Matt Hagee - Disobedience Brings Disaster
- Watch
- Donate
- Contact us
- Salvation!
Welcome to this week’s Sunday conversation. We’re still in the book of Numbers, and we’re now in Numbers chapter 15. Numbers chapter 15 is a very interesting chapter in that it begins a new season for Israel. In Numbers 14, they have refused to enter the Promised Land. The 10 spies are killed; Joshua and Caleb are the only two spies that remain because they believed that they could take the land. But the chapters of Numbers 15, 16, 17, all the way to chapter 25, cover 40 years of Israel wandering in circles and depleting in every lap. Remember, last week we talked about 635 men all the way down to 18,500. Could you imagine going to funerals for 40 years? Why? Because of the indecision and unwillingness to obey God’s word.
Now understand this: God didn’t change His mind. He wanted the children of Israel to inhabit the Promised Land. They refused to do what He wanted, and He didn’t say, «Fine, stay where you are.» In Numbers 15, chapter and verse, He says to Moses, «Speak to the children of Israel and tell them, when you have come into the land you are to inhabit, which I am giving to you.» He knows that they’re going to spend 40 years dying, and He lets them know immediately, «I haven’t changed My mind; you’re still going to the Promised Land; you’re just not going to be as many when you get there.» In Numbers 14:22 and 23, He says it very clearly that those who refused to obey shall not see the land.
In verse 29, He makes this statement: those who are 20 years and above are going to die. But in Numbers 15, He goes right back to telling them, «This is how you’re going to behave when you get there.» He begins to lay out the laws that He gave them at Mount Sinai and that were written in the Book of Leviticus. He starts with the offerings that they’re supposed to bring. There are two offerings: a grain offering and a drink offering, and these offerings were to cover sin. Why? Because that’s what the children of Israel had done when they refused to obey God; they sinned. The Bible says, «To him who knows to do right and does it not, to him it is sin.» And so God, being a merciful God, wants to show them how to make this relationship right again.
I want you to see this very clearly because sometimes people can hear about God’s judgment-how 600,000 men can dwindle down to 18,200- and they wonder, «How can that God be a God of love, a God of justice, and a God of peace? How can He be a good God?» But what we should recognize is that every time we sin, God always gives us a way to rebuild and reconnect the relationship with Him. That’s why in Numbers 15, He talks about a drink offering and a grain offering so that sin can be reconciled, and man and God can be back in relationship again. This is what we read in 1 John: «If we confess our sins, then He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us of all unrighteousness.» I want you to see very clearly that the «if» is never in God; the «if» is always in us. If we confess our sins, He will forgive our sins. If we forsake our sins, He will cleanse us. So here we see the mercy of God on people that He’s just given bad news to. He says, «Based on your choice, you’re going to walk in this wilderness for 40 years; you’re still going to do what I said you’re going to do, but I’ll walk with you and I’ll be there beside you.»
Even in judgment, we’re not given great details of Israel’s journey because I believe when you refuse to follow God’s plan, you don’t make much progress. How do you tell the story of 40 years of nothing when you don’t get God’s plan and purpose the first time? Get ready to repeat the lesson; get ready to go through it one more time. And this is what Israel does for the next 10 chapters: they walk in circles. But while they walk, God is teaching them how to live in relationship with Him. In Numbers 15: 18, we read about the grain offering: «Speak to the children of Israel and say to them, when you come into the land to which I will bring you.» Once again, we hear God telling them, «You’re coming to the land.» He says, «Then it will be when you eat of the bread of the land that you shall offer up a heave offering to the Lord. You shall offer up a cake of the first of your ground meal as a heave offering of the threshing floor. So that you shall offer it up of the first of your ground meal, you shall give to the Lord a heave offering throughout your generations.»
So this is the grain offering. In the Old Testament, wheat had to be planted. It had to grow; it was harvested. When it was harvested, it was taken to a threshing floor where the wheat and the chaff were separated. The wheat grain would fall to the ground; they would gather the grain and grind it, and now they had flour. They could mix the flour with water, and now they had meal. They could take the meal and make bread. What God was saying is, «When you come into the land and you have these supplies, I want you to heave some of it in the air and offer it to Me.»
Now, sometimes people have asked me, «Pastor Matt, why does Pastor Hagee, before the offering, tell people, 'If you have your offering, hold it in your hand? '» That’s not so he can see it, but that’s a fulfillment of this verse. It’s a heave unto the Lord to say, «Hey, You’re the one that gave me this; You’re the one that brought me out of sin; You’re the one whose faithfulness has brought me to this moment, and I wouldn’t be alive to eat the bread that I’m about to eat if it wasn’t for You.» It’s a fulfillment of the recognition of God’s role in your life.
Not only was there a grain offering, but there was also a drink offering, and the drink offering was to be poured out. Now, why were there two offerings for sin? Isn’t all sin equal? Yes and no. All sin is equal in that it separates us from God, but there are sins that men commit intentionally and there are sins that men commit unintentionally. Understand when I use the word «men,» I’m not speaking specifically of a gender, but of mankind. There are times that we do wrong, and we don’t know that we’re wrong; it’s just the nature of humanity. And then there are times that we do wrong, and we know intentionally that we did it wrong, and that’s our free will. Adam and Eve knew when they took the fruit and they ate it that they were breaking God’s law because God clearly told them not to do it. That’s why James is so clear: «To him who knows to do right and does it not, to him it is sin.»
So there’s, in doctrinal terms, sins of omission-things that we didn’t intend to do but did-and sins of commission-things that we deliberately chose and decided that that’s what was going to happen. Here in the Book of Numbers, we read about these two offerings: the grain offering and the drink offering. It shows us very clearly that God intends to cleanse us of all of our sins and all of our unrighteousness. Consider what the book of Romans tells us: «All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.» Some people want to ask, «Does that mean that everybody who’s ever drawn a breath has sinned?» Absolutely. Why? Because God’s glory is the standard. If my glory was the standard, there would be people who had never sinned, because there are lots of people who are better than me. But there is no human being on earth that is the standard; the standard is God’s glory. And when you compare your life to His standard, we don’t measure up.
But the joy is not that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; the joy is that the gift of God is salvation through Jesus Christ. Whether you intended to sin or you didn’t know it was sin, God can cleanse you of all sin and all unrighteousness. This is what the prophet Isaiah said: «Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow.» In Numbers 15: 22, it says, «If you sin unintentionally and do not observe all of the commandments which the Lord has spoken to Moses, all that the Lord has commanded you by the hand of Moses from that day the Lord gave commandment and onward throughout your generations, it will be unintentionally committed without knowledge.»
«The whole congregation shall offer a young bull as a burnt offering, as a sweet aroma to the Lord, and a grain offering and its drink offering according to the ordinances, and one of the kid goats as a sin offering.» This is where God is telling the children of Israel, «I’m going to cover your sins because I want to have a relationship with you.»
Whenever your life begins to go down a path that’s not pleasing to God, you need to recognize that God will always give you a path back to Him. That’s an important thing to consider because I believe that there are some of you watching right now, and you’re walking in a path that’s taking you away from God. Maybe it’s unintentional; maybe it’s intentional. Maybe you’ve gone through some difficult seasons, and you’re wondering in a moment of doubt, «Does God love me? Does He have a plan for me? Has He forgotten me?» And these doubts have led to disbelief, and this disbelief has caused you to stray and wander far from God. God always gives you a path back to Him. God always provides appropriate sacrifice, and in our lives, that sacrifice is His Son, Jesus Christ.
As you list all of the things that are required here in Numbers- there’s a bull, there’s a grain offering, there’s a drink offering, there’s a kid goat — people say, «Wow, that’s a lot.» Indeed, it is. But the joy of our salvation is that all of that was fulfilled with one perfect life and one perfect Lamb, and His name is Jesus.
If you feel as though your life has been plagued by indecision, today I want you to make that decision to choose the path that God has given you back to Him, and that is Jesus Christ. I want you to share this message with somebody you know needs to hear it because, even though you might not think you can find the message of salvation in a book like Numbers in a season of aimless wandering, this word is alive and powerful. Every line, every letter, every chapter, and every verse carries in it the message of salvation that God has brought to us through Jesus Christ because He is the way, He is the truth, and He is the life. God bless you, and thank you for joining us for this Sunday conversation.