“But when Johanan the son of Kareah and all the leaders of the forces with him heard of all the evil that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had done, they took all their men and went to fight against Ishmael the son of Nethaniah.” (Jeremiah 41:11–12, ESV)
In the book of Numbers we read these words, “be sure your sin will find you out.” (Numbers 32:23, ESV)
Sometimes we think that when we sin that that there are no repercussions. Perhaps we can get away with it. Yet this is not the case.
When I was working in engineering, I heard a report from a machine shop foreman. The shop was making high pressure vessels that needed to be pressure tested and certified prior to shipping. For whatever reason, the owner and manager of the shop decided to forego the required testing and certification process. Instead, he chose to falsify the testing and certification, and shipped the vessels out. This created a very dangerous situation. If there was a flaw in a vessel someone might be injured or worse. Well one of the vessels failed to hold pressure in the field. No one was injured but the manager’s decisions were found out. The point of this story is that sin does find us out.
As you recall, the king of the Ammonites sent Ishmael to assassinate Gedaliah, whom Nebuchadnezzar had appointed governor over Judah. Gedaliah accomplished this evil task. On the following day 80 men from the northern kingdom, not realizing that the Temple had been destroyed, went to Jerusalem intending to present offerings there. Ishmael and his gang slaughtered these 80 men and cast their bodies into a cistern. He then took captive the people who lived in Mizpah.
Yet Ishmael’s sin did not go unnoticed. Johanan and the leaders of the forces heard of all the evil that Ishmael had done. The leaders gathered their men and fought against Ishmael, defeating his gang soundly and rescuing those whom Ishmael had taken captive. Ishmael and eight of his gang escaped and fled back to the Ammonites.
Often today, people think that they can get away with sin. People embezzle money from their companies, cheat on credit card expenses, take shortcuts when building structures or machinery, and etcetera. Inevitably they often get caught and pay the price. People sin in many ways and think no one will ever notice. Whether they get caught or not, their sin does not go unnoticed. God is omniscient. He knows everything infinitely.
There is a record of deeds kept and a day of Judgment to come. In some sense, the retribution for these evil deeds may happen in this life. However, even if they do not, they will not escape the great final judgment. In fact, whether the retribution comes in this life or not, all will face the great judgment to come as the dead will be judged according to the things recorded in the books. The punishment for these evil deeds is the Lake of Fire.
There is only one way to escape the judgment. It is by having one’s name written in The Book of Life (Revelation 20:11-15). Whose names are written there? Only those who have received Christ by faith (John 1:12). These who have believed on Jesus have had their sin debt paid by Jesus’ death on the cross, and they will escape the final judgment.
