Put Away Even the Appearance of Sin

Even now God is gathering the evidence of sin by which he will judge the world. Sins committed in darkness will on that day be laid bare as in broad daylight, and no one will be able to offer an excuse.

In David’s time a famine lasted three years, and its cause was Saul’s sin in killing the Gibeonites, who lived under protection given in God’s name. God did not repay it at once but bore with it long; once David became king, however, God had that sin answered for by the handing over of seven of Saul’s descendants, and only then did the famine end.

Neither temple nor throne, but the sin of breaking God’s covenant and harming his people is what calls down judgment. The day of judgment will certainly come, yet the faithful who shelter beneath his wings are God’s children, who enjoy peace untouched by that judgment. Therefore even the appearance of sin must be put away, and the turning back must happen now, in this present moment while life remains.