Focus: The Sin Of Unbelief

Text: Heb.3:17

"But with whom was he grieved forty years? was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcases fell in the wilderness?"

In their journey to the promise land Israel demonstrated no faith in God. All the miracles God performed in the desert were done out of His heart of love for them, not as a result of their faith in God. What a shame! They were God's people who showed no faith in their God.

What separates theology from reality is our lack of faith in God. We experience the reality of God in our lives by actively believing in God. What closes the gap between theology and reality is a living and breathing faith.

Israel sinned against God throughout the period of their journey spanning forty years. What was their sin? The Scripture reveals that it was the sin of unbelief. The writer of Hebrews says, "So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief" (Heb.3:19). Unbelief hindered them from entering into the land of promise. They lost out. Every one who left Egypt from 20 years old missed out of Canaan because of lack of confidence in God. 

Unbelief is damning, dangerous and damaging. 

The author of Hebrews tells us that the carcasses of the unbelievers fell in the desert. The Greek word for 'carcasses' is 'kolon,' and it speaks of the body being cut bits or limb by limb, that is, scattered here and there. The unbelievers died in the desert with their bodies scattered everywhere. They left Egypt but were unable to arrive at the promise land due to unbelief. They are God's people who failed to believe God. Unbelief took them out limb by limb. They died not being together - they did not die in one piece. 

Unbelief causes disharmony, fragmentation and disintegration of our personalities. Unbelief is poisonous and disastrous.

Another issue about unbelief is that it grieves God. God is grieved when His own people fail to trust in Him. The Israelites in their unbelief acted as 'unbelieving believers.' Imagine grieving God for forty years! Many Christians grieve God by their daily lack of trust in God. They find it extremely hard to relinquish control of their lives to God. They let unbelief cut them limb by limb. They lead scattered lives - life that is not centered around and controlled by God. They grieve the Holy Spirit over and over again by their faithlessness. God is only good when circumstances are favorable, but when life goes bananas, they fuss, fume and fumble. 

The author of Hebrews exhorts, "Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God" (Heb.3:12). Unbelief stems from an evil heart, and it separates us from our God. Faith is God's modus operandi; unbelief is completely opposed to God's system of operation. Faith opens the door for God to come in and take charge, but unbelief locks God out and makes it impossible for God to take charge. The sin of unbelief is the ugliest and deadliest sin in the universe.

I pray: may God deliver us from the sin of unbelief and help us to embrace the life of faith. Help us to understand that it is in finding Your will that we find our own will. Amen!

by Bishop Moses E. Peter