What does the Bible say about Disbobedience

What Does the Bible Say About Disobedience?

By an eHow Contributor

What Does the Bible Say About Disobedience?

Faith Allen

Many people wonder what the Bible has to say about disobedience. The Bible defines disobedience as any choice that is contrary to what God has instructed. Adam's disobedience resulted in mankind being separated from God. The nations of Israel and Judah were both destroyed due to disobedience to God's laws. Obedience is always the answer to disobedience, but disobedience still has consequences, even after repentance.

Significance

1. According to the Bible, disobedience is failing to follow God's laws. People first became separated from God through Adam's disobedience (Genesis 3:17). The Bible is filled with examples of people's disobedience and the devastating consequences. Fortunately, people can always repent and choose obedience, such as David's reaction to Nathan pointing out his disobedience in having an affair with Uriah's wife and then having Uriah killed (II Samuel 11 and 12). Even after repentance, consequences still follow, such as the loss of the life of David's child (II Samuel 12:15-19).

Considerations

2. In the Bible, God frequently uses the "carrot and stick" approach to encourage obedience from His people. For example, after laying out the laws to govern Israel in the Book of Deuteronomy, God enumerated the blessings that Israel would receive if God's people obeyed the laws (Deuteronomy 28:1-14). However, God then went on to expound upon the curses that would befall Israel for disobedience (Deuteronomy 28:15-68). Unfortunately, Israel chose disobedience and experienced those curses.

Effects

3. In the Bible, disobedience is always followed by consequences. For example, the Bible shares in Judges 2:6-23 that, after Joshua died, the Israelites fell into disobedience and worshiped other gods, among other acts of disobedience. God became angry and imposed consequences, such as selling His people into slavery and allowing Israel to be defeated in battle. It was because of Judah's disobedience that Babylon defeated the nation and took God's people captive (I Chronicles 9:2).

Prevention/Solution

4. Obedience is always the solution to disobedience. The disobedience of one man (Adam) brought separation from God, but the obedience of one man (Jesus) saved many (Romans 5:19). God wants to have mercy on those who are disobedient (Romans 11:30-32). Even Manasseh, who was one of the most evil kings of Judah, was able to return to God after terrible disobedience (II Chronicles 33:1-18).

Warning

5. According to the Bible, even though a person might return to God after disobedience, the damage often has already been done. Obedience after disobedience does not change the consequences of the bad choices. For example, the Bible records the story of Manasseh, king of Judah, in II Chronicles 33:1-18. Even though King Manasseh ultimately repented and became obedient to God, the damage of his disobedience was already done. The people continued to disobey God, which ultimately led to the destruction of Judah.

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Why Do We Disobey God?

By Richard Mansel

Why do men and women openly defy God? Why do we show contempt in the face of his warnings? The short answer is sin and human weakness. Yet, we feel compelled to dig deeper.

God is all-powerful and formed the universe with a thought ( Jeremiah 32:17,27; Genesis 1). He is perfectly good and cannot sin nor lie ( Psalm 32:19; Psalm 145:9; Titus 1:2). Moreover, he can bring terrible destruction upon man with a word ( Psalm 18:7-15; Lamentations 1:8,9).

God cannot tolerate disobedience, and he has made this abundantly clear./1 God's people suffered at the hands of the Edomites and God completely destroyed them (Obadiah). God said that Egypt and their allies would suffer, and it happened ( Ezekiel 30). God said that Ammon would cease to exist as a nation and it came true ( Ezekiel 25:1-7). The Philistines suffered the wrath of God and ceased to exist ( Ezekiel 15:15-17). God promised, on more than one occasion, the destruction of Jerusalem as a result of Israel's disobedience, and it always happened exactly as prophesied.

Israel saw the wrath of God for centuries and never made the connection between the disobedience of the sufferers and their own actions. The most powerful example is when Israel witnessed the ten plagues in Egypt, the parting of the Red Sea, the destruction of the Egyptian army and in short order began to doubt God could feed and protect them ( Exodus 15-17).

Moses goes up to God on the mountain to receive the Law and in no time Israel has constructed a golden calf to worship ( Exodus 32:1-6). Forgetting all about the fear of God, they commit idolatrous acts.

Today, little has changed. Man continues to read of the certainty of the consequences of rebellion against God. Yet, he never makes the necessary connections between his actions and their consequences.

One of man's greatest instincts is self-preservation. It is defined as, "Protection of oneself from harm or destruction and the instinct for individual preservation; the innate desire to stay alive."/2 While it is useful in escaping physical danger, it nonetheless can lead us to disobey God.

Man's greatest weakness is selfishness ( 2 Timothy 3:2). Man will find something he wants to do and will fashion a way to accomplish his goal. When opposition arises, self-preservation engages and we employ denial and rationalization in order to justify our desired path. We will sometimes accomplish this goal at the expense of truth, family, friends, and reputation. We will lie to ourselves and berate our conscience until it condones our behavior ( 1 Timothy 4:2). We must remember that man will accept anything in order to get through the night and face himself in the mirror.

When God's will conflicts with man's will, questions quickly arise. How badly do we want what we desire? Can we find a loophole in God's commands? Do we know anyone we can use to justify our will? What shortcomings can we highlight in order to bring shame on our critics? How can we discredit God's Word so the admonition disappears?

In the briefest of moments, these temptations race through our brains as we try to find peace with our desired actions. We work the angles and weigh the costs, and if we lose the battle, we disobey God. We have found the consequences less important than our own selfish desires.

The courage to defy these urges and do what is right is extraordinary. However, God has given us the power to stand for truth and defy Satan ( James 4:7; 1 Peter 5:8,9). But, it will require a suppression of our base desires and the courage to stand for our souls rather than our pleasure.

1/ Kenny Barfield, The Prophet Motive (Nashville: Gospel Advocate, 1995).
2/ http://www.answers.com/topic/self-preservation

Disobedience or Not?

John 14:12-17 This passage of scripture is so powerful. Jesus not only let us know that we need to and can continue to do what He did while He was here. However, the most important scripture in this passage to me is verse 15. "If you love me, you will obey what I command".

This week is about disobeying God. The problem is many us of don't actually take the time to realize what disobedient actions are. So I think sometimes we just need to stop and say, "Lord teach me right and wrong all over again like I'm a child."

I was tweeting earlier today on the topic Open Your Eyes! I was just wondering if Christians are paying attention to what is going on in the World today. If we don't think that it has spiritual implications then we simply need to Open Our Eyes! So if every religion on the map is coming out stronger than ever and we as Christians are hiding, is that disobedience? If we walk along see someone who looks distressed and hurt and we don't try to witness to them, is that disobedience? If we are around our family, friends, co-workers, etc. who will know are not saved and we don't lead them to Christ, is that disobedience? If we're disrespecting the order of God in and out of Church, is that disobedience? If we are cursing, lying, cheating, stealing, drinking, partying, and any other thing not conducive to the Christian lifestyle, is THAT NOT DISOBEDIENCE?

Romans 3:23 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God Many people think I'm trying to be all "holier than thou", but I am the first to admit that I am a sinner saved by God's Grace and I'm thankful everyday. I just wish that Christians will stop making excuses for their sin and citing that "God knows my heart." Let's obey at all cost, by any means necessary. Let's come out of the closet since everyone else is, and stop being ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ! 1Samuel 15:22 To obey is better than sacrifice!

As always I wish that God will bless you spiritually, mentally, socially, physically and financially.

5 Ways to Disobey God

Five Ways to Disobey God

by Chris Reeves

As we begin the new year, let us think about how we all can do our best not to disobey God. Let us strive to please God and obey him. The Devil makes it easy for us to disobey God, and he will try to get us to do just that. Let us remind ourselves how we can disobey God. There are five ways.

1. By doing what God has said not to do. This is the way Adam and Eve disobeyed God. They ate what God had told them not to eat and were punished (Genesis 2:16-17; 3:6). Lot's wife also disobeyed this way. She looked back when God said not to look back and she was killed (Genesis 19:17,26). Whatever the temptation, whatever the reason, we must never do what God has said not to do (James 2:11).

2. By failing to do what God has said to do. This is the way Israel disobeyed. They did not enter the land of Canaan when God told them to do so and they were punished (Numbers 13:30-14:3). Jonah also disobeyed this way. He did not go to Ninevah when God told him to go and he was punished (Jonah 1:1-3). Regardless of the obstacles and challenges that lie ahead, we must always do what God has planned for us to do (James 4:17).

3. By adding to God's word. This is the way Nadab and Abihu disobeyed. They added "strange fire" which the Lord had not commanded them and they perished (Leviticus 10:1-2). No matter what good work or neat idea we would like to add to God's plan, we must never add to God's word (2 John 9).

4. By taking from God's word. This is the way the blind men (Matthew 9:27-31) and the leper (Mark 1:40-45) disobeyed. They took the first part of what Jesus said and obeyed it, but ignored the rest of what Jesus said. Even if there are things that we think are unnecessary or inconvenient in God's word that we would like to remove, we must never take away from God's commandments (Deuteronomy 4:2).

5. By substituting for what is commanded by God. This is what Naaman tried to do. He tried to reap the benefits of God's mercy by substituting his river for God's river and he found out that it won't work (2 K.5:8-14). No matter how much we think our ways are better than God's ways, we must never substitute what we like for what God commands (Isaiah 55:8-9).

Let us work hard this year to obey the Lord, never disobey.

I Confess: I've Been Disobedient

My parents allowed me to start driving as soon as I got a document to say I could drive. When I was younger I had a vehicle before many of my high school peers. On the weekends, my curfew was 11pm, and I was to be in no later than that. At the time, I couldn't understand why, but to continue to be able to drive my car, I would comply. It was a Saturday night and my bestfriend at the time was riding with me. I had timed it where I could drop her off at home and be back at my house right at 11pm. Well, my friend lost her house key and didn't notice until we was at her house. Her mother wasn't home and there was no one to let her in. She asked me to take her back to the restaurant where we spent our evening. I knew that I really didn't have time, but I figured my parents would understand- I was helping out my friend. I decided to call my mother and let her know, but she told me that both of us needed to come back to my house and we would find the keys in the morning. Well, I didn't think that was a good idea so I decided to go ahead and take my friend back to find the keys.
Long story made short, we found the keys, I dropped her off and went home. I came home to two angry parents. No matter how much I tried to explain why I did what I did, they weren't trying to hear me out. I was doomed to punishment and my keys were taken away. Later my mother explained that she had given me specific instructions on what she wanted me to do. She informed me that high school girls shouldn't be out late and didn't want anything to happen to me. She let me know that she understood why I did what I did, but it wasn't what she told me to do and she over-rules all my decisions. Therefore, I had to be punished to reinforce who is in charge, and to enforce how important it is to obey her commands.
I didn't understand it then, but I get it now. God treats us the same way. Many times he gives us instructions and we think we can do it better or our way is the right way. When we go against God's word and God's commandments, God has to do as my parents did... punish for disobedience.
This week on Jesus C.O.U.sin we will explore what disobedience is, we will dissect it, and we will dig deep into disobedience as it relates to our lives. It is important that we understand the actions we engage in that are unpleasing in God's eyes. It is equally important that we understand what happens as a result as our disobedience.

Isaiah 42:24-25 Who gave Jacob for a spoil, and Israel to the robbers? did not the LORD, he against whom we have sinned? for they would not walk in his ways, neither were they obedient unto his law. Therefore he hath poured upon him the fury of his anger, and the strength of battle: and it hath set him on fire round about, yet he knew not; and it burned him, yet he laid it not to heart.

Until Next time...