Apr 25, 2007 - Covering a sin
April 25, 2007
1Sa 14:32-33 KJV
(32) And the people flew upon the spoil, and took sheep, and oxen, and calves, and slew them on the ground: and the people did eat them with the blood.
(33) Then they told Saul, saying, Behold, the people sin against the LORD, in that they eat with the blood. And he said, Ye have transgressed: roll a great stone unto me this day.
A little back story here.
King Saul had made a vow in the morning that the first one who ate any food before evening would die by his hand. It was a stupid vow because even though it provided more time to fight the war, it made the men weak so that they could not fight well. Meanwhile, Jonathan , his son, had gone away from the camp to the enemy camp to look things over and found an opening to start a fight. He had not heard his father's vow. He started the battle, let his fellow men know where to come and fight so they could win and they were winning and he was considered a great warrior by all. That is, until the was leading the men back to Saul and they discovered a land where the honey just lay on the ground. Not knowing his father's vow, he grabbed some and ate it. All the men with them, weak with hunger, did not know what to do. Saul had said the first one who ate would die, now Jonathan had eaten. They told him, and Jonathan said, my father is making a big problem, see how much better I feel, take it and eat.
And that is where we open today. They saw how good Jonathan looked and they said, let's eat. Now God had made a rule about eating. You had to drain the blood out of what you ate. These people were starving. They did not wait, they killed the spoil they had collected from the war and started eating it. They did not follow the ritual rules of draining the blood. Why? Because Saul in his haste to get a victory did not consult the Lord on what to do. He made a vow that he should never have made. No solider can go the day with out food if he is fighting a battle. But as bad as this was, he made it worse!
1Sa 14:34-35 KJV
(34) And Saul said, Disperse yourselves among the people, and say unto them, Bring me hither every man his ox, and every man his sheep, and slay them here, and eat; and sin not against the LORD in eating with the blood. And all the people brought every man his ox with him that night, and slew them there.
(35) And Saul built an altar unto the LORD: the same was the first altar that he built unto the LORD.
It was bad enough that Saul made a stupid vow (and one that he would later not keep), it was bad enough that the people were eating meat with the blood in it, but Saul makes it worse. He tells the people to bring the animals to him and he will sacrifice them to God so they can eat them. Only one group of people could build an alter and sacrifice on it, the priests, and Saul was not one of them. Sure, people were no longer sinning by eating the blood. Instead, Saul was sinning by doing what the priest should do. You can not cover sin with another sin.
I read a true story the other day. A pastor was telling of a member of his congregation that had a friend who was thinking of divorcing his wife. Even though the person was not a member of his congregation, he was a Christian, so the pastor went to council with him. While they talked the man told of how unhappy he had been with his life with his wife. He spoke of the emptiness that had come in. He told of how he had met this beautiful woman and they had really connected. He knew what he was doing was wrong but he did not want to lose this woman. When the pastor told him that he was openly rebelling against God, and that God would help heal the marriage, he understood, but said that he prayed that God would give him grace to make it through it all.
Sin, added to another sin can not ever end in grace to make it through. Could this man be forgiven if he continued? I am sure he could. Was it God's best for him? Certainly not. At this point though, he was acting as Saul was, trying to justify one sin by doing another. I am sure that God could never give him the grace to continue in his sin.
You can not cover one sin, but doing another sin.
