Up to this point in the biblical storyline, the people of God have wandered through the wilderness, a new leader has been determined and is being prepared to replace Moses, and they are at the brink of entering into the land promised to them by God. The canvas of history has carried a gray hue, but still maintaining pockets of color. The people of God have struggled, and their journey has been strenuous–no, impossible. Can you imagine walking away from home, and being brought into a desolate and brittle environment where the reality of water running out and your food cache going away actually happens? Not to mention the fact that the sandals on your feet and the clothes on your back are all you have to walk in hundreds of miles of treacherous terrain. The circumstances are challenging to say the least. Nevertheless, the Israelites proceeded along, they received the Law of God, they built the tabernacle to worship and offering sin-satisfying and reconciliatory sacrifices to God, they found God faithful to thwart their enemies and protect them, and now they are on the brink of entering the new land.
“Then the Lord spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan opposite Jericho, saying, “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When you cross over the Jordan into the land of Canaan, then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their figured stones, and destroy all their molten images and demolish all their high places; and you shall take possession of the land and live in it, for I have given the land to you to possess it.”
Numbers 33:50-53
The land to which they are entering to possess was inhabited by a people whose immorality had brought judgment, and their heinous acts repudiation by God. They were in no way moral, ethical, or givers of justice–think Nazi genocidal-type activities. Their sin had prepared the way for God’s people, but they were to continue in obedience to God to receive His protection. In fact, God said…
“…if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then it shall come about that those whom you let remain of them will become as pricks in your eyes and as thorns in your sides, and they will trouble you in the land in which you live. And as I plan to do to them, so I will do to you.’”
Numbers 33:55-56
In effect, God warned the Israelites that their mission as they enter the land was to remove the sin from among God’s created earth; but if they do not, then God will deal with them in the same way. In other words, God gives no King’s X to anyone–He is consistent in His disdain for sin no matter who indulges in it. Just because the Israelite people were selected by God to herald and proclaim His message of salvation to all nations, it doesn’t mean that they are free to commingle with the immoralities enjoyed by the people of the land. No, no, God will not standby while His people join themselves to the things of this world.
And, as the biblical narrative unfolds, what we find is a group of people that failed miserably, and as a result incurred the judgement of God until God sent forth His Son who would not fail. And that is yet another reason why Christ had to die.
How Does This Apply To Us Today?
In the book of James, we read an oft quoted, but woefully under-appreciated verse…
“Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.”
James 1:27
The challenge we often have with this verse is that as much as we try, we’re just too good at becoming stained by the world. In many ways, we’re no different than the Israelites of old. Whether it’s our eyes that gaze at objects they shouldn’t, our minds that linger in thoughts it knows to be wrong and false, our feet that stroll into forbidden places, or our hands that take hold of things that are not our own, we often find that we can’t keep from becoming stained. In other words, this week, did your eyes fixate on any material thing(s) that someone else possess, and you wished it was yours? Maybe it was a car, a house, a spouse, a picture on a screen. What about your mind? Did you dream about anything that you know was wrong? How long did you stay there in that thought? Any discontentment lead to grumbling?
The fact is, it’s easy to become overwhelmed as we consider just how stained we really are. And we should–we should be overwhelmed, because we were never able to un-stain ourselves, nor maintain a life of being unstained. No, no, it’s impossible. But we shouldn’t be without hope. No, there is much hope for all of us. It is found in one place…
The glorious cross that Jesus Christ was sacrificed upon.
It was on that bloody tree that Christ became cursed for the cursed. It was there that Christ stood condemned and became stained for all yours and my stains. It was there were He cried, “…it is finished!” He satisfied, once and for all, the requirements of God, and offers salvation to all who would look to Him in faith. And, it is that same faith that carries you through your everyday walk with Him.
How?
You struggle, you fight, you toil at being unstained…but you never forget–you never let slip–the reality that you’re even able to struggle, to toil, and to fight because Christ went to the cross for you. You enter the daily fight against the world-stains with faith in Christ’s finished work on your behalf, and you continue your battle with the knowledge that you are a child of the King! You can’t remove your stains and you can’t keep them off on your own–He’s done it for you. But, you still fight, you still wage war against the world-stains in faith that you are a child of the King–a reality the world could never give nor take away!
Glory to our sin-satisfying, stain-removing, great and wonderful cross-enduring King, Jesus!
Amen and Amen.
— February 23, 2018