When you break God’s
law without meaning to, what should happen? A couple days ago my wife and I read
the answer to that question in Numbers 15. God told Moses what sacrifices to
offer when the nation or an individual sins unintentionally (vv. 22, 27).
The Lord laid out a path to forgiveness for unintentional
sins. He promised that when the priest brought the prescribed offerings, “the congregation…shall
be forgiven” (v. 25) and the individual “shall be forgiven” (v. 28). We know this is a picture of the work that Jesus, our Great High Priest, does for His people (see Hebrews 9:11-14).
But there is an exception to God’s provision of a sacrifice
for sins. “But the person who does anything with a high hand… reviles the Lord, and that person shall be cut
off from among the people” (v. 30, ESV). That’s what the Hebrew literally says: a high hand. The NIV and NASB use
the term “defiantly,” and the KJV and NKJV translate the words “presumptuously.”
So in ancient Israel, if you sinned but humbled yourself,
God provided a way for you to be forgiven. But if your sin was accompanied by a
“high hand,” if you basically said to God, talk to the hand!, you were cut
off from the nation.
Immediately after God’s instruction about “high-handedness,”
a man was stoned to death for gathering sticks on the Sabbath (Numbers
15:32-36). Even more chilling, when Korah and other leaders in Israel demanded
the same recognition and authority as Aaron the priest, the Lord opened up the
earth to swallow them and their families (see Number 16).
Scripture repeatedly tells us how the Lord hates pride but loves humility.
- These are the ones I look on with favor: those who are humble and contrite in spirit, and who tremble at my word (Isaiah 66:2b, NIV).
- The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. (Psalm 34:18).
- Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:3).
- God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6b).
What does it cost us to humble ourselves? Or maybe a better question: What will it cost us if we do not?
