Scripture:
Numbers 25:4
4 The LORD said to Moses, “Take all the leaders of these people, kill them and expose them in broad daylight before the LORD, so that the LORD’s fierce anger may turn away from Israel.”
Observation: Our sin is never hidden from God.
Application: Sin separates us from God. We are sinful by nature and despite every intention to cover up our sin, God knows our heart and everything is known to Him. Everything. Every thought, every action, intentional and unintentional. God knows and sees it all. One of things that I thought of when I read this verse was that sin often tends to be a private thing. Sins like lying, cheating, gossip, lustful thoughts, prioritizing other things above God, coveting the things we do not have, etc. tend to happen out of the public eye and are easy to mask or hide from others.
I've thought often during my daily readings that our sin does not just affect us. We never sin in isolation. Our actions can cause others to sin. Think about the 10 spies and the havoc they spread through the Isrealite camp as they spread their lies and unbelief that God would do as He said He would. Theses spies were leaders and people looked up to them and they led the people astray from God and there was serious consequences. Here was God, again, commanding Moses to air the "dirty laundry" of the LEADERS. He wanted to expose their sin and their cocky disobedience and make them an example to the others and a reminder of the consequences of sin.
We have reminders of our sin every day. It may not be a corpse in the middle of our camp that we have to pass every day. It might be a broken relationship torn by jealousy or unforgiveness that hits our gut when their name is mentioned. It might be a reputation that was damaged when we gave in to gossip and passed a story that was told in confidence and we feel guilty. God works our conscience, often privately, just like the privateness of our sin and uses it to bring our sin out in the open and make it known to others as and example of the harsh reality of what sin does or is doing in our lives.
Regardless of how private we think our sin is or whether we think our sins are hidden from everyone else, God knows. Most importantly, He knows and wants us expose them so that we can repent and draw close to Him.
Prayer:
Dear Lord,
You are a loving and merciful God but you also hold us accountable for our bad choices and our ability to influence others with our actions. We fall short of your glory and we are so thankful for the forgiveness that was bought for us by the blood of Jesus. Thank you. Help us to grow closer to You in all that we do. Guide us in ways to make our words and actions worthy of being on display to draw others close to You. Amen.
4 comments:
Excellent post Pamela! You are so right that sin is private, but the effects are not. Sin often touches those we love the most. So true!
I had a question on the end of Mark, the one that says about getting bit by serpents and healing and whatnot. I don't ever hear this preached on. What about in your traditions? And why don't we see this evident today?
Kathryn, I haven't read/listened to the whole thing in detail, but John MacArthur addresses the charismatic movement and the question of whether or not we're in the "age of miracles" in this sermon. Like I said, I just skimmed through it, but in my experience, MacArthur has never failed to explain things very thoroughly, thoughtfully, and in a way that makes sense. I've downloaded it onto my mp3 player to listen to later because I've often wondered about that, too.
I wonder if these leaders experienced something similar to what will be experienced on judgement day. That all our sins ~ deliberate and accidental or inadvertent ~ will be laid out for everyone to see, including ourselves. I think we will all be a little shocked by what is made obvious, but thank goodness, we can fall on the grace of God through salvation by faith in Christ.
Very good post, Pamela. Definitely a good reminder that while sometimes we may think we've gotten away with something, God sees all, and the things we keep to ourselves that no one knows about can still affect, or infect, our relationships.
Definitely a good reminder that leaders are held to a high standard because of the influence they have on those around them.
And that all our sins, whether we think they are private or not, are known by God - and He cannot be mocked.
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