'Because that, when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God,

neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations ... and

changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image ...

uncleanness ... vile affections ... inventors of evil things' (Rom.

'They changed their (or My) glory into the similitude of an ox that

eateth grass ... they joined themselves also unto Baalpeor ... they

provoked Him to anger with their inventions' (Psa. 106:20-29).

The first meaning of iniquity, as discovered by the meaning and usage

of the word aven, is not so much the violation of any one particular law, but

the violation of the basis of all law, 'Thou shalt have no other gods before

Me'.  The LXX renders aven by anomia more than by any other word.  The

mystery of iniquity is expressed by the 'lawless one', and manifested by the

usurpation of Divine honours by the man of sin.  It is a wholesome corrective

to remember this phase.  We are prone to place murder, robbery, adultery, and

lying foremost; these are but the outcome of that primitive iniquity which,

by enthroning self, dethrones God.  The state of heart and mind resulting

from sin is expressed in the word avah.  (N.B.  Care should be taken by those

who 'search and see' not to confuse this word which commences with the letter

ayin with the word avah which commences with the letter aleph).

Avah means 'wrong'.  Wrong comes from the same source that provides 'to

wring' and 'awry', and is cognate with the Dutch 'wrang', acid or sour.  The

original idea of avah is expressed in the following:

'I was bowed down at the hearing of it' (Isa. 21:3).

'He hath made my paths crooked' (Lam. 3:9).

'Turneth it upside down' (Isa. 24:1).

Perversity seems to express the meaning of the word.  Sin having missed

the mark renders all labour abortive, and our very natures are wrung out of

course or 'wrong', 'perverse'.

Avah leads to aval.  If avah means that nature which is crooked, aval

indicates those actions that are deceitful and unfair.  In about thirty

passages the word is rendered 'iniquity', and in the sense of a departure

from that which is equal or right; this expresses fairly well the meaning of

the word 'He that soweth iniquity (avlah) shall reap vanity (aven)' (Prov.

22:8).  And so the weary process is repeated from generation to generation.

We now reach those aspects and phases of sin that demand more vigorous

and active titles to express their character.  Up till now we have seen sin

as a failure, its condition ignorance, its fruit vanity, its course

distortion, but this can have but one result, viz., active rebellion and