Articles
Your Sins Will Find You Out
The story of Cain and Abel is one familiar to many. They both offer sacrifices to God — “Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground,” while Abel “brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat” (Gen. 4:3, 4). It is said that the Lord “respected Abel and his offering, but He did not respect Cain and his offering” (Gen. 4:5). This caused Cain to be angry and he ended up killing his brother Abel because of it (Gen. 4:5-8).
Soon after, though, the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” to which he gave the now infamous reply, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?” (Gen. 4:9). But the Lord already knew where Abel was, and what had happened. He then told Cain, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground. So now you are cursed from the earth, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand” (Gen. 4:10, 11). Though Cain might have believed no one saw or knew what he had done, God knew. God always knows.
We might also remember the story of David and his sin with Bathsheba. Though he was not looking for an opportunity to sin, David’s lust for Bathsheba led him to send and inquire about her after he by chance saw her bathing from his rooftop (2 Sam. 11:2, 3). Even after learning she was already married, he had her brought to him and he committed the act of sexual immorality with her and caused her to conceive a child (2 Sam. 11:4, 5). This was just the beginning of David’s sinning in regard to Bathsheba.
David tried to cover up the sin by recalling her husband Uriah from the field in hopes he would be intimate with Bathsheba and make it appear he was its father, but Uriah did not, out of respect for the soldiers still in the field (2 Sam. 11:6-11). David then got Uriah drunk with the same intention of having him be with his wife, but Uriah still did not go to his house (2 Sam. 11:12, 13). David then arranged to have Uriah sent to the battle front and placed in the heat of battle while others withdrew, sending him to certain death, and it was done and, sadly, it was successful in the sense of David’s will was accomplished and Uriah was killed (2 Sam. 11:14-17). David must have thought that his misdeed was now behind him and unknown to anyone but him. He was wrong.
The Lord sent the prophet Nathan to David, and Nathan told David [who was once a shepherd] the story of a poor man who “had nothing, except one little ewe lamb which he had bought and nourished; and it grew up together with him and with his children,” and a rich man who “had exceedingly many flocks and herds” (2 Sam. 12:1-3). It happened that, once, when the rich man had a visitor, the rich man “refused to take from his own flock and from his own herd to prepare one for the wayfaring man who had come to him; but he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him” (2 Sam. 12:4).
This angered David, to the point he told Nathan, “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this shall surely die! And he shall restore fourfold for the lamb, because he did this thing and because he had no pity” (2 Sam. 12:5, 6). It was to this Nathan replied, “You are the man!” and then revealed to David that the Lord knew all he had done in the sin with Bathsheba, taking the wife of Uriah while he already had multiple wives and had been blessed with abundance, and foretold of the troubles that would come on his house because of his sin (2 Sam. 12:7-12). Again, God knew. God always knows.
And then there are the leaders of Israel who seemed to be constantly following after the false gods of the nations around them, despite the true God’s long record of powerful works and deeds and deliverance of Israel from their enemies. At one low point in their history, we find Ezekiel [who was with other captive Israelites in Babylon] brought by the Spirit to see what they were doing in Jerusalem. When brought into the Temple, he saw “every sort of creeping thing, abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, portrayed all around on the walls. And there stood before them seventy men of the elders of the house of Israel” (Ezek. 8:10, 11). And what were they doing there? They were offering sacrifices and burning incense to these false gods and telling themselves, “The Lord does not see us, the Lord has forsaken the land” (Ezek. 8:11, 12). They were saying or thinking this even as the Lord was showing this — what He already knew — to Ezekiel. Ah, but He did see. He already knew. God always knows.
It should be abundantly clear by this point that there is no hiding our sins from God. In fact, men are warned throughout the Scriptures of this self-deceiving line that God does not see. The psalmist wrote of a time when he envied the wicked who did whatever they wanted and seemed to be suffering no ill consequences, but rather prospered, and who would say to themselves and to anyone who might dare chastise them, “How does God know? And is there knowledge in the Most High?” (Psa. 73:11). But even he realized the foolishness of that boast and the foolishness of his own envy, later declaring that he envied them “Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I understood their end” (Psa. 73:17). God knew and God saw. God always knows.
The psalmist would also write of those who abounded in their evil and who would then boast, “The Lord does not see, nor does the God of Jacob understand” (Psa. 94:3-7). He would answer their boast, writing, “He who planted the ear, shall He not hear? He who formed the eye, shall He not see?” and, “The Lord knows the thoughts of man” (Psa. 94:8-11). Yes, God saw and understood. God always knows.
Isaiah, too, would warn the wicked who would indulge with the false notion that God would not know of their evil deeds; to them he would write, “Woe to those who seek deep to hide their counsel far from the Lord, and their works are in the dark; they say, ‘Who sees us?’ and, ‘Who knows us?’” (Isa. 29:15). He would point out their foolishness, asking, “shall the thing made say of him who made it, ‘He did not make me’? Or shall the thing formed say of him who formed it, ‘He has no understanding’?” (Isa. 29:16). Indeed, God understood. God always knows.
The reality is, God always knows. While it may not be revealed here on earth while we live or while everything still exists, it will most certainly be revealed in the final Judgment. The wise writer reminds us, “God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil” (Eccl. 12:14). Paul also reminds us, “we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad” (2 Cor. 5:10), and further reminds us it is then “the Lord…will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men’s hearts” (1 Cor. 4:5; NASB). Yes, even our motives are known to God. Again, God always knows.
So, this being true, let us not fool ourselves into thinking God won’t see or know of my sins. He knows. As certain Israelites were warned long ago about failing to do what they should, “be sure your sin will find you out” (Num. 32:23); the same is still true for you and me today.
Please don’t wait until the Judgment to acknowledge God knows of your sin. Seek His forgiveness now while you still have time. No more excuses. — Steven Harper
