Seventy Seven part 1
We probably all know the story from Matthew chapter 18 which is headlined "The Unforgiving Servant." "Then Peter came to him and asked, "Lord, how often should I forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times?" "No, not seven times," Jesus replied, "but seventy times seven!"" (Matthew 18:21-22 NLT). And I think, for the most part, this is preached as, "Give people a lot of chances," and kind of left at that. But, as usual, there's more to it than that. I don't believe Jesus was saying, "Give seventy seven chances and then on the seventy eighth transgression they're done for." I believe He was, as usual, bringing something out of the Old Covenant and into the new. Look at Daniel 9:24, "A period of seventy sets of seven has been decreed for your people and your holy city to finish their rebellion, to put an end to their sin, to atone for their guilt, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to confirm the prophetic vision, and to anoint the Most Holy Place." Seven sets of seven, or seventy weeks, was the timeframe for the end of one thing and the transition into something else. The end of the old and the beginning of the new. See, seven is a very powerful number in the Bible. God created for six days and then rested on the seventh. It is the day of rest. The perfect number. When Jesus was speaking to the woman at the well He said, "for you have had five husbands, and you aren't even married to the man you're living with now. You certainly spoke the truth!" (John 4:18 NLT). The woman had been involved with six men, but the seventh man, the last man, the perfect man, had finally arrived on the scene. And that woman had a revelation of Jesus that changed her life. What I'm trying to say is, it isn't about the number of times someone does you wrong. It's about the appointed time of the Lord. Love is longsuffering, right? Because love endures. People are going to do things you don't like. "Sin against you" to put it in Peter's parlance. But here's the scoop--chances are, they weren't doing anything AGAINST YOU at all. I believe most of the time people are just trying to do the best they can to get from the start of the day to the end of the day. I believe that most of the time you're collateral damage to them, at best. They may hurt you, but probably because they aren't even thinking about you more than it ever being intentional. And I always say this too, "Don't take it personal, even if it is." Life is ten percent what happens to you, and ninety percent how you deal with it. If you're counting up all the times someone wrongs you, setting a limit and waiting for them to get there... are you really loving them? Because love doesn't keep a record of rights and wrongs. Love just... loves. No matter what. Love turns the other cheek. And I've said this many times too--I believe turning the other cheek is about NOT retaliating. It's not about standing there and letting people slap you over and over. Which, unfortunately, we've kind of taken to mean, "If you won't let me keep abusing you, you're punishing me." Breaking away from someone isn't punishing them. And it really doesn't have anything to do with forgiveness. You can forgive someone and still not associate with them. You can forgive someone and still have healthy boundaries. The point I'm trying to make--and point I think Jesus was trying to make--is that there is no limit to forgiveness. There is (or was, since it came in fulness 2,000 years ago on the cross) an appointed time of God. A perfect number for a perfect time. And that is where we are now. People get so twisted up with 666 and all of that stuff (and I think we'll look at 666, maybe tomorrow), when we really should focus on seven. Seventy sets of seven. Seventy seven. The end of the old and the beginning of the new!