M-G: 10.27.13 // Bones Knocking on the Door, Numbers 32:33

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During Halloween, my neighbor had a five-foot skeleton hanging from the top of its skull on his front door. It was made of stiff cardboard with grommets that enabled the neck, shoulders, elbows, hips, and knees to move left or right. The wind was brisk that morning, and the skeleton was turning every which way, banging noisily against the front door as if trying to get inside. What came to mind as the bones were knocking on the door was some sin returning to haunt its maker.

This thought had nothing to do with my neighbor’s lifestyle whatsoever; nor was I going to pick a bone with my neighbor over his poltergeist. In fact, I chuckled over the whole scene and moved on. Then as I walked away those bones took on a more somber tone when I thought about what Moses had said to the Israelites about entering the Promised Land.

To the twelve tribes, Moses admonished, “But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then it shall be that those whom you let remain shall be irritants in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they shall harass you in the land where you dwell” (Num 33:55). We know Israel’s history was replete with flushing their eyes and pulling thorns.  Joshua added to that warning,

“Therefore take careful heed to yourselves, that you love the LORD your God [emphasis mine]. Or else, if indeed you do go back, and cling to the remnant of these nations—these that remain among you—and make marriages with them, and go in to them and they to you,  know for certain that the LORD your God will no longer drive out these nations from before you. But they shall be snares and traps to you, and scourges on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land which the LORD your God has given you” (Josh 23:11-13).

Now read the dreary and denouncing words of the psalmist,

“They did not destroy the peoples, concerning whom the LORD had commanded them, but they mingled with the Gentiles and learned their works; they served their idols, which became a snare to them. They even sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons, and shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan; and the land was polluted with blood. Thus they were defiled by their own works, and played the harlot by their own deeds. Therefore the wrath of the LORD was kindled against His people, so that He abhorred His own inheritance. And He gave them into the hand of the Gentiles, and those who hated them ruled over them” (Psa 106:34-41). The whole sordid affair was a massive mess of disobedience.

To the Transjordan tribes (Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh) who had elected to settle on the eastern side of the Jordan River rather than the Promised Land on the western side, Moses warned, “But if you do not do so (go over and fight), then take note, you have sinned against the LORD; and be sure your sin will find you out [emphasis mine]” (Num 32:23). Other ways of saying these words in bold are these.  “… Make no mistake about it; you will be punished for your sin” (GNB). “…be sure your sin will catch up with you” (HCSB). These tribes honored their word and were allowed after the land was subdued to return across the river Jordan (Josh 4:12; 22:9). Sin had no catching up to do.

Most of us have a skeleton or two in our closet; God only knows. We can be sure if we don’t clean out our closet, that skeleton is going to come knocking on our door, and it won’t be saying, “Trick or treat.” Unconfessed sins always have a way of coming back to haunt us. Remember the words of the Apostle Paul, “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap” (Gal 6:7). The law of the harvest can be an exacting reap rule. “For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life” (an extraordinary quality of living possible, enduring forever, Psa 51:12; Jn 10:10; Eph 1:3, 18), Gal 6:8. Thank the Lord for 1 Jn 1:9!

Do you remember I put some of the words of Joshua in bold earlier? He wanted the tribes to take careful heed to “love the LORD your God?” Well, tie that into the words of Jude,

“But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit (“to pray consistently in the will and power of the Spirit” [MacArthur], cf. Eph 6:18), keep yourselves in the love of God [emphasis mine], looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life” (Jude 20-21). 

Everything holy and godly in our lives flows from our love for the Lord (Mk 12:30-31)! It’s the prime directive of all the revelation of God. John commanded, “Little children, keep yourselves from idols” (1 Jn 5:21). Since disobedience to God is actually a love problem (Jn 14:15), keeping ourselves from idols is not only referring to physical idols but may be applied to encompass anything that competes with the will of God for our lives. “If you do well, God once said to Cain, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door [emphasis mine]. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it" (Gn 4:7, ESV). If we choose not to obey the commands of the Lord, reaping what has been sown can be rough and tough.

If we take our skeletons (pet sins, bad thoughts, and misbehavior) to the Lord we won’t have to hear of any bones knocking at the door of our hearts without warning; disobedience through bad choices has a way of coming back to haunt us. Unconfessed sin is ready to pounce upon us, to overpower and destroy (cf. 1 Pet 5:8). It’s best to get the junk out of our lives before the bite. Beloved, agape love (Mk 12:30) is still the best defense against bones knocking on the door!

PS: The next time I saw my neighbor’s door that noisy skeleton was pinned to the wall on the left side of the door. We need to nail ours to the wall post-haste, too! <><