Dealing with Sin in the Camp
Series: A Biblical Guide to Wilderness Survival
September 11, 2011
Sin is a problem. In fact, it's a BIG problem in our day and age...but most of us don't even know it! Sin diminishes my potential, it destroys my life, it causes pain and sickness, it breaks up relationships, and decimates marriages, it wrecks societies, and worst of all...it jeopardizes the eternal destiny of millions. Sin was responsible for over 3000 being murdered in a single moment on this day 10 years ago.
Sin is everywhere, but in our day and age...it's nowhere. That's because, no one wants to admit that what they're doing is a 'sin'. It's amazing, even though the horrible results of sin are everywhere, nobody wants to believe it's them! It's like littering... have you ever run across anyone who admits to being a litterbug? ("Yes, I was the one who threw that McDonalds bag out the window!"). No one wants to admit they're the culprits, but if you drive down any highway you'll see it's ugly effects! The same is true of our society... we see it's ugly murders, it's missing children, it's cheating and it's corporate greed...but nobody wants to take responsibility. In our home we called him, "Mr. I Don't Know". (remember him?)
* Who left the TV on all night? I don't know!
* Who forgot to put the milk back in the frig? Now it's spoiled! I don't know! "Mr. I Don't Know" strikes again!
I'm finding that fewer and fewer people want to use the word 'sin' in their vocabulary today. It's like it's 'sinful' to talk about sin! Even worse, if you have the audacity to mention that they might actually be committing a 'sin', you're quickly accused of being narrow minded, judgmental and insensitive. In some peoples mind 'sins' are just a figment of our imaginations. There really aren't any standards of right and wrong, and so just do what you feel in your heart is okay for you. It's more important that you 'believe' you're a good person...whether you really are one or not.
* Nobody commits "adultery" anymore...they just have 'affairs". Having an affair sounds a lot more gentle and acceptable.
* There are no more "black lies" anymore...now we only tell "white" lies, and that's okay.
* We don't cheat people...we're getting justice for how they've treated us.
* Homosexuality isn't a sin anymore...it's an alternative lifestyle.
* Killing unborn children has become "pro-choice".
We've redefined, refined and dumbed down sin so much that nobody commits it anymore! /// Now here's the problem with that...(and I want you to listen real carefully)...If there is no more sin, then we're no longer sinners...and if we're no longer sinners...we don't need salvation...we need "recovery'. And here's the real tragedy...if we don't think we need salvation...we'll never ask for it. And if we never ask for it...we'll never receive it! Which means we have millions of people today on the destructive path towards hell, that don't even know it! That's why God says in I John 1:8-10... 8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him (God) out to be a liar,and his word is not in us."
Just so there's no misunderstanding...let me try and make it real clear. Here's how the bible defines sin... 'sin' is when I voluntarily separate myself from God, by deciding..."From now on...I make the rules... not Him!" I decide what's right and what's wrong, and live my life according to my own rules. In doing that, I become my own God. Self replaces God. And that's why you've heard me say before that, "Sin is an "I" problem". In fact, if you look... "i" is the middle letter in the word 'sin'!
Now, the funny thing is... the bible assumes we know what sin is. It talks about it all the time, but very rarely does it ever 'define' it. Why not? Because according to Genesis, "we were made in the image of God'. One of the results of being made in God's image is that, 'like God' we have the innate ability to tell the difference between good and evil, right and wrong. For example, nobody has to tell us that 'murder' is wrong. We know it's wrong. Who told us that? Nobody! We just know it! In fact, we know that a lot of other things are wrong too! How? Because God hard-wired a 'sin detector' in every one of us... it's called a 'conscience'. And everytime you sin, whether you admit it or not... you know it. Now you can try and break your 'conscience', or 'turn it off' if you want, (and you might even think you've succeeded)... but it's impossible to do...in fact, the best you can do is to just cover it over, or ignore it.
Now as we've been talking about the nation of Israel in Numbers, we've been watching as God prepares them to journey into the desert to the promised land. And because He's traveling with them...they don't have the luxury of just covering over or ignoring their sin. God is holy and His people have to be holy too. If they're not...He either has to abandon them, or destroy them. Like we talked about last week, when holiness comes in contact with unholiness...we die! It's like the HV Cable Inspector we saw in video clip last week. When he's ungrounded, ½ million volts of electricity can flow through and around Him...no problem. But if his body ever gets grounded somehow...zzzzit! Same is true with God...when we're "in phase" with God (living holy lives) then we can make contact...but if sin ever grounds us for good...we fry! There's no middle ground.
So all through the book of Numbers, we're going to see God pausing (every once in a while) to remind the Israelites of His laws. It's not because He wants them to do religious busy work...NO! the laws were designed to keep them alive! The laws of God against sin aren't just meaningless regulations...they're the way to life and blessing in God's presence. With them...we live! Without them...we die! Life in all it's fullness means...a life lived in the presence of God, according to his Law! So they had to be instructed on how to deal with the sin that was inevitably going to enter their camp. We're the same way...as we're on this journey with God to the promised land (of heaven)...we need to know how to deal with the sins that we are GOING to commit on the way there!
So why does God give these specific laws at this specific point in Numbers 5? Well, think about it...God has just organized the camp with the tribes around the tabernacle in a square, and then He's put the priests between Him and the people for their own protection...but now He wants to give them some examples of what they need to do, if certain sins occur. So after 4 chapters on holiness, this chapter is all about sin and how to deal with it. There are 3 case studies in this chapter, and each one of them deals with a different issue, and shows us a different way to deal with sin in our lives. In each case God is teaching the Israelites (and us) how to counteract sins danger to our very existence.
The 1st Case study teaches us that...
1. Inherited Sin is DEATH
READ vs.1-4. The 1st case study is pretty blunt. A person could make themselves ritually impure by making contact with anything that had to do with death. See, God is a God of life, and anything that has to do with death is an exact opposite to Him! It's like matter and anti-matter. So God gives 3 different examples of what He's talking about...
1. The loss or discharge of blood or semen,
2. An infectious skin disease (like leprosy)
3. ...and touching a dead body.
Obviously when you touch a dead body, you made contact with death...but what about blood and semen? Well, because both of those things bring life, the loss of them moves you into the realm of death. A skin disease (like leprosy) would slowly eat away your flesh and is kind of a living death. Now to us, the whole thing seems a little ridiculous. I mean, why should somebody be shut out from God just because He has a certain medical condition? Or why would you be unfit to be in God's presence for getting someones body ready for burial. (Morticians have no hope!) Or why should a married couple who've engaged in sexual intercourse keep them from worshiping? Seems a little ludicrous doesn't it? But before you pass judgment on God, stop for a moment and listen to how these laws are intended to reveal a very deep truth about our sin problem.
See in our society, we think the only thing standing between us and God is our behavior...sooo...if I'm a good person, God will accept me...and if I'm a BAD person, God will reject me. Right? Wrong! It's much deeper than that! See, our problem isn't just in saying bad words, or doing bad things...it's WHO WE ARE at our core that alienates us from God! Each of us is born with what the bible calls a "sin nature". I talked at length about it a few months ago, when I called it our "INNER YETTI". The creepy dark side of us that would give even Stephen King the willies! We talked about your Inner Jerk, Inner Brat, Inner Gollum, CIA Agent, Inner Pharasee. Now, just as sure as leprosy devours flesh...our sin nature is consuming our souls! We're like dead men walking, ZOMBIES surrounded on all sides by the living dead! (Our friends, neighbors, relatives, people we work with.) The Bible is teaching us here that SIN isn't just about what you DO...it's about your very nature as a human being in this world. And because I'm sinful at the core of my being...even my righteous deeds (helping the homeless, giving to the poor, helping my neighbor fix his car)...defile me and everyone I have contact with. By NATURE I'm defiled and unclean...and so I defile everything I touch! There's absolutely nothing I can do to present myself acceptable before God.
So in order to be admitted into God's presence, the root problem had to be dealt with.
* If the problem was an emission...the person needed to be washed clean before he could reenter the camp...
* If it was a skin disease, their flesh needed to be made whole before they could be let back into camp. In fact did you know that when Paul cries out in Romans 7:24..."Who will deliver me from this body of death?" (sin nature)... that that was the exact same thing a leper used to cry while outside the camp?
Of course, the answer to their question was...NOBODY! "Nobody can deliver you...not even yourself!" So here we stand, like lepers outside the camp, crying out to God..."Who will deliver me from this body of death, this sinful nature, this sinful habit that I can't overcome? This addiction that defeats me and mocks me?" And there's a deathly silence...because no one can help us! We need a miracle! And that's exactly what we get! See, just like these people... you and I are hopelessly alienated from God...permanently stuck outside the camp! The sooner we realize it the better.
Thankfully, the answer to the lepers cry is found in Romans 7:25..."Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!". Jesus is the miracle we need! He's the one who's come to deliver us from death, and wash us clean. In Luke 8:43-48 we read about a woman who would fall into the O.T. category of "unclean". She had an emission of blood that wouldn't stop. She'd gone from one doctor to the next, but nothing worked. Desperate, she came to Jesus. According to Numbers 5, this was an extremely dangerous thing to do...I mean, to bring herself in contact with the Holy One of Israel? No wonder when Jesus stopped and demanded to know who'd touched Him, she came forward trembling!
She was scared to death! But Jesus was trying to show her that He was her 'healer', not her 'condemner'! He healed her and even though she had been alienated from God's people...now she was allowed to come back because of His miraculous touch. The same thing happened when Jesus touched lepers...they were made whole! So he told them to go show themselves to the priest, just as the law required. Notice, Jesus never said, "Well that's a stupid law, I think I'll abolish it", No...he dealt with the deeper issue, the persons condition, so that they could enter God's presence.
Now listen, because the problem of our separation from God in the O.T. still exists...that hasn't changed. But it's solved by Jesus in the N.T. He came to deal with the living death in our souls by washing our hearts clean. He came to take us from death and bring us into life! How? By taking on Himself the very uncleaness that kept us from God. The bible tells us that He, was taken outside the city of Jerusalem to be crucified, Heb.13:11 tells us..."And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood". In otherwords, He dealt with our sin problem once and for all, so that we don't have to be outsiders anymore, He made us HOLY by His death so that we wouldn't be condemned to an eternity away from the presence of God!
Case Study 2 is found in vs.5 -10 and it teaches us that...
2. Deliberate Sin is INSULTING (to God)
Read Numbers 5:5-10
Now this time instead of talking about sins that are outside of our control, God is talking about sins that are premeditated. In the bible it's what is called a 'transgression'. It's knowingly, willingly breaking a KNOWN law of God! These verses are reminding us that when we sin, it hurts more than just our relationship with God, it hurts our relationship with others (our kids, our work associates, our wives and husbands). Nobody ever sins in a vacuum! So, to deal with the sin you have to work in both directions.
In vs. 7, this unnamed man or woman is recognizing publically that a wrong has been committed, and we see them confessing it. Taking responsibility for your sins is critical in dealing with it. As long as you're excusing it, or rationalizing it to yourself, (maybe even blaming somebody else for it)...you can't truly confess it. So do that 1st, but it takes more than JUST confession to make it right...you have to make 'restitution'. Vs. 7 says that not only did they have to pay back whatever they took, but they needed to add 20%. Whoever commits the sin, doesn't just say they're sorry...they have to do everything in their power to make it right! If that person was dead, you made restitution to a close relative...if there's no relative, then payment was given as an offering to the Lord.
But the worst part of any intentional sin isn't what it does to our relationship with others...it's what it does to our relationship to God. So we have seek to make that right too! So in vs. 8, after confession and restitution, the sinning party was required to offer a ram or a lamb to make atonement before God. What that tells me is...even after confession and restitution, there STILL needs to be a sacrifice. The bible says that "the wages of sin is death", and that wage HAS to be paid, either by you or someone else. The problem is...I don't have enough rams, or good works or whatever, to pay the debt I've racked up against God! Again..we need Jesus! He's sacrificial lamb who died for our sins. I John 2:2 says... He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world." Jesus had to die to pay the penalty for my sin, and your sin...and that penalty is death itself. Nothing else would do! He took our place in death to satisfy the justice of a holy God, and to cover (that's what atonement means) the offense that my sin caused Him. If you've committed an intentional sin...you can't just act like it doesn't matter...YOU HAVE TO DEAL WITH IT!
1st...you need to confess your part in it.
2nd... you need to make it right with the person you hurt.
3rd...you need to come to God and ask for the atoning death of Jesus Christ to cover it.
And now we come to the 3rd and final example of sin that God deals with here... Case Study #3 teaches us that...
3. All Sin is UNFAITHFULNESS
Read Numbers 5:11-3. In vs. 11-31, we have the case of a woman who's suspected of marital unfaithfulness. There's no proof that she did it, but she's being accused of it. So to deal with this, she is asked to do something that to us sounds crazy...even primitive. Again, don't judge prematurely, because God wants to teach us another very important lesson about sin... and that is... in His eyes...when I sin against Him...it's unfaithfulness. It's spiritual adultery!
So here's this woman accused of stepping out on her husband, but there's no conclusive proof...it's just a real strong suspicion that something's going on. I don't know what it is...but if your mate is stepping out on you...call it a 6th Sense if you want...but you know it! So, when he brings the charge against his wife, he also has to bring a grain offering (vs.15). The grain offering was always given as a way to symbolize submission to a superior. In this case, God. Meanwhile (vs.17), the priest would prepare a cup, containing a mixture of holy water and sacred dust from the floor of the tabernacle (i.e. muddy water!).
The woman would then stand before the Lord with her hair down (symbolizing the potential broken covenant of marriage), and the priest would charge her with an oath..."If you haven't been faithful, then this water won't cause you any harm...but it you have...then may you become childless!" The woman then had to respond, "Amen" (or... so be it!). The written curses would then be washed off into the water, and the woman would have to drink it, emphasizing that she would lit. have to eat her words if she was lying. The water was called, "bitter water" because of the bitter outcome if she was guilty.
The curse would be that her abdomen would swell up, (probably something to do with her reproductive organs getting inflamed) and she would be unable to bear children. On the otherhand, if she was innocent, the curse wouldn't have any effect. Now...nobody was presuming this woman's guilt or innocence, (she wasn't thrown into the river to see if she would drown), but they were putting the judgment totally in God's hands.
Now in all of this, God is teaching an important lesson about sin. See, from God's perspective Israel was His wife. He had entered into a covenant relationship with her, and so He was her husband. Now if she sinned, she was playing the part of adulterous wife and He has every right to bring her to trial, and make her drink the bitter cup of His wrath. If you know anything about the history of the Jewish race, you know that that happened not once, but multiple times over the coming years. In fact, in Isa.51 and Ezek.23...we see God giving his unfaithful bride a bitter cup to swallow. And since in Israels case, she was definitely guilty as charged, how can she escape the curse?
Let's bring this down to where we are this morning. I'm not going to try and whitewash it...if you have a relationship with Jesus Christ and then you go out and sin...THEN you've been playing the part of the unfaithful wife. You deserve the curses of unbarreness, and many are experiencing just that! The joy and excitement of their relationship with Christ has dried up! You're drinking the 'bitter cup' of your life of sin ...as a result, your depressed, your ashamed and your miserable. On the outside, it may even look like you're married to Christ (you still go to church, you still talk the talk), but in reality you're chasing other gods. You have other lovers...you love your entertainment, you job, your "things", a relationship...more than you love God. And if brought before God...you would be branded an adulterer.
So what do you do? Well, again you have to confess the truth about your sin...but thankfully, you don't have to continue to drink the "bitter cup" of remorse and pain. You can be restored to your former relationship with God. How? Because Jesus has again come to our rescue. He has taken the bitter cup for us! Remember what He said at the Last Supper as he lifted the cup? Luke 22:20...'In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you." In order for Him to share that cup of redemption with us, it had to become a bitter cup of suffering to Him! Jesus is the answer to the problem of the guilty adulterous wife...that's you...that's me!
Jeus dealt with my sin so that I can come just as I am to a Holy God. It doesn't matter who you are or what you've done. It doesn't matter whether your problem is defilement, transgression or spiritual adultery...Jesus Christ has paid the price for you and for me...and made it possible for us to draw close to God and receive His blessings, not His curses.
PRAYER OF SALVATION
