It Catches Up
Numbers 20:28
“And Moses stripped Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar his son; and Aaron died there in the top of the mount: and Moses and Eleazar came down from the mount.”
There are many stories in the Scriptures that sadden me as I read them, and the story from the verse above is one of them. Aaron had a big part in Israel coming out of Egypt. He was Moses’ right hand man. He stood in the beginning with Moses when nobody understood that he would lead Israel out of Egypt. When others attacked Moses, Aaron was always by his side. When others questioned Moses’ leadership, Aaron was the one who vindicated him. Aaron could have easily hurt Moses and caused division in Israel, but he did not.
Yet, one action caused Aaron to miss the Promised Land. That one action led to the verse above when it says, “And Moses stripped Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar…” I can only imagine the humiliation this must have brought. For close to forty years, Aaron wore those garments. For forty years Aaron was the high priest, but his actions finally caught up with him and caused him to be stripped of his garments.
Christian, sin always catches up to people. I have watched many people think they got away with something, only to see it catch up to them in the end. This story of Aaron being stripped of his garments can teach us several lessons that we must keep fresh on our minds.
First, one bad action can ruin years of many good actions. Honestly, this seems unfair, but it is simply the way of life. If you were to honestly look at Aaron’s life, you would find more good than bad, but one bad action cost him his dream. You must always remember that all it takes is one bad decision to ruin years of hard work. It only takes one time to destroy everything for which you have worked. Don’t let one bad action ruin years of hard work.
Second, sin always strips you of your dignity. The humiliation that Aaron experienced must have been great. To have the robes of the high priest stripped from him and given to another had to be humbling. Here was a man who was second-in-command, yet one action took that from him. You must always remember that sin will humiliate you and strip you of your dignity. Sin doesn’t care who you are or what you have done, the only thing it cares about is taking your dignity from you. Always remember that if you choose to sin, you choose to let it strip you of your dignity.
Third, your actions will catch up to you. You may think that you have gotten away with what you’ve done, but it will catch up. Many years had passed from the time that Moses and Aaron smote the rock, but it caught up to them. I have never found the person who is fast enough to outrun sin. Sin always seems to outrun any person. Always remember that you will not get away with what you are doing.
Finally, God still forgave Aaron. This is my favorite thought about this story. Though sin caught up to Aaron and he was stripped of his dignity, he still went to Heaven. Christian, God is in the forgiving business. If you will fess up to what you have done, you will find that God will forgive you. The best way to keep sin from stripping you of your dignity is to confess your sin to God and let Him forgive and cleanse you from it.
Don’t ever forget that sin takes and never gives. Sin has horrible consequences, and you must daily ask God to keep you from sin’s temptation. When temptation comes, always remember this story of Aaron and remember that if you yield to sin’s temptation, this will eventually become your story.