You
Reap … What You Sow
Micah 1:6 “Therefore I will make Samaria
as an heap of the field, and as plantings of a
vineyard: and I will pour down the stones thereof
into the valley, and I will discover the foundations
thereof.
7 And all the graven
images thereof shall be beaten to pieces, and all
the hires thereof shall be burned with the fire, and
all the idols thereof
will I lay desolate: for
she gathered it of the hire of an harlot, and they
shall return to the hire of an harlot.
8 Therefore I will wail and howl, I
will go stripped and naked: I will make a wailing
like the dragons, and mourning as the owls.”
1. The Evil Comes
2. The Hire of The
Harlot
3. Then Wailing and Howling
1. The Evil Comes
Verse six: “Therefore I will make Samaria as an heap of the field, and as plantings of a vineyard: and I will pour down the stones thereof into the valley, and I will discover the foundations thereof.”
Samaria [Israel] was taken in the sixth year of King Hezekiah [Judah], in the third year of the siege by the Assyrian king Shalmanesar in the year of 721 BC [which is 3283b AM, which is 3283 years after the creation of this earth, with “b” denoting it is in the winter of the year].
[Side note: Men today are living in the winter of the times of the Gentiles.] [Luke 21:24]
The rot in Samaria is terminal [724 BC]. It is fatal. Sin had now taken its toll. Let me tell you something about sieges.
In a siege you have famine and you have sickness and you have death.
Listen to me. Hear me out. This thing has happened over and over again in this world throughout the six thousand years of time. In the end it is always the same, it is death. The Assyrians would do … just as the Syrians had done earlier in the days of Hazael [who was king of Syria].
Now, the reference for this is in the book of Second Kings, in chapter eight, in verse twelve: “And Hazael said, Why weepeth my lord? And he answered, Because I know the evil that thou wilt do unto the children of Israel: their strong holds wilt thou set on fire, and their young men wilt thou slay with the sword, and wilt dash their children, and rip up their women with child.” [2 Kings 8:12]
Now, “lock on” to this fact. Evil will always come when there is a departure from the LORD. You can count on it.
When the families of a nation go down the wrong road and depart from the God of this Book … then evil will always come. Samaria had reached this point. Samaria was at its end … in 721 BC. The city was set on fire, the young men were killed, the children dashed against the rock and the unborn babies were ripped from the womb.
Sin always exacts a horrible price. What happened in Samaria demonstrates the fact that men will reap for what they sow in this life.
EVIL COMES when we DEPART from God.
2. The Hire of The Harlot
Verse seven: “And all the graven images thereof shall be beaten to pieces, and all the hires thereof shall be burned with the fire, and all the idols thereof will I lay desolate: for she gathered it of the hire of an harlot, and they shall return to the hire of an harlot.”
Faithfulness is an attribute very precious to your mate. Faithfulness is directly related to Truth. You cannot have the one without the other. Truth and Faithfulness in the marriage relationship builds the marriage and the home: God smiles. Being faithful to ones mate is very precious in the sight of God. God’s intention for a man is to be married to one woman for life.
Contra wise: playing the harlot is all about plying the path of unfaithfulness. It is unfaithfulness to one who loves you. Playing the harlot … is playing with a game plan to get all you can for yourself in the things of this old world. Do you believe me on this?
I can show you this very thing is true … in the case of Gomer.
Now, Gomer “played the harlot."
Furthermore, the wife of Hosea the prophet “played the harlot" in order … to get GAIN.
We can see this truth for ourselves in the book of Hosea, in chapter two, verse five: “For their mother hath played the harlot: she that conceived them hath done shamefully: for she said, I will go after my lovers, that give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, mine oil and my drink.” [Hosea 2:5]
Now, do you see the connection? [I am repeating.] Gomer “played the harlot" in order to get GAIN. With Gomer, gain was more important than being faithful and true to the one husband … that loved her. This is why it is called “dishonest gain” according to this BOOK. You have to leave or depart from God in order to pursue this type of gain.
Now, Gomer represents a type of Israel.
Specifically, Gomer typifies the princes of Israel [who are playing the harlot] as shown by the Holy Ghost in Ezekiel chapter twenty-two, verse twenty-seven: “Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain.” [Ezekiel 22:27]
Dishonest gain, involves an agenda of “lining your pockets” which thing means, you had to leave God behind in order for you to have this type of agenda.
Furthermore, “lining your pockets” by the means of dishonest gain demonstrates to all around you that you have departed from the LORD [the One Who loves you]. Watch out, my friend, your sin will find you out.
Now, we need to notice something else here. There is an innocent party here. The innocent party is the one who is left behind by the person who plays the harlot. The innocent party is the one who undeservedly gets hurt. It is the Lord who felt the pain, or the rejection, when Israel “played the harlot".
We can see pain or rejection when Jesus Christ came to the city of Jerusalem [in the book of Matthew in chapter twenty-three] and said this: “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!” [Matthew 23:37]
The one who is left behind is the one who grieves.
The one left behind sees the evil that will come to their unfaithful partner.
Again: what happened to Samaria demonstrates the fact that men will reap for what they sow in this life.
EVIL COMES when we DEPART from God.
There is a lesson here for us today. We live in the Church Age. What can we learn from the evil that comes on those who play the harlot? We can learn this lesson.
As believers in the Lord Jesus Christ [whose we are], we need to stay away from the pursuit of dishonest gain which involves “playing the harlot”.
Remember, the one “playing the harlot” is the one who not faithful [or true] to her one husband.
To see this, look at the relationship of Christ to the Church in the book of the First Corinthians in chapter six: “Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid. What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh.” [1 Corinthians 6:15-16]
There is something else we need to do here concerning this matter. We need to withdraw from others who are caught up in this. See this for yourself in First Timothy chapter six in verse five: “Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself. But godliness with contentment is great gain.” [1 Timothy 6:5-6]
Go for the “great gain”!!!
3. Then Wailing and Howling
Verse eight: “Therefore I will wail and howl, I will go stripped and naked: I will make a wailing like the dragons, and mourning as the owls.”
Who is it that is wailing?
Who is it that is howling?
Who is it that is stripped and naked?
The prophet, Micah, is speaking.
Job said [in Job chapter thirty, verse twenty-nine] “I am a brother to dragons, and a companion to owls.” [Job 30:29]
Who is it that is wailing?
Who is it that is howling?
Who is it that is stripped and naked?
It is Israel. It is God’s people. They are going through it … the valley of “the shadow of death.”
Now, read what the Spirit of God has to say to us in Psalm 44. This is about Israel: [in verse nineteen: “Though thou hast sore broken us in the place of dragons, and covered us with the shadow of death.” [Psalm 44:19]
The “place of dragons” is all these places: in the deep [the oceans], and in the wilderness, and in the darkness. The DAY is coming when it shall be NIGHT!
Israel will soon be in Jacob’s TROUBLE. “Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble, but he shall be saved out of it.” [Jeremiah 30:7]
Weeping, wailing, crying and mourning will be in all the streets and highways in the great day of THE LORD.
This is what it says in Amos chapter five: verses sixteen thru twenty: “Therefore the Lord, the God of hosts, the Lord, saith thus; Wailing shall be in all streets; and they shall say in all the highways, Alas! Alas! and they shall call the husbandman to mourning, and such as are skilful of lamentation to wailing. And in all vineyards shall be wailing: for I will pass through thee, saith the Lord. Woe unto you that desire the day of the Lord! to what end is it for you? the day of the Lord is darkness, and not light. As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him. Shall not the day of the Lord be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it?” [Amos 5:16-20]
Put your trust into Jesus Christ!