Information Related to "Cause and Effect: An Often-Overlooked Principle"
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Many tragedies and much suffering can be traced to their source: our own all-too-human actions and decisions. In a world of freedom of choice, some choices inevitably lead to bad results.
Actions yield consequences. We know we reap what we sow, but we don't realize the source of that saying—the Bible (Galatians 6:6-7). Thousands of years ago one of the friends of Job—no stranger to suffering-observed that "those who plow iniquity and sow trouble reap the same" (Job 4:8).
Centuries later the Hebrew prophet Hosea looked at the sad spiritual condition of the kingdom of Israel. Idolatry, violence and immorality were commonplace (Hosea 2,4). Within a few years the mighty Assyrian Empire would sweep in from the east and lay the kingdom waste, slaughtering thousands of its inhabitants and enslaving Israel's survivors. God revealed to Hosea what was coming and why. "They sow the wind, and reap the whirlwind" (Hosea 8:7). "You have plowed wickedness; you have reaped iniquity. You have eaten the fruit of lies . . ." (Hosea 10:13). It was inevitable that the people's sins would catch up with them.
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