Sin's Impact

May 12
Sin’s Impact

“’Why have you despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in His sight? You have killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword; you have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the people of Ammon. Now therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised Me, and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.'

“Thus says the LORD: 'Behold, I will raise up adversity against you from your own house; and I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun, for you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, before the sun.'

"So David said to Nathan, ‘I have sinned against the LORD.’

"And Nathan said to David, ‘The LORD also has put away your sin; you shall not die. However, because by this deed you have given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme; the child also who is born to you shall surely die.’" II Samuel 12:9-14.

King David's excursion into adultery reveals that, regardless of one's state in life, one cannot commit sin without damaging relationships. II Samuel 12:9-14 describes the cause-and-effect process disobedience to the immutable law of God has over every relationship in life, including the most important one, the relationship with God.

Sin has two basic effects that sully every area of human existence:

First, because of the breach of trust, it creates division between us and God as established in Isaiah 59:1-2.

Second, it produces evil results in the world. Upon true repentance, God's merciful forgiveness cancels out the first. However, the second remains, and the sinner must bear it and, tragically, so must those caught within its web.

As a result of David's sin, five people, including four of David's sons, died directly or indirectly: Uriah, the husband of Bathsheba, was the first to die. His death was followed by those of David and Bathsheba’s illegitimate baby, then those of David’s sons Absalom, Amnon, and Adonijah!

But the punishment did not end there. II Samuel 16:20-22 relates another step in the unfolding of this sin's effect:

"Then Absalom said to Ahithophel, 'Give counsel as to what we should do.'

"And Ahithophel said to Absalom, 'Go in to your father's concubines, whom he has left to keep the house; and all Israel will hear that you are abhorred by your father. Then the hands of all who are with you will be strong.'

"So they pitched a tent for Absalom on the top of the house, and Absalom went in to his father's concubines in the sight of all Israel."

II Samuel 20:3 adds a final note on this event:

"Now David came to his house at Jerusalem. And the king took the ten women, his concubines whom he had left to keep the house, and put them in seclusion and supported them, but did not go in to them. So they were shut up to the day of their death, living in widowhood."

God prophesied it, and Absalom and Ahithophel used it politically to discredit David and elevate Absalom. His godless action illustrates Absalom's disrespect for his father, which was at least partly rooted in his father's notorious sex life.

Did the adultery make the concubines' lives better? "Can a man take fire to his bosom and . . . not be burned?" Proverbs 6:27.

No, he cannot. Not only is he burned, but those close to him also suffer because this sin's penalty reaches out to destroy what should be very dear and cherished—precious relationships that are never the same once betrayal has undermined their foundation in trust and honor and love.