Law 4: We Reap More Than We Sow
a. If this were not the case, no farmer would ever plant a thing.
b. If he only got back what germinated in the ground, he would be on the losing end and spend his life in utter futility.
a. A farmer may sow bountifully and have his crop destroyed by drought or a tornado.
b. Or he may reap a good crop and not be able to reap a reward from it because of economic factors in his country.
c. Also, due to God's grace we may not reap the results of sin as bountifully as some have, but the law still applies in general.
I. Declarations of this Law from Scripture
"He that soweth iniquity shall reap vanity: and the rod of his anger shall fail." (Prov 22:8)
A. The emphasis is on vanity or emptiness.
1. The most basic meanings is "trouble."
2. This passage is telling us that when a person sows iniquity or wrong, they will reap trou-ble and sorrow. "For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind: it hath no stalk: the bud shall yield no meal: if so be it yield, the strangers shall swallow it up." (Hosea 8:7)
3. "Wind" represents that which lacks substance and is futile, worthless, and of no value.
"He that troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind ..." (Prov 11:29a)
4. "Whirlwind" represents the harvest in kind which comes from sowing the wind.
5. But it also represents the concept of "more."
6. God's warning here is that you do not just reap in kind, but you may reap much more.
7. The idea then is "sow wind (our solutions), reap a tornado (our consequences)."
II. Illustrations of this Law from Scripture
A. Negative Illustrations
1. Jacob: cf Gen. 27
a. As a result of sowing the wind, the scheming of Rebekah and Jacob to get the family blessing.
b. Jacob and Rebekah reaped the whirlwind--trouble and heartache.
c. Jacob was forced to flee because Esau had threatened that after his father's death, he would kill Jacob.
d. Rebekah had said that Jacob would only have to be gone a few days and then she would send for him.
e. But she never saw Jacob again and he was gone for twenty years.
f. Jacob had schemed to get the blessing, later he would receive in kind and even more from Laban.
g. First he received Leah in place of Rachel whom he loved.
h. Jacob used the skin of a kid to deceive Isaac, and it would be used against him by his sons.
2. David: NOTE: 2 Sam. 12:9-14
a. We know the story of David and his sin with Bathsheba, but it is Nathan's indictments and judgements against David that tell the story of sowing the wind and reaping the whirlwind or sowing iniqui-ty and reaping trouble.
b. The indictment: You killed Uriah (2 Sam. 12:9).
c. The judgment: The sword will never depart from your house (12:10).
d. The indictment: You took his wife (12:9).
e. The judgment: Your wives will be taken before your eyes (12:11).
f. The indictment: You did this secretly (12:12)
g. The judgment: Your wives will be defiled openly before all Israel (12:11-12).
h. The indictment: You gave occasion to the enemies to blas-pheme the Lord (12:14).
i. The judgment: Your child also born to you shall surely die (12:14).
3. The Tongue or Words:
a. James 3:5-6
b. Proverbs 10:19
c. Proverbs 12:13
d. Proverbs 13:3
e. Proverbs 18:6, 21
f. Proverbs 21:6
g. Proverbs 26:28
B. A Positive Illustration: David
1. Though David did sin against the Lord, as a whole, he walked with the Lord and sowed what was good.
2. When confronted with his sin by Nathan, he quickly confessed.
3. This made him a man after God's own heart. cf 1 Ki. 15:4-5
4. Most of David's life was sowing good, not evil, and as a result, God continued to bless him and many of the kings of Judah for many years.
Next week we will look at the 5th law: We Reap In Proportion to What We Sow