EXPOSITION:
Disobedience brings a wide variety of consequences such as spiritual, physical, emotional, and mental consequences. Spiritual consequence relates to separation from God. It is the worst form of consequence that can ever come on an individual, since it determines where people will spend eternity. Physical consequences relate to bad things that can happen to us physically. Emotional consequences relate to sadness and hurts disobedience bring to our lives. Disobedience can ruin the very person God wants us to be. Moreover, disobedience can inflict so much emotional pain on us to the extent that we become slave to bitterness, anger and unforgiveness. The mental consequences have to do with how disobedience and for that matter sin burdens the conscience of men, how it corrupts and cripples people’s judgment, and how it lays a strong hold on the memory and fetters the free will. Consequently, there is no genuine peace for those who are living in disobedience no matter what they may say.
“So He poured out on him the heat of His anger And the fierceness of battle; And it set him aflame all around…” (Isaiah 42:25). Can you imagine the pain Israel went through when God gave them up to their enemies, the stress and torture, the loss of property and wailings? God hates disobedience; and has never taken people’s rebellion against Him lightly. The devil is fully aware of God’s complete hatred toward disobedience. It is for this reason that he is always devising schemes to keep us from remaining obedient to God. He is always trying to influence our behaviour in a wide variety of ways.