One of my favorite teachers and authors on the Old Testament is Malcolm Smith, a pastor who shares my passion to understand and teach on the new covenant relationship God offers us in Christ. In his book, “The Lost Secret of the New Covenant,” Pastor Smith devotes a chapter to God’s promise that in the new covenant He will forgive our sins and forget them. He writes:

“Isaiah described God’s forgiveness by making reference to an ancient custom called “giving the double.” In ancient times in Jerusalem, a person who was in debt with no hope of paying his creditors would write out on a parchment all of his debts and the persons he owed them to and hang it at the front of his dwelling for all to see. He waited for a generous rich man with a compassionate heart to come by. When such a man passed and saw the document fluttering in the breeze, he would read it and if he was financially able and had a large enough heart, he would double the parchment over, hiding the record of debts and write on the back, “Paid in full.” The rich benefactor would then satisfy all of the creditors; the matter was now out of the hands of the debtor, and he was a free man.” (1)

Pastor Smith then connects this practice to Isaiah 40:2:

“Isaiah portrays Israel with her sins hanging out for all to see and the Lord, infinite in love and compassion and also the One they were in debt to, coming and giving them the double:

‘Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins. (Isaiah 40:2 NIV)'”

To our western minds, this sounds like God doubled down on punishment for sin. And, in fact, that is how most translations express it! I love how Pastor Smith brings out the cultural context here. And it makes much more sense to understand it that way. After all, you wouldn’t send a message that says of comfort and tenderness to one who wronged you and double down (pun intended!) on how their sin was SOOOO bad you punished them not once, but twice.

In his book, Pastor Smith goes on to connect this to us, to you and me:

“As glorious as those words were to ancient Israel, the revelation of their full meaning awaited the new covenant. We come out of guilty hiding into the light of God, declaring ourselves sinners before God, only to discover that the One we were in debt to has written across our bill in the blood of Jesus, ‘Paid in full.'”

This matters. We must understand the heart of God; that He is not only faithful to us, He is faithful to His proclaimed values. For God, who proclaims that He loves justice, to actually double the punishment due His people, would be unjust, no matter how much it broke his heart!

By knowing the meaning of this ancient idiom (“giving the double”) we find our best hopes about the heart of God confirmed. He is not a vengeful God who is anxious to pounce on the sinner and make them suffer twice over because He has the power to do so.

Now you know. Tell others! In a world gone mad with fake news, God deserves to have the truth told about Him.

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(1) Pages 182-183, The Lost Secret of the New Covenant, Copyright 2002 by Malcolm Smith, published by Harrison House, Inc.