What does it mean when God says he will by no means clear the guilty?
In my previous post on the encouraging topic of God’s forgiveness, we read one verse that is both important and puzzling:
Exodus 34:6–7 says, “The LORD passed before [Moses] and proclaimed, ‘The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, 7 keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation’” (ESV).
On the one hand, God emphasizes that it is his nature to forgive. And then he immediately follows that by saying he “will by no means clear the guilty.” Hmmm…which is it? Does God forgive, or does he refuse to clear the guilty? This verse has puzzled me for a long time, and I’ve prayed for understanding. I believe God has at long last given me the interpretation.
I will explain the verse with a paraphrase. God is saying: I forgive the iniquity and transgression and sin of those who come to me in faith and repentance. But, toward those who refuse to repent and continue stubbornly in their sin, I will be perfectly just and will by no means clear them of guilt. In fact my justice is so thorough that I will visit the iniquity of stubborn, unrepentant sinners not only on them but also on their descendants who walk in the ways of their sinful fathers and likewise stubbornly disobey me.
Scripture interprets Scripture
What leads me to that interpretation?
First, one important principle of properly interpreting the Bible is that Scripture interprets Scripture. In other words, the best commentary on any one Scripture is the rest of the Scriptures. The Bible is unified truth that is ultimately from one author—God himself—and he does not contradict himself. His revelation of his will unfolds and develops over time as a story, and within the context of that story he does not contradict himself (that is, God dealt differently with people at different points in the story of redemption).
The principle that Scripture interprets Scripture is a corollary to the other crucial principle of interpreting the Bible, which is that we must read Scripture in context. We interpret a verse within the context of its biblical book, such as in this case Exodus; then within the wider context of all that the human author of the book has written in the Bible, such as in this case all the writings of Moses; then within the context of the Old or New Testament story of redemption, such as in this case the Old Testament; then within the context of the entire Bible, with the New Testament being God’s final revelation of his will and ways.
Two groups: the forgiven and the guilty
So, what does the rest of the Bible teach about forgiveness? As we have already seen, verse 7 itself unmistakably teaches that God forgives sinners and emphasizes that by saying he forgives “iniquity and transgression and sin.” That is, he forgives everything that needs forgiving!
And God repeatedly promises forgiveness of sins under the Old Covenant to those who fulfill its obligations by confessing their sins and offering blood sacrifices at the tabernacle/temple, as taught by Moses in the Book of Leviticus. David writes in Psalm 103:2–3, “Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity.”
And then of course the New Testament promises forgiveness of sins through faith in Jesus Christ. At the Last Supper, Jesus offered the cup to the disciples and said, “this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins” (Matthew 26:28).
From beginning to end in the Bible, God forgives the sins of those who confess and repent and put their faith in the shed blood offered in sacrifice, the blood of animals prior to the revelation of Jesus, and then the blood of Jesus after his sacrifice on the cross.
So, when Exodus 34:7 says, “he will by no means clear the guilty,” it cannot possibly mean that he forgives sinners but doesn’t “clear” them. Rather, it must mean that “the guilty” are a different group of people who have not been forgiven of “iniquity and transgression and sin.” They are “guilty” because they have not done what is necessary to be forgiven.
Not clearing the guilty
This interpretation agrees with how the word/phrase “clear the guilty” (these three words translate the one Hebrew word naqah) is used in another Old Testament passage. Nahum 1:3 says, “The LORD is slow to anger and great in power, and the LORD will by no means clear the guilty. His way is in whirlwind and storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet” (ESV).
The Old Testament Book of Nahum is a prophecy against the Assyrian capital of Ninevah. God had used the wicked nation of Assyria to punish his people Judah for their long-term disobedience. Assyria had conquered Judah and taken its people into exile. But soon God would deal with idolatrous Assyria differently than those in Judah who remained faithful to him. God would forgive those in Judah who returned to him in repentance, but he would by no means clear the guilty nation of Assyria, for they followed idols and cruelly oppressed other nations.
This contrast between how God would deal with Judah versus how he would deal with Assyria illustrates the meaning of Exodus 34:7—“forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty.”
Our way and God’s way
Our way: Fallen people presume that God will overlook their sins, and they will escape judgment. They do not think God will really condemn people for even one sin.
God’s way: God is perfectly just. He punishes all sin. We have the choice of whether our sins are punished by the death of Jesus on the Cross or by our eternal condemnation. Those who do not have their guilt removed through the blood of Jesus Christ will not be cleared by God of condemnation.
Life principle: God will be perfectly just with you and your sins. He will either condemn you for your sins or punish Jesus for your sins. Your choice. Repent and follow Jesus and receive forgiveness; or reject Christ, die in your sins, and stand at the Judgment someday to give account for every wrong you have ever committed.
Jeremiah 9:23–24: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.’” (ESV)