Numbers 16:1-5
How Bad Is Sin?
This chapter contains another in the long list of accounts where sin
came and diminished Israel. When we think of the sins of Israel in
relation to the Exodus, we often think of their best known
sin—rebelling against God after being incited by 10 of the spies—but
in reality, they sinned many times.
They sinned with their complaining. (The Bible calls it murmuring.)
1. They complained about the wilderness journey but they
complained about being in Egypt too.
2. They complained about the lack of food, but they complained
when God gave the food too.
3. They complained about enemies, but they complained about
leaders too.
They sinned in bringing, making, and worshiping false gods. Let’s
not forget the golden calves they made and worshipped.
They sinned in unbelief. Hebrews 3 tells us that because of this
sin, Israel was not allowed to enter the Promised Land.
Despite all of their sin and the consequences Israel experienced due
to their sin, Israel never understood sin. They seldom acknowledged
their sin. They never learned from their sin. They never understood
how bad sin was.
So is it in our world today. You will never turn on the news and hear
a newscaster use the word "sin" in his account of the today’s worst
crimes. Just the suggestion of "sin" causes the secular world to
convulse. I recall when President Bush, shortly after 9/11, referred
to three Communist states as the Axis of Evil. The press objected to
the use of a religious term. They were all right with the countries
being called Communist, socialist, terrorist, anarchist, and
subversive, but it was not acceptable do not call them anything
associated with sin.
We need to talk about sin. We need to learn about sin. We need to
understand sin. We need to see how bad sin really is.
Let’s see how bad sin is from this text this morning.
I. I see how bad sin is by the effect it has on people.
A. Strangely enough, one of the scientific means of proving the
existence of a thing is to show the effect that it is has on
others.
1. The planet Pluto was discovered not by sight but by it’s
effect.
2. Even to this day, we cannot see gravity. We know it
exists by its effect.
B. Sin had an effect on these people.
1. Sin blinded them to what was there, i.e. their rebellion
against God.
a. There is a term for this.
(1) It is called scotomas.
(2) It is a mental blindness where even though our
eyes are seeing the object, our brain does not
register it.
b. Korah, Dathan, Abiram came AGAINST Moses and Aaron.
(1) What they did not see was that when you stand
against God appointed authority, you are
standing against God.
(2) Moses tried to explain that to them, but they
could not see it.
Numbers 16:11 For which cause both thou and all
thy company are gathered together against the
LORD: and what is Aaron, that ye murmur against
him?
c. Even in our day of liberty, we are not go against
God’s leader.
Romans 13:1 Let every soul be subject unto the
higher powers. For there is no power but of God:
the powers that be are ordained of God.
d. If you talked to Korah, he would not have seen his
behavior as rebellion against God.
Numbers 16:3 And they gathered themselves
together against Moses and against Aaron, and
said unto them, Ye take too much upon you,
seeing all the congregation are holy, every one
of them, and the LORD is among them: wherefore
then lift ye up yourselves above the
congregation of the LORD?
e. What has sin blinded us to?
(1) Are we blinded as to how good God has been to us?
(2) Are we blind to what kind of hurt we are causing
others?
(3) Are we blind to how much trouble we are getting
into?
(4) Are we blind to the danger we are really in?
2. Sin made them see things that weren’t there.
a. There are several names that we could apply to that
such as delusional or hallucinations.
b. Korah and his group saw three things that were not
there at all.
(1) He saw Moses and Aaron as taking too much to
themselves.
(2) He saw the congregation as being holy.
(3) He saw Moses and Aaron as lifting themselves up.
c. What illusion is sin causing you to see?
(1) For girls, the biggest is, "He loves me."
(2) My friends aren’t bad.
3. \\#8-14\\ Sin made them unreasonable.
a. Moses tried to talk to these people and show them how
good they had it, but they would not.
b. Dathan and Abiram wouldn’t even come talk to Moses
\\#12-14\\.
c. Learn a lesson - When we are unreasonable, we are in
sin.
C. Sin’s effect is so powerful, everyone ought to have three
safety nets.
1. Safety net of salvation. Salvation gives you the Holy
Ghost.
2. Safety net of God’s Word. God’s word gives you wisdom.
3. Safety net of an honest voice.
a. Everyone needs friends that will tell them the truth
even when they do not want to hear it.
b. That is another reason God has given us the church.
II. I see how bad sin is by the way it enters.
A. One of the reasons I have selected this text is because it
so clearly shows how sin entered into that congregation.
B. Sin crept in.
1. Jude used that same word in the New Testament.
Jude 1:4 For there are certain men crept in
unawares, who were before of old ordained to this
condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of
our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only
Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.
2. \\#1\\ Here it started with four men.
a. Creeping Stage
b. It also be called the whispering stage.
c. This is where sin is discussed, committed and
encouraged in private.
3. \\#2\\ Sin spread to 250 leaders.
a. Conspiracy Stage, Mutiny Stage
b. Sin is introduced selectively to the weak and
carnal leaders.
c. There are always some who just "go along" for
awhile but when they have an opportunity, try to
"enlighten" others.
d. Some might take exception with the fact that I
called these men "weak."
(1) \\#2\\ "princes of the assembly, famous in
the congregation, men of renown."
(2) That makes them popular but it does not make
them righteous.
(3) If popularity could measure anything it would
likely be worldliness—not always, but most
of the time.
4. \\#41\\ Then sin caught on with the grass roots.
a. Contagious Stage - This is the stage that the Holy
Spirit Himself must keep under control.
2Th 2:6 And now ye know what withholdeth that he
might be revealed in his time.
b. We are all always fighting our nature.
c. Like a wildfire on the prairie, all it takes is the
smallest flame.
(1) The Carr Fire has been in the news. It
started when an automobile blew a tire. The
sparks from the rim hitting the road caused
a blaze that on Saturday had killed 8 and
burnt 177,000 acres (277 sq. miles).
(2) Robert, my son-in-law, told me that prairie
grass is like gasoline. They had a fire
come through their area that in 8 hours
traveled 100 miles to get to them. (That’s
almost 13 mph.)
5. \\#3\\ Finally, sin was brought it to Moses and Aaron.
a. Confrontation Stage
b. It’s the show-down stage. The leader can either
compromise or fight. Most choose to fight.
C. It works like this at work, home, and in the church.
D. Anything that has to come in by this kind of a means is
surely a bad thing.
Lu 16:8 And the lord commended the unjust
steward, because he had done wisely: for the
children of this world are in their generation
wiser than the children of light.
III. \\#25-34\\ I see how bad sin is because of the way God deals
with it.
A. There are three passages in this chapter where God speaks.
1. Twice, God told Moses how He wanted to deal with the
sin.
2. \\#20-21, 44-45\\
3. Both times the message was basically, "Get out of the
way and let Me destroy them!"
B. This was not just death.
1. We are all under that sentence.
2. This was instantaneous, complete, and frightening death.
a. God was talking about killing everyone right then
in a most horrible fashion.
b. Thank God for mercy and an intercessor!
(1) These two are the only reasons you and I
are alive!
(2) You ask, "Who is interceding for me?"
(3) Perhaps a parent, a child, a mate, a friend,
a co-workers
(4) If none of these then Jesus is doing the job!
(He’s the One who really counts.)
C. If you can measure sin’s reality by how God deals with it,
this sin was very real and very offensive to God.
1. \\#32-33\\ God opened the earth to swallow at least
three of the men, their families, and their things.
2. \\#35\\ Fire comes out from God (?) and consumed the
250 leaders.
3. \\#49\\ God sent a plague which killed 14,700 of the
grass root rebels.
D. Here is the shocker.
1. All sin deserves an instantaneous, complete, and
horrifying death—and all will receive it.
a. We drove 30 hours to get back to Green Pond. It
took 3 days, at least 12 hours each day in the
car. Driving like that, you sometimes wonder if
you will ever get there, but we did. About 8:40
last Wednesday night, we drove into the drive.
b. You may think because you are not at hell yet, it
will never come; but it will.
c. And not because God is mean, hateful, and
malicious; but because you and I have failed
miserably at being what God created us to be.
d. Hell is not God being malicious. It is God being
just—especially after He sent His Son to pay for
our sins!
e. As good as salvation is for us it has heated the
fires of hell even hotter!
2. Don’t let sin trick you into seeing yourself better than
you are!
All sin offends God and all sin costs a great price! Unfortunately,
most people will not repent until the bill comes due.
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