Job 4:8; Hosea 8:7
They that plow iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same.
They have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind.
CHARLES SIMEON (1759-1836): To “sow the wind” is a proverbial expression for labouring in vain.
MATTHEW POOLE (1624-1679): Lost labour—or, which is much worse, labour that will undo and tear to pieces him that labours: both these are in the verse. Man’s life and labour is a seed that will bring forth fruit.
CHARLES SIMEON: From the seed which they sow, we may easily perceive, what they may expect to reap.
ADAM CLARKE (1760-1832): As the husbandman reaps the same kind of grain which he has sown, but in far greater abundance, thirty, sixty, or one hundred fold; so he who sows the wind shall have a whirlwind to reap. The seed shall be multiplied into a tempest so they who sow the seed of unrighteousness shall reap a harvest of judgment. This is a fine, bold, and energetic metaphor.
JOHN TRAPP (1601-1699): The sin being as the seed, and the punishment as the fruit that cometh of it.
A. W. PINK (1886-1952): “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap,” Galatians 6:7. It is an unalterable law of the Divine government that as we sow, so shall we reap. That principle is enunciated and illustrated all through the Scriptures. God will not be defied with impugnity.
C. H. SPURGEON (1834-1892): Both Scripture and history prove this truth.
A. W. PINK: For the last fifty years Christendom has attempted to serve both God and mammon: and having sown the wind, God is now making us reap the whirlwind. “He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.” Conditions which occur in the profane world are but a repercussion of those which prevailed first in the professing world; the state of things in the political, industrial, and social realm, is only a reflection of things in the ecclesiastical realm. God’s Law was banished from the pulpit and the assembly, before lawlessness became rife in the community. Discipline ceased to be enforced in the local church before it disappeared from the home; where the wife refuses to submit to her husband, the children are sure to defy their parents—sow the wind, reap the whirlwind.
CHARLES SIMEON: Is it not manifest, that the generality who call themselves Christians are influenced only by the things of time and sense; and that their principles and pursuits are altogether earthly? Know then, ye lovers of this present evil world, that, if God’s Word may be depended on, you are deluding yourselves to your eternal ruin.
JOHN TRAPP: Solomon saith, “He that soweth iniquity shall reap vanity,” Proverbs 22:8. But our prophet here saith more. He that soweth the wind of iniquity shall reap the terrible tempest of inconceivable misery.
ALEXANDER MacLAREN (1826-1910): They do not reap the wind, but the law of increase comes in, and they reap the whirlwind.
EDWARD PAYSON (1783-1827): They have indulged sinful passions in this life, and those passions, blown up, as from a wind to a whirlwind, shall be their future companions and tormentors.
MATTHEW POOLE: The whirlwind is a violent, tearing, and dissipating tempest, which beareth down and destroyeth all that is in its way; an emblem of the wrath of God breaking out.
CHARLES SIMEON: “A whirlwind” is a figure used to represent extraordinary calamities. And such is the harvest which they will reap in due season. Their calamities will be, sudden, irresistible, and tremendous. It will be sudden—The corn ripens gradually for the sickle, and its fate is foreseen; but the destruction of the ungodly cometh suddenly and at an instant. They indeed have many warnings from all which they see around them; but they put the evil day far from them, and think it will never come, 2 Peter 3:4. Thus it was with the whole world before the Deluge. Though Noah preached to them for many years, they would not regard him; and were taken by surprise at last, as much as if no notice had been given them. Thus also it will be with all who reject the Gospel salvation.
C. H. SPURGEON: Who shall help them in that hour of terror?
MATTHEW HENRY (1662-1714): There will be no means possible for them to avoid the terror nor the punishment of that day.
CHARLES SIMEON: It is irresistible—Sinners of every description can withstand the word spoken by their fellow-creatures; but they will not be able to resist God when He shall call them into judgment. And it will be tremendous—Nothing can be conceived more dreadful than the desolation made by whirlwinds. Yet this suggests a very inadequate idea of the ruin that will come on the ungodly.
D. L. MOODY (1837-1899): When I was at the Paris Exhibition in 1867 I noticed there a little oil painting, only about a foot square, and the face was the most hideous I had ever seen. It was said to be about seven hundred years old. On the paper attached to the painting were the words, “Sowing the tares.” The face looked more like a demon’s than a man’s, and as he sowed these tares, up came serpents and reptiles. They were crawling up on his body; and all around were woods with wolves and animals prowling in them. I have seen that picture many times. Ah! The reaping time is coming. If you “sow to the flesh,” you must “reap corruption,” Galatians 6:8.
C. H. SPURGEON: Therefore let us beware of scattering seeds of sin, for they will produce a terrible harvest of woe!—I shall not enlarge upon what sort of punishment this will be. Suffice it to say that whatever it is, it will be just. The sinner in Hell shall not endure one iota more than he deserves. He shall have the due reward of his deeds—no more. God is not unjust to punish men arbitrarily—I know of no arbitrary condemnation. There is no such thing as sovereign damnation. It will be justice—inflexible, I grant you—but yet not such as shall pass the bounds of due and right desert. God will give to man only the harvest of his own deeds.
H. A. IRONSIDE (1876-1951): This is so self-evident that it needs no emphasis. Yet how easily we forget it, and how readily we hope that in some strange, unnatural transformation our sinful folly will be so overruled as to produce the peaceable fruits of righteousness. But whether it be in the case of the unsaved worldling, or the failing Christian, the inexorable law will be fulfilled—we reap what we sow. How important then that we walk carefully before God, not permitting ourselves any license which is unbecoming in one who professes to acknowledge the Lordship of Christ.
A. W. PINK: If we sow the wind, we must not be surprised if we reap the whirlwind.
C. H. SPURGEON: Remember, your sins are like sowing for a harvest—And you shall “reap the whirlwind,” unless you speedily repent and seek the Lord.
