The Ever Escalating Effects of Sin
His bones are full of the sin of his youth, which shall lie down with him in the dust. Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth, though he hide it under his tongue; Though he spare it, and forsake it not; but keep it still within his mouth: Yet his meat in his bowels is turned, it is the gall of asps within him… He shall suck the poison of asps: the viper’s tongue shall slay him. He shall not see the rivers, the floods, the brooks of honey and butter. —Job 20:11-17
The sins committed in a person’s youth eventually take their toll later in life. Those sins have a way of sticking with us through life.
Zophar uses the act of eating to illustrate the progressive effects of sin in a man’s life. The cliche is “you become what you eat.”
Partaking of sin is a lot like eating something sweet. When I “eat” a Hershey’s chocolate kiss, I don’t immediately swallow it. I just let it slowly melt in my mouth while I enjoy it’s sweetness. The image of our text is that sin is like that sweet morsel a person puts in their mouth, but does not swallow it. He just lets it remain in his mouth while he savors it’s sweet taste. But he doesn’t realize he is sucking on poison and “his bowels is turned” as that morsel of sin corrupts his system. That’s the immediate consequence of sin—First comes the enjoyment of it’s sweet pleasure. But it only last for a season, then his nature is poisoned.
Proverbs 6:27 says, “Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned?”
Sin will never satisfy. The more one indulges in sin, the more they will crave—No person can sin enough to satisfy that craving!
The sin that once brought pleasure eventually no longer satisfies. So the sinner must engage in a greater sin to regain the temporary thrill. But, it isn’t long until he has been desensitized by that sin. Now he needs to find another sin to receive pleasure. And that cycle progresses until nothing brings any pleasure.
Sin will eventually suck out the pleasure for ALL the beautiful things in life. As Zophar says, “He shall not see the rivers, the floods, the brooks of honey and butter.” The taste for sin ruins a person’s enjoyment of the everyday common blessings of life—Family, friends, sunshine, music, beautiful landscapes, etc. The addiction to greater and greater sins has distorted his appreciate for the truly good things in life. He just cannot see the beauty in these things any longer. So sad!
That is the testimony of the serial killer Ted Bundy. The ever escalating cycle of sin began when he was thirteen years old looking at “dirty magazines.” The pleasure of “soft porn,” wore off and he began looking at “hard-core” porn. But that also failed to gratify his lusts. So Bundy watched X-rated videos then XXX-rated videos. This escalated to him getting his kicks from seeing women being tortured and murdered. When he got tired of that, there was only one place his addiction could go—From fantasy to reality. When Bundy was finally caught, he had killed at least 28 young women and girls in ways too horrible to contemplate!
But it all started with that “sweet morsel” of a “dirty magazine” he found in a dumpster and the cycle escalated from there!
Only Jesus satisfies. Only Jesus can break the ever escalating cycle of sin.
