Lesson 13

In order to profit from our understanding of the judgment of God upon sin, we need to grasp various truths from God's word.

In the judgments of God upon sin in the history of man, God's word declares that the sin of one person can cause the judgment of God to come upon others as a result (Exodus 20:4-6; 34:6-7; Jeremiah 32:18).
When we are associated in a group with the wicked, the judgment of God on the wicked will also cause suffering and destruction to us.

And the LORD passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, "The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands,  and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet He does not leave the guilty unpunished: He punished the CHILDREN AND THEIR CHILDREN for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation."
(Exodus 34:6-7)

Examples:
When the first man Adam sinned, all men born after him suffered the judgment of death (Romans 5:18).
Also, because of Adam's sin, the earth was cursed, and the man continues to suffer from violence, sickness, calamities and destruction as a result, to this day.
In relationship to the earth, man lost his rulership over the earth to the devil.

When a nation or city sins, even the righteous citizens of that nation or city suffer as a result (Genesis 19:1-29; 2 Peter 2:6-9; Jeremiah 25:1-11; Daniel 1:1-21; Ezekiel 1:1-3).
When a ruler sins, the people will suffer from God's judgment upon the nation (Samuel 24:1-25).
When an adults sins, his wife and children can also be destroyed along with him (Numbers 16:1-35; Joshua 7:1-26).
When a member of a group sins, the whole group can suffer from the judgment of God (Joshua 7:1-26).

When Adam sinned, he died spiritually, mentally, bodily and socially (Genesis 2:17).

However, because Adam is the natural head of the human race, his sin was also imputed to the human race with came from him.
As the federal head and representative of mankind, when Adam sinned, we sinned "in Adam," because we were all organically united with him when he sinned, even though we were unborned at that time.
(see also Hebrews 7:9-10 for another expression of the same principle).

Because of this, all of Adam's offsprings, including you and me, were born in sin (Romans 5:12). This original sin is inherited from Adam.
(Hint on original sin: Nobody needs to teach a two-year old girl to scream, yell, and throw tantrums when she wants her way).

Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin ....
(Romans 5:12)

Another way of looking at the effect of Adam's sin is to realize that we who are the descendants of Adam have inherited from Adam a "sinful nature" (Romans 8:5-12).
Since all men are born after the likeness and image of Adam (Genesis 5:3), we have inherited his fallen nature from him.
And because of original sin in us, (or the inherited sinful nature in us), we also suffer from God's judgment on Adam's sin (Romans 5:12, 18-19), as follows:

As sin entered into the human race through one man, so the penalty of sin, death, also came on all men, who sinned "in Adam" (Romans 5:12, 18-19).

Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin and in this way DEATH came to all men, because all sinned ......
Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was CONDEMNATION for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life to all men.
For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were MADE SINNERS, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.
(Romans 5:12, 18-19)

Thus, because of Adam's sin, all men born into this world still suffer from death

In God's judgment upon Eve (Adam's wife), who took the lead in rebelling against God, God declared that from henceforth:

To the woman God said,
     "I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing;
          with pain you will give birth to children.
     Your desire will be for your husband,
          and he will rule over you."
(Genesis 3:16)

The judgment of God on man consisted of the following:

God cursed the earth because of Adam's sin.
Creation is now in a state of decay or corruption (Romans 8:21).
Since all living things (animals, plants, bacteria, viruses) are made from the earth's physical elements, all living things are also subject to decay and corruption and eventual death.

In their fight for survival, all living things, now under a curse, have undergone changes (at the gene level) to ensure their ability to live at the expense and death of other living things.
As a result, violence, murder, predation, parasitism, infection, and the "law of the jungle" prevail in the living world subjected to corruption.

"CURSED is the ground because of you ......"
(Genesis 3:17)

For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the One who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to DECAY (corruption) and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.
(Romans 8:19-21)

When God created man, God gave the rule of the earth to man (Genesis 2:26-28).

However, when man rebel against God and listened to the devil instead, he lost his rulership over the earth to the devil (Genesis 3:1-7; Revelation 12:9).
The devil is now called the "god of this world" or "the ruler of the kingdom of the air" (2 Corinthians 4:4).
Our Lord Jesus Himself called the devil the "the prince of this world" three times in the Gospel of John (John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11).

Because the devil now has rule over the corrupted world, he could use its elements (fire, wind, water, earth) and energy to cause destruction to man.
The Bible reveals the devil as the one causing all natural calamities, although only on legal grounds, and then only with the permission of God (Job 1:1-19).
All such calamities should rightly be called "acts of the devil," and not be called "acts of God."

SUMMARY: All men still suffer today from the judgment of God on Adam's sin. We can now see why Jesus told his disciples concerning the man born blind from birth: "Neither this man nor his parents sinned" (John 9:1-3).

When a city or a nation sins against God, God's judgment will fall on that nation or city, and everyone in the city or nation suffers.
Even righteous citizens of the city or nation will suffer under the judgment.
The common identity of the righteous with others in the nation or city inevitably causes them to suffer in the midst of God's judgment on the wicked.

(a) E.g. When God passed judgment on the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, because of their sexual perversity (mainly homosexuality), He caused burning sulphur to rain down from heaven upon the cities and destroyed them (Genesis 19:1-29).

A righteous man in Sodom, called Lot, a nephew of Abraham, barely escaped with his two daughters (2 Peter 2:6-9).
He lost all his property and wealth as well as his wife in the judgment of God on these cities (Genesis 19:16-29).

(b) E.g. When the nation of Judah continued to provoke God with their idolatry and witchcraft, God punished them by sending them into exile in Babylon for 70 years (Jeremiah 25:1-11).
However, even the godly citizens of that nation, including Daniel and his three friends, and prophet Ezekiel were also taken into exile (Daniel 1:1-21; Ezekiel 1:1-3).

When a ruler sins, the judgment of God can fall upon the citizens of the nation or group under the rule of the leader, because the ruler represents them.

Therefore, it is not a wise thing to say in a Christian community or group when you know that the leaders are living in unrepentant sin.
The judgment of God upon the wicked leaders will cause the sheep to be scattered.
Obey the Holy Spirit and abandon such a leader (1 Corinthians 5:9-11).
Do not hang around such a leader for sentimental or expedient reasons.

(a) E.g. When King David sinned against God by numbering his fighting men, 70,000 of Israel's citizens died under God's judgment upon that nation (2 Samuel 24:1-25).

(b) When King Saul, the first king of Israel, disobeyed God, God rejected him as king over that nation (2 Samuel 15:22-35).
And as God was no longer with Saul, the army and the people under Saul suffered defeat at the hands of the Philistines (2 Samuel 28:16-19; 31:1-10).
Only those who joined David were able to win the victory over Israel's enemies.

Samuel said (to Saul), "Why do you consult me, now that the LORD has turned away from you and become your enemy?
The LORD has done what He has predicted through me. The LORD has torn the kingdom out of your hands and given it to one of your neighbor - to David."

"Because you did not obey the LORD or carry out His fierce wrath against the Amalakites, the LORD has done his to you today. The LORD will hand over BOTH ISRAEL AND YOU to the Philistines, and tomorrow you and your sons will be with me. The LORD will also hand over the ARMY OF ISRAEL to the Philistines."
(2 Samuel 28:16-19)

When a man sins, the judgment of God can fall upon his wife and his descendants up to the third and fourth generation (Exodus 20:4-6; 34:6-7; Jeremiah 32:18).
Always remember that our sins will have serious negative consequences on those who are close to us.

(a) E.g. When Korah, a Levite, ganged up with others to rebel against the leadership of Moses and Aaron, he and his co-conspirator and their families suffer God's judgment and died in an earthquake (Number 16:1-35).

Then the LORD said to Moses, "Say to the assembly, 'Move away from the tents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram.'"

Moses got up and went Dathan and Abiram, and the elders of Israel followed him. He warned the assembly, "Move back from the tents of these wicked men! Do not touch anything belonging to them, or you will be swept away because of all their sins."

So they moved away from the tents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram. Dathan and Abiram had come out and were standing with their WIVES, CHILDREN AND LITTLE ONES at the entrances to their tents.

Then Moses said, "This is how you will know that the LORD has sent me to do these things and that it was not my idea: If these men die a natural death and experience only what usually happens to men, then the LORD has not sent me. But if the LORD brings about something totally new, and the earth open its mouth and swallows them, with everything that belongs to them, and they go down alive into the grave, then you will know that these men have treated the LORD with contempt.

As soon as he finished saying all these, the ground under them split apart and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, with their households and all Korah's men and all their possessions. They went down alive into their grave, with everything they owned; the earth closed over them, and they perished and were gone from the community.
(Numbers 16:23-33)

(b) E.g. When Aachen sinned against God by taking and keeping plunder from the city of Jericho, in rebellion against God's specific command, his sin was found out, and his whole family came under God's judgment (Joshua 6:15-19; 7:1-26).
As a result, Aachen, his wife, children and livestock were destroyed.

Then Joshua, together with all Israel, took Aachen son of Zerah, the silver, the robe, the gold wedge, his sons and daughters, his cattle, donkeys and sheep, his tent and all that he had, to the Valley of Achor. Joshua said, "Why have you brought this disaster on us? The LORD will bring disaster on you today."

Then all Israel stoned him, and after they had stoned the rest, they burned them. Over Aachan they heaped up a large pile of rocks, which remain to this day. Then the LORD turned from His fierce anger. Therefore that place has been called the Valley of Achor ever since.
(Joshua 7:24-26)

The word  Achor means disaster.
Our sins can bring disaster upon us and our little ones, if we do not repent.

Because we are members of a group of believers, it is our duty to confront a brother who sins and discipline him if he does not repent (Matthew 18:15-17; 1 Corinthians 5:1-13; See Lesson 10).
We are jointly liable for the sins of others in our fellowship or church if we do not take action against sin in our midst.
In other words, the whole group can come under the judgment of God and suffer because of the sin of one person.

They tolerated people who held to the teachings of Balaam, of the Nicolaitans, and of a prophetess who misled God's people into sexual immorality and the eating of food offered to idols (Revelation 2:12-25).

God held the whole nation liable for Aachen's sin, and allowed them to be defeated at the hands of the people of the small city of Ai (Joshua 7:1-12).

The LORD said to Joshua, "Stand up! What are you doing down on your face? Israel has sinned; they have violated my covenant, which I commanded them to keep. They have taken some of the devoted things; they have stolen, they have lied, they have put them with their own possessions. That is why the Israelites cannot stand against their enemies; they turn their backs and run because they have been MADE LIABLE TO DESTRUCTION. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy whatever among you is devoted to destruction."
(Joshua 7:10-12)

Your thought

1. Are you aware that your sins or the sins of others can cause the judgment of God to come down not only on the sinner but on other members of your church or family?

2. Give some more examples, within or outside the church, where this has happened.

3. What is the answer to the judgment of God on sin?