“Woe to you, destroyer, you who have not been destroyed! Woe to you, betrayer, you who have not been betrayed! When you stop destroying, you will be destroyed; when you stop betraying, you will be betrayed.” Isaiah 33:1 NIV
Reflection: why should we be afraid of sinning?
Sin never works. When you stop and think about it, sin never ends up as intended. Because it always carries a consequence that is not part of how it is “marketed”. This is true whether you are a Christian or not. Whether the sin is something seemingly minor, like telling a half-truth to deceive someone, or if it is something much more significant like a betrayal, or destroying someone’s good reputation, the sinful action has a natural “counter-action”. It might not return with exactly the same effect or intensity, but there is always a consequence of sin. Sin can look very attractive before “touching it”, like the apple in the garden of Eden. But once you have taken a bite, you know immediately it was a mistake. Your “eyes” are opened. The consequence of telling half truths might be the loss of credibility and trust others have in you, and therefore you might not be able to have meaningful and deep relationships with others. But, what is sin? We might be able to summarize in the following way,
Sin is everything that is against the will of God; against His created order and laws.
We read from Isaiah in our focus verse today about the consequence of sin. “Woe to you, destroyer, you who have not been destroyed! Woe to you, betrayer, you who have not been betrayed! When you stop destroying, you will be destroyed; when you stop betraying, you will be betrayed.” Isaiah 33:1 NIV. Here we see a direct correlation between those who betray others will themselves eventually be betrayed. And likewise, those who destroy others will eventually be destroyed themselves. And we can observe this “law” of God’s created order all around us. No one “gets away with” sin; it might satisfy the flesh for a brief moment, but there is always a harsh consequence at some point. Let us not be fooled.
And this is the battle front that each of us are in, all the time. Remember that the Lord even told His disciples in the garden to pray ““Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”Matthew 26:41 NIV. Notice this also happened in a garden, reminiscent of Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden, except this time it was in the garden of Gethsemane. The disciples also fell for the temptation, as Eve and Adam did before them. But Jesus did not, as He prayed. He alone faced and fought the devil, but He surrendered only to the will of the Father. “He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.”” Matthew 26:42 NIV. And it is only in His name, in receiving His atonement for our sins we are made righteous before God.
Isaiah understood the battle we are in, and that salvation from sin could only come from the Lord Himself. Therefore he cried out, “Lord, be gracious to us; we long for you. Be our strength every morning, our salvation in time of distress.” Isaiah 33:2 NIV. And later explained that “For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king; it is he who will save us.”Isaiah 33:22 NIV. And this is our battle to this day, to walk in the Spirit and not according to the flesh. To take sin very serious, understanding its consequences, never to test the grace and mercy of God. We read from Hebrews “In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.” Hebrews 12:4 NIV.
Let’s do a “gut check” today. Are we sufficiently afraid of sinning, of going against the will of God? Or are there things in our lives that we know deep down is wrong, but we keep making some excuse for? Don’t let the devil fool you with “the apple”; he has another agenda. Instead, bring it all into the light, before the Lord. Confess it all. Our Lord God is a gracious God, longing to show mercy. And He has promised us that “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9 NIV. And “All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.” 1 John 3:3 NIV. And we pray today that we do not fall into temptation, but that we are delivered from the evil one.
