Presumptuous Sinners and Their Doom

The following is adapted from Matthew Henry's commentary on Numbers 15:30-31.

But the soul that doeth ought presumptuously, whether he be born in the land, or a stranger, the same reproacheth the LORD; and that soul shall be cut off from among his people. Because he hath despised the word of the LORD, and hath broken his commandment, that soul shall utterly be cut off; his iniquity shall be upon him.

Numbers 15:30-31

Here is the general doom passed upon presumptuous sinners.

Presumptuous Sinners

Those are to be reckoned presumptuous sinners who sin with a high hand, as the original phrase is, that is, who avowedly confront God's authority and set up their own lust in competition with it, who sin for sinning-sake, in contradiction to the precept of the law, and in defiance of the penalty, who fight against God, and dare him to do his worst (see Job 15:25). It is not only to sin against knowledge, but to sin designedly against God's will and glory.

Presumptuous Sin

Sins thus committed are exceedingly sinful. He that thus breaks the commandment:

1. Reproaches the Lord. He says the worst he can of him, and most unjustly. The language of presumptuous sin is, "Eternal truth is not fit to be believed, the Lord of all not fit to be obeyed, and almighty power not fit to be either feared or trusted." It imputes folly to Infinite Wisdom, and iniquity to the righteous Judge of heaven and earth; such is the malignity of willful sin.
2. Despises the word of the Lord. There are those who, in many instances, come short of fulfilling the word, and yet have a great value for it, and count the law honorable; but presumptuous sinners despise it, thinking themselves too great, good, and wise to be ruled by it. What is the Almighty that we should serve him (Job 21:15)? Whatever the sin itself is, it is contumacy that incurs the anathema. It is rebellion added to the sin that is as witchcraft, and stubbornness as idolatry (1Sa. 15:23).

The Appointed Doom

The sentence passed on such is dreadful. There remains no sacrifice for those sins (Heb. 10:26-27); the law provided none: that soul shall be cut off from among his people, utterly cut off; and that God may be forever justified, and the sinner forever confounded, his iniquity shall be upon him, and there needs no more to sink him to the lowest hell. Thus the Jewish doctors understand it, that the iniquity shall cleave to the soul after it is cut off, and that man shall give an account of his sin at the great day of judgment. Perhaps the kind of offense might be such as did not expose the offender to the censure of the civil magistrate, but, if it was done presumptuously, God himself would take the punishment of it into his own hands, and into them it is a fearful thing to fall (Heb. 10:31). In the New Testament we find the like sentence of exclusion from all benefit by the great sacrifice passed upon the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost, and a total apostasy from Christianity.