Forgiveness – Series 5

Chapter 4 (pp. 47-50)

Trespass or Offence?

 According to the passage above, there are two actors and one factor in the matter of forgiveness.  The two actors are the trespasser and the trespassed; the one factor is the trespass that connects the actors.  One ‘actor’ is essentially passive, being merely a recipient, but an actor all the same, as a character in the narrative – a character in the actions and responses defining the offence.

I have here chosen the words “trespasser” and “trespassed” rather than “offender” and “offended,” because a trespass would still be a trespass even if the person trespassed against chose to not be offended by it.  In other words, something can still be a trespass without it having been taken as an offence by the receiver.  For example, if someone contemptuously spat in my face in the marketplace but I chose to smile at the person rather than spit back into their scorning and provocative face, my smile-response does not change their spitting aggression from being a trespass or an assault.  If, on the other hand, I got angry, yelled violently at the attacker and hit them in the face, that is not what makes the initial provocation a bigger or lesser trespass.  So, an action or non-action can still be a trespass without it having been taken as an offence by the person trespassed against.   The reaction to a trespass does not entirely define the action of the trespass.

Jesus told a parable in which a prodigal son had requested his share of inheritance from the father, and gone off promptly to waste it in some unreachable distant “country” (Luke 15:11-32).  Did the father take offence at the son’s action?  No part of that story says so, yet the son saw no less need, when “he came to himself,” to return and repair a trespass in which there did not appear to have been an apparent family outrage or offence in the receiver of the trespass.  In the story of Joseph also, Joseph wept when the trespassers spoke, but his tears did not mean that their initial action of betrayal had not been a trespass after all.  Those tears were merely cleansers of a sad past.  So, a person’s reaction to an action is not always the measure of whether or not that action was a trespass.  Their reaction is merely an expression of their ability or inability to manage matters; it is not what describes the magnitude of the trespass.  The fact that ‘he didn’t get angry, after all,’ or ‘she doesn’t take offence at such details’ does not mean that the action had been right; it only shows the largeness of heart of the one party.  Their noble reaction speaks about them, not about the offence or the offender.

It is dangerous to take someone for granted and continue to trespass against them because they take no offence, or seem to take no offence.  The day they cry, God will answer for them, and He could answer in ways very severe, as He once was forced to do for Moses who at the time was reputed to be the world’s meekest man (Numbers 12:3, 8-10).

Sometimes, little offences taken for granted build up into a mighty conflagration.  Sometimes, somebody’s ‘quietness’ taken for granted turns them into vengeful beasts that nobody can figure out ‘how’ they ‘suddenly changed’ into that.  Everyone’s pain does not always show on their face.  There are tiny worms more venomous than mighty pythons.  It is advisable to not take a heart for granted because it is large; it could still overload and explode at a most unexpected moment, to the devastation of many.

For copies of the book, kindly call the contact numbers provided or visit the online shops listed below.

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Other publications at Selar books:

https://selar.co/903394 – Balaam

https://selar.co/443i94 – Mystic Markets

https://selar.co/q4454b – Beyond Holiness

https://selar.co/1g4486 – Stray Bullets

In two previous posts, I had drawn attention to the circumstances informing this series: the prophetic word from Dr Steve Ogan for 2025 and its connections with the book, Forgiveness.  Dr Steve Ogan is a prolific prophetic writer and a global teacher with unique insights into Biblical symbolisms and numerology.  Every year, he writes a yearbook on the prophetic significance of that year, based on the number of the year.  For 2025, his numerological theme is forgiveness, for which he thought that The Preacher’s book, Forgiveness, was a timely classic.  Taking his cue as a prophetic directive, serializing that book through the year has been reasonably considered, except for occasional pauses for other prophetic or exhortative interventions.  This is the fifth in the series, in obedience to the word of the Lord from the mouth of His servant.  Through the lives that shall be impacted by the profound insights from that globally acclaimed classic from Heaven by the mercies of God, we are persuaded that the Lord shall vindicate His word by the mouth of His servant.  Amen.  The testimonies have started to come in, from across the globe.