Time Heals all Wounds

July 2, 2023

Pastor Patrick presented "Time Heals all Wounds." A video of the message is here.

There are a handful of Biblical Hebrew words that mean various forms of forgiveness. I'm going to focus on one of them...

The word is salach (סָלַח). According to Strong's Concordance, it's variously translated as forgive (19), forgiven (13), pardon (12), pardoned (2), and pardons (1).

A large number of the 47 occurences in the Old Testament occur in Leviticus, the ritual book of the Torah. Many of the rituals of Leviticus (and the Torah generally) are aimed at forgiveness. The Torah recognized the human need for forgiveness, for feeling truly forgiven. That was much of the goal of Torah ritual, to bring forgiveness to an atoning Israelite.

Here are some of these references:

• Leviticus 4:20
• Leviticus 4:26
• Leviticus 4:31
• Leviticus 4:35
• Leviticus 5:10
• Leviticus 5:13
• Leviticus 5:16
• Leviticus 5:18
• Leviticus 6:7
• Leviticus 19:22

For a profound example (that's not in Leviticus), consider the forgiveness ritual for soldiers returning from war. Oh how we could have used that in all our U.S. history, the greatest example coming to my mind being the Vietnam War and how the returning soldier felt and was treated. Here's the verse: "And as for you [the returning soldier], remain outside the camp seven days; whoever has killed any person, and whoever has touched any slain, purify yourselves and your captives on the third day and on the seventh day. On the seventh day wash your clothes and you will be clean. Then you may come into the camp." (Numbers 31:19,24).

Bonus

4th of July Seder

Just as the Israelites remembered the Exodus via a ritual known today as the Passover Seder, we as Americans should ritualize our remembrance of what makes this country so great. To that end, why not have a 4th of July Seder. Here are some documents that can help you easily put together such a Seder so you and your family can spend 10-20 minutes actually remembering the true meaning of this holiday.

The Case for a 4th of July Seder by Alan Burdick and Eliza Byard.

Do This for 10 Minutes on the Fourth of July by Dennis Prager (the Seder progam).

Lyrics to "God Bless America" (can be printed and cut so everyone gets a copy).

Signable Declaration of Independence (everyone signs at the end).

4th of July Seder by PragerU (the program).

Reader's Questions (for the PragerU program to be given to the readers).