Numbers 32:23

“But if you fail to do this, you will be sinning against the LORD; and you may be sure that your sin will find you out!”

The fear of punishment, if not the best, is certainly the most common preservative from sin. Under the Mosaic dispensation it was the principal motive with which the divine commands were enforced. Nor did Paul, though so well acquainted with the liberal spirit of the Gospel, think it wrong to “persuade men by the terrors of the Lord.” The words before us therefore may properly be addressed to us.

The tribes of Reuben and Gad had solicited permission to have the land of Jazer and of Gilead for their portion, instead of any inheritance in the land of Canaan. Upon their promising to fight in conjunction with the other tribes until the whole of Canaan should be subdued, Moses acceded to their proposal; but warned them that, if they receded from their engagement, they should assuredly meet with a due recompense from God!

We may take occasion from them to consider:

I. In what manner we have sinned against the Lord.

It would be endless to attempt an enumeration of all the sins we have committed. We shall confine ourselves to that view of them which the context suggests.

The sin against which Moses cautioned the two tribes was, unfaithfulness to their engagements, and a preferring of their present ease to the executing of the work which God had assigned to them.

As Christians we promised to renounce the world, the flesh, and the devil; but how have we kept the promises which we have made?

Have we not maintained that friendship with the world which is enmity with God? James 4:4.

Have we not rather sought to please than to mortify our carnal appetites? Titus 3:3.

Has not the God of this world led us captive at his will? Ephesians 2:2; 2 Timothy 2:26.

But the sin referred to in the text, will scarcely bear any comparison with ours.

The Israelites were to maintain a warfare with men; we, with the devil, Ephesians 6:12.

The Israelites were to fight for an earthly portion; we, a heavenly portion, 1 Corinthians 9:25.

The Israelites might have urged that their aid was unnecessary, when God was engaged; and that, after all, the prize was an inadequate reward for such fatigue and danger.

Can we hope to conquer without exerting our own powers? Do we suppose that God will subdue our enemies without our concurrence? Or can we say that the prize held forth to us is not worth the contest? If our engagements are more solemn, then our work is more noble, and our reward is more glorious than theirs, our sin in disregarding all must be proportionably greater; yet who among us must not confess that he has forgotten all his baptismal vows? Behold then, we may say to all, “You have sinned against the Lord!”

Nor are we to suppose that our sin will always pass unnoticed.

II. What assurance we have that our sin shall surely find us out.

Sin may be said to find us out when it brings down divine judgments upon us.

Conscience, stupefied or seared, often forgets to execute its office. Nor does conscience speak, until God, by his providence or grace, awakens it. Sometimes years elapse before conscience reproves our iniquities, Genesis 42:21-22. Sometimes conscience testifies to our face as soon as our sin is committed, Matthew 26:74-75; Matthew 27:3-4. Whenever conscience thus condemns us, our sins may be said to find us out.

But the expression in the text imports rather the visitation of God for sin. There is a punishment annexed to every violation of God’s law, Ezekiel 18:4; and sin then finds us out effectually when it brings that punishment upon us.

That sin will find us out, we have the fullest possible assurance.

“Be sure your sin will find you out!” The attributes of God’s nature absolutely preclude all hope of sinning with impunity.

If God is omnipresent, then he must see.

If God is omniscient, then he must remember.

If God is holy, then he must hate sin.

If God is just, then he must punish the violations of his law.

If God is possessed of veracity and power, then he must execute the judgments he has denounced.

The declarations of his Word abundantly confirm this solemn truth, Isaiah 3:11; Romans 2:9; Psalm 21:8; Proverbs 11:21. Sin leaves a track which can never be effaced; and justice, however slow-paced, will surely overtake it! Proverbs 13:21; Psalm 140:11. However scoffers may exult in their security, their ruin is fast approaching, 2 Peter 2:3; 2 Peter 3:4; 2 Peter 3:9 and Deuteronomy 29:19-20.

The remarkable instances of sin being detected and punished in this world afford a strong additional testimony. David and Gehazi, though so studious to conceal their guilt, had their iniquity marked in the punishment inflicted for it, 2 Samuel 12:9-12; 2 Kings 5:26-27. When, according to human calculations, it was above two million to one that Achan would escape, the lot fell on him by an infallible direction, Joshua 7:14-18. How much more then shall the most hidden things be brought to light hereafter!

Be sure your sin will find you out! The appointment of a day of final retribution puts the matter beyond a possibility of doubt. For what end can there be such a period fixed, but that the actions of men may be judged? And for what end can they be judged, but that every man may receive according to his deeds, Ecclesiastes 12:14. We may then emphatically say to every sinner, “Be sure your sin will find you out!”

Inferences:

1. How earnest should we be in searching out our own sins!

We think little of evils which have been committed by us long ago, and imagine that they are effaced from God’s memory as well as from our own. But every action, word, and thought, is noted in the book of his remembrance. He sees the transactions of former years as if they are now happening before his face. All our iniquities are viewed by him in one accumulated mass; nor does he abhor them less than in the very instant they were committed. Let us not then pass them over, or palliate them, as mere youthful follies.

Let us remember how exactly the Lord’s threatenings were executed on the Israelites in the wilderness, Numbers 32:10-13; and endeavor to avert his judgments while space for repentance is allowed to us. Let us mourn over our innumerable violations of our baptismal covenant. Let us lament our solicitude about a present portion, our aversion to fight the Lord’s battles, and our indifference about the heavenly Canaan. We must repent of these things, or lie under the guilt of them forever! Psalm 50:21; Luke 13:3.

2. How thankful should we be that a way of escape is provided for us!

It is not sin lamented, but sin unrepented of—which will find us out. There is a city of refuge provided for those who will flee to it, Hebrews 6:18. The man, Christ Jesus, is a hiding-place from the impending storm, Isaiah 32:2. If we flee to him, we may be sure that sin shall not find us out. Every attribute of the Deity is pledged to save a believing penitent, 1 John 1:9. We are confirmed in this hope by the most positive declarations of Scripture, Isaiah 44:22; Micah 7:19; Hebrews 8:12. We have most authentic and astonishing instances of sin forgiven, 2 Samuel 12:13; Luke 7:47; Luke 23:43; and the day of judgment is appointed no less for the complete justification of believers than for the condemnation of unbelievers, 2 Thessalonians 1:9-10.

Let this blessed assurance then dwell richly on our minds.

Let it encourage us to take refuge under the Savior’s wings, Matthew 23:37.

Let a holy confidence inspire those who have committed their souls to him, 2 Timothy 1:12.

And let all rejoice and glory in him as able to save them to the uttermost, Hebrews 7:25.

Charles Simeon (1759-1836)