see the blood I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.

Fifth, what kind of blood atonement did God provide? GOD PROMISED A MESSIAH WHO WOULD BEAR OUR SINS

See Isaiah 52:13-53:12 in the Scriptures for the entire passage.

Isaiah 53:3-6:

He was despised and forsaken of men,
A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;
And like one from whom men hide their face
He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.

Surely our griefs He Himself bore,
And our sorrows He carried;
Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten of God, and afflicted.

But He was pierced through for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our iniquities;
The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him,
And by His scourging we are healed.

All of us like sheep have gone astray,
Each of us has turned to his own way;
But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all
To fall on Him.

Sixth, HOW DO WE KNOW JESUS IS THIS PROMISED ONE?

Micah 5:2:

But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
Too little to be among the clans of Judah,
From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel
His goings forth are from long ago,
From the days of eternity.

Isaiah 7:14:

Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.

Daniel 9:26:

Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary And its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined.

Psalm 22:11-18:

Be not far from me, for trouble is near;
For there is none to help.

Many bulls have surrounded me;
Strong bulls of Bashan have encircled me.

They open wide their mouth at me,
As a ravening and a roaring lion.

I am poured out like water,
And all my bones are out of joint;
My heart is like wax;
It is melted within me.

My strength is dried up like a potsherd,
And my tongue cleaves to my jaws;
And You lay me in the dust of death.

For dogs have surrounded me;
A band of evildoers has encompassed me;
They pierced my hands and my feet.

I can count all my bones.
They look, they stare at me;

They divide my garments among them,
And for my clothing they cast lots.

Seventh, how do I appropriate that atonement for myself? SALVATION IS BY FAITH

Genesis 15:6:

Then he [Abram] believed in the LORD; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.

Isaiah 26:3-4:

The steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect peace,
Because he trusts in You.

Trust in the LORD forever,
For in GOD the LORD, we have an everlasting Rock.

Psalm 2:12:

Do homage to the Son, that He not become angry, and you perish in the way, For His wrath may soon be kindled
How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!

THERE IS LIFE AFTER DEATH EITHER IN HEAVEN OR HELL. WHERE WILL YOU SPEND IT?

Daniel 12:1-2:

Now at that time (Michael, the great prince who stands guard over the sons of your people, will arise And there will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time; and at that time your people, everyone who is found written in the book, will be rescued. Many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt.

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