Judgment and Forgiveness:

            This chapter focuses on “The Parables of The Hypocrite (Mark 5: 36);The  Speck and The Beam (Matthew 7: 3-5, Luke 6: 42); The New Cloth on the Wineskin” (Matthew 9: 16; Mark 2: 18-20; Luke 5: 33-35).

  1)            Before dawn, the followers awoke, dressed, gathered, and met at the base of the mountain, each with their lights in their lanterns shining brightly.

2)            Of course, none of Stan’s followers awoke yet, so the followers took their lights up the mountain before dawn. Each follower trailed Kylie as they had before and walked the narrow path up the mountain. In the dark, Joshua’s hand reached down and lifted each follower onto the brightly lit terrace that looked down on the city still asleep in the dark.

 3)           Josiah asked Hannah how she had survived the two days without food or water in the dark. Hannah smiled, “There was no lack of food or water. I found a part of the rocky walls that had a plate and jug. At first, I asked ‘what is it’? I knew I wouldn’t easily survive without food, so I started calling it manna from Heaven^[1]. Every time I ate what I thought was the last bit of food, there was always more on a plate left in the protective rock shelf. I couldn’t understand how, but the food and water never ran out and that water tasted as sweet as the waterfall’s water. I had plenty of time to check the wall, and there was no water flowing in; yet, when I needed the water, there was always enough. And the food was so unusual. It tasted like a freshly baked cake. There was never more than I needed for the day but there was always just enough for me to feel full that day.

4)            “Then there was the Spirit in the room. I was able to be on my own, yet I was not alone. When it was dark, I felt a presence in the room. That presence comforted, protected, and soothed me during the dark time. I was never afraid with the Spirit in that abyss. When Peninnah let the light in, there was nobody around, yet I never felt alone. My spirit spoke with the Spirit of Peace. We spoke of the Spirit last week, and I think that same Spirit was with me during the whole time.

5)            “When I left the oubliette, I heard sounds like several snakes. I didn’t see, feel, or hear any snakes while I was there; yet when I was lifted out, I know I heard something. I still don’t understand; and I guess I never will, yet I have faith that Presence protected me.”

6)           Josiah asked, “Maybe the snakes were put in when you left as someone’s trick.”

 7)          Puah said, “I was there when she was pulled out. I know the sound of snakes. Snakes were a god in my culture, and Pharaoh’s symbol of his power was a deadly cobra. There were snakes in that pit; yet when Hannah came out of the pit, she didn’t have one bite. I checked her, and there was no harm. It was amazing to me— an answer to prayers I offered for her. There is no doubt in my mind, she was in a snake pit designed to harm or kill her, and she survived. If she said there was a presence that protected and loved her enough to stay with her during her ordeal, I believe her.”

 8)           Joshua said, “Hannah did have a Spirit protecting her; it is the same Spirit that guards each of you. It doesn’t prevent agony but helps you endure anguish. Hannah did suffer; but through her separation, she allowed Peninnah to witness her life and faith in God through her toleration of her torture. In fact, Peninnah now sympathizes with Hannah, and that’s something that would have never happened without Hannah’s travail. While Hannah was underground, Peninnah’s heart was breaking for fear and agony—knowing that the situation was designed to destroy Hannah. The situation matured and purified Hannah’s faith and witnessed to Peninnah. Hannah’s faith, through the suffering, showed her faith was lived out in front of Peninnah and the other citizens as a witness-with a call them to their redemption.

 9)           “Peninnah now sees the choice between the lifestyle and faith of Hannah and the evil of Stan. She will never be without that memory of Hannah’s willing sacrifice and faith. That effect will permanently change her life; and through her life, others will come to freedom.

10)            Joshua went to Hannah and took her hands, stood her up in front of the followers and said, “Hannah, Child of God, you have done well. You are a good and faithful follower, and I am proud of your faith. It is a witness to your credit both here in Sanctuary and in Heaven because everything you’ve done is recorded to your credit and rewarded. Your faith is an eternal witness to your credit.” Joshua kissed her gently on the forehead.

11)            Hannah looked at everyone. “Joshua, I don’t deserve such credit. I spoke of you and our work here on the mountain. I told her how much you loved us and how beautiful it is on the mountain. I wanted to have her come with us, but she wouldn’t come for fear. I don’t think my witness was all that powerful because she didn’t come to the mountain with us.”

12)            Joshua smiled, “Hannah, you don’t see the impact of your choice today, but you’re telling Peninnah will have great effects. Don’t fear the future. Everything that appears to be chaotic will make sense. What you did was to plant a seed in Peninnah’s future. Have no fear, only believe.”^[2]

13)            Joshua said, “After we eat breakfast, I’d like to tell you two stories. They are both related and will be a lesson that two of you need to learn well. So, everyone, please sit in a circle and we’ll have some food this morning.” Joshua gave everyone their breakfast and sat with them in the circle. They all lowered their heads and said the prayers over the food. After they ate, Joshua picked up the plates and put them in the small room. 

14)            When he came out, everyone was still in the circle. Joshua had put on a beautiful robe with large fringe and huge wraps over his hands and arms. It really looked rather flamboyant and extremely pompous. When Joshua started walking, he kept his head so high that it seemed like he would trip. Everyone started laughing. He looked at Gideon and said, “I am so much better than he is—look at what he is wearing.”^[3]

15)            He looked at Eliphaz and said, “Look at that man who hasn’t got a home like mine. Just look at that woman—her clothes haven’t been washed as clean as mine. That woman’s food isn’t as fine as mine.” Joshua tripped, and everyone laughed.

16)            Joshua said, “There are people who put on a huge front but are demonstrating a huge weakness. It isn’t what they wear, but the shielding a weakened soul. He sat down with the followers and asked, “What was this man’s primary weakness?”

17)            Abigail said, “He kept judging everyone else and didn’t know that person’s spirit.”

18)            Joshua smiled. “You are exactly right. He can never judge anyone else’s soul or spirit. He is right to judge a person’s actions but not his soul.”

19)            Joshua then went to the small room and came out with a huge wooden beam. It was about the size of a man’s leg and about the width of a man’s palm. He placed it near his eye. As he walked towards the followers, everyone moved to avoid the beam. Joshua looked at Gideon and changing his voice mockingly said, “I see you need to have a speck removed, my friend. Let me help you remove your speck.”^[4] As Joshua walked towards Gideon, everyone scattered to avoid the beam. As everyone ducked, they started laughing at the exaggeration.

19)            Joshua dropped the beam and took out the next object—something that none of the followers other than Kylie had ever seen. He took a balloon and stretched it. He inhaled and blew air into the balloon. “What is inside this object?”

20)            Abigail said, “It holds your breath.”21)

21)            Joshua blew more air. “Is this better because it has more air?”

22) Eliphaz said, “Since we don’t know what it is, we don’t actually know if it is better with more air.” 

23)            “People have decided that more is better. And some people judge something just based on the size.”

24)            So, Joshua kept blowing more and more. As Joshua held the balloon, “This is the judgment that some people make about others, not knowing anything about their life. Some people’s judgment was full of hot air.” Joshua then rubbed the balloon lightly, and it exploded. “Was bigger always better? Does this the air of judgment serve any purpose?”

25)            Joshua took out a wineskin that appeared to be normal last week when it was passed around. Now, it expanded and almost looked like the balloon. “What caused that? We all drank from that—is there something bad in what we drank?”^[5]

26)            Boaz looked concerned. Joshua put his arm around Boaz. I just added some yeast to the grape juice and closed it. The yeast of judgment of others^[6] created a bloated wineskin. He tossed the wineskin to Eliphaz who missed the catch and wine exploded all over the corner of the room.

27)            Deborah said, “Not all judgment is bad though, Joshua.”

28)            Joshua nodded in agreement. “Some judgment is good and saves your life. If someone sees a deadly situation coming towards them, proper judgment will make them avoid it or fight it. People should decide for their own life if food is good or bad. One person may judge a food as good based on their own tastes. That is still judgment. Some people’s decisions are based only on commonly established expectations or laws and yet others judge based on personal gain or growth. However, people who judge other people’s soul or righteousness risk their own relationship with God. Some people think they are better than others because they puff themselves up and elevate themselves to put others down.”

29)            Joshua asked everyone to wear packs on their backs just for the day, and when they had a judgmental thought Joshua told them to take a rock and put it inside to represent their judgments. “You must pick a rock that represents the size of the anger you feel towards that person. Last week, the men had nicely provided a collection of rocks in the corner for today’s activity. 

30)            “Today I’d like to ask the men to build a big storage room in a distant area from the bedrooms. Remember, I will be breaking rocks with you, and we will need to carve a lot of shelves and storage sections.” So, the men started to carve out a huge, storage space on the other side near Baptism Lake. “This will need to be larger than anything we’ve built. So, we should carve open sections with shelving and protective sections later.”

31)            By the afternoon, everyone lumbered into the room. Joshua asked them to stand in a circle for the explanation of the lesson. “When you hold condemnation for someone else without knowing the truth, you make yourself a slave to that person when all you want is freedom. Your faultfinding causes stomachaches, headaches, muscle tension, joint pains, and tiredness— somewhat like you feel now. You can’t sleep as well, and this causes you to not fight illness as well. Without rest, you can’t focus on your tasks as well and can get hurt easier. With stomachaches, you don’t get the right nutrition. When you are unforgiving, you make others not want to be with you. Without others to help share your pain, you are left to stew in your own juices. Most importantly, you choose to separate yourself from the love of God and put yourself in your own prison.

 32)           “There are three solutions to the problem that release the hatred. First you must go to God with the problem. He already knows about the problem, so you are not informing Him of something He doesn’t know. You are asking for His help in solving the problem. Then, you must go to that person, alone to resolve the problem. If the person is unwilling to solve the problem, you must take other witnesses with you to resolve the problem.” 

33)            “What about a problem with Stan?” Kylie asked. 

34)            Joshua instantly knew what incident she remembered. “You must exercise wisdom with Stan. Stan is the exception to the rule because of his authority and persona. Never be alone with him because he will have the advantage. He will always seek to trap you. If you must talk to Stan in the city of Sanctuary, you must be where others are visible and are able to help you. The better answer with him is to flee from his presence.^[7] Don’t ever give him the advantage. Never let Stan achieve his goal of trapping anyone.”

35)            Dinah asked, “What do you do when someone has truly and deeply offended you by committing a crime, and that person refuses to accept the consequence for their actions?”

36)            “When a crime is committed, the just law must be applied. If justice is applied, the injured party will feel relieved. If justice is not applied, you must not take the law into your own hands—that makes the offended person as guilty as the criminal.” Joshua looked at this innocent woman. “Are you speaking about what happened to you before Sanctuary?” 

37)            “Yes.” 

38)            “Do you feel safe talking about the incident?” 

39)            “Yes, with these people, I believe they would strengthen me.”

40)            Joshua explained Dinah’s story. Dinah lived in a family with twelve brothers. She was a happy child growing up but was always curious about what happened outside her protected world. So, one day, she decided to go to talk to the local town women and find out about the town trades. She knew she must take an escort, as that was the custom of the time. However, everyone was busy. She decided to have an adventure on her own. While she was in the town, she saw a handsome man who fell instantly in love with her. Dinah was naïve, innocent, and perhaps rash; so, the man took her away to talk with her, and they became intimate. In his culture, it was normal— even made the woman more desirable. However, when she got back to her family; everyone was concerned, and her brothers were angry.

41)            When her brothers heard that she had been with this man, they planned vengeance. Her brothers set a trap for the man and his village because he had “dishonored” their sister and family. She told her brothers that she loved the boy and would marry him, but her brothers were greedy and jealous. Eventually, her brothers killed the man and took everything else the town had for spoil.

42)            Joshua looked at this young girl, “Dinah, you were childish and made a poor choice. You were not responsible for the young man’s actions or for your brothers’ decisions. Actions have consequences, and you need to forgive your brothers, the young man from the village and yourself for what happened. You need to ask for God’s forgiveness and dump those rocks. Accept God’s forgiveness and His ability to use the incident for something better.”

43)            Joshua’s followers looked at Dinah with compassion and understanding. She had seen a great deal of violence and hatred because of her naïve choice. She felt responsible and guilty for other people’s choices. She had loved a man who had fathered her child, and he was killed because of her love.

44)            Joshua looked at the girl before him. “Do you want to lay the rocks down and forgive your brothers?”

45)            Dinah looked relieved as she took the bag and lay it down in the corner of the room, “I forgive my brothers. I am glad it will be finished.”

46)            As each follower dumped their packs, they softly said their own words of forgiveness for their offender. They relaxed and seemed to laugh. Some people had countless little rocks that still filled the packs. Others, like Kylie, had a few big rocks. Everyone was relieved to finish that exercise. All the packs weighed about the same- regardless of the size of the rocks. Only Joshua’s pack had no rocks.

  47)          Joshua asked his followers to sit down, and he provided lunch for everyone. While they ate, Joshua explained that when they carried the rocks in their pack, they only hurt themselves. “When you carry an offense, you hurt your health, limit, and imprison yourself. You are put in a prison to that time and place of pain. When you forgive, you drop the rocks. While you don’t make the offense right, you free yourself finally and completely.”

 48)           After lunch, Joshua asked everyone to play a game on the field. The sheep were feeding calmly. Joshua pulled a dark piece of cloth out and asked for a volunteer. Eliphaz volunteered. So, Joshua wrapped the cloth around Eliphaz’s eyes and said, “When you judge, you are blind to the truth. Eliphaz, you need to try to judge the people near you by whose face you touch. Eliphaz, count to ten and everyone else can scatter until he finishes counting. When he finishes counting, you call out and he needs to find you and correctly guess whose face he has touched.”

49)            The afternoon was spent playing and others had taken Eliphaz’s spot. Everyone spent the afternoon laughing and celebrating like innocent children. Joshua asked them to sit down and asked them what they had learned about judgment and forgiveness.

 50)           Rizpah had said, “Judgment appears to free us, but really imprisons us.”

51)            Caleb said, “Our choices and judgments affect others and can open our lives to choices that can affect and impact others for the good or evil.”

52)            Eliphaz said, “Forgiveness disciplines our minds, while judgment limits, restricts and imprisons us.”

53)            Dinah said, “Sorrow ties us to the pain of the past which gains nothing— thinking that we deserve better doesn’t change our condition.”

54)            Joshua smiled at his followers, “You must remember this lesson. Don’t let Stan imprison you with judgment or anger. He will try everything he can to destroy your peace and tranquility. His punishments will become more painful and cruel. Remember, if you are responding in anger and rage, you act as his puppet and he can use, control, manipulate you and even steal your future. Fury, wrath, recklessness, and jealousy all enslave you to him. Peace, forgiveness, and prayer free you from him.”

55)            Joshua then prayed for each follower for the week and for God’s peace over whoever would be a target in Sanctuary at the start of the work week. Then the followers all left their home in the mountain and walked down the path feeling energized and renewed.