Nevertheless They Presumed
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Intro; In the movie Draft Day, the plot is about the NFL draft and all the possible pics and trades that will be made by the 32 teams for those eligible players coming out of college. Teams get their pics based upon their record from the previous season;
Worst record gets first pick
Best record gets last
But each team has the right to trade their pics for veteran players already in the game or to bundle rounds of pics for a player. Each team has a pic in each of the 7 rounds.
In the movie the Cleveland Browns had the 7th pic in the draft and the Seattle Seahawks had the 1st. The Browns GM wanted to pic a defensive player while the owner wanted him to make a big splash and trade for the Heisman trophy quarterback that the Seahawks were going to pic first. So he called and asked about a trade which the Seattle GM said would cost him their first round pic for 2 years and a second round pic for the third year. He said no. About an hour later the Cleveland GM called back and said he would do it, but the Seattle GM said that deal was off the table and now it would cost Cleveland 3 first round pics. He hated to do it but gave in and sold the farm for one player.
There are consequences to presuming things. The Cleveland GM presumed that first deal would always be on the table and it would not change, but it did and cost him more. Tonight we are going to look at the Sin of Presumption and see how much it really does cost.
Text; Numbers 14:40-45
40 And they rose early in the morning and went up to the top of the mountain, saying, “Here we are, and we will go up to the place which the Lord has promised, for we have sinned!”
41 And Moses said, “Now why do you transgress the command of the Lord? For this will not succeed.
42 Do not go up, lest you be defeated by your enemies, for the Lord is not among you.
43 For the Amalekites and the Canaanites are there before you, and you shall fall by the sword; because you have turned away from the Lord, the Lord will not be with you.”
44 But they presumed to go up to the mountaintop. Nevertheless, neither the ark of the covenant of the Lord nor Moses departed from the camp.
45 Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who dwelt in that mountain came down and attacked them, and drove them back as far as Hormah.
Because the children of Israel did not listen to Caleb and Joshua and take the Promised Land as God had told them too, they were told that they were to head back into the wilderness by the Red Sea. God had pronounced judgment upon all who were over the age of 20 and all who had rejected Him except Caleb and Joshua. But the children of Israel ‘Presumed” God would give them the land if they would just repent, WRONG!!!
1. The Deal was off the Table; 40-42
1. The Deal was off the Table; 40-42
When the Israelites realized what mistake they had made and Moses told them they must turn back into the wilderness, they realized their sin and wanted to make things right with God and obey by taking the Promised Land.
Admitting sin isn’t the same as confessing sin and turning to the Lord to seek His mercy. The Jews thought that they could make a new beginning because God had granted them forgiveness, but they were wrong.
[v. 3-9a] Only Moses, Aaron, Joshua and Caleb realized Israel had robbed God of glory by not obeying and entering into His rest in the Promised Land. They had a broken and contrite heart of sorrow for this sin. They sought God’s forgiveness through godly sorrow not fleshly admittance of sin.
10 For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.
God is always willing to forgive our sin when we truly repent but that doesn’t mean that God is willing to give us what He previously offered before we sinned.
[v. 40-42] Israel was ready to take the land but God has already changed the deal. It wasn’t the same as it was the day before. God had forgiven their sins, but He had also instituted a new plan that would delay Israel’s conquest of the Promised Land for nearly forty years.
[v.41] If Israel were to try to take the land they would be transgressing [going against] the word of God [new deal] and fail again.
When God calls us to Himself or to act upon His word we had better do it then because the terms may change and we may never get that opportunity again.
Salvation
2 For He says: “In an acceptable time I have heard you, And in the day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.
25 Now as he reasoned about righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid and answered, “Go away for now; when I have a convenient time I will call for you.”
Felix presumed that God’s grace would be available at his convenience. Conviction may not come later. The heart may get harder or colder.
Service
4 I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work.
1 Do not boast about tomorrow, For you do not know what a day may bring forth.
14 whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.
2. Nevertheless they Presumed; 43-45
2. Nevertheless they Presumed; 43-45
Presume- to assume, take for granted
Presumptuous sins are deliberate. They are committed with the full knowledge that they are sins and in full light of what God has said. Presumptuous sins are premeditated. Presumptuous sins can only be committed in suppression of the conscience and in spite of its appeals. Those who sin presumptuously say, in effect, “I’m going to do this, and nothing is going to stop me. I know what God says about it, and I don’t care if it’s wrong. I’m going to do it anyway.”
The Israelites were warned of the consequences of going up [God would not be with them and they would fall by the sword] but they went anyway!
7 Jesus said to him, “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’ ”
Presumptuous sin leads to diminished power in God
19 Then she lulled him to sleep on her knees, and called for a man and had him shave off the seven locks of his head. Then she began to torment him, and his strength left him.
20 And she said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” So he awoke from his sleep, and said, “I will go out as before, at other times, and shake myself free!” But he did not know that the Lord had departed from him.
21 Then the Philistines took him and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza. They bound him with bronze fetters, and he became a grinder in the prison.
[Presuming that you can flirt with sin and not be affected is a huge mistake. Many Christians presume that it does not matter what you do and end up hurting their Christian testimony]
Presumptuous sin leads to defeat
1 But the children of Israel committed a trespass regarding the accursed things, for Achan the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took of the accursed things; so the anger of the Lord burned against the children of Israel.
2 Now Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is beside Beth Aven, on the east side of Bethel, and spoke to them, saying, “Go up and spy out the country.” So the men went up and spied out Ai.
3 And they returned to Joshua and said to him, “Do not let all the people go up, but let about two or three thousand men go up and attack Ai. Do not weary all the people there, for the people of Ai are few.”
4 So about three thousand men went up there from the people, but they fled before the men of Ai.
5 And the men of Ai struck down about thirty-six men, for they chased them from before the gate as far as Shebarim, and struck them down on the descent; therefore the hearts of the people melted and became like water.
[Israel is defeated at Ai. Without praying about the battle, they presumed to defeat little Ai as they defeated mighty Jericho.]
Presumptuous sin leads to discipline
9 So Saul said, “Bring a burnt offering and peace offerings here to me.” And he offered the burnt offering.
10 Now it happened, as soon as he had finished presenting the burnt offering, that Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him, that he might greet him.
11 And Samuel said, “What have you done?” Saul said, “When I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that you did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines gathered together at Michmash,
12 then I said, ‘The Philistines will now come down on me at Gilgal, and I have not made supplication to the Lord.’ Therefore I felt compelled, and offered a burnt offering.”
13 And Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the commandment of the Lord your God, which He commanded you. For now the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever.
14 But now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought for Himself a man after His own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be commander over His people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.”
[Impatience and presuming cost Saul the kingdom]
Presumptuous sin can lead to death
1 Then Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it, put incense on it, and offered profane fire before the Lord, which He had not commanded them.
2 So fire went out from the Lord and devoured them, and they died before the Lord.
27 Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.
28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup.
29 For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.
30 For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep.
[Offering sacrifice/worship in an unworthy manner to God is serious offense]
Mattoon, R. (2004). Treasures from Numbers (p. 245). Rod Mattoon.
Close;
The entire experience at Kadesh-Barnea teaches us that there is no substitute for faith in God’s promises and obedience to His commandments. Faith is simply obeying God in spite of how we feel, what we see, or what we think might happen.
When God’s people trust and obey, like Caleb and Joshua, the Lord delights in doing wonders for them, because they glorify His name.
But when God’s people disobey and give the enemies of God an occasion to blaspheme His name, like the 10 spies and the rest of Israel, and then presume that God will not punish their sin, oh how foolish we are.
Never presume, always know for sure!!