One of the strategies of the Evil One is to try and convince us that sin is no big deal. He wants to convince us that “sin” is just a handful of harmless things that prudish church people don’t like. He says, “Nobody knows. Nobody sees. And even if they do, it doesn’t matter, because no one will be hurt.” Don’t believe that for a second. God is opposed to sin—its state and its acts—not because it is distasteful but because it is murderous and destructive (James 1:14–15).

Sin is a word and concept that many Christians have grown so familiar with that they risk forgetting all that it means. Like a word we’ve turned over in our minds so many times that it has begun to seem unreal, the idea of sin can seem totally disconnected from our experience. We need sometimes to be reminded of what sin is and of its real, destructive power.
Sin is not merely a word for a bad deed. It is primarily a condition, a state of being. “Sin,” says the Westminster Shorter Catechism, “is any want of conformity unto, or transgression of, the law of God.”1 It is an “estate whereinto man fell” that can be properly described as “a corruption of his whole nature … together with all actual transgressions which proceed from it.”2 Sin, in other words, describes the way human beings are, and it describes what they do as a result—and its most basic feature is that it puts human beings at odds with God and His good design.
One way we can help ourselves to see the reality behind a word is to examine the words that are nearest to it in meaning. The New Testament uses a number of terms to describe what we call sin. Understanding some of the most common ones can help remind us of sin’s many facets and why its impact on our life is so significant.
Five New Testament Words for “Sin”
Aside from a few Aramaic and Hebrew words and phrases, the New Testament was written in Koine Greek. Drawing from this language, the biblical writers used five words in particular that give us a strong picture of what sin is.
First, there is hamartia, which is most often translated as simply “sin.” This word can describe sin in all its forms. Etymologically, it portrays a picture from archery of having missed the target. It is because of our hamartia that we have all fallen short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23), failing to live up to the standard for which we were made. In our fallen nature, we sin and are in sin because we are not (yet) what we ought to be.
Second, there is parábasis, which is often translated “transgression.” This word describes willful sin that is a particular violation of God’s standards of righteousness. It means a stepping across the line. If God has drawn a line in the sand by giving us His law, then human beings have deliberately crossed it by breaking the law. People sin and are in sin because they know what they ought to do, and they do otherwise.
Third, there is paraptōma, which is translated a number of ways, including, “sin,” “trespass,” and “offense.” Historically, its meaning carries the idea of slipping up or falling away.
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One of the primary reasons in Scripture that God pours out His wrath—and accomplishes salvation for us—is to show us and the world who He is.  Observing His judgment and mercy should leave us in awe of His nature and of the Gospel, keep us humble in remembering our sin, and be forever grateful that He has elected us to be His people rather than His enemies.  So let us stand in awe of God’s nature as displayed by His mercy and judgment and take comfort in His sovereignty, knowing that while He is satisfied in His justice, He truly delights in His mercy.

“Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord GOD: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came. And I will vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them. And the nations will know that I am the LORD, declares the Lord GOD, when through you I vindicate my holiness before their eyes.
-Ezekiel 36:22-23, ESV
Why does God do what He does?  In one sense, this is a dangerous question.  God’s ways and thoughts are as high above us as the heavens are above the earth (Isaiah 55:8-9).  But while the secret things belong to God alone, what He has revealed in His Word belongs to us (Deuteronomy 29:29)—and He has actually revealed much about why He acts as He does.  One reason appears 72 times in Ezekiel: that both God’s people and enemies would know that He is God.  Many of these are in the context of judgment on the Jews and their neighbors, but some are in the context of blessing as well.
The Theme of Ezekiel
Many parts of the Old Testament are challenging for various reasons, but when it comes to comprehension, the prophets have an unparalleled level of difficulty.  This is especially true of Ezekiel, who prophesied during the Babylonian exile.  The exile happened over many years before coming to its climax with the destruction of Jerusalem.  Thus, many who were left doubted that God would actually cause the city to be destroyed, so it is to them that God speaks through Ezekiel.  The book begins with a startling vision of God’s glory that has puzzled commentators for centuries.  In this vision, he is called by God to go and prophesy to His stubborn and rebellions people (Ezekiel 2:3).  Then God gives a string of prophecies against the Jews, calling out their sins and warning of the coming siege and ultimate destruction of Jerusalem (Ezekiel 4-7) before showing Ezekiel a vision of Jerusalem and its sin culminating with the departure of God’s glorious presence from the Temple—first out of the Holy of Holies then out of the Temple complex and finally from Jerusalem entirely via the Mount of Olives (Ezekiel 8-11 cf. Zechariah 14:4).  The prophecies then focus on the sins of the people and their leaders as well as the coming destruction of Jerusalem and complete exile of the people (Ezekiel 12-23).  When the siege of Jerusalem begins, Ezekiel’s wife dies (Ezekiel 24) and the focus of prophecy shifts to judgment against Israel’s neighbors: Amon, Moab, Edom, and Philistia (Ezekiel 25) then Tyre and Sidon (Ezekiel 26-28) and Egypt (Ezekiel 29-32).  God then returns to judgment against Israel when Jerusalem falls (Ezekiel 33-34) before condemning Edom again (Ezekiel 35).  The focus of the prophecy then shifts to the restoration of God’s people with the promise of their return from exile and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit (Ezekiel 36) that would be a mass spiritual resurrection in which God would dwell with and unify His people (Ezekiel 37).  God then decrees destruction against Gog (Ezekiel 38-39), ending with the last “they shall know” of the book:
Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Now I will restore the fortunes of Jacob and have mercy on the whole house of Israel, and I will be jealous for my holy name. They shall forget their shame and all the treachery they have practiced against me, when they dwell securely in their land with none to make them afraid, when I have brought them back from the peoples and gathered them from their enemies’ lands, and through them have vindicated my holiness in the sight of many nations. Then they shall know that I am the LORD their God, because I sent them into exile among the nations and then assembled them into their own land. I will leave none of them remaining among the nations anymore. And I will not hide my face anymore from them, when I pour out my Spirit upon the house of Israel, declares the Lord GOD.
-Ezekiel 39:25-29, ESV
The book ends with God showing Ezekiel a detailed vision of a new Temple (Ezekiel 40-42) with the glory of God returning in a mirror of its earlier departure (Ezekiel 43).  The vision then details a restored priesthood and a righteous Prince (Ezekiel 44).  This Prince would rule a restored Holy Land centered on the Temple, complete with a river flowing from the Temple and trees bearing fruit year-round with leaves healing the nations (Ezekiel 45-48 cf. Revelation 22).  It is within this context that God repeatedly declares that He will both judge Israel and their neighbors and restore Israel so that everyone will know that He is the LORD.
The Sin of Israel…and Us
Before we look at the ways that people will know that the LORD is God, we need to pause to consider the sins of Judah that bring God’s condemnation throughout Ezekiel.  We have previously seen how Judah sinned by choosing to obey some of God’s commands while disobeying others.  Judah would ultimately commit the same sins as Israel, listed in Ezekiel 22.  They shed much innocent blood, treated parents with contempt, extorted foreigners, wronged widows and orphans, despised the Sabbath, slandered others, and worshipped idols.  They were sexually promiscuous, took bribes, extorted others, and ultimately forgot God.  This brought about God’s wrath through the Babylonians who ultimately destroyed Jerusalem, killing most of the Jews and carrying the rest into captivity.  Four centuries later, they would add to this sin by murdering Jesus Christ and then persecuting His Church.  God promised to destroy anyone who destroys His Church (1 Corinthians 3:17), so Jesus decreed that God’s wrath for every drop of innocent blood spilt in the Old Testament would fall on the Jews (Matthew 23:35) who had forgotten how God had restored them from the Babylonian exile and instead made themselves enemies of God and His true People.
Now, before I am accused of antisemitism, I must make one thing very clear: I am not talking about the Jews of today.  The Jews of the First Century murdered Jesus and persecuted His Church, thereby putting themselves under the curse of God’s wrath.  Throughout Scripture, we see that God shows extraordinary patience in delaying His wrath, but also that it will come.  God’s wrath builds to a climax, after which point it is complete.  So God tells Ezekiel that He will spend (Ezekiel 13:15, 20:8) and satisfy (Ezekiel 16:38) His wrath.  The First Century Jews were destroyed when God poured out His wrath on them with the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 AD.  Just as the Jews of today have no special blessing since they have been replaced by the Church as the visible representation of God’s people, they also have no special curse.
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When God opens our eyes, and ears, we encounter his majesty. We hang on his words, as some did when he taught in the temple (Luke 19:48), and we testify in awe, with those officers who confessed, “No one ever spoke like this man!” (John 7:46).

Lightning can be majestic. That is, from a safe distance. Or from a secure shelter that frees us from the threat of electrocution, and allows us to enjoy the spectacular show.
The concept of majesty first brings to mind great sights, like distant lightning. Whether it’s a scenic vista of purple mountain majesties, the skyline of a great city, the dazzling beauty of gold or precious jewels, or the grandeur of a royal palace and its decorum, we typically associate the noun majesty, and its adjective majestic, with stunning glimpses, panoramas, and sights.
Majesty captures a greatness, power, and glory that is both impressive and attractive. And as with lightning, what is majestic from a safe distance can be terrifying when right overhead, without shelter. And so it is when the living God showcases his majesty at the Red Sea—his enemies panic with fear (Exodus 14:24), while his people, whom he rescues, know themselves safe and praise his majesty:
In the greatness of your majesty you overthrow your adversaries;you send out your fury; it consumes them like stubble…Who is like you, majestic in holiness,awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?Exodus 15:7, 11
Yet when Scripture mentions the majesty of God, the reference is not exclusively to the visible. Thunder, not only lightning, also may strike us as majestic, when we don’t find ourselves exposed and at risk. And so, as Scripture testifies, God’s voice is majestic.
His words ring out with divine greatness, and tangible goodness, in the ears of his people. His speech is both authoritative and appealing, imposing and attractive. His voice both cuts us to the heart, and makes our hearts thrill. His words wound us in our sin, and we welcome it in the Spirit. God’s majestic words, spoken and written, surprise and delight his people, even as his enemies cower at his thunderings. Their fear is terror; ours is reverent awe and joy.
His lightnings enthrall his saints. As does the thunder of his words.
Greatness of His Word
Consider, first, the greatness of “his majestic voice” (Isaiah 30:30).
No voice speaks with such authority—or anywhere even remotely close to such authority—as the voice of the living God. His words, unlike any other words, are utterly authoritative, and on every possible subject he chooses to address. Like no other mind and mouth, his words are not limited to an area of expertise. His expertise, as God, is all things, without exception.
But the greatness of his word includes not only his right to speak on any given subject (and every subject), but also his ability to speak to the most important subjects and do so extensively, and perfectly, and have the final say. He not only takes up far-reaching, bottomless, eternal, truly great topics, but he never speaks above his head, or out of his depths, as even the world’s greatest minds do when they come to the topics that matter most.
God never speculates. He never overreaches or overextends his knowledge. He never over-speaks. As God, he may publicly address any subject matter he chooses, and with unassailable authority, and he does so perfectly, every time, in all he chooses to say and not say.
In Scripture, he does give us an extensive word, but not an exhaustive one. He chooses to limit his spoken revelation to a first covenant and then a new one, 66 books, and 30,000 verses across the span of a millennium and a half. However, he chooses not (yet) to speak to every possible subject in his created world and beyond, but to speak with both clarity and repetition, despite the trends and undulations of every generation, to the realities that are most timeless and essential. And in doing so, he cues his people in on the subjects and proportions of his focus that prove most important in every time and season.
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