(Dis)obedience in the Bible: Sobering Examples

“Neither he [king Zedekiah] nor his attendants nor the people of the land paid any attention to the words the Lord had spoken through Jeremiah the prophet. . . the king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes. . . then he put out Zedekiah’s eyes and bound him with bronze shackles to take him to Babylon” Jeremiah 37:2; 39:6, 7.

This passage is about how the king of Judah and the people despised the words of Jeremiah the prophet regarding the imminent Babylonian captivity. Jeremiah faithfully preached the true prophetic message.

This was that Judah would be taken captive by the Babylonians. And whoever remained in the land of Israel would be killed. But if they went with the king of Babylon peacefully, their lives would be spared, and all would be well (Jeremiah 38: 1-3).

This was God’s judgment of the nation for their sins. If they would’ve taken their lumps, it wouldn’t have been so bad. God would’ve been with them and taken care of them, even in this foreign land.

The false prophets of the day preached the opposite false message. And encouraged the king and the people to stay in their land. The king chose to go with that message instead.

We learn the outcome of that decision in Jeremiah 39: 6,7 above. To read the entire chapter for context, click here.

Corrected with a Word or Circumstances

As with Zedekiah, the king, we too have a choice when we are walking in disobedience and in need of correction:

we can either be corrected by the word of God (Jeremiah’s message), or by trying circumstances (stay in the land and be killed).

The Lord will always try to correct us with His word first. But if we’re stubborn and refuse to listen, He has no choice but to use difficult, painful circumstances to get our attention.

God’s ultimate goal for us it to be blessed and have an abundant life. And live in our promise land. But this can never happen as long as we’re disobedient.

So, the trials He allows us to go through to get our attention and cause us to repent are really a great expression of His love for us.

Any Trial is Better than Continuing in Sin

He knows we’ll never reach our potential; never attain the spirit-filled life He wants us to have unless we turn from our sin. Therefore, any trial, any calamity, however painful and difficult is better than continuing in our sin.

The best course is to listen to God’s word and repent, so we don’t have to go through hell. But if we’re stubborn and refuse to heed His word He has to use the next best alternative.

And that is to allow us to reap the destruction we’ve sown. As painful and devastating as this can be, it’s infinitely better than staying in our sin. And never attaining the abundant, blessed, spirit-filled life He wants to give us.

Now this is not to say the righteous- those who are walking in obedience don’t suffer. “Many are the afflictions of the righteous. . . ” Psalm 34:19. The difference is in the outcome.

The righteous also have to presence and peace of God in the midst of their trials.

According to Jesus, both the wise and foolish experience the rain and floods and wind that “beat against that house”.

“. . . everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.

But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash” Mathew 7: 24-27

(Dis)obedience in the Bible: Sobering Examples

Again, the difference is in the outcome. Those who listen to the word of God still go through the storm but are delivered in the end. Those who don’t listen experience calamity as a result of the storm.

Here’s why God can’t bless us when we’re walking in disobedience and sin: Blessing would do us and those around us more harm than good.

I’m not saying obedience is the same thing as maturity. You can be obedient and still be immature. But obedience eventually leads to maturity. In order to mature, we must be obedient.

A chronically disobedient child will never mature into a healthy, fully functioning adult.

And unless we mature, God can’t bless us the way He wants to. This only makes sense. You wouldn’t give your five-year-old the keys to the car. And you wouldn’t give your 13-year-old unlimited access to the bank account.

These actions would be dangerous and harmful to everyone concerned. So, let’s be obedient, turn from our sin and live the Spirit filled lives Jesus died to give us.

To read another post along the lines of (Dis)obedience in the Bible: Sobering Examples, see Gentle or Overwhelming Trials: You Choose. Or you might like The Spies in Canaan: Then and Now.

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