"Be Sure Your Sins...”

“Sir, it has been stated that you have had many adulterous relationships, is this true, or not true?”

Mr. Clinton, with anger in his voice for being asked such a question, looked that reporter in the eye and said, “If it was true, I would not tell you!” And he walked away from the reporter.

Mr. Clinton did not have to tell anyone, but one thing we know for sure, even if you are president of these United States, Numbers 32: 23, “...ye have sinned against the LORD: and be sure your sin will find you out.”

Before we consider our text, we need to consider the context in which we find it..

Moses said these words when Israel came to the land of Jazer. They were about to enter the promised land, but the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh came to Moses, Eleazar the priest, and the princes of the congregation, and said to them, (our paraphrase), “This is such a wonderful sheep land we are presently in, let us have this land instead of the land on the other side of Jordan.”

In Numbers 32:6, Moses said, in so many words, “You mean you want to sit here on the East side of Jordan while your brothers go across and do all the fighting?”

Then it would seem Moses detected something was not right about this request. He made an accusation against them. In verses 7-12 he told them they were doing the same thing their fathers had done. They were trying to discourage the people of Israel from entering the promised land.

Remember, earlier Moses had sent spies out from Kadesh-barnea to spy out the land. Two spies, Joshua and Caleb came back with a good report and said that they were “well able” to take the land and encouraged the people to go at once. But all the other spies discouraged the people from going. They told of the giants. saying that the giants were so big the Israelite people would be “as grasshoppers” in comparison.

However, these tribes defended themselves saying, “No, we are not doing the same thing our fathers did!” They then went on to tell Moses how they would support the nation in fighting with them to drive out all the enemies then they would come back and settle in the land just outside the promised land.

Evidently Moses was not completely convinced they were telling the truth...

Now we come to the remarkable verse of our text. Moses told them that if they would not do as they promised then, Numbers 32:23, “...ye have sinned against the Lord: and be sure your sin will find you out.”

Look at THREE things in this small verse:

I. WE SEE SOMETHING DEPENDABLE.

God’s Word says, “...be sure...” This is something DEPENDABLE!

He did not say “MAYBE,” or “PERHAPS.” He said, “...BE SURE...”

In other words, this is something you can DEPEND ON! There is no way one can sin against God and get away with it.

There was something wrong with the tribes of Gad, Reuben, and Manasseh. They had the promise of God that they could enter the promised land, but instead of wanting to enter, they were content to dwell on the wrong side of Jordan.

Illus: They represent so many today who are content to dwell on this side of heaven. The way they figure it:

• If they could double their income.

• If they could get a bigger house.

• If they could get a more luxurious car.

They would be willing to forget about the promise of heaven and make this their heaven.

They desire no better paradise than they can find here on earth.

After Moses rebuked them, and charged them with not wanting to go on to the other side of Jordan to wage war against the enemy, and they assured him that was not the case. Moses consented for them to come back and make their homes in that place once they fought with their brethren so they could dwell in the promised land.

But, Moses told them that if they did not keep their word they would be sinning against “the LORD,” and that there was something they could DEPEND ON. He said, “BE SURE your sins will find you out.” They went and did as they had promised to do, but God could not have been pleased with their desire to remain outside of the promised land.

It is interesting that when the Assyrians invaded Israel in 732 B.C., the first two tribes to be taken into captivity were the tribes of Reuben and Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh which were the same tribes who wanted to live east of the Jordan River on land they had already conquered.