CONSEQUENCES OF DISOBEDIENCE.
PART 1
“Consequences “ are results or effects of action or actions of some previous occurrences. They are outcomes or repercussions which are typically unpleasant.
“Disobedience “is failure or refusal to obey rules or someone in authority.
It is lack of regard for authority or rulership. It is yielding to self- will.
Biblically, it is going against what God has commanded in his word and disobeying how he wants us to live. It is a rebellion against God or simply not trusting that he knows best and then yielding to self- will instead of surrendering to him. It is just the opposite of obedience and spiritually it is not doing what God commands. Disobedience can equate to rebellion, iniquity or idolatry. As obedience is synonymous with holiness so also disobedience is to unholiness.
Disobedience is in categories. Disobedience to parents, to authority, to leaders and rulers, to the law of the land and to the word of God. And each has its own consequences.
But this sermon will concentrate on disobedience to the word of God with reference to the Holy book.
Cases of disobedience are found in the Bible with accompanying consequences to learn from. A whole nation can be disobedient to God’s command, a family can and an individual can as well.
Let us consider a few examples in the Bible.
Jonah the son of Amittai. Jonah 1:1-17
The word of God came to Jonah son of Amittai :”Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.”The instruction was to clear but Jonah decided to go his own way. Instead of going to Nineveh to deliver God’s message he ran away from the LORD and headed to Tarshish. He boarded a ship and the LORD sent a great wind on the sea, so violent that the ship was about to break up. Efforts were made by the sailors to lighten the weight by throwing some items into the sea so that the ship will not
sink but Jonah suggested they throw him into the sea. For he said “I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you.”Jonah1:12. Having said that, he was thrown over-board and instantly the raging sea grew calm. This made the men in the ship to greatly fear God and offered a sacrifice and made vows to God. That was not all for Jonah, the LORD provided a great fish to swallow and he was inside the fish for good three days and nights. God knows how hot and dark the place is and how uncomfortable Jonah would be. That was the consequence of his disobedience to God’s instruction. But inside the fish, and in distress he prayed and worshipped the LORD and the merciful God commanded the fish to vomit him unto dry land. God gave him a second chance by sending the word to him again and this time around he obeyed and went to Nineveh to deliver God’s message.
Brethren, you can not afford to run away from God, and every disobedience to God’s command has its own repercussions. Imagine what Jonah went through; some people even suffered by it, the consequences of his disobedience almost caused those he boarded with their dear lives but for the timely actions they took and God’s intervention.
Lot’s wife.-Gen 19:1-26.
When the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah was so great and their sin so grievous the LORD sent two angels to Sodom and there lived Lot, his wife and two daughters. The angels arrived Sodom at evening and Lot went to meet them while sitting in the gateway of the city. He persuaded them to lodge in his house till morning. He prepared meal for them and they ate but before they they went to bed the men of Sodom, old and young, came to Lot to bring the men out so they could have sex with them. Lot strongly appealed to them but they refused until the angels struck them with blindness. This action made the two men to reveal their purpose of coming to Sodom to Lot. That the LORD has sent them to destroy Sodom. That Lot and his family had to move out of Sodom on time. When Lot hesitated, they had to grasp his hand, and the hands of his wife and two daughters and led them out safely out of the city, for the LORD was merciful to them. But as soon as the men had brought them out , one of them said, “Flee for your lives! Don’t look back, and don’t stop anywhere in the plain! Flee to the mountains or you will be swept away!” It was meant to make them focus and steadfast and not be distracted by the possessions they were leaving behind. Lot and his family eventually reached Zoar at sunrise and then the LORD rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah. All those living in the cities and the vegetation were destroyed. Unfortunately Lot’s wife disobeyed the command given them by looking back perhaps towards Sodom and she became a pillar of salt. The two men were sent by God and it was his command they gave to Lot’s family. Her looking back was disobedient to God’s command and the consequence was becoming a pillar of salt. Her sudden and unexpected disappearance was a great calamity and sorrow for her family.
Brethren, we may think the command is very simple, “Don’t look back.” But she looked back. No matter the command given by God, it is better to obey.
King Saul - 1Sam 15:1-35.
The LORD sent the message through Samuel to king Saul “I will punish the Amalekites for what they did to Israel when they waylaid them as they came up from Egypt. Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy all that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.” This was the mission God wanted Saul to accomplish. To attack the Amalekites and totally destroy them all and all that belongs to them without sparing anyone or anything. Saul gathered men to attack the Amalekites and he even advised the Kenites to move away from the Amalekites so that he won’t destroy them too. All the Amalekites were destroyed but Saul and the army spared Agag king of the Amalekites and the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves and lambs - the everything that was good. They were unwilling to destroy completely and this was great disobedience God’s message to Saul. Then the word of the LORD came to Samuel “ 1Sam15:10” I regret that I have made Saul the king, because he has turned away from me and he has not carried out my instructions,” Samuel being angry challenged Saul of his act of disobedience, but he lied that the soldiers took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of what was devoted to God, in order to sacrifice them to the LORD. Samuel made him realise that God does not delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices but he delights in obedience. And that to obey is better than sacrifice and to heed is better than the fat of rams. “Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has rejected you as king over Israel.” 1Sam15:23b. “The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to one of your neighbours- to one better than you.”1Sam15:27. Saul’s disobedience made God to reject him as king and it also made God to regret making him king over Israel. Saul did not fulfill the mission he was sent on, he disappointed Samuel ,he lost his honour and incurred God’s wrath.
TO CONTINUE IN PART 2.
