Sin wastes life

“It is eleven days’ journey from Horeb by way of Mount Seir to Kadesh Barnea. Now it came to pass in the fortieth year…” (Deut 1:2-3)

Forty years it took Israel to travel an eleven day journey!
That’s 1328 times as long as it should have taken. What a waste of time.
Sin is not just a waste of time; it is a waste of life.

Forty years before Israel had been where they are now: on the border of the Promised Land, poised to enter and take possession.
But they had drawn back; their faith had failed them: “Now the just shall live by faith; but if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him.” (Heb 10:38)
God rejected a whole generation: “They always go astray in their heart, and they have not known My ways. So I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest.’” (Heb 3:10)

But, didn’t they repent back then?
Yes, they repented of sorts:  “Then they answered and said to Moses, ‘We have sinned against the Lord’.” (Deut 1:41)

Despite their profession of repentance, Israel would not accept God’s will for them now. Repentance means humbly submitting to whatever is God’s will for us following our sin.
Instead they said: “We will go up and fight, just as the Lord our God commanded us.” And “everyone girded on his weapons of war, ready to go up into the mountain.”

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell them, ‘Do not go up nor fight, for I am not among you; lest you be defeated before your enemies.’”  So Moses spoke to them; but “they would not listen, but rebelled against the command of the Lord, and presumptuously went up into the mountain.”

It would be another 40 years (or 38, Deut 2:14; they had already spent over a year at Mt Sinai) before, at last, they were restored to a place where they (or, at least, their children) were finally back where they were before their sin, and take up where they had left off.

Forgiveness

When we repent and turn back to the Lord through Christ, the Lord forgives: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)

That is the wonder of the gospel. Complete forgiveness, full and free!
There is no greater wonder in all the world than this: that God would forgive a sinner like me.

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, o my soul!

This is my favourite verse from Horatio Spafford’s hymn; as I understand it was his too.

Forgiveness means full restoration in our relationship to God.

• “As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.” Psalm 103:12
• “He will again have compassion on us, and will subdue our iniquities. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.” Micah 7:19
• “For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.” Jeremiah 31:34

“As there is no sin so small but it deserves damnation; so there is no sin so great that it can bring damnation upon those who truly repent.”[1]

Forgiveness means full restoration in our relationship with God.

Restoration

But it does not necessarily mean everything in our earthly circumstances goes back to what it was before; or that we can automatically pick up where we left off.
– Sometimes that may be so.
– Other times wisdom requires that we wait a while.
– And in some cases it may mean we never pick up exactly where we left off.

Sometimes restoration to what pertained before is swift.
When Peter sinned, he immediately repented: “The Lord turned and looked at Peter…  So Peter went out and wept bitterly” (Luke 22:61f). His relation with the Lord was swiftly restored, at very least the day Jesus rose from the dead (Luke 24:34, 1 Cor 15:5).
But also, less than 40 days later, he was fully restored in his position of leadership as an apostle (Joh 21:15-17).

With John Mark it wasn’t so quick – at least in his relationship with the apostle Paul, and probably most of the church (Acts 13:13, 15:38).
But within a few years, he is rehabilitated and Paul can testify: “Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for ministry” (2 Tim 4:11).

In other cases, the result is mixed: some things are fully restored, others are not.
Both Moses and David were immediately fully restored to leadership following their repentance, but other of their circumstances were not restored.

Following Moses’ sin when (focusing on himself rather that God) he lost his temper with those he led (Num 20:10-11), he lost his ticket into the Promised Land.
But he did not lose his authority to continue to lead and instruct: afterwards he delivered whole of Deuteronomy to the people!
In any case, after putting up with a grumbling congregation for 40 years, his selfish loss of temper suggests it was the Lord’s mercy to take him at that time to that “better, that is, heavenly country, that he desired… the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God” (Heb 11:10,16).

And David, after repenting of his horrible sins of adultery, murder and lying/covering up for the best part of a year, was immediately restored in his relationship with the Lord (2 Sam 12:13, Psa 32, 51); but also he was restored to, i.e. not removed from, his position of leadership over Israel.
But he had to humbly submit to God’s will when the Lord took his child (2 Sam 12:22-23); and his rule was afflicted with chaos for the remainder of his days.

In still other cases, there is no restoration of previous circumstances at all.
This was the case with “all the generation of the men of war” (Deut 2:14) in Moses’ day. Though, hopefully, some at least did genuinely repent and were restored in a right relationship with the Lord.

No one rule fits all cases

The Lord in His wisdom knows what is best; it is important therefore to submit to the Lord’s wisdom in our new circumstances.

Also, if you exercise authority in deciding the outcome of another’s circumstances following their repentance, it is of the utmost importance to seek the Lord’s wisdom. (Jas 1:5)
When faced with such a responsibility (whatever form restoration would take, eg. in a relationship like marriage, or in leadership, or in any other way) we can do much harm – in either restoring one too quickly , or in being too hard and not seeking to restore such a one at all.

No one rule fits all cases.
Yes, there are Biblical principles to guide us. Though even here we need God’s wisdom to know how to apply such.
For example, consider restoration in the case of leadership.  In weighing up whether, and when, to restore a man to leadership following his repentance from grievous sin, you would consider 1 Tim 3:7.
Or, in the light of 1 Tim 5:22,  you would ask: “Should we have put him in a position of leadership in the first place?” Sometimes, because there are so many vacant churches, we can be too quick to put into ministry those who are patently unsuitable. (See further here)

But neither should we be slow in restoring such a one where it is appropriate – again, whether that be restoration in a relationship like marriage, or in leadership, or in any other way.
This requires us to exercise humility and wisdom. “Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted” (Gal 6:1).

We need to be like those Moses looked for as leaders to help him, such who were “wise, understanding, and knowledgeable”– as evidenced in that they would:

• “listen,
• “judge righteously between a man and his brother,
• “not show partiality in judgment,
• “hear the small as well as the great,
• “not be afraid in any man’s presence” (Deut 1:16-17).

Unfortunately I have not always found this among some in leadership in the church, but instead a self-confident, gung-ho approach that has done much harm.

A New Beginning

The most important thing, though, following repentance is to humbly submit to God’s wisdom and accept what can be restored and what can’t.
For, in the end, your greatest joy is to know that you are forgiven, and to “rejoice because your name is written in heaven” (Luke 10:20).

In any case, what is not restored is still God’s mercy; God has not left us. As Andrew Stewart comments on Israel’s experience:

“We sometimes go through ‘wilderness times’ when calamity comes upon us because of our folly; yet even in the midst those times God cares for us and preserves us from disaster. God does not leave his people without help and encouragement, and most certainly God does not abandon them. He is with us always, even though his rod may be painful.”[2]

Yet often we find God does restore us to where we were before; nothing is too hard for the Lord (Gen 18:14). Wonder of wonders our God is always ready to give us a second chance. As Alistair Begg comments in Peter’s case:

“The story of Peter, the shaky rock, stands as a reminder to us that God is a God of grace and second chances…
“Like Peter, you and I will sometimes feel sidelined by our failures, our backsliding, our unbelief. We will feel the ache of a dislocated faith; we will need the Master Surgeon to reach out and put our love back in place, sometimes painfully but always restoratively…
“How surprising that Jesus entrusted His ‘lambs’ to the disciple who (with the exception of Judas) had most let him down and in whom was the greatest gap between profession and action. But how encouraging for us that Jesus would do so: for if He was willing to use someone like Peter, He will be willing to use someone like me and you.”[3]

Whatever our new circumstances may be, it is always a new beginning.
Don’t focus on what “might’ve been”; that truly is a waste of time.
Rather, with Paul we say: “Forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Phil 3:13)

Focus on how you are to serve God in your present circumstances.
This is always important in any circumstances – whether it is your sin, or someone else’s, or no one’s at all, that has meant you are where you now are.
In the Psalmist’s case it was another’s sin that brought him grief. Yet he still can say:

“Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him;
“Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way,
“Because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass.
“Cease from anger, and forsake wrath;
“Do not fret—it only causes harm.” (Psalm 37:7-8)

Rather than focusing on what might’ve been, focus on how you can serve the Lord in what is:

“Trust in the Lord, and do good.” (v 3)

And again:

“Depart from evil, and do good.” (v 27)

On the Border of a New Beginning

Let’s go back to Israel, once again on the border of the Promised Land.

The Book of Deuteronomy is God’s counsel to a people about to embark on a New Beginning.
It is therefore a book highly relevant to all of us, as we are continually confronted by our sin, repent, and look to the Lord to begin again.

Deuteronomy is all about:

• Putting sin behind. (1:26ff, 4:29ff etc)
• Learning from our past mistakes. “Only take heed to yourself, and diligently keep yourself, lest you forget the things your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life.” (4:9,15,19,23 etc)
• Renewing our covenant with God. “The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. The Lord did not make this covenant with our fathers, but with us, those who are here today, all of us who are alive.” (5:2-3 etc)
• Courage for the future. “Do not fear or be discouraged” (1:21,29, 3:22, 4:39 etc)
• Passing on to the next generation what we have learnt, to help them avoid our own failures. “Teach them to your children and your grandchildren.” (4:9b,10 cf 1:39 etc)

And then:

• Focus on the future, serving the Lord in your present circumstances. “Moses My servant is dead. Now therefore, arise, go over this Jordan…” (Josh 1:1-9 etc)

[1] Westminster Confession ch 15 §4
[2] Andrew Stewart Deuteronomy (Welwyn Commentary) ch 2
[3] Alistair Begg, Truth for Life: 365 Daily Devotions October 4