Num 32:6, But Moses said to the sons of Gad and to the sons of Reuben, "Shall your brothers go to war while you yourselves sit here? 
	This morning, we have another most pivotal chapter in our reading of the Book of Numbers. The Midianites had been utterly destroyed and their land was now open to habitation. It was not on the other side of the Jordan, the land comprising the Promised Land, but it was still a land that was given by the complete victory of the Lord over those who would have destroyed His testimony among the nations. The land was good land for the tending of the livestock which these tribes had in abundance. The sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben decided that they would like to take this trans-Jordan land as their inheritance and so they approached Moses and Eleazar with that request. 
	When Moses heard it, he was enraged by their petition. He had suffered through all those 40 years with the parents in their refusal to enter into the Promised Land, and now the children were saying that they would rather stay on this side of the Jordan and not enter. Moses was facing his own mortality and inability to enjoy the Promised Land. Then these members of those so privileged and chosen of God to cross the Jordan and inherit the Land of Promise were telling him that they would rather not. They wanted to just settle the land on this side of the river. In Moses’ mind, he was probably infuriated with the sense of their seeming ingratitude and with the knowledge that if these tribes refused to cross the Jordan and fight for the land, the other tribes might balk and, once again, no one would cross.  
Dr. Ronald B. Allen in his writing concerning the Book of Numbers in the Expositor’s Bible Commentary puts forth a wonderful synopsis of the issue at hand and the manner and reason for Moses’ response to this heart-rending situation. Please bear with me in the sharing of this lengthy quote.
Moses’ words may have been provoked by his anger, but they became the opportunity to review the basic theology of the desert period. He is able to contrast the first and second generation, to warn the second on the basis of the experience of the first. In this case our approach to the Book of Numbers is vindicated by his homily: The old generation is dead; the new generation must be different than their fathers.
	In any event, Moses charges these tribal leaders with posing an intolerable situation. By granting them the right to settle outside of the Canaan proper, not only will these tribes be lost from the battle plans, but their absence will be a means of hindering the other tribes from crossing the Jordan as well. “Think of it,” Moses seems to be saying. “Could we have come this far after so long and still never enter the land?” For him, then, their question seemed not only to be selfish but seditious. The entire nation might have been discouraged (v.7). This would lead perhaps to an ominous replay of the failure of their parents – and this is the thesis of the book: Will the sons behave like the parents, or will they believe and inherit...
	All this affords Moses the opportunity to preach a brief homily (certainly shortened considerably in this chapter from what he might really have said) on the history of the national experience in the desert. In this preaching Moses presents an example of a biblical use of history for the instruction of the people of God. He speaks with specificity, with passion, with historical insights, and with a contemporary feel – the tying of the experience of the past into the present of his hearers. In some ways this section may be thought of as a model of biblical exhortation. The section is also a splendid review of the core of the history of the narrative of the Book of Numbers. The materials center particularly on the debacle of Numbers 13-14, the rebellion of the first generation at Kadesh Barnea, which led to the divine sentence to spend the rest of their lives in the desert.
	The underlying theology is based on the notion that the land is the gift of God. How would it be possible for the Israelites to spurn His gift? Even though their fathers had done this despicable act, is it really possible that such an act of cowardice and ingratitude might be done again? In asking these questions, Moses is developing the central message of this book. The new generation has a new opportunity to be other than their parents. They may be the people who succeed. They do not have to repeat the failure of their parents. But what if they do? This is the hidden horror in Numbers. What if the new generation is no better than their fathers and mothers? Will God then give a third generation an opportunity? Will God keep waiting until He finally has a people who will act on His word? Or is it possible that God can be spurned one time too many, and the Land of Promise will revert to its present, wicked inhabitants? These may be the strong emotions that course through the mind of Moses as he preaches this homily.
	The sermon is more than homily. It is also litany. The words of vv.10-12 are a confession of sorts. This is not the confession of faith that begins with “I believe.” But it is a litany of experience, beginning with “This we have experienced.” The Book of Numbers not only describes worship; it is a book of worship. Remembering failure is also a part of worship (see Ps 95, third strophe for a splendid example.) 
[Ps 95, O come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms. For the Lord is a great God, And a great King above all gods, In whose hand are the depths of the earth; The peaks of the mountains are His also. The sea is His, for it was He who made it; And His hands formed the dry land. Come, let us worship and bow down; Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker. For He is our God, And we are the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand. Today, if you would hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, As in the day of Massah in the wilderness; "When your fathers tested Me, They tried Me, though they had seen My work. "For forty years I loathed that generation, And said they are a people who err in their heart, And they do not know My ways. "Therefore I swore in My anger, Truly they shall not enter into My rest."] 
Worship is not just responding to grace; it is also remembering past disaster – and learning to avoid it in the present.
	With the words of v.11, we are in the heart of covenant, a covenant that was promised and was rebuffed. But the promise is still there. God’s oath to the fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is present in His eternity. This is not just a past oath. Since He lives, so does the promise. The only question will be in the generation that stands before Him now: Will they be the ones, or must He wait for another? These words are liturgical in form; they are meant to be recited and remembered. The reference to twenty years and upward speaks of the generational change that these emissaries from Reuben and Gad represented.
	The promise to Caleb and Joshua is also part of the litany (v.12). This section is like the preaching of the apostles in the early NT. There is a pattern…of grace and wrath. The NT preaching of the evangelists begins in grace but moves to wrath. The OT preaching of the prophets begins in wrath but moves to grace. In both there is a pattern of historical citation and present adjuration. There is no truly biblical preaching that does not ultimately tie history to the current message; neither the evangelist nor the prophet would draw his message merely from his existential situation. End Quote. 
	This then brings us to the key passage in this chapter that we dare never forget. As Moses was warning those members of the tribes of Israel who were choosing to inhabit the Transjordan lands, they must abide by their promise to their brothers and to the Lord that they would fight under the banner of God until all the land had been conquered. This warning is as true for us as it was for those to whom it was specifically addressed. Num 32:23, But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against the Lord, and be sure your sin will find you out. 
    	We often tend to be so arrogant and so unconscious of the truth that God sees everything that we do. He knows our every thought and motive. As much as we think we can hide away our trespasses and sins, they are fully before the very eyes of God in all sin’s awful and selfish and disgusting and putrid depravity. 
	This has been the truth from the beginning as we read in the account of Cain and Abel, as Cain tried so disastrously to hide his anger from God in Gen 4:6+7. Gen 4:6+7, Then the Lord said to Cain, "Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? "If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it." 
    	The Psalmist knew that nothing could be hidden from the eyes of the Lord and that all our secret sins stand out as in the light of day before the Lord, as we read in Ps 90, verse 6. Ps 90:6, Thou hast placed our iniquities before Thee, Our secret sins in the light of Thy presence. 
    	This was taken into even greater depth by the Psalmist in the consideration of the fact that we can never go anywhere away from the direct and immediate presence of God. This is detailed for us in Ps 139:7-12, if you would please turn to it. Ps 139:7-12, Where can I go from Thy Spirit? Or where can I flee from Thy presence? If I ascend to heaven, Thou art there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, Thou art there. If I take the wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, Even there Thy hand will lead me, And Thy right hand will lay hold of me. If I say, "Surely the darkness will overwhelm me, And the light around me will be night," Even the darkness is not dark to Thee, And the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are alike to Thee. 
    	We are often so arrogant in our trespasses, thinking that just because others do not know about our hidden indiscretions, as we label them, that they are not sin before the holiness of the Lord God Almighty. Sin is sin and all sin is anathema and abhorrent to the Pure and Holy Being of our God, both Lord and Savior. While we may try to downplay our transgressions of His Holiness, it is ever before Him and will always find us out in the most important and vital relationship that we will ever know. We will suffer disruption in that relationship of being the Children of the Heavenly Father Who so loved us that He gave His Only Begotten Son to take all our sins, even those supposedly hidden sins, to the cross in our stead.
	The Prophet Isaiah understood to some greater extent what it meant to sin against God, as detailed from the heart of God in Isa 59:12+13. Isa 59:12+13, For our transgressions are multiplied before Thee, And our sins testify against us; For our transgressions are with us, And we know our iniquities: Transgressing and denying the Lord, And turning away from our God, Speaking oppression and revolt, Conceiving in and uttering from the heart lying words. 
    	Again the Lord speaks to us through the prophet Hosea, in Hos 7:1+2, concerning the fact that what we do, even in the most secretive of manners is always before His face. We cannot hide it no matter how crafty we may think we are. Hos 7:1+2, When I would heal Israel, The iniquity of Ephraim is uncovered, And the evil deeds of Samaria, For they deal falsely; The thief enters in, Bandits raid outside, And they do not consider in their hearts That I remember all their wickedness. Now their deeds are all around them; They are before My face. 
    	All of those iniquities that we do, with the idea that no one will see or find out about them, actually witness against us before the face of God. They will find us out. It may only be between us and the Lord, but it will bring about that lack of complete fellowship and relationship that would otherwise be ours to enjoy.
Thankfully, there will always be that urging of the Holy Spirit within us to have done with that supposedly secret sin that is putting a blockage in our Spirit to spirit relationship with God. No matter what good things we may do, when we refuse to deal with our sin, especially those secret ones, it will cause that inner sense of not being pleasing to God and therefore we will not be in the full and joy-filled relationship with Him. 
	The Apostle Paul addressed this in 1 Cor 4:5, in terms of how we will be receiving the praise of God when the time comes. Our eyes and our hearts need to be set on that which honors and blesses Him in the course of how we conduct our time on this earth. 1 Cor 4:5, Therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men's hearts; and then each man's praise will come to him from God. 
	Accordingly it is imperative to know and to recognize and take to heart that, whenever we think we are pulling the wool over other’s eyes, our sins will find us out. Nothing is hidden from the eyes of the Lord! Therefore, we must learn and desire to live our lives in the holiness of His so direct and Omniscient gaze upon us. So be it!
But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against the Lord, and be sure your sin will find you out.
					
This morning’s benediction is 1 Kings 8:57+58. May the Lord our God be with us, as He was with our fathers; may He not leave us or forsake us, that He may incline our hearts to Himself, to walk in all His ways and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His ordinances, which He commanded our fathers. Amen.