#7
(THE "DIFFICULTIES ON THE JOURNEY" SERIES)
"DIFFICULTIES
WITH BOREDOM!"
TEXT: Numbers
25:1-18
INTRO: When are
Christians most tempted to sin, under what
circumstances?
1.
When everything is going wrong around them?
2.
When finances are not good?
3.
When they are overwhelmed with too many
responsibilities?
4.
When they are struggling with physical
ailments?
5.
When they are struggling with relationships?
The answer might surprise you but it is
NONE of the above! It is when we
are BORED that the temptation to sin is usually the
greatest!
Boredom usually results when we are
between 2 things … the problem and the answer, a period of time we call the "waiting" period. It is during this time of little
activity that our faithfulness and commitment get the biggest challenge. It is during these "waiting" periods that we find ourselves
restless and can best be challenged by temptation! The old expression, “An idle mind
is the Devil’s workshop” has more truth to it that we care to
admit.
PROP.
SENT:
The Bible will teach us to
be cautious during waiting times in our walk with God, it is during these times
we can be most prone to temptation.
I. BOREDOM'S SEDUCTIONS 25:1-3
A. Waiting!
25:la
1.
Israel was camped between two realities, the desert and promise land,
they were in a waiting mode!
a. This idleness became the breeding
ground for a great temptation!
b. The most powerful temptations will
come during such "waiting"
times!
2.
Israel rarely got into spiritual trouble when it was traveling with God,
it was almost always when they were camped out and waiting for the next
move.
a. Jesus' greatest temptations came
when He was waiting in the wilderness in quiet prayer.
b. Lot's greatest temptations came
when he was settled in Sodom and was bored!
c. David's greatest temptation came on
one occasion when he stayed home rather than be out fighting with his troops, in
his boredom he wandered onto the roof of his palace, saw Bathsheba and the rest
is history, tragic history, as he yield to the temptations of lust and
murder!
d. Elijah faced bravely the prophets
of Baal, but after fleeing into the desert and while waiting there he became
tempted to quit, he was terribly discouraged!
e. Israel only 40 years earlier had
been waiting for Moses on Mount Sinai; it was during those 40 days of waiting
that they made the golden calf and committed sin, they got bored waiting for
Moses to return!
3.
ILLUS: AN
OVERWEIGHT MAN FINALLY GOT SICK OF HIS WEIGHT AND MADE A CONCERTED EFFORT TO
LOSE WEIGHT. HIS FRIENDS HAD
ENCOURAGED HIM TO STAY AWAY FROM THE BAKERY HE LOVED SO MUCH, IT HAD CONTRIBUTED
TO HIS GREAT WEIGHT GAIN TO BEGIN WITH.
AT FIRST HE WOULD DRIVE TO WORK BY ANOTHER ROUTE TO AVOID THE
BAKERY. ONE DAY HOWEVER, HE CAME
INTO WORK CARRYING A HUGE COFFEE CAKE ... FOR WHICH HIS FRIENDS SCOLDED
HIM. HE REPLIED, “NO, THIS IS O.K., GOD LET ME KNOW THIS WAS
A VERY SPECIAL COFFEE CAKE AND O.K. FOR ME TO HAVE THIS ONE!” HE EXPLAINED HOW HE HAD ACCIDENTALLY
THAT DAY DROVE BY THE BAKERY AND NOTICED THE WINDOW WAS FULL OF GOODIES, HE FELT
THAT SINCE HE HAD JUST ACCIDENTALLY DRIVEN BY THAT THIS MUST NOT BE AN ACCIDENT
BUT WAS PART OF GOD'S PLAN ... SO HE PRAYED, “LORD, IF YOU WANT ME TO HAVE ONE OF THOSE
DELICIOUS CAKES IN THE WINDOW PROVIDE AN OPEN PARKING PLACE RIGHT IN FRONT OF
THE BAKERY.” THEN HE CONTINUED,
“AND SURE ENOUGH THE EIGHTH TIME AROUND
THE BLOCK, THERE IT WAS!!!” -- Source
Unknown
4.
Like us,
** Soren Kierkegaard said, "Boredom is the
root of all evil" ... boy was he right!
B. Weakness
25:1b-3
1.
This story follows on the heel of the incident where King Balak had hired
the prophet Balaam to curse Israel, an attempt which had
failed!
a. However, though Balaam had failed
to curse
b. With this in mind the Moabite women
invite the men of Israel to come and join them for fellowship and
meals.
(1. This meant eating at the shrine of idols,
something they were forbidden by God to do!
(2. While enjoying all this glorious food,
like the food they had in Egypt, they were also prone to temptation in other
areas as well!
(3. Yielding to one sin encourages yielding
to other sins as well!
2.
As they ate these sacrificial meals they also bowed before the idols of
the Moabites.
3.
The particular idol they bowed before was Baal of Peor, this was a
Moabite fertility god.
a. This cult was celebrated with
temple prostitutes.
b. Sexual immorality was part of the
worship!!!
4.
The Moabites were a culture that worshipped sex and
fertility!
a. Not too unlike our modern culture
today! Look at our TV and
entertainment industry!
b. Even our merchandise is sold with
sexual overtones around them!
5.
This participation with ungodliness and flirting with sin was a violation
of their covenant with God! God was
angry with them!
II. BOREDOM'S STUBBORNNESS!
25:4-9
A. Wavering! 25:4-5
1.
God instructs Moses to take drastic action lest they completely fall
away, He asks Moses to kill all the leaders who allowed this to
happen!
a.
b. This is often the basis of sin
today ... it is not from ignorance of knowing what is right or wrong, but our
choosing the wrong!
2.
Moses however does not exactly follow God's word, instead of giving
orders to kill all the leaders he asks the leaders to kill only those who were
involved with the sin!
a. Moses in doing this is excusing the
leaders of their failure to lead correctly, and he disobeys God’s directive and
excuses the leaders from responsibility!
b. It was the job of the leaders to
guide the people, they had allowed the men of
3.
It is understandable why Moses might have wavered here, these leaders
were the equivalent to today's cabinet ministers in a modern government. Moses might have feared the reaction of
the people to killing them, or the chaos he thought might take place
politically!
a. These leaders would play an
important role in going into the promise land as established
leaders!
b. Moses’ wavering however only allows
much more suffering as a plague breaks out in Israel – Moses’ failure to deal
with them as God directed brings only more suffering on all
Israel!
c. We later learn that 24,000 men died
in this plague, that beats the death toll from Korah's rebellion which brought
14,700 deaths!
d. This was a high price for political
gain!
4.
While Moses' wavering is understandable it was not
justifiable!
a. Their bodies were to be left out in
the open; this was a drastic action for that time for it was believed that an
unburied body could not find rest in the underworld!
b. This would speak to the people of
the serious nature of their sin, that it was considered by God to be a heinous
act!
B. Wantonness!
25:6
1.
In a display of wanton disregard for God or His Word and Covenant a
Jewish man brings back into camp a Midianite woman and openly in the very midst
of the people commits sexual intercourse with her.
a. This took place while the people
were weeping over the deaths of so many from the plague that had already broken
out!
b. Even in the midst of God's
discipline this man mocks God to His face in the sight of all
Israel!
2.
The temptation of gluttony had encouraged the temptation of sexual
immorality, which now encouraged brazen arrogance!
a. Once sin is yielded to it
encourages more to come!
b. Each new sin creates a new level of
hardness!
3.
The man was tempted to believe he could get away with his sin! He ignored the principle in Scripture,
“be sure your
sins will find you out!”
ILLUS: LIKE A MAN
WHO RAN A DELI. A WOMAN HAD COME
INTO THE STORE AND REQUESTED A CHICKEN.
THE BUTCHER REACHED DOWN INTO HIS BARREL AND GRABBED THE LAST CHICKEN HE
HAD, HE BROUGHT IT UP AND FLUNG IT ON THE SCALE. AFTER TELLING THE WOMAN THE WEIGHT SHE
RESPONDED, "I REALLY NEED A BIT MORE
CHICKEN THAN THAT, DO YOU HAVE ANY LARGER ONES?" WITHOUT SAYING A WORD AND
WANTING TO GET HOME HE PUT THE CHICKEN BACK INTO THE BARREL AND PRETENDED TO
FEEL ALL AROUND IN THE BARREL.
FINALLY HE PRETENDED TO GRAB ANOTHER CHICKEN, BUT REALLY HE HAD THE SAME
ONE … AND HE PULLED IT UP AND PUT IT ON THE SCALE AND PROUDLY ANNOUNCED THAT IT
WAS JUST THE RIGHT AMOUNT HEAVIER THAN THE LAST ONE, IT WOULD BE PERFECT FOR
HER. THE WOMAN THOUGHT FOR A MOMENT
WHILE HE PATTED HIMSELF ON THE BACK FOR HIS CLEVERNESS AND FINALLY SHE SAID, "I'LL TAKE THEN BOTH THEN!!!" HE WAS FOUND OUT! -- Source
Unknown
4.
The unchallenged sins by the leaders had now shown the level of arrogance
to sin by the people! Was there no
one righteous enough to speak up for God?
C. Warning! 25:7-9
1.
The man committing this sin was the son of a leader in Israel!! Why is this not a surprise since the
leaders were not punished by Moses as God had said they
should.
2.
24,000 Israelites had already perished; it was time to put a stop to this
sin before more suffered!
3.
A grandson of Aaron (for Aaron was dead at this point) came forward, his
name is Phinehas.
a. He is so angry at the flagrant
nature of this deed he runs and gets a spear, and when he returned he thrust it
through the man and the woman as they engaged in their sexual
act!
b. Phinehas does this out of anger for
God and His word, this was a righteous anger!
4.
Immediately the plague stops, God's anger stops because someone else
carried it and expressed it against
a. Truly “the wages of sin
is death!”
b. While these two die the message of
sin which is death is made, now God can turn to healing Israel, this act was
meant as a warning lest they take sin lightly and experience the wages of sin
which is death!
5.
Unfortunately, up to this point 24,000 had already died! Sin has a high price
tag!!
ILLUS: NOT LONG
AGO A DAILY PRESS RAN THE STORY OF A REMARKABLE CATCH BY A FISHERMAN. HE HAD BROUGHT UP AN OYSTER AND UPON
OPENING THE SHELL THE FISHERMAN FOUND ONLY A SMALL FISH ABOUT 3½ INCHES LONG
SWIMMING AROUND VERY WEAKLY! IT WAS
NEAR DEATH. YET INSIDE, THERE WAS
NO TRACE OF THE OYSTER! THEY
FINALLY FIGURED THAT THE FISH MUST HAVE SWUM INSIDE THE OYSTER WHEN ITS SHELL
WAS OPEN, AND THEN THE OYSTER CLOSED IT UP OVER THE FISH. HOWEVER, THE FISH INSTEAD OF BEING THE
MEAL CONSUMED THE OYSTER. THE
LITTLE FISH HAD A BANQUET EATING THE OYSTER, A PRIVATE MEAL THAT NO OTHER FISH
COULD GET TO! HE HAD EATEN THE
WHOLE OYSTER ONLY TO DISCOVER HOWEVER THAT AFTER EATING THE OYSTER, THERE WAS NO
WAY OUT OF THE CLOSED SHELL. THE
VERY MEAL HE HAD CONSUMED WAS THE ONLY WAY OUT! HE HAD EATEN WELL, BUT WOULD NOW DIE A
PRISONER OF HIS OWN APPETITE! THIS
IS HOW SIN WORKS IN OUR LIVES TOO!
WE MIGHT ENJOY THE PLEASURE OF SIN FOR A SEASON, BUT WE WILL FIND
OURSELVES TRAPPED AND NEAR DEATH WITH NO POWER TO OPEN A WAY OUT! ONLY GOD CAN INTERVENE AND SAVE US
THEN! -- Source
Unknown
6.
Thrusting the spear through their bodies in Hebrew reads, "Her
stomach," in other words near the area of the body of the womb, thus
it was a message also against the fertility god BaaI; God destroys the power of
Baal!
III. BOREDOM'S SOLUTION! 25:10-18
A. Wholeheartedness!
25:10-13
1.
Phinehas is now praised by God for his wholehearted devotion to doing
what was right!
a. Phinehas did not act because he was
a leader, he wasn't one at this point in time, he did so only because he was
angry at the lax way
b. This was not motivated by political
gain, it was motivated by righteousness!
2.
Phinehas wasn't afraid to take a stand for what was
godly!!
3.
This is the heart of the righteous, to stand for what is right no matter
the persecution or price!
4.
This one act saved thousands, in this sense it was like Christ on the
Cross, His one act of death brought life to millions!
5.
The act of this sinning Israelite man with the Midianite woman was a
direct mockery of God and His Word, it was done right inside the camp of God's
people ... thus it required drastic action to stem the tide of sin erupting all
through the people!
6.
7.
His act demonstrated the necessity to act against sin! Righteousness is not just a creed or a
set of doctrines; it is truth to be practiced!
a. This requires bravery and
action!
b. It meant putting himself on the
line!
ILLUS: AN ENGLISH
SKIPPER'S SON HAD JUST ACCEPTED CHRIST AND WAS ABOUT TO BE CONFIRMED ON A PALM
SUNDAY. ABOARD HIS FATHER'S SHIP
THAT EVENING THE FATHER DECIDED TO MAKE CLEAR TO HIS SON THE NATURE OF BEING A
CHRISTIAN. HE ASKED HIS SON TO TAKE
A CANDLE AND GO OUT OF THE CABIN AND WALK AROUND THE DECK ONCE AND RETURN. THE SON PROTESTED, "BUT FATHER, IF I GO ON DECK WITH A LIGHTED
CANDLE IT WILL SURELY BLOW OUT BEFORE I RETURN!" HE TOLD HIS SON TO GO ANYWAYS! SO OUT HIS SON WENT, BUT HE WAS
DETERMINED TO NOT LET THE CANDLE BLOW OUT.
ON DECK HE PUT HIS BODY AGAINST THE WIND TO PROTECT THE CANDLE; AT TIMES
HE CUPPED THE CANDLE TO PROTECT THE FLAME.
WITH GREAT DIFFICULTIES HE MOVED AROUND THE DECK TRYING A VARIETY OF WAYS
TO KEEP THE CANDLE LIT. AND SURE
ENOUGH, WITH GREAT DEVOTION HE MADE IT!
PROUDLY RETURNING TO HIS
FATHER HE SHOWED THE LIGHTED CANDLE STILL BURNING. HIS FATHER THEN SAID, "SON, EVEN SO IT IS WITH YOUR LIFE NOW IN
CHRIST, IT WON'T BE EASY AS YOU FACE THE WINDS OF FADS, OF THE OPPOSING BREEZES
OF OPPOSITION TO YOUR FAITH, BUT WITH EFFORT AND CARE YOU CAN KEEP THE LIGHT
BURNING!" IT WILL TAKE
WHOLEHEARTED DEVOTION! -- Source
Unknown
8.
The act of shedding blood made atonement for Israel, just as Christ's
death did for us when He became sin for us!
9.
The only way to fight the temptations of sin when boredom strikes are to
remain wholeheartedly committed to Christ and His
Word!
B. Willingness 25:14-18
1.
The “covenant of peace” God grants to Phinehas and
his descendants simply mean that they would be used by God to bring peace
between man and God!
2.
The willingness to stand up for what is right will bring
healing!
3.
This is what we need today, those who are willing to stand up for what is
right, that a covenant of peace might be exercised between man and
God!
4.
God now requires that they eliminate the source of their temptation, the
Midianites are to be treated as enemies and killed!
a. We are not to flirt with those
things that can induce us to sin; we are to consider those things as
enemies!
b. They are to be removed from the
possibility of tempting us again!
5.
They are being asked to participate in the process of eliminating future
sources of temptation! They must be
willing! AND SO MUST
WE!
a. What is it that can tempt you to
sin, are you willing to eliminate it from influencing your
life!?
b. Be sure you know who your real
enemies are!
c. Be prepared to avoid those enemies
when you are in “waiting periods” in your life lest you find yourself tempted to
sin.
d. These “waiting periods” can be some
of the most dangerous periods of temptation in our lives. Be strong spiritually during these times
and use the time to focus on your relationship with God and not get lost or
sidetracked by other temptations at this time.
CONCLUSION:
One of the greatest dangers
for yielding to temptation is during the boring or waiting times! These slow, waiting times can produce
some of the most tempting moments of our lives. Most of Israel's failures took place
after they were camped somewhere, not while they were on the move with God! Most of God’s servants got in trouble
when they were bored and not active.
The "idle mind can be the Devil's workshop!" Some of the greatest challenges of your
life will come at the quietest times of your life, not at the most hectic, be
prepared to fight the greatest temptations during these “waiting
times.”