What is Iniquity?

In the book of Genesis ( 20:2 ), we see Abraham on a journey. He fears that the king of the foreign land will harm him in order that he can take Abraham’s wife Sarah. Because of this fear, he tells Sarah to say that she is his sister.

Now, Isaac, Abraham’s son, lived in the land of his father and at a certain time, he too feared that his wife would be admired and taken from him (Gen 26:6 ) so he, like his father, told her to say that she was his sister because he feared the people.

Now comes Jacob, son of Isaac, grandson of Abraham (Gen 27:32). He goes into his father and says, “I am Esau, your first born”.

We see a pattern of deception. Something was passed on from father to son. God calls this deception iniquity.

In Exodus 20:5, God tells Moses that the iniquity of the father’s will be passed on to the children of the third and forth generations.

We often think that it is the ‘sins’ of the father that is passed on but it isn’t. It is the iniquity. It is important to make a distinction between the iniquity of the fathers and the sins of the fathers. Sin is not passed down, iniquity is.

So, what is the definition of iniquity?

Jesus says, "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven".

"Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles' "?

"And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice iniquity'". Matt 7:21

When is preaching iniquity? When is casting out demons iniquity? And, when is doing good works iniquity? The answer is given in the verse. It is when we do these activities in our own will rather than according to the father’s will.

Iniquity is, “doing my own will even though it is something good”.

King Saul provides a powerful study in the concept of iniquity. After a battle with the Philistines, Saul offered a sacrifice to God. Samuel arrived and reproved him because it was not done according to God’s command. God commanded the priest to offer the sacrifice, not the king. In 1 Sam. 13:11, Saul tried to justify his behavior.

Again, in 1 Sam. 15, we see Saul save sheep and oxen from the battle against the Amalekites in order to offer them to God. Samuel reproves him because he was to utterly destroy everything in the battle. Once more, Saul tries to justify his behavior.

Samuel replies: "Has the Lord as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams. "For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and insubordination is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He has also rejected you from being king."

The mystery of iniquity is that we will follow our own faulty reasoning when we have available to us the infinite wisdom of God.

The opposite of iniquity is “good works” as we see in the following verses.

2Tim 2:19-21, Titus 2:14

The definition of iniquity is verified in Isaiah: But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our ‘iniquities’: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have ‘turned every one to his own way’; and the LORD hath laid on him the ‘iniquity’ of us all.

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