Consequences, Different from Punishment

“For lo, I will command, and I will shake the house of Israel among all the nations, as one shakes with a sieve, yet not a grain shall fall to the earth.” (Amos 9:9)

It was a fearful thing to be Jewish in the Old Testament. God gave the Law and if transgressed which was obvious, they would and when they did, the punishment of the Lord was frightening. Evil, plagues, “long-lasting sicknesses” and all the diseases of Egypt were to come to them until they would be destroyed. And just as the Lord delighted to do them good, He would delight to destroy them. They would lose their land and be scattered which happened. And they would only know fearfulness day and night and become slaves. “If you will not observe to do all the words of this Law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and fearful name, JEHOVAH YOUR GOD, then Jehovah will make your plagues remarkable, and the plagues of your seed great and persistent plagues; with evil and long-lasting sicknesses. Also, He will bring on you all the diseases of Egypt of which you were afraid. And they shall cling to you. Also, every sickness and every plague which is not written in the book of this Law, Jehovah will bring them on you until you are destroyed. And you shall be left few in number, whereas you were as the stars of the heavens for multitude, because you would not obey the voice of Jehovah your God. And it shall be, as Jehovah rejoiced over you to do you good and to multiply you, so Jehovah will rejoice over you to destroy you and to bring you to nothing. And you shall be plucked from off the land where you go to possess it. And Jehovah shall scatter you among all people, from the one end of the earth even to the other, and you shall serve other gods there, which neither you nor your fathers have known, wood and stone. And among these nations you shall find no ease, neither shall the sole of your foot have rest. But Jehovah shall give you there a trembling heart and failing of eyes and sorrow of mind. And your life shall hang in doubt before you, and you shall fear day and night, and shall have no assurance of your life. In the morning you shall say, Oh that it were evening! And at evening you shall say, Oh that it were morning, for the fear of your heart with which you shall fear, and for the sight of your eyes which you shall see. And Jehovah shall bring you into Egypt again with ships, by the way of which I said to you, You shall see it no more again. And there you shall be sold to your enemies for men-slaves and women-slaves, and no man shall buy you.” (Deuteronomy 28:58-68)

Amos prophesies about the coming destruction coming to Israel. He calls it a sinful kingdom. But Amos prophesies a promise that the Lord would not completely destroy the house of Jacob. “Behold, the eyes of the Lord Jehovah are on the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from the face of the earth; except that I will not completely destroy the house of Jacob, says Jehovah.” (Amos 9:8) Although the kingdom of Israel will suffer terrifying punishment for their sin, God assures Israel that they will not be utterly destroy. The Lord assures Israel of His mercy toward Israel, even though they disobeyed God with no consideration of the consequences. He guarantees that He will honor the promise He made to Abraham.

Today, there is no punishment for sin. Jesus took it all. But we will have to suffer the consequences of our sin. Our bad choices and decisions have consequences for us, our families and friends. What is the difference? When David sinned, his son died. That was punishment for his sin. “And Nathan left to go to his house. And Jehovah struck the child that Uriah's wife bore to David, and it was very sick.” (2Samuel 12:15)  The Lord took his son. But when Absalom rebelled against his father, King David, that was a consequence of bad parenting.” (2Samuel 13:1-39) When we sin, there is no punishment. The payment for sin has been paid by Jesus. He took all the punishment for sin in His sacrifice on the cross.  But we may have to suffer the consequences of our sin. For example, if you have sex out of marriage, a consequence could be pregnancy or a sexually transmitted disease. If you lie consistently, people will never believe you. If you steal, you might go to jail. If you take drugs, you may die of an overdose. These are consequences of our actions and decisions. The Lord may be merciful if we sincerely repent, but that is not a guarantee.

In summary, Israel had sinned. And Amos prophesied the punishment of the Lord. We are blessed because of our Lord and Savior, Jesus, who took the punishment of our sin. So, we don’t suffer any punishment for sin, but we may well suffer the consequences. The Lord, Who is merciful, may help us when we have to suffer the consequences of our sin. He knows our heart and the intentions of the heart. He will always do what is best for us, even if He allows us to suffer the consequences. “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked. For whatever a man sows, that he also will reap. For he sowing to his flesh will reap corruption from the flesh. But he sowing to the Spirit will reap life everlasting from the Spirit. But we should not lose heart in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap, if we do not faint.” (Galatians 6:7-9)