What the Bible says about Sowing and Reaping Principle
(From Forerunner Commentary)
At the beginning of his reign and for many years, Asa was a very fine king. He was upright, and he turned the Jews around and persuaded them to worship God by the kind of high-quality leadership he gave to them. His leadership was moral, focused on God, and good. The prophet Azariah, the son of Oded, came out to meet him, to encourage him to continue his ways.
Verse 2 shows reciprocity, a principle that we must understand. The Bible shows clearly that God deals with us as we deal with Him, and if we are seeking Him and applying His way, He will respond in far greater measure to us in blessing. Nobody out-gives God. The principle of reciprocity, part of the much broader principle of "whatever one sows, one reaps," brings it down to a finer point and makes it very personal. We need to realize that this principle is at work in our relationship with God.
John W. Ritenbaugh
Knowing GodRelated Topics: Asa | Azariah | Godly Leadership | Leadership | Reaping and Sowing | Reaping and Sowing Principle | Reciprocal Relationship | Reciprocation | Reciprocity | Relationship with God | Sowing and Reaping | Sowing and Reaping Principle
The individual who strives after good or to do what is right—whether conscious of it or not—is striving after the positive results that will come from living that way. In the same way, a person who decides to live contrary to God's way will automatically produce negative results.
This is the principle Paul mentions in Galatians 6:7: "Do not be deceived, God is not mocked [outwitted]; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap." When we truly remain spiritually unleavened, we reap the rewards of godly living, such as peace, contentment, mercy, and ultimately eternal life. But the person who lets down and leads a life of sin will reap adversity, misery, destruction, and ultimately death.
John O. Reid
Remaining UnleavenedRelated Topics: Adversity | Contentment | Death | Destruction | Eternal Life | God is Not Mocked | Mercy | Misery | Peace | Reaping and Sowing | Reaping and Sowing Principle | Sowing and Reaping | Sowing and Reaping Principle
The difficulty in understanding this verse is understanding the bird imagery. The sense that is being conveyed is that of a bird flying aimlessly, with no goal or intent—just drifting on the breeze. The chances of such a bird arriving at a specific destination are miniscule. In the same manner, it is nearly impossible for a curse to come upon a person who has not warranted it. It is another way of saying, "We reap what we sow": If one sows righteousness, he will reap good things. If he sows evil, he will reap evil fruit.
The blessings and curses of Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28 provide examples of this. If Israel (and by extension, Christians, the "Israel of God" mentioned in Galatians 6:16) obeyed God, they would be blessed. If they disobeyed God, they would be cursed.
The flipside of this proverb is that if a curse lands upon a person, the obvious conclusion is that there is a reason for it. If a bird lands somewhere (to use the imagery of the verse), it is because that was its goal. Thus, if we find that a curse has landed on us, such as terror, terrible diseases, poor crops, military defeat, drought, plagues, etc. (Leviticus 26:16-21), it is simply an affirmation that we caused it by our own idolatry, Sabbath-breaking, and overall disobedience to God (Leviticus 26:1-3, 14-15).
David C. Grabbe
Related Topics: Bird as Symbol | Bird Imagery | Curse | Disease | Disobedience | Drought | Idolatry | Plagues | Reaping and Sowing | Reaping and Sowing Principle | Sabbath Breaking | Sowing and Reaping | Sowing and Reaping Principle
Clearly, lying is an act of hatred. It is so bad that it can bring ruin to those it is used against, and like a boomerang, it will return to destroy those who employ it.
Here is a good maxim to live by: Never believe anything bad about a person unless you know it to be absolutely true; never even tell that absolute truth to another unless it is absolutely necessary; and remember when you do tell it, God is listening.
Galatians 6:7-8 contains an important principle: "Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life." All who believe God must deal with this reality. God cannot be fooled. Neither can God's law be fooled, just as the law of gravity cannot be fooled. A person cannot treat God or His law with contempt and get away with it. We are accountable to it whether we wish to be or not.
This principle teaches that what a man does to life, life does back to him. It is inescapable. "Do men gather grapes of thornbushes or figs of thistles?" Jesus asks (Matthew 7:16). The hypocrite cannot fool God's laws, only other people—and himself—for a while. This principle is instructing us not to delude ourselves into thinking that we will somehow escape its power. We must always strive to live the truth, which is a difficult job considering the heart within.
The prophet writes in Jeremiah 17:9, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?" The Hebrew word translated deceitful can mean in this context "faithless, insincere, hypocritical, underhanded, false, dishonest, treacherous, sneaky, double-dealing, tricky, cunning, and crafty." They all apply.
The phrase desperately wicked, which can also be rendered as "perverse" or "incurable," implies that the heart knows better but does it anyhow. It is addicted to deceit or faithlessness! Who can fathom its treachery or corruptness? We know where this came from! "The prince of the power of the air" is largely responsible for this evil proclivity because his spirit dominates life in this world (Ephesians 2:2; Revelation 12:9). He was a liar from the beginning (John 8:44), deceiving himself into believing that he could overcome his Creator (Isaiah 14:12-14)!
Solomon says in Proverbs 11:9, "The hypocrite with his mouth destroys his neighbor, but through knowledge the righteous will be delivered." This proverb comforts Christians by reminding us that we have a hedge about us. It also reminds us that, eventually, truth will out. The flipside of this is that the lies, too, will be exposed and with them the condemnation of the liar. Why is this certain? Because there is a God in heaven overseeing His children's well-being.
John W. Ritenbaugh
The Ninth CommandmentRelated Topics: Boomerang Effect | Boomerang Effect of Lying | Craftiness | Cunning | Cunning Deceit | Deceitfulness | Dishonesty | God is Not Mocked | Hypocrisy | Hypocrite | Insincerity | Living the Truth | Loving the Truth | Lying | Reaping and Sowing | Reaping and Sowing Principle | Self-Deception | Sin has Boomerang Effect | Sowing and Reaping | Sowing and Reaping Principle | Treachery | Truth
Israel is so faithless to her duties, she openly invites adulteries and aggressively chases after her lovers. Her aggressiveness does not merely perpetuate a condition but creates a climate that increases its effects. Paul reveals this principle in Galatians 6:7: "Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap." It is a law of nature that unless something intervenes to interrupt the growing cycle, more is reaped than is sowed.
The Bible uses a saying to describe this latter principle, "Sow the wind and reap the whirlwind" (see Hosea 8:7). It is like saying, "Fan a breeze and produce a hurricane!" Sowing faithlessness is no different: Unless real repentance interrupts it, it will produce more faithlessness until the spirit of harlotry, an attitude that causes many serious ramifications, permeates the entire nation.
John W. Ritenbaugh
The Seventh Commandment (1997)Related Topics: Faithlessness | Harlot, Israel as | Harlot, Metaphor of | Harlot, Symbol of | Harlotry | Israel as Great Whore | Israel as Harlot | Israel as Prostitute | Israel's Faithlessness | Israel's Fickleness | Reaping and Sowing | Reaping and Sowing Principle | Seventh Commandment | Sowing and Reaping | Sowing and Reaping Principle | Spirit of Harlotry | Spiritual Adultery | Spiritual Fornication | Spiritual Harlotry | The Seventh Commandment
God judges according to what we have and what we do with it. Thus, we should give freely, generously, and cheerfully without grudging, knowing that we will reap what we sow. God never expects us to give more than we have. If you have a willing mind to give, give what you have. God will notice.
Richard T. Ritenbaugh
"If I Have Not Charity"Related Topics: Charity | Generosity | God's Judgment | Reaping and Sowing | Reaping and Sowing Principle | Sowing and Reaping | Sowing and Reaping Principle