Consequences

Isaiah 47:5-9 (NLT)
5 “O beautiful Babylon, sit now in darkness and silence. Never again will you be known as the queen of kingdoms. 6 For I was angry with my chosen people and punished them by letting them fall into your hands. But you, Babylon, showed them no mercy. You oppressed even the elderly. 7 You said, ‘I will reign forever as queen of the world!’ You did not reflect on your actions or think about their consequences. 8 “Listen to this, you pleasure-loving kingdom, living at ease and feeling secure. You say, ‘I am the only one, and there is no other. I will never be a widow or lose my children.’ 9 Well, both these things will come upon you in a moment: widowhood and the loss of your children. Yes, these calamities will come upon you, despite all your witchcraft and magic.

In these verses from Isaiah, the prophet Isaiah proclaims the future fall of Babylon. God had given the people of Israel over to Babylon as a consequence for their disobedience and sin. But we find Babylon had its arrogance following a pleasure-loving life, living without fear of their enemies. They had also mistreated those who needed help, such as the elderly Therefore God was going to allow the consequences of their actions to come against them and nothing they could do would prevent it.

An important statement for us to take to heart is made in verse 7 above. “You did not reflect on your actions or think about their consequences.” Twice through the book of Proverbs, King Solomon emphasized this statement, “A prudent person foresees danger and takes precautions. The simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences.” Talk to someone with addictive behaviors and it is not uncommon to hear them say, “I knew it was wrong, I did it without thinking and now I am paying the consequences for my actions.” You see God calls out through the Holy Spirit to convict us when we are about to follow sin. However, most of us don’t stop to listen or reflect upon the sin we are about to commit. Most don’t even think far enough ahead to realize there can be great consequences for those actions. God sees all our sins and to Him no one sin is greater than another. Each sin falls far below God’s standard of holiness and righteousness. And while all sin is wrong, we tend to pick our sins by the level of the consequences we have to face. Unfortunately those consequences are often greater than we expect. Pray God would help you stop before acting and falling into the clutches of sin for which there are consequences.