Avoiding the Agony of Achan, Part 2b

The Bible says in Proverbs 13, 13 these words, He who despises God's word will be destroyed by it. If you despise the Word of God, you will be destroyed by it. So when God says something, And you say, well, that doesn't make a difference to me.

I really don't care about that. Or that doesn't apply to me. The Bible says, you will be destroyed by it.

That was Achan. Ach despised the word of the Lord. He knew what it said. He just wasn't going to obey. Therefore, he was in debt to it. He would be destroyed by it, and he was. And we don't like to look at our lives as being destroyed, but they are when we despise the Word of God.

And so we need to go back and begin to review in our hearts and minds what are the consequences of sin. So I began thinking of a couple of them and I wanted to write them down and talk to you about them. We know about Joshua 7. We're discussing that. But remember Miriam. Miriam in Numbers chapter 12. Remember her? She was the sister of Moses. She was the one who protected Moses. She was the one who provided for Moses. She was the one who could proclaim God in front of the people because she was a prophetess.

She was a great woman of God. But one day she got a little upset. Things weren't going as well as Miriam wanted them to go. And the Bible says in Numbers chapter 12, these words, verse 1.

Then Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses, because of the Cushite woman, whom he had married, for he had married a Cushite woman. And they said, Has the Lord indeed spoken only through Mos? Has he not spoken through us as well? And Miriam was a little jealous. She was a little bitter on the inside. Of course, her name means bitter. At the root of her name is bitterness. And she was a little bitter that she wasn't getting the recognition. After all, she was the protector of M. If it wasn't for her, Moses wouldn't be there.

Moses would be dead if it wasn for Miriam. She knows that. That's not true, though, because it really was a sovereign plan of God. But she's taken the credit herself. And so now she says, well, does God only speak through Moses? The Bible says this, and the Lord heard it.

Let me tell you something. Whenever you speak against the leadership, guess who hears it? God hears it. The leader might not hear it, but God hears it. You know, it's a horrible thing to speak against God's ordained leader. And that's what Moses was. And whether you liked him or whether you didn't like him, he was the leader that God had put there, and that's the one God wanted. And Miriam, the sister of Moses, said, You know what? There's got to be somebody else God can use to speak. God heard that.

God knew her heart. It says in verse 3: Now, the man Moses was very humble, and more than any man who was on the face of the earth. And suddenly, the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, and to Miriam. You three come out to the tent of meeting. So the three of them came out. Then the Lord came down. Remember, we told you that when the Lord comes down, he means business. The Lord never comes down just to social. When God comes down, he means business. And God came down to Miriam, Aaron, and Moses. I don't know about you, but if I was Miriam, I'd be, you know, I'd be scared to death.

God's speaking to me and God's saying, I'm coming down. Meet me at the tent of meeting. And so it says, He came down in a pillar of a cloud and stood at the doorway of the tent, and he called Aaron and Miriam. When they had both come forward, he said, Hear now my words: If there is a prophet among you, I, the Lord, shall make myself known to him in a vision. I shall speak with him in a dream. Not so with my servant Moses. He is faithful in all my household. With him I speak mouth to mouth, even open.

And not in dark say. And he beholds the form of the Lord. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant, against Moses? He says, He speaks what I tell him to speak. I speak to him like I speak to no other man. Then, what gives you the right to speak against my leader? He's my servant, God says.

Verse 9, so the anger of the Lord burned against them, and he departed. But when the cloud had withdrawn from over the tent, behold, Miriam was lepros as white as snow. Now you know the story. Moses would beseech the Lord on behalf of Miriam. Miriam would be placed outside the camp, and she would no longer have the leprosy after a period of days. But she never had any prominent leadership position again after this incident. The consequence of sin You know, there are times in our lives we have to speak against God's day and leadership.

We don't like what they're doing. And so instead of going to them and talking to them about those things, we talk to somebody else about them. And God hears that. Because it's a vengeful, bitter spirit that rises up within us. Remember we told in Hebrews 12, 15, be careful that no root of bitterness springs up within you, thus defiling you and many other people? And causing trouble in the assembly. That's what bitterness does. It causes trouble around everybody else. So you've got to be careful about that.

And that's just a little thing. But in God's eyes, it was a big thing because you spoke against God. You're saying ultimately, God, you know what? Your ordained leader is not good enough for me, not good enough for us. There's got to be somebody else. that can do what he's doing. After all, he's not that good anyway. God says, wait a minute.

I put him there. And because I put them there, you're speaking against me and my plan and my provision for you as a people. Got to be very careful about that. But what about Aaron? Aaron had two sons, Nadab and Abih. Go to Leviticus chapter 10. Verse number 1 Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took their respective fire pans, and after putting fire in them, placed incense on it and offered strange fire before the Lord, which he had not commanded them. And fire Came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord.

Nadab and Abihu were the sons of Aaron. Nadab and Abih were on the mount and were able to perceive the face of God. They were in line for the priesthood. They were servants of their father and servants of God. They had been trained in the priesthood, but yet one day they decided: you know what? We're going to do things a little bit different in the world. Worship service. We're not going to take the fire from the brazen altar like we're supposed to. We're going do it our way. We're going to develop our own kind of fire.

We going to develop our own kind of sacrifice. We're going It our way. The Bible says they offered strange fire.

Strange fire. In other words, it was unauthorized. Fire. And after all, they were only to take that fire and offer it on the Day of Atonement anyway, so it was the wrong time to do that. But they didn't care about that. They just wanted to do it their way. And God says, you know what, you can't do that.

So he kills them, he burns them up, he sets them on fire. They're consumed immediately. I think about this and I think about our worship. And people just think they can worship God any way they want without any consequences. I mean, after all, it's my way, and it feels good to me, and so I'm just going to worship God the way I want to. We don want to worship Him in spirit and in truth. We just want to worship Him the way that makes me feel the best. And I am convinced, I am convinced, utterly convinced, that because people have developed their own form of worship, their own style, any way they want.

And they come and they worship God just the way they want, not in spirit and not in truth, they are reap more havoc on their personal lives and their family lives than they'll ever know. Than they'll ever know. Just because they think they can do it their way and no consequences. And Leviticus 10 is a perfect illustration. Look, you just can't come into God and say, God, you know what? We're going to change things around here. We're going go our way. You know what God told Aaron? God told Aaron, you can't cry about it.

Don't even think about crying, he told Aaron. Don't even weep for your sons because they dishonored my name. They dishonored me. Can you imagine as a father having your two sons consumed by fire because they decided to worship God the wrong way and then God's saying, you know what, don't cry about it? Don't cry about it. Don't even shed a tear for them. They were rebellious. They were disobedient. They went against me. And they are a part of the holy priesthood. And we are supposed to have a holy people.

And these men cannot even lead that way. They have no right to continue to live. So God killed them. When you are contemplating sin, be mindful of the consequences of sin. Remember Hofne and Phine? Maybe you don't. Hof and Phineas, those are two incredible young men. Of course, if he had a name Hophni and Phine, you probably wouldn't walk with the Lord much anyway. But Hophney and Phine are in 1 Samuel 2, verse number 12. It says, Now the sons of Eli were worthless men, they did not know the Lord.

Verse 17. Thus the sin of the young men was very great before the Lord, for the men despised the offering of the Lord. Hop and Phineas were sons of Eli, the sons of Eli. It says in verse 22, now Eli was very old, and he heard all that his sons were doing to all Israel, and how they lay with the women who served at the doorway of the tent of meeting. He didn't witness it. Eli heard about it. He heard about how his boys, instead of leading people because they were in the priesthood, instead of leading people to a closer relationship with God, they were abusing people.

And they would lie with the women at the tent of meeting. Verse 23. And he that is Le said to them, Why do you do such things, the evil things that I hear from all these people? No, my sons, for the report is not good which I hear the Lord's people circulating. If one man sins against another, God will mediate for him but if a man sins against the Lord, who can intercede for him? But they would not listen to the voice of their f, for the Lord desired to put them to death. Now think about this. Eli's got these two boys and they're committing acts of immorality there in the temple steps and he hears about it and says, hey, you know guys, you can't do that kind of stuff, man.

I mean, come on. We're in the priesthood here. Got to act a little bit better than that. You know, it's kind of. Shame, shame, shame. Shouldn 't be doing those kind of things. After all, you're giving the priesthood a bad name. You're giving your dad a bad name. Don't want to do that. So, give me a good name. Give yourselves a good name. Let's do the right thing here. But you know what? Children don't listen to that. Obviously, they would not listen to the voice of their father. These young men would not listen to that because children don't listen to petty und parents who will not put the hammer down.

They will not. If you don't put the hammer down, guess what? Your children are going to mock you and laugh at you and just forget about anything you say. Eli should have put the hammer down in his boys. He should have, but he didn't. In fact, the Bible says this over in verse 13: For I have told him that I am about to judge his house forever, that is, God saying to Eli, for the iniquity which he knew, because his sons brought a curse on themselves.

He did not rebuke them. He didn't rebuke his boys. He knew what his boys were doing. He did not deal with his boys in a decisive, quick. Harsh manner. Instead, he just kind of slapped them on the wrist and said, You know, guys, you can't do that kind of stuff. It's not right. Come on now.

Come on, boys. Get your act together. Oh, he should have rebuked them. He should have disciplined them. He should have put them in their place. But he did not. And God saw that. And God said, I will judge him, and I will judge his sons, because I will not stand for that. Kind of behavior. And listen, do you know why he gave him a slap on the wrist? Do you know why parents give their children a slap on the wrist? You want to know why parents do not deal harshly with their children? You want to know why parents don't discipline their children?

You want to know why. Parents let their children just get off the hook after all the sin they commit. Right here. Ready? Here it goes. Verse 27. But a man of God came to Eli and said to him, Thus says the Lord, Did I not indeed reveal myself to the house of your father when they were in Egypt in bondage? in Pharaoh's house? And did I not choose them from all the tribes of Israel to be my priests, to go up to my altar, to burn incense, to carry on and ephod before me? And did I not give to the house of your father all the fire offerings of the sons of Israel?

Why do you kick at my sacrifice and at my offering which I have commanded in my dwelling and honor your s above me? The reason parents don't discipline their children is because they honor their children above God. Their children are more important to them than God. So it says, listen to this: by making yourselves fat with the choices of every offering of my people Israel, therefore the Lord God of Israel declares, I did indeed say that your house and the house of your father. Should walk before me forever, but now the Lord declares: Far be it from me, for those who honor me, I will honor, and those who despise me will be lightly esteemed.

If you honor me, I will honor you, but you dishonored me and you honored your children above me. Folks, let me tell you something.

That is an horrendous sin. And horrendous sin. And the reason we don't discipline our children and rebuke our children and deal with our children in a harsh manner, yes, in a Loving manner, but show them the seriousness of their sin is because we are more concerned about honoring them than God, and they know it and they laugh at you. They mock you, not to your face necessarily, inside they're saying, not. You mean nothing to me, mom. Mean nothing to me, Dad. These two boys would not listen to the voice of their father because they knew he wasn't serious.

He had no authority. Why didn he have authority? Because he didn't use the word of God in the lives of his children. That's why he didn't have authority. When you use the word of God in the lives of your children, you have authority. You have an authority base. God said this. You can't do it. You violated what God said. Therefore, you got this. It's the way it works. And the reason, listen, the reason our children do not contemplate the consequences of their sin is because we give them no consequences when they sin.

Can you remember that? Why is it our children continue to sin and rebel against our authority? Why do our children continue to do the things that they do? It's because there's no consequences for their sin. We're not enacting God's authority in their life, and we're not telling them there are consequences for their sin. So they grow up thinking, you what? I can do this and get away with it. I can do and get away with it. I can just keep doing it, and there's going to be no consequences. And the Bible says, be not deceived.

God is not mocked, whatso man sows, actually also reap. For if a man sows to the flesh, he will of the flesh reap corruption. But if he sows to the Spirit, he shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. It's the law of the harvest. God says, Is this the way it is?

You might not pay today. You might not pay tomorrow, but payday is someday. It will happen. And those are just consequences that we need to be mindful of. What happened to Hop and Phine? They died. It goes on to say in chapter 4 they went to battle with the Philistines and 4,000 men were killed in the battle with the Philistines. And they couldn't understand what happened. So, what did they decided to do? They decided to say, Look, we've got to take the Ark of the Covenant with us into battle because if we take God with us in the battle, we win.

So, guess who took the Ark of the Covenant in the battle? Hop Phine. These two men who did not know the Lord, who rebelled against their father's authority. Who would not follow the word of God said, We'll take the ark of the covenant into battle because they thought that it was a like almost like a good luck charm. Okay, you can't use God for your selfish purposes. So what did they do? They took the Ark of the Covenant in the battle, and the Bible says that 30,000 foot soldiers died in the very next battle.

So they went without the ark, and 4,000 died. They went with the ark, which representative of the presence of God, and 30,000 died. How do you figure that? And on top of that, the ark was taken. The Philistines capture the ark and they go back to Eli. Eli, the ark's gone. He goes, oh my, falls over backwards, breaks his neck, and dies. Because he could not rule Israel, and the reason he couldn't rule Israel is because he couldn't rule his own home. See? That's why the Bible says in the New Testament: don't put a man as an elder of the church or a dig in the church if he can't rule his own family.

Because if he can't rule the family, he can't rule the house of God. Eli couldn rule the house of Israel because he couldn't rule his own sons. Couldn't rule his own sons. Phine's wife. Eli's daughter-in-law, she was pregnant. She had a child. She named the child Ichabod. For the glory of the Lord had departed from Israel. That's what Ichabod means. She had a better understanding of God than her husband and her father-in-law. The glory of the Lord had departed from Israel. And why does the glory of the Lord depart from Israel?

Because of the sin of the people. You see, we must be mindful of the consequences of sin. And that's why it says over in 1 Corinthians chapter 11: a simple thing like the Lord's table. What does the Apostle Paul say? Many are sick, and they are weak among you. And some of you have even fallen asleep. Some of you have died. Because you eat and drink of the Lord's table in an unworthy manner. Whoa! I bet you there are more people sick and more people who die as Christians because they ab the Lord's table than we ever imagined.

We come in here on Sunday morning and we partake of the Lord's table and say, ah, this is a little cup of juice and this little piece of bread. It's just a symbol of something. Doesn mean that much. We do it every month. It's almost like a ritual. We come in with unconfessed sin. We come in without dealing with another brother who sinned against us, or we've sinned against them. And we just kind of partake of the Lord's table like it means nothing to us. And Paul says, you know what? There are people who are sick, people who have become very weak physically and spiritually.

and some who have even d because they eat and they drink in an unworthy manner. Think about that. It doesn't mean that when someone dies, they ate and drank in an unworthy manner last Sunday or last time we had communion or they're sick. It doesn't mean that, but just think about that. Think about that. Are those people dealing with the sin that's pres in their lives? See, we're going to sin because that is the struggle we face this side of eternity. But do we confess the sin? Do we forsake the sin?

Do we set things right with our God? Or do we just continue on in the sin hoping there'll be no consequences? But there are. 1 Corinthians chapter 10, the Bible talks about those who grumbled and mumbled, and God killed them. We learned about that in the book of Numbers, right? In the Old Testament with the nation of Israel. The nation of Israel began to grumble and mumble about God's plan and provision for the life, and God said, That's it, you die. I'm tired of your mumbling and grumbling. There were some who committed immorality, and God said to kill 23,000 of them in one day because they decided to act in an immoral way.

Those are the consequences of sin. They're all over the place. The Bible is filled with it. Why? Because the Bible wants you to know there are serious consequences for those who sin against God. And we don't want to talk about sin. We don't want to talk about the consequences of sin because that's just all negative stuff. And it's hard to take. And we don't want the pastor talking about my sin or my family or my issues because, you know, it just turns me off when he does those kinds of things. But God, he always can fund sin.

That's what the Bible says, the book of Proverbs, sixth chapter, verse 23, For the commandment is a lamp, and the teaching is light, and reproofs for discipline are the way of life.

Do you hear that? It says, the commandment is the lamp, and teaching is a light. The word of God lights the way. It's the lamp that shows you which way to go. And reproofs for discipline are the way of life. Reproofs for discipline are the way of life. So, when people speak against sin and about disciplining sin and dealing with those issues, it's the way of life, folks. That's the way it is. And God's word speaks to those things. Then it says in verse 24, to keep you away from the evil woman, from the smooth tongue of the adulteress, do not desire her beauty in your heart.

Remember Achin? I saw the mantle. It was so, so beautiful. So beautiful. God says, don't desire the beauty of the adulteress in your heart.

Nor let her catch you with her eyel for on account of a harlot one is reduced to a loaf of bread, and an adult hunts for the precious life. Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned? Or can a man walk on hot coals and his feet not be scorched? So is he who goes into his neighbor's wife. Whoever touches her will not go unpunished. It won't happen. Men do not despise the thief if he steals to satisfy himself when he is hungry. But when he is found, he must repay sevenfold. He must give all the substance of this house.

We don't blame a thief. A guy's hungry. He goes and steals food. We understand that, but he's still got to pay. He's got to pay the consequences, even though he's doing something that's going to help him and his family. He's still got to pay because you can't steal. Then it says, the one who commits adultery with a woman is lacking sense. He would destroy himself. He who would destroy himself does it. Wounds and disgrace he will find, and his reproach will not be blotted out. Wow. The consequences of sin are great.

They're devastating.