286. THE CONSEQUENCES OF OUR WRONGDOING

(The Information & Edification Series – Batch 9)

This morning, my devotions led me to 2 Samuel 21:1-9 where it reads:

• “Then there was a famine in the days of David three years, year after year; and David enquired of the Lord. And the Lord answered, It is for Saul, and for his bloody house, because he slew the Gibeonites. And the king called the Gibeonites, and said unto them; (now the Gibeonites were not of the children of Israel, but of the remnant of the Amorites; and the children of Israel had sworn unto them: and Saul sought to slay them in his zeal to the children of Israel and Judah.)

• Wherefore David said unto the Gibeonites, What shall I do for you? and wherewith shall I make the atonement, that ye may bless the inheritance of the Lord? And the Gibeonites said unto him, We will have no silver nor gold of Saul, nor of his house; neither for us shalt thou kill any man in Israel. And he said, What ye shall say, that will I do for you. And they answered the king, The man that consumed us, and that devised against us that we should be destroyed from remaining in any of the coasts of Israel, Let seven men of his sons be delivered unto us, and we will hang them up unto the Lord in Gibeah of Saul, whom the Lord did choose. And the king said, I will give them. 

• But the king spared Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan the son of Saul, because of the Lord’s oath that was between them, between David and Jonathan the son of Saul. But the king took the two sons of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, whom she bare unto Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth; and the five sons of Michal the daughter of Saul, whom she brought up for Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite: And he delivered them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they hanged them in the hill before the Lord: and they fell all seven together, and were put to death in the days of harvest, in the first days, in the beginning of barley harvest.”

From this account, I was reminded and sadly, could attest from my own experience, of some of the sad consequences of wrongdoing, which is sin. The consequences of sin are many and far-reaching. Some of these have been highlighted in the above story as follows:

ONE – When we do wrong (sin), the consequences are OUT OF OUR CONTROL.

In the story above, nobody had the foreknowledge or the power to determine how Saul’s sin or wrongdoing (committed many years prior), would be repaid or requited, only God. When we do wrong, wrong God and wrong others, there is no telling how God may require us to pay for it or what consequences we may reap, even if we have repented and have been forgiven. We cannot tell if we will be met with health problems, famine, financial hardship, unemployment, singleness, barrenness, miscarriage, problems in our family home, attacks from enemies or a combination of these or other awful consequences.

God is resourceful and he knows exactly how to get to each and every single one of us. In short, he knows what consequence is right for each of us and how to customize it just for us, so that we definitely feel the pain for what we have done and with the pressure of the pain, with each squeeze, which is tremendously painful, to regret more and more, what we had done, humbling our wretched selves under the mighty hand of God.

TWO – When we do wrong (sin), the consequences can sometimes be LONG-LASTING.

As was clearly evident in the above story, nobody had the power to determine when this sin would be requited or within what timeframe, only God. The truth of the matter is, that sometimes, the consequences of our sin last much longer than we could have ever anticipated or calculated. While some sins (wrongdoing) may be done quickly or flippantly and considered in the moment to be no big deal, God is the judge of that and although done quickly, carelessly and casually, those actions can reap adverse consequences for a very, very long time. We can find ourselves reaping and reaping and reaping for the ugly harvest that we have sown, until and unless, God decides that the consequences are enough and in his mercy, removes the punishment.

In Jeremiah 17:1-4 for example, in judgment for Judah’s sin, God, who determines what will be done about all sin, pronounced through his Prophet, on the surety of the consequence and how long-lasting it would be. He said:

• “The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, and with the point of a diamond: it is graven upon the table of their heart, and upon the horns of your altars; Whilst their children remember their altars and their groves by the green trees upon the high hills. O my mountain in the field, I will give thy substance and all thy treasures to the spoil, and thy high places for sin, throughout all thy borders. And thou, even thyself, shalt discontinue from thine heritage that I gave thee; and I will cause thee to serve thine enemies in the land which thou knowest not: for ye have kindled a fire in mine anger, WHICH SHALL BURN FOR EVER.”

Judah was therefore guilty of the charge. They were responsible for God’s judgment being poured out but they had no control over how long God would cause them to suffer as a result and absolutely no power, even through repentance, to bring the consequences to an end. God maintained sole jurisdiction in this regard.

After his people had suffered for many years and grievously for their sins though, the Lord conveyed through his Prophet, of his plan to finally remove the consequences, as in his righteous judgment, HE ruled that they had paid enough. He conveyed: “The punishment of thine iniquity is accomplished, O daughter of Zion; he will no more carry thee away unto captivity.” (Lamentations 4:22)

In Isaiah 51:17-23, God also stated to his people, who had suffered immensely and for a lengthy period of time for their sin, that he had ruled that the time had come to remove the consequences. Through another Prophet, when, according to the counsel of his own will, he decided that they had been punished enough, he stated:

• “Awake, awake, stand up, O Jerusalem, which hast drunk at the hand of the Lord the cup of his fury; thou hast drunken the dregs of the cup of trembling, and wrung them out. There is none to guide her among all the sons whom she hath brought forth; neither is there any that taketh her by the hand of all the sons that she hath brought up. These two things are come unto thee; who shall be sorry for thee? desolation, and destruction, and the famine, and the sword: by whom shall I comfort thee? Thy sons have fainted, they lie at the head of all the streets, as a wild bull in a net: they are full of the fury of the Lord, the rebuke of thy God.

• Therefore hear now this, thou afflicted, and drunken, but not with wine: Thus saith thy Lord the Lord, and thy God that pleadeth the cause of his people, Behold, I have taken out of thine hand the cup of trembling, even the dregs of the cup of my fury; thou shalt no more drink it again: But I will put it into the hand of them that afflict thee; which have said to thy soul, Bow down, that we may go over: and thou hast laid thy body as the ground, and as the street, to them that went over.”

This reminds us when we have done wrong, any kind of wrong, that it is solely within the hand and mind of God to determine if to remove the consequences we reap and when. We are powerless to change any situation that we may find ourselves in where we have sinned against God and other people, to deliver ourselves from the consequences that he allows in our lives.

THREE – When we do wrong (sin), the consequences can be DELAYED.

It may seem like God did not see when we did our wrong or that he has treated the issue lightly and excused us but this is never the case. God has seen it and has kept a perfect record. Not because sentence against wrong is not speedily executed, does it mean that it will never be dealt with.

God controls and determines the consequence (he assures us in his Word that every man shall receive for the wrong he hath done and that he is no respecter of persons) and sometimes, he delays that consequence, having it manifest at some time long after the wrong has been committed, when HE has appointed.

It is important to remember as well, that even where a Christian has genuinely repented of sin and God has forgiven, as we saw with David when he was guilty of lust, covetousness, adultery and murder, the consequences can still be delayed until many years later or God can mete out some now and some much later. Repentance and forgiveness are not tickets therefore, to escape the consequences of our actions. God can remove them yes, in his mercy but sometimes, he does not. Sometimes, although we have been forgiven, we are still required to suffer consequences for our actions.

This was clear when David sinned against God by numbering the people and when he sinned on another occasion, by committing adultery and murder.

In the sin with Bathsheba, God waited until the child had been born, before confronting him on his sin, which David had committed at least a year or close to a year prior. There was some delay therefore and then the Lord mete out some measure of judgment on David, causing the child which was born from the adultery, to die.

This was painful enough but God was not finished. He informed David that there would be other consequences. He told him for example, that the sword would never depart from his house, that he would raise up evil against him out of his own house (alluding to the fact that there would be family problems and hostilities from within) and of something shameful that would be done to his wives sexually. All of these were the consequences that would flow, as a result of David’s sin. Notably, David had committed adultery (which was sexual immorality) borne from lust and covetousness and also had a man murdered and it was exactly that, that was meted out to him through his family.

For, many, many years later, when David’s children (at least some of them) had grown into adults and David may have even forgotten about what he had done so many years prior, these consequences began to manifest. Tamar, his daughter was raped by his adult son Amnon, her half-brother, which was sexual immorality, borne out of Amnon’s lust and covetousness. Amnon’s murder was then commissioned by David’s other adult son Absalom, who wished to requite Amnon his half-brother, for what he had done to his whole sister, Tamar.

The family problems did not end there. Absalom was banished for some time and tensions were high between him and David, until David eventually had him return. Nevertheless, Absalom, having not an ounce of love or respect for his father, then led a mutiny against David, years after this incident, trying to overthrow his Kingdom so that he could reign in his stead. This too was borne out of a heart of covetousness, him longing to be on the throne, which was not his. In the process, David had to run, shamefully, from his own son and was cursed by Shimei in the process. Also, although David tried to prevent it out of love for his rebellious son, he (Absalom) was eventually murdered by Joab. Prior to that, while David had been on the run, Absalom had disrespectfully and immorally slept with David’s ten concubines who he had left behind to keep the house, when he was fleeing from Absalom.

God’s Word of the consequences that would flow from David’s own sin, therefore came to pass, many years later. David may have been pained, knowing that he was the cause of all the mayhem that took place in his family but he had no control over it whatsoever, to keep it from happening.

FOUR – When we do wrong (sin), the consequences can OUTLIVE US.

The consequences of sin can be so long-lasting, that it can even outlive us. Imagine, Saul was dead and gone, many years before and yet, the consequence for his wrongdoing was now rearing its head, many years later, although he was no longer around so as to be personally impacted by the consequence of his actions. Sin’s stain is deep enough to live on beyond the grave.

FIVE – When we do wrong (sin), the consequences can AFFECT INNOCENT PEOPLE.

David and the people of Israel had nothing to do with Saul’s sin and were not even aware of it but it was now affecting them as a people. They were made to endure three difficult years of famine, on account of Saul’s selfish actions and God did not volunteer the information to them as to why. David had to go before him to enquire before he revealed the source of the problem.

The same thing happened when Achan, unknown to Joshua and the rest of the people, had sinned secretly. When Israel went out to fight against their enemies, they lost miserably, many people dying as a result. They had expected that God would go with them as he usually would do and would give them the victory but he did not in this instance and they did not understand why. It was only after Joshua went before the Lord in confusion, as to why what had happened had occurred, that God informed him that it was a consequence because there was sin in the camp. One person from the whole congregation of Israelites had sinned secretly and until he was discovered and dealt with, the Israelites could not hope to ever have victory again.

Based on God’s guidance, Achan was then discovered and brought forth and after being made to confess, he and his entire family were killed, so as to have the consequences over Israel, of defeat and humiliation in battle, removed.

Notably, Achan’s sons and daughters may have not had anything to do with his sin but they, as innocent people being in his family, paid the ultimate price with their lives.

This emphasizes that if we as women align ourselves with the wrong man for marriage, it may not just affect us negatively but also our children. For, the consequences of sin can affect an entire household.

This is why we have to be careful as women, as to who we marry and give headship over us. If we marry ungodly men or men that are not serious about the Lord (carnal Christians), we and our children can be affected negatively by the bad choices they make, as we saw with Lot’s married daughters. They perished in Sodom and Gomorrah because they were under the headship of foolish, ungodly men, who, although they were warned of impending judgment and given the opportunity to flee, laughed at Lot in disbelief and remained, along with their family.

We saw it as well where Abigail was married to a foolish, ungodly man called Nabal. Her entire household almost perished because of his folly but for her timely intervention and wisdom. We also saw how the children of Israel and Judah suffered when under the leadership of ungodly kings, who made poor decisions, without the fear of God. People often lost their lives as a result.

Even David, who was a godly king, caused people to suffer innocently as a result of his sin. The baby born to him and Bathsheba died innocently, as a result of his actions. When Satan provoked him to number Israel and he had done it, against the mind of God, many innocent people died as a result. Often, the devil provokes God’s people to do wrong but if they give in, they must bear the consequences for their sin, as Moses learned the hard way when, after sinning against God’s command upon provocation, he was not allowed to enter the Promised Land.

Of David, the Word of God states in 1 Chronicles 21:102, 7-18:

• “And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel. And David said to Joab and to the rulers of the people, Go, number Israel from Beersheba even to Dan; and bring the number of them to me, that I may know it…And God was displeased with this thing; therefore he smote Israel. And David said unto God, I have sinned greatly, because I have done this thing: but now, I beseech thee, do away the iniquity of thy servant; for I have done very foolishly.

• And the Lord spake unto Gad, David’s seer, saying, Go and tell David, saying, Thus saith the Lord, I offer thee three things: choose thee one of them, that I may do it unto thee. So Gad came to David, and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Choose thee either three years’ famine; or three months to be destroyed before thy foes, while that the sword of thine enemies overtaketh thee; or else three days the sword of the Lord, even the pestilence, in the land, and the angel of the Lord destroying throughout all the coasts of Israel. Now therefore advise thyself what word I shall bring again to him that sent me.

• And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let me fall now into the hand of the Lord; for very great are his mercies: but let me not fall into the hand of man. So the Lord sent pestilence upon Israel: and there fell of Israel seventy thousand men. And God sent an angel unto Jerusalem to destroy it: and as he was destroying, the Lord beheld, and he repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed, It is enough, stay now thine hand. And the angel of the Lord stood by the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite.”

The pain of suffering for one’s own iniquity is one thing but the pain and guilt, in seeing innocent people suffering and even losing their lives on account of his own rash sin, must have hurt David to the core

The scripture states:

• “And David lifted up his eyes, and saw the angel of the Lord stand between the earth and the heaven, having a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders of Israel, who were clothed in sackcloth, fell upon their faces. And David said unto God, Is it not I that commanded the people to be numbered? even I it is that have sinned and done evil indeed; but as for these sheep, what have they done? let thine hand, I pray thee, O Lord my God, be on me, and on my father’s house; but not on thy people, that they should be plagued. Then the angel of the Lord commanded Gad to say to David, that David should go up, and set up an altar unto the Lord in the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite.”

Saul’s sin also affected innocent people, long after he had left the scene. Those in his lineage, although they had not personally committed it and probably knew nothing about it, had to be killed., in order to have his sin against the Gibeonites requited. Seven of his sons (including grandsons) were hanged, so that God would remove the famine, which was affecting everyone, from Israel.

This reminds us that, no matter how unimportant we view some people, when we wrong anyone, God sees it and requites it. He does not create classes of importance as we as human beings love to do, considering some to be very significant people and others to be as nothing. Even when we wrong the people that we in our sinfulness, consider to be as nothing, God requites it, especially if any of those people we consider to be as nothing are his children.

CONCLUSION

Given therefore, as one Preacher so often puts it, that we can choose our sin but not the consequences of our sin and might I add, neither the length, breadth, scope or dimension of it and given that we have no power to determine when the consequences will start, how they will flow and no power to make them end, even after genuine repentance and given that consequences can affect innocent people, including those that we love and care about, we should live our lives carefully, not carelessly, mindful of what we do and say.

Given that God is no respecter of persons, that he is not mocked, that all things are naked and open before him, that he will bring every idle word into judgment and that he is capable of causing every transgression and disobedience to receive a just recompence of reward, we should live our lives humbly in fear and trembling.

In Philippians 2:12, comes the admonition, “…work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.”

Every one of us, if Christians, should be challenged by the high calling to which we have been called and be mindful of our responsibility before God. As 1 Peter 1:13-17 states therefore:

• “…gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy….And if ye call on the Father, WHO WITHOUT RESPECT OF PERSONS JUDGETH ACCORDING TO EVERY MAN’S WORK, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear.” (1 Peter 1:13-17)

(Written on 8th July, 2023)

Dear Reader, if you found the above Article to be interesting, informative, edifying or beneficial, you may also be interested in reading the following:

• Note 133 – ‘Were You Deceived Or Disobedient?’
• Note 186 – ‘There Is Beautiful Provision In Obedience’
• Note 263 – ‘Can Disobedience Ever Be Justified?’
• Note 264 – ‘Partial Obedience = Complete Disobedience’

Also, under the ‘BROKEN Daughters’ Page:

• Note 57 – ‘Eight (8) Lessons About Sin’

Additionally, under the ‘SINGLE Daughters’ Page:

• Note 232 – ‘What Sin Does Once Introduced – Based On The Story Of Adam & Eve And Cain & Abel’
• Note 254 – ‘Eight (8) Reasons Why You May Still Be Single’