God rules this world from heaven (Dan 4:23, etc.). Even though the devil has caused much disorder on earth, God has never lost control. He is the ruler who enforces His principles. When He exercises His governance, He goes the ways that are right in His eyes. This includes repaying people according to their deeds.

This principle of governance is shown in both the Old and New Testaments: ‘Those who plow iniquity and sow trouble reap the same’ (Job 4:8), and: ‘Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap’ (Gal 6:7).

That God ensures in His governance that people reap what they sow applies without exception—even to believers. We want to focus particularly on the ‘sowing and reaping’ aspect in this article. We should remember that God’s children stand in a special relationship with Him: They also experience the fatherly care of His discipline in His governance.

Sowing and Reaping

Let’s look at some examples from Scripture that clearly show us God’s just ways of governance:

  • King Adoni-Bezek had the thumbs and big toes of seventy defeated kings cut off. When he was captured, the same happened to him. ‘Then Adoni-Bezek said: … As I have done, so God has repaid me’ (Judges 1:7). He understood that God is a God of retribution.
  • King Ahab was angry with the faithful Naboth because he refused to sell him his vineyard. When Jezebel, Ahab’s wicked wife, took matters into her own hands, Ahab let her do as she pleased. Shortly after, Naboth was stoned based on false testimony, and dogs licked his blood. And what happened some time later? Ahab was severely wounded in battle, and the blood of the dying king flowed into his chariot. When the chariot was washed at the pool of Samaria, dogs licked his blood at the place where they had licked Naboth’s blood. This was the just divine punishment foretold by the prophet Elijah (1 Kings 21:19; 22:38).
  • King Asa ensured that the feet of the prophet Hanani, who had boldly confronted him with his failure, were put in stocks. Did this terrible act go unpunished? No. When Asa grew old, he suffered greatly from a disease in his feet (2 Chronicles 16:10,12).
  • Saul of Tarsus was involved in the stoning of Stephen, the first Christian martyr (Acts 7:58). Later, the converted Paul himself experienced what it meant to be pelted with stones by a raging mob (Acts 14:19; 2 Corinthians 11:25).

We see: God’s ways of governance are just. These were cases where God repaid people exactly what they had done. But we should remember that the harvest is often greater than the sowing. The prophet Hosea says: ‘They sow the wind and reap the whirlwind’ (Hosea 8:7).

The Deceiver Jacob

We see God’s just governance very clearly in the patriarch Jacob:

  • Jacob gave his older brother, Esau, a ridiculous payment for the birthright: a bowl of lentils (Genesis 25:31–34). Later, Jacob had to experience that Laban exploited him and changed the agreed wages ten times (Genesis 31:7,42).
  • Jacob deceived his father, Isaac, to obtain the blessing of the firstborn. He pretended to be Esau, the older son, before his father (Genesis 27:14–24). And lo and behold: Jacob was deceived by his father-in-law Laban a few years later, who gave him the older sister Leah—the firstborn—on his wedding night, pretending it was the younger Rachel, whom Jacob wanted to marry (Genesis 29:21–25)!
  • Jacob took advantage of Isaac’s failing eyesight in his deception (Genesis 27:1). Laban took advantage of the darkness and Jacob’s blurred vision from the wedding festivities to cunningly send his eldest daughter, Leah, into the bridal chamber.
  • Jacob covered himself with a goat’s skin to deceive Isaac into thinking he was the hairy Esau (Genesis 27:16). Many years later, Jacob’s sons dipped Joseph’s robe in the blood of a goat to deceive Jacob into thinking his favorite son had been torn apart by a wild animal (Genesis 37:31).

God’s Ways with His Children

The following thoughts, which focus particularly on God’s governance concerning His children, are intended to help provide a comprehensive and balanced picture:

  • God’s governance relates to behavior, practical conditions, and lifestyle. The position of a believer ‘in Christ’ is never questioned when God must discipline. Whoever believes in the Lord Jesus is and remains a child of God.
  • God’s governance does not thwart the counsel of God’s grace. Whoever is born of God may know: I will be in the Father’s house one day, even if not everything in my life went perfectly.
  • God’s governance does not frighten us, for we are loved as the Son himself is, and the Father always has this in mind (John 17:23). Nevertheless, governance demands much respect from us (1 Peter 1:17).
  • God’s governance, also, in a positive sense, gives us what we deserve. We can sow not only ‘for the flesh’ but also ‘for the Spirit’ (Galatians 6:8). Then the harvest will be good.
  • God’s governance does not set aside the grace with which God deals with us. For God gives us in our lives a thousandfold what we do not deserve! Jacob already testified: ‘I am unworthy of all the lovingkindness and all the faithfulness which You have shown to Your servant’ (Genesis 32:11). And David exclaims: ‘He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him’ (Psalm 103:10-11).
  • God’s governance does not nullify His forgiveness: The consequences of our actions are not automatically removed when we confess our sins, and the negative consequences may remain. However, God forgives immediately and grants the fallen one a happy fellowship again. So it was with David: The prophet Nathan assured him of forgiveness, even though he had to present him with the irrevocable consequences of adultery and murder (2 Samuel 12:11–14).
  • God’s governance does not replace God’s grace, which can triumph even where we have failed. David first experienced that the son born from the unlawful union with Bathsheba had to die (2 Samuel 12). But grace is so beautifully shown when Bathsheba’s second son was born: it was Solomon. Or: After Jericho was rebuilt against God’s command and Hiel had to pay the high price for it (1 Kings 16:34), God’s grace was shown when Elisha healed the water of this cursed city (2 Kings 2:19–22).
  • God’s governance is exercised for good and not just to punish or uphold a principle. God wants to lead us to the realization that evil brings ruin and must be avoided; good brings blessing and must be promoted.
  • God’s governance is ‘unsearchable’ and ‘inscrutable’ (cf. Romans 11:33). It is generally not our place to judge the connection between sowing and reaping. If someone experiences hardship, we must not conclude that it is the harvest for terrible sins. Job’s friends made this mistake, causing much harm.
  • God’s governance can also let someone run their course and no longer intervene. We find this, for example, in Hosea 4:17 and Romans 1:24, 26, 28. This is the strictest form of discipline for people who then inflict severe harm on themselves through their sinful lives.

Summary

God governs this earth: He ensures that people reap what they have sown. Shouldn’t this make us cautious regarding sin and sweep away any frivolity? We want to imprint the words of the Apostle Peter: ‘If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth’ (1 Peter 1:17).

But we also want to keep firmly in mind that our heavenly Father is a God of love who gave His Son for us: ‘Knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold … but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you’ (1 Peter 1:18–20).