THE PLAGUE OF SIN

Text: NUMBERS 16:1-50

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INTRODUCTION:

1. One of the most frightening words in the English language is the word "plague."
2. Webster’s Dictionary defines a plague as "an epidemic disease that causes high mortality; pestilence." It goes on to say: "any widespread affliction, calamity, or evil, esp. one regarded as a direct punishment by God."
3. That is a good definition. Unfortunately the definition in the Encyclopedia Britannica is not as good. The Encyclopedia Britannica says a plague is a disease of rats which is "accidentally" transmitted by the rat flea.
4. But here in Numbers 16:46 we read these words: "For there is wrath gone out from the LORD; the plague is begun."
5. There is no mention here in the Bible of any rats. There is no mention here of any kinds of rodents. There is no mention here of fleas. Beloved, God sent the plague and it was not caused by rat fleas, it was caused by man’s sin.
6. As a matter of fact, if you get out your concordance and look up the word "plague," you will see that it is always sent by God because of man’s sin (cf. Ex.11:1; 12:13).
7. The plague of sin is contagious, and it is increasing, and raging, and unless it is checked by the grace of God it will destroy every person and every thing it comes into contact with.

1. REBELLIOUSNESS BROUGHT ON THE PLAGUE

1. Man is a rebel. Beloved, if it were not for the grace of God we would not be sitting here in this meeting this Lord’s Day, but we would be out in the world with all the rebels and Christ-rejecters.
2. If you have any serious doubts about man’s rebelliousness, consider the Woodstock concert upstate in Rome.
3. There was loud, nasty rock music, nudity, drugs, open fornication, people starting fires and destroying every thing near them, stealing ATM machines and what ever they could grab, looting, and all sorts of wickedness. They behaved like wild animals.
4. Moses had to contend with this sort of rebelliousness. The Bible says here in Numbers 16:2 that Korah and his fellow conspirators, Dathan and Abiram, "rose up before Moses." And some of these wicked rebels that followed Korah were "princes of the assembly, famous in the congregation, men of renown" (16:2,3).
5. Influential trouble-makers are far more dangerous than your regular run-of-the-mill trouble-makers. It seems inevitable that every now and then some rebel will assert himself in the local church. And he will try and recruit some "men of renown" to join forces with him and they will proceed to give the pastor a hard time.
6. These rebels brought up false charges against Moses – "Ye take too much upon you" (16:3). They were jealous of Moses. I have seen this before. May God help us not to be jealous of others.
7. Now Moses was humble and he handled this crisis in a wise manner. "He fell upon his face" (16:4).
8. They accused Moses of taking "too much" upon himself (16:3). But actually it was the other way around – they were guilty of taking too much upon themselves (16:7).
9. There is an important principle here that I would like to emphasize: when trouble-makers rise up and rebel against God’s appointed leadership, they are actually rebelling against God Himself (16:11).
10. Here is another principle: sin must be dealt with. Moses dealt with this insurrection. And keep in mind that whether or not God’s man deals with it, God always deals with sin (16:21).
11. It is a fact that God raised up Moses, but these rebels accused Moses of making himself a leader (16:13). They defiantly said to Moses: "We will not come up" (16:12, 14). We see this same impudence and arrogance in our churches today. It is heart-breaking. These rebels think they are hurting the pastor but God will protect the pastor and his family; and God will protect the church. The ones the rebels are hurting the most are themselves and their families.
12. I feel sorry for the children of rebels – dragged from church to church, seeing firsthand the bad manners and inexcusable behaviour of their parents. Oftentimes, by the time they are adults they stop going to church altogether. God in His mercy and grace spared Korah’s sons, and the prophet Samuel was descended from Korah.
13. Listen, God put all this in the Bible as a warning to us and to every local church (cf. Jude 10,11). We need to read these words very carefully (Num.16:19-35).
14. The Bible says, "For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry" (I Sam.15:23).
15. In our churches we have rebellious kids that want to look like the world, and act like the world; we have rebellious wives who will not submit to their husbands; we have rebelliousness dads who skip church and don’t read the Bible and don’t tithe, and will not take their rightful place as the spiritual head of the home.
16. Rebelliousness is still a big problem. Let’s move on.

2. MURMURING BROUGHT ON THE PLAGUE

1. You would think that after being delivered out of Egypt, and after crossing the Red Sea and watching Pharaoh’s horsemen drown, and after seeing how God dealt with the rebels who worshipped the golden calf – you would think that maybe these Israelites would get right with God.
2. And then you would think that after seeing the earth open up and swallow Korah and the other rebels and even their houses and all their goods – you would think that after witnessing that they would get on their faces before God.
3. And then after seeing a fire come down from heaven and consume the 250 rebellious princes who offered up the incense, you would think they would have learned their lesson.
4. But no, we read here in Num.16:41, "But on the morrow all the congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron…" They actually accused Moses and Aaron of murdering the 250 princes. But the Bible says, "And there came out a fire from the LORD…" (16:35).
5. This is hard for us to comprehend – stiff-necked sinners at their worst! God wanted to "consume them in a moment" (16:45).
6. They deserved their punishment and so God’s wrath was poured out. The plague had begun (16:46).

3. HOW GOD GRACIOUSLY STOPPED THE PLAGUE

1. If "plague" is one of the most frightening words in the English language, then "atonement" must be one of the most comforting (16:46).
2. The word atonement means our sin is covered under the blood of Jesus Christ. What a precious doctrine!
3. It means we have been reconciled with a holy God because the Lord Jesus Christ took our place on the cross, and we have been forgiven, pardoned, redeemed, saved, cleansed, and sanctified.
4. God sent old Aaron out with his censer and told him to stand "between the dead and the living" (16:46-50).
5. They called Aaron a "murderer" (16:41), but he was actually their saviour. Because Aaron was obedient to God’s command, "the plague was stayed" (16:48).
6. Beloved, God wants you and me to go out and stand "between the dead and the living." We have the only remedy for the terrible plague of sin, and that is the Gospel.
7. This world is sick with sin. We have kids in the public schools shooting their teachers and other kids. Some crazy nut down in Atlanta just killed a bunch of people, including his own wife and children. (By the way, was he a JW?) We have girls getting pregnant and killing their babies. We have people who cannot get through a day without pills or alcohol or a cigarette. We had a president who cannot tell right from wrong.
8. We have people who come to church and say "Amen" to the preacher and then go right out and do the opposite of what was preached!
9. We need to go out like Aaron and ask God to stay the plague.

CONCLUSION:

1. The plague was stayed but not before 14,700 people were wiped out (16:49).
2. The people rebelled against Aaron and yet he saved them from the plague. In this he is a type of our Lord. The world rejected Jesus and crucified Him but now He stands between the dead and the living, interceding for us.
3. He is our only mediator, standing between us and God the Father. And He has told us to go out and tell others.
4. Dr. Walter Wilson was a great soulwinner. One time he was witnessing to a man named Jack. Jack did not get saved right away but after a few visits, he did receive Jesus Christ as his Lord and Saviour.
5. After receiving Christ, Jack was given a beautiful Bible by Dr. Wilson. He thanked him and told him that he was going on a business trip and would not be back for a few months.
6. A week later Dr. Wilson received a letter from a pastor in Louisiana telling him about a horrible train wreck near his house. The loud crash and explosion awoke this preacher and he ran down to see if he could help out.
7. He found Jack pinned underneath the wreckage with his brand new Bible in his hand. The pastor asked Jack if he was saved and Jack told him he had just gotten saved the week before. The fire was spreading but Jack was trapped. He said to the preacher: "I shall soon be burned to death by this fire. I want you to take this Bible and send word to my friend who led me to the Lord. You can keep my Bible but please contact my friend and let him know I died trusting Jesus Christ as my Lord and Saviour."
8. Please listen: Every day we talk to different people like Jack and we never know for sure if we will see any of them again. Like Aaron, we are standing between the dead and the living. The plague is spreading. Sinners are dropping into hell every hour. Does it matter to you?