Lingering Sin

Numbers 33:55 – “But if ye will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you; then it shall come to pass, that those which ye let remain of them shall be pricks in your eyes, and thorns in your sides, and shall vex you in the land wherein ye dwell.”

The passage above was given from the Lord our God unto Moses. He was instructing Moses on how to warn and counsel the people. Look at the entire section of God’s Words to Moses below:

Numbers 33:50-53, 55, 56 “⁵⁰ And the LORD spake unto Moses in the plains of Moab by Jordan near Jericho, saying, ⁵¹ Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye are passed over Jordan into the land of Canaan; ⁵² Then ye shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their pictures, and destroy all their molten images, and quite pluck down all their high places: ⁵³ And ye shall dispossess the inhabitants of the land, and dwell therein: for I have given you the land to possess it... ⁵⁵ But if ye will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you; then it shall come to pass, that those which ye let remain of them shall be pricks in your eyes, and thorns in your sides, and shall vex you in the land wherein ye dwell. ⁵⁶ Moreover it shall come to pass, that I shall do unto you, as I thought to do unto them.”

God commands:
1. When you cross the Jordan, you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land.
2. You shall destroy all of their pictures, images and high places (for idol worship).
3. Again, you shall dispossess all the inhabitants of the land.

God Warns:
1. If you do not do the above, the people that remain will be pricks in your eyes, thorns in your side, and they shall vex you. (vex means to ‘bind up or restrict’ or ‘cause them distress.’)
2. God will do to Israel what He planned on doing to their enemies.

God was so serious about this instruction that in some cases, He ordered them to destroy every living creature in a city. This idea of God does not fit well with the image of a ‘God of love’ that we have watered down God to be. Yes, God is love. That is 100% true, yet God also hates sin and promises repeatedly that He must punish it. The people in the land that God had given to Israel served false gods and idols. He was passing His righteous judgment upon them by using His people. God hates sin so much and loves us so much, that He did something unbelievable. He spared not His only begotten Son by allowing Him to take our stripes, wages and wrath that abides on us. That is why we must not take sin lightly. Salvation is a free gift from God…for us…it was not free for Jesus…it cost Him everything.

The point here for the lives of believers, is that we can be saved, but still have un-confessed and un-dealt with sin in our lives. If we do, and refuse to root them out, they can keep us from producing fruit, receiving God’s blessings, and they will be a constant thorn in our side and will vex and torment us perpetually until they are driven out of our heart.

We must also ask ourselves a very honest question, 'if there is that much sin still in our heart, has it been fully given to the Lord,' or are we simply Thorny Ground Converts.

What weeds and thorns of sin are abundant in your garden? Is it not time to root them out?

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