The Bible is full of many godly and ungodly characters who disappointed God by disobeying Him. Have you ever thought that you were a disappointment to Jesus? I have. Well, if you have those thoughts, don't feel alone. You can bet many people have had the same distressing thoughts. Many times!
When you read of the many ungodly characters in the Bible who disobeyed and disappointed God, they should remind you that disobedience to God can bring severe judgment and death. But all is not lost. By the grace of Christendom, those who repented after disobeying God are now in heaven.
Before delving into the Bible, allow the use of myself as a flawed example. For almost one-third of my life, I more or less just refused to acknowledge both God and Jesus Christ. Well, maybe “refused” is a little too stringent, because, in a way, I was searching for Jesus.
Mom was Presbyterian. As a family, Dad, Mom, and brother Allan, and I didn't attend church services more than a dozen times. If that?
In my early teens, George, a friend of mine, took me to attend CYO (Catholic Youth Organization) meetings. Once, when the priest was conducting a lesson on why we should all call Him “Father,” and the Pope, and every other Catholic priest “Father,” as well. I knew the Bible well enough to know that Matthew 23:9 reported Jesus said, “And call no man your Father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven.” So this verse was brought into the discussion and the rebuttal the priest gave wasn't very convincing.
As a matter of fact, you could see on the faces of the other teenagers that they were not believing the weak reasoning he provided. So on that note, I didn't attend any more CYO studies because I didn't want my troublesome questions to influence the faith that these other kids apparently had.
So, as mentioned before, I pretty much ignored Jesus by not trying to attend any church, but I did delve into the Bible on rare occasions. That situation stayed pretty much the same even as I graduated high school, and joined the Marine Corps and volunteered to deploy to South Vietnam. Extra pay for combat duty was a strong incentive, but the call of adventure was even more alluring. When you're in Vietnam stationed in the northern I-Corps area in a place called Phu Bai, it can be a dicey situation. This was a Marine Corps and Army base.
It was a dangerous place because it was in close proximity to the ARVN (Army of the Republic of Vietnam) boot camp. When the rockets would come pouring in day or night many troops became appreciatively closer to God than they had been. Most everyone found themselves talking to God and asking God for his protection. Well, at least that's what I was doing. I'm fairly sure many of my fellow Marines and soldiers were praying for their personal protection when the rockets and mortar rounds rained down and exploded within our perimeter. At least they prayed until the “All Clear” was sounded.
One hellish night in particular, I was posted at the most remote guard shack the Marine camp had. This bunker was very close to the far outer fence of the ARVN boot camp which was surrounded by Triple-strands of concertina wire (barbed wire) strung around the base. That particular night, the VC lobbed in more than a thousand surface-to-surface rockets and mortars to try to break the morale of the ARVN troops that were training in the boot camp to be allies fighting on our side. The missiles were falling long, and the mortar rounds were falling short and exploding around us, not on their intended target. They were exploding all around my bunker. You could hear shrapnel screaming through the air and striking the outside layers of our sandbagged walls. Then our own mortar platoon decided to kick in, and guess what, some of their rounds were also landing too close.
Not one minute lapsed without a resounding explosion. I'm here to tell you that was one scary night. A very, very scary night. Even though I often acted blasé towards God, He was always there to protect me—each and every day of my life.
After the Marine Corps, I returned to Wisconsin and as things worked out, I was soon going to become a father. We got married, of course. I say, of course, because back in the 1960s that was the responsible, expected thing to do. My attitude towards organized Church hadn't changed even though my wife was a Lutheran. We'd go to the Sussex Lutheran Church pretty much every Sunday. But when I say we'd go to church, what actually happened is she and our baby daughter would enter the church, while I would sit out in the car and read the Sunday paper.
Thinking back, I might hang my head in shame, except I now know I was forgiven even before I sinned. Still, I have to think God was really disappointed in me back then. That is a heavy burden I continue to carry. I let God down most of my life. But guess what—He didn't give up on me and eventually I started to spend more time in the church and within a few weeks I decided to become baptized as a Lutheran.
My church attendance kicked up a gear, so I was there most every Sunday. I only attended on Sundays though my wife, Renee attend more often that I did. My mindset was once a week was plenty of church time. Well, things being the way they were, being married with a newborn—the benefits of military service started to seem to be not such a bad idea. So I went to the different Recruiting Offices and enlisted in the army to sign up for a second volunteer tour in Vietnam.
When I joined up, my career goals were to make the rank of Staff Sergeant in a couple of years and go to OCS. Then, if the Almighty Lord was willing, I'd be able to retire as a captain in the army after 17 more years. Everything seemed to work out according to plan. While we were stationed in Germany, Texas, and other places, we went to church once a week. But I felt I wasn't doing as much for God as He wanted me to do.
With my daughter Deanna pregnant and unmarried, we adopted her son Jacob as soon as he was born. So my grandson was my son. The devil was influencing my marriage and a divorce after 30 years was the result. I became an estranged pariah to my first wife, daughter and adopted son. They elected to keep me completely out of their lives and still maintain that attitude—much to my continuing dismay.
For several years I sold furniture for Rooms To Go. Once I retired from RTG I made time to work more for the Lord. As a volunteer, I've helped as a Church usher, finance officer, and prison chaplain. I revisited my baptism and did it the proper way by full submersion. For a couple of years, I served as the chairman of the Church's Baptism Committee. Which may sound more prestigious than it actually was. The main tasks were to fill the baptismal tub filled with warm water, and have the handkerchiefs and towels close at hand. After the service, the laundry and cleanup duties were all mine. Wooooopie!
Sorry to be so verbose on this recap about how I was disappointing to God (and still am(?)) but I came to be more faithful and somewhat more diligent in working for Him.
The Bible is filled with stories of people who disappointed God and Christ. We can start at the very beginning with the downfall of Adam and Eve.
When God saw they had gone against His commands, he was rightfully disappointed. Adam and Eve had everything they needed, but they had chosen to listen to the serpent instead of trusting in God. Remember, Adam and Eve shared just one piece of fruit that they weren’t supposed to eat. For that single sin, God unleashed a series of curses. Eve was afflicted with agonizing childbirths and life's relationship conflicts (Genesis 3:16). What God told Adam is recorded in Genesis 3:17-19.
Then God said to the man,
“I commanded you not to eat from that tree.
But you listened to your wife and ate from it.
So I will curse the ground because of you.
You will have to work hard all your life to produce food.
The ground will grow thorns and weeds for you.
And you will have to eat the plants that grow wild in the fields.
You will work hard for your food,
until your face is covered with sweat.
You will work hard until the day you die,
and then you will become dust again.
I used dust to make you,
and when you die, you will become dust again.”
From then on, it would be difficult and torturous to scrape out a living. To top it off, God forced Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden and made them break ground for their own garden. They never returned to Eden and faced a world filled with pain and mounting hardships. (Genesis 3:23-24). God did all of that just for one mistake? How many mistakes have we made, and how disappointing have we been?
With that said, let’s study several more characters in the Bible who disobeyed God.
King Saul is certainly an interesting Old Testament character. He disobeyed God and because of this disobedience, the Lord took away the kingdom he was supposed to rule and gave it to King David.
Saul’s disobedience, as seen in 1 Samuel 15:7, was that he didn’t completely fulfill God's instructions. The Lord had commanded him explicitly what to do concerning the Amalekites, as read in 1 Samuel 15:1.
If you read further in that chapter, you will see that King Saul only partially carried out what God commanded him concerning the Amalekites. He spared Agag and the sheep and animals they owned rather than destroying them as instructed.
As a result of Saul's blunder, the Lord ended up rejecting him as Israel's king. This is despite the fact that he tried to remedy the situation by offering burnt offerings that God also rejected.
We should see the danger of submitting to our human fears rather than obeying God. Saul failed to follow God’s simple instructions due to his fear. This made God reject him from being king, and later he died of suicide by sword, as read in 1 Samuel 31:1-5.
Just so everyone does not believe that it is only the men of the Bible that disappointed God, here is the recorded life of Tamar, a famous woman revealed in Genesis 38:1. Tamar left her family at a young age to wed into the family of Judah. In these ancient times, a woman’s value was determined by her offspring. However, she was unable to bear children with her first husband, Er, so God struck him down and she married her second brother, Onan.
Onan refused to conceive with Tamar, so God punished him and he also died. By law, Tamar then married a third brother, and was still unable to conceive. Faced with the fear of being childless and destitute, she set out for justice. Dressed as a prostitute, she coerced her father-in-law, Judah, to have sex with her and she bore twin sons. While her actions were unethical and she almost lost her life for it, one of the sons was the ancestor of King David—and shared their direct lineage.
Staying in the Old Testament, let's review some of the Lows and Highlights in the life of King David.
Even though King David was a godly person later in life and after God’s own heart, he disobeyed God several times. In 1 Chronicles 21:1, if you follow the story, you will notice King David was not allowed to number the children of Israel, but did it, anyway. Consequently, God struck the children of Israel with a plague for three days. A side point of this example is: When you sin, others may suffer for your disobedience.
In another example, King David disobeyed God by committing adultery when he slept with Uriah’s wife, Bathsheba. King David dispatched his soldiers to murder Uriah, as seen in 2 Samuel 13:1-27. Not only was this disconcerting, it was downright evil.
After committing these dreadful sins, we read that God punished King David. You might say, the ripples of David's sins led to murder and incest in his own family as Amnon slept with Absalom’s sister, Tamar (2 Samuel 13:1-39). Absalom later killed Amnon. Even if David was punished for his disobedience to God, the good news is that he repented and was forgiven, and he is in heaven now.
Another Bible character disappointing and disobeying the Lord was King Ahab, who did numerous wicked and evil deeds. In fact, he committed more atrocities than any ruler who preceded him.
The first act of disobedience he did against the Lord was marrying the evil queen Jezebel who, as an idol worshiper, practiced witchcraft as seen in 1 Kings 16:30-33. She also influenced King Ahab to do the same evil acts. As a consequence of marrying an evil queen, King Ahab, by erecting altars and temples for Baal, started worshiping Baal as an idol. He influenced many Israelites to do the same.
Accordingly, the Lord sent Elijah to tell King Ahab as read in 1 Kings 21:17-29 that he would be punished for his disobedience and for killing Naboth, an innocent man, who did nothing wrong after listening to the same wicked advice of his wife.
King Ahab repented momentarily, but he later died after being hit by an arrow as seen within 1 Kings 22:34-35, which had been prophesied earlier. This is a lesson about what disobedience to God can lead to when anyone disobeys Him.
King Rehoboam is another ruler of Israel who disobeyed the Lord and his disobedience, as seen in 1 Kings 12:1-12. He refused to heed the wise advice his elders provided to him concerning the Israelites.
Instead of heeding the wise counseling reported in 1 Kings 12:8, he instead chose to listen to the mistaken advice that one of his youngest advisers offered concerning how Rehoboam should treat the Israelite workers. His youthful and inexperienced adviser encouraged the king to be harsher to the Israelites and increased their burdens of work.
Thus, there was a widespread uprising among the Israelites who refused to submit to King Rehoboam's increased burdens and “walked off the job” to return to their homes (1 Kings 12:16-18).
Due to his disobedience to wise and godly counsel, the Lord turned the Israelites against him and he had to escape for his life in a chariot when his supervisor Adoniram was stoned to death by the Israelites (1 Kings 12:18,19).
I am sure you are very familiar with the next biblical character, Lot’s wife. She is named “Ado” or “Edith” by some Jewish traditions. Her story is recorded in the book of Genesis, chapter 19. By God's angels, she was instructed not to look back. That was because she and Lot were fleeing the twin wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah that the Lord was about to destroy.
However, for unknown reasons, she didn’t heed God’s instructions of “Do not not to look back, but to flee for your lives.” For merely looking behind her, as fire and brimstone rained down over those godless, evil-filled cities, she was turned into a pillar of salt.
Lot’s wife's misadventure is an alarming reminder of how quickly God’s judgment can come to any wicked person and to those who don’t obey His simple instructions. She died in her disobedience.
You can only disappoint God so far—then in a split-second you are spending all eternity in the wrong place. I thank God daily that Jesus has blotted my sins away—past, present, and future.
Moses, or as the Hebrews called him “Moshe,” lived in the 14th and 13th centuries BC. Even this renowned prophet, teacher, and leader had a murderously troubled past before God called him to lead the enslaved Israelite people towards the Promised Land. When he was 40 years old, Moses became outraged when he discovered an Egyptian taskmaster beating a Hebrew slave. So he killed the brutal master and buried his body in the sand. Instead of dealing with the consequences of being found out, or explaining the situation, he fled Egypt and began a new life. Despite the murder, and a voiced desire not to be chosen as the leader—God used Moses to lead millions of Israelites out of Egypt and eventually, into the Promised Land.
Moving into the New Testament, we read of the early Christian church in Jerusalem. There, many of the believers were so faithful that they sold their land or excess possessions in order to donate money so no one would go hungry. This sharing of resources was not the Church's formal requirement, but those who did so were looked upon favorably. This generosity was considered a sign of authenticity. Barnabas, known for his generosity, was a leading supporter of the early church.
In contrast, Ananias and his wife Sapphira also sold a piece of property. However, they held back a portion of the proceeds for themselves and gave the rest to the church, placing the money at the apostles' feet.
Through a revelation from the Holy Spirit, the Apostle Peter was led to question their honesty. Peter asked, “Ananias, why did you let Satan fill your mind with such an idea? You kept part of the money for yourself and lied about it to the Holy Spirit! Before you sold the field, it belonged to you, right? And even after you sold it, you could have used the money in any way you wanted. How could you even think of doing such a thing? You lied to God, not to us!” (Acts 5:3-4)
Ananias, on hearing this, immediately fell down dead. Everyone in the church was filled with fear. Young men wrapped up Ananias' body, carried it away and buried it. A mere three hours later, not knowing what had happened, Ananias' wife Sapphira came into the church. Peter asked her if the amount they donated was the full price of the land. “Yes, that is the price,” she lied.
Peter said to her, “How could you agree to test the Spirit of the Lord? Look! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also.” Then, just like her husband, she fell dead instantly. As with Ananias, the young men took Sapphira's dead body and buried it.
Before he was Paul, Paul was Saul—a merciless crusader bent on stopping Christianity's growth by every means possible and putting believers into prison and even overseeing their murders. He was so overzealous and misdirected in his Jewish faith that he endeavored to annihilate all Christians. That is, until God revealed himself to Saul on the road to Damascus. After that inspirational event, Paul's life was forever transformed. It was on that Roman road where he metamorphosed as Apostle Paul. As an inspired disciple of Christ, he became one of the greatest. While enduring trials and tribulations, Paul devoted his remaining life to spreading the message of Christ's salvation throughout the world known at that time.
This is a demonstrative example where God, did not just forgive this blood-thirsty persecutor of Christians, but He used Paul for His holy intentions. Can you think of, or know of, a more compelling example of God’s love, mercy, and grace? Despite this, the Romans executed Paul. Because Paul was a Roman citizen, he was protected from being killed by crucifixion. Therefore, it is likely that he was executed by beheading.
Then there was Peter. Even with the foresight of hearing Jesus’ prediction, a weak and fearful Peter denied ever knowing Him—not just once, but a disappointing three times. Despite his firm loyalty, rooted in the works of Christ, he still failed Him. Even though he turned his back on Jesus, God forgave Peter and reaffirmed his faith. He repented and continued to share the Good News right up to the day of his death.
Who can forget the odd story of Jonah and the big fish or whale? God spoke to Jonah. He commanded him to travel to and preach repentance to the city of Nineveh—but he refused out of stubbornness. After crossing a desert, Jonah reached the seashore. Instead of heeding God's instructions, he did the opposite—he turned away from the Lord and booked passage on a ship that was sailing far from Nineveh.
While the ship was sailing away, God sent a violent storm upon the seas. Just before the ship was ready to capsize, the sailors tossed Jonah overboard and the seas immediately became calm. Instead of drowning, Jonah was swallowed alive by a large creature of the sea that God provided. While in the belly of the whale, Jonah repented, then begged God to save him and Jonah thanked God and promised to preach to the people of Nineveh. The Lord listened and Jonah was vomited out on the shore. Jonah went on to spread God’s message to the sinful city dwellers of Nineveh. They repented and God did not destroy them. Yet!
It is assumed that it was in the 9th century BC when God forgave the people of Nineveh. Jonah’s message to the people had opened their eyes and hearts. They became godly people and started to follow God’s teachings by departing from their paths' of sinfulness, and they moved towards the path of virtues. They remained faithful for some two hundred odd years but, once again, they fell from grace. In God's disappointment, He allowed the Babylonians and Medes to attack and sack the city in 6th century BC.
Not only was the city destroyed, even its location was lost for centuries until its rediscovery in the early 1800s. Geographically, Nineveh is situated on the eastern bank of the Tigris River opposite of the modern city of Mosul.
Throughout history, God has woven certain people into His plan, or plucked people straight out of this life and dropped them into hell's fire. Those people did not die by accident, happenstance, or coincidence, it was by God's righteous judgments.
As we have read, many made a mistake or two that resulted in some life-changing outcomes. The Bible records and attests to evidence after evidence of people, just like you and me, that struggled, stumbled, and failed.
As we have read, many made a mistake or two that resulted in life-changing outcomes. The Bible records and attests to evidence after evidence of people, just like you and me, that struggled, stumbled, or simply just messed up. It’s in some of these “Whoops!” moments that the Lord teaches us some very revealing lessons. It’s also an opportunity to recognize the power of God’s abundant grace, forgiveness, and mercy.
Disobeying God’s commandments brought down from the mountain by Moses is never wise. Unwise decisions can bring God’s judgment and punishment to a person, to a city and eventually this whole world by people daring to live ungodly lives. It will happen! In light of these many characters who disobeyed God and were punished, may we all pray to avoid every type of disobedience.
While it is not “good news” that we frequently, intentionally or unintentionally, disappoint God—the real “Good News” is that we are forgiven. The grace of Jesus Christ covers all our sins. Amen!
The End
Please feel free to contact me, Chaplain Dennis King, at DoJ@mail.com if you have questions, comments, corrections or just wish to share your troubles or testimonies.
