Newtonian Sin - Numbers 27

Numbers 26 and 27 can be long and boring in a sense because it is basically a census and is more of a historical record. However, what I find most amazing is in the latter part of Numbers 27 when God tells Moses to pass on the leadership to Joshua. Now, there is a lot to be learned here in the fact that God will not let His people go without guidance, but that is not what I picked up on most. The major thing that God said to me through this is how He still uses people.

Moses had committed a sin against God. He rebelled. He disobeyed. God passed judgement. And while the judgement was a major one - Moses couldn't see the Promised Land - He still did not jerk Moses right out of service! People in the ministry mess up. It's a fact! People of God mess up. It's a fact! The amazing thing that I think God shows us here is that, even though there are consequences to pay for our sin, He still loves us. Moses had to pay the consequences, but yet he still did not get exactly what He deserved. The payment of sin is death. Moses should have been struck down right then, but God didn't do that. He paid the earthly consequence, but He still did not have to pay the fullest of judgements. I guess what I am trying to point out here is the graciousness of God. He is saying, "Yes, sin has consequences - both earthly and spiritual - but I still love you!"

God did not jerk Moses' title away completely, He just made him pay his debt. He allowed Moses to still pass on His leadership and still ultimately used Moses, and allowed Moses to talk to Him after the sin. When we do things, God is not going to compeletely save us from the consequences every time. There are still debts to pay. But He never takes His love away from us!

I am reminded of a recent news headline in which a Youth Minister somewhere here in America confessed to a crime he committed decades ago before he was a Christian. (I believe it was a robbery.) The man still had to pay his earthly debts. He was sentenced to prison. God had forgiven him of all of his sins, but the man still committed the crime nonetheless and there was a debt to be paid. We must know that sin carried consequences and that is why we should avoid it at all costs. A law of physics says that every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Sin causes things to happen on Earth, and in the spiritual sense. Sin is not a minor thing, no matter how minor we think the sin may be. Whenever we do something that is sinful, there is going to be a reaction, and that reaction is probably going to be a bad one. God still loves you because He is love, but God is also Just, and He is fair, and there is still a debt to be paid. Jesus paid the debt in the spiritual realm, but He can't do our prison sentences for us (or whatever else the debt may be)!