Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.
Those who refuse will eat the fruit of their own way and be filled with their own devices in the sense of receiving the full outcome of the course they chose and reaping what they sowed, being satisfied and overwhelmed with the results of their own plans. This follows rejecting when God called, disregarding His outstretched hand, setting at nought His counsel, having none of His reproof, hating knowledge, and not choosing the fear of the Lord. When fear comes as desolation and destruction comes as a whirlwind with distress and anguish, God will laugh at calamity and mock when fear comes, and those who then call and seek Him early will not be answered nor find Him. The misery is the natural harvest of the way chosen, including violation of the laws of body and life and indulgence of corrupt desires, and continuing in perversity brings the reward of one's own doings so that destruction is self-inflicted, for God finally leaves persistent refusers to their own ways with mercy withdrawn. By contrast, whoever listens to wisdom will dwell safely and be quiet from fear of evil, receiving blessing with the dignity and calmness that come from trusting and obeying God.
Context and Meaning
The verse closes a long refusal in which those addressed turned away when called, paid no regard to the outstretched hand, set at nothing all counsel, would have none of reproof, hated knowledge, did not choose the fear of the Lord, and despised all correction. It is the slighting of instruction and warnings and the despising of the great salvation offered that brings this outcome upon those who reject wisdom's calls. Lacking the fear of the Lord which is the beginning of wisdom, such refusers are left to the course they insisted upon.
To eat of the fruit of one's own way is to receive the full outcome of the course chosen and to gather what was sown. To be filled with one's own devices is to be satisfied and overwhelmed with the results of one's own plans, reaping what that way produces. Their distress follows refusal of warning and rejection of truth, so that earlier neglect leaves them without the help they seek.
When fear comes as desolation and destruction comes as a whirlwind, with distress and anguish, He will laugh at calamity and mock when fear comes. Those who then call will not be answered, and those who seek early will not find. Their own way and devices bring calamity and destruction, and calling for help in that distress comes too late, with no refuge or consolation and no relief in judgment.
By contrast, whoever listens to wisdom will dwell safely and be quiet from fear of evil. Those who heed dwell without fear, while those who trust and obey receive blessing with the dignity and calmness that come from connection with Him.
Nature of Retribution
The misery that follows refusal is the natural harvest of the way chosen and the schemes pursued, including what comes from violating the laws of body and life and from indulging corrupt desires. Judgment may be delayed, yet rebellion keeps working out its own consequences toward misery and ruin, and those who reject knowledge and refuse the fear of the Lord are filled with the outcome of their own plans. France in its Revolution and Reign of Terror stands as the historical illustration of a people who set aside God's law and rejected God and the Bible and were left to reap the fruits of that rejection.
Continuing in perversity and resisting God's Spirit brings the reward of one's own doings, so that destruction is self-inflicted. God finally leaves persistent refusers to their own ways and gives them over to their chosen ways, so that their own doings become their portion and the fruit that fills them. When correction is refused and the call to repent is rejected, mercy is at last withdrawn. Those who keep only a form of religion and refuse the kind and faithful call to be zealous and repent and to buy gold, white raiment, and eyesalve that they may be rich will be rejected as disgusting and thrust from Him, for though God is of tender pity He will not bear always, and when His Spirit is grieved away for the last time and mercy's sweet voice is heard no more they are left to their own ways to be filled with their own doings. Those who turn from everlasting truth are thus left to themselves.
Slighting the reproofs and warnings of God's word and His Spirit is a perilous step that leaves people to receive the results of their own way. Those who yield to temptation become blind to the true character of sin, flattering themselves that they had a good object in view and did no wrong in departing from the Lord's requirements, and by thus resisting grace they silence the Spirit's voice until it is no longer heard and are left to the delusions they have chosen. Those who refuse God's voice and reproof trust themselves and do not repent, and are surprised, fall, and are taken by the enemy. When distress comes their lives provide no refuge or consolation, and their fear and calamity are the harvest of the way they chose. For those who stubbornly reject warning, errors worsen until shame is publicly revealed.
Rejecting Light and Counsel
To disregard the visions is to disregard the way God has chosen to teach those who err from Bible truth, and those who profess to stand on present truth yet do so will be given up to their own ways and filled with the full result of their own doings. To strike against the visions is not to strike against a feeble human instrument but against the Holy Ghost; to speak against the instrument is a small thing, but to slight the words of God is dangerous. If they are in error and God chooses to show them their errors through visions and they disregard that teaching, they are left to take their own way and run in the way of error while thinking they are right until they find out too late. Then in the time of trouble they will cry to God in agony asking why He did not show them their wrong so they could have gotten right and ready, and the answer will be that the Father taught but they would not be instructed, He spoke through visions but they disregarded His voice.
God has chosen His own way to give light as straight testimonies through the simple means He has ordained, and if that light is doubted and not received it bears only a feather's weight and cannot move those who doubt it. God then gives them up to their own ways to be filled with their own doing. Those with only a form of religion who refuse God's kind and faithful call to be zealous and repent and to buy gold, white raiment and eyesalve that they may be rich will be rejected as disgusting, spued out of God's mouth and thrust from Him. God is of tender pity but will not bear always; when His Spirit is grieved away for the last time and mercy's sweet voice is heard no more, they are left to their own ways to be filled with their own doings.
People who repeatedly reject God's warnings, counsel, testimonies and reproof will suffer the consequences of their own choices, will reap what their way produces, and will be satisfied with and overwhelmed by the results of the plans they followed. Those who mock God's warnings may be left to follow their own way and face the consequences of their choices. The only hope is to turn to God wholeheartedly; when a sinner repents, God will pardon.
History Prophecy and Judgment
Setting aside divine law and rejecting God and the Bible brings national misery and ruin, for those who reject knowledge and refuse reverence for the Lord reap the misery produced by their own rebellion and are filled with the results of their own plans. Judgment may be delayed, yet rebellion keeps working out its own consequences until the harvest comes. The French Revolution and Reign of Terror stand as the historical illustration, showing how a people that casts off God can be left to gather the fruits of that rejection.
Men of corrupt hearts plot wickedness as if no overruling Providence will cross their designs, having none of divine counsel and despising all reproof and lacking the reverence for the Lord that is the beginning of wisdom. Basing success on treason and crime, they are derided from heaven and left to eat the fruit of their own way and be filled with their own devices, while their own turning away slays them and the prosperity of fools destroys them, as seen in Absalom's rebellion. So also at Christ's tomb human rulers and opposing powers could not carry out their will against Christ, and their devices could not keep Him imprisoned, but received the fruit of their way and were filled with their own plans.
At the great day of final judgment rejecters of mercy and despisers of grace will be brought face to face with justice and receive the full consequences of their own course without relief. Those who devote God-given talents of time, means, and intellect to the gods of this world, forsaking a true and loving Friend for convenience and worldly pleasure while intending to return to God later, will gather what they have sown. Frivolous amusements, pride of dress, and indulgence of appetite harden the heart and benumb the conscience so that the voice of truth is unheard, duty is despised, and things of infinite value are lightly esteemed until the heart loses all desire to sacrifice for Him who gave so much, and refusal of His call, His outstretched hand, His counsel, His reproof, with hatred of knowledge and rejection of reverence for the Lord, ends in unanswered calling amid fear as desolation, destruction as a whirlwind, distress and anguish, while whoever listens dwells safely and is quiet from fear of evil. At Christ's coming those who chose sin and worldly gain realize that the prosperity and worldly wisdom they trusted have become their ruin and cannot secure a share in heaven's glory.
To be unready when the Lord comes and to fail to make peace with Him now is to lose heaven and eternal life. Robbing Him of blood-purchased service by spending time in idle talk, foolish amusement, and worldly pleasure brings the full result of one's own course and plans, when those who refused when He called, disregarded His outstretched hand, set at naught His counsel, rejected His reproof, hated knowledge, and did not choose reverence for the Lord face calamity, fear, desolation, whirlwind destruction, distress and anguish in which they call and seek early but He laughs, mocks, refuses answer, and remains unfound, and they are sent from His presence to share the humiliation and punishment of Satan and his angels. This warning applies to the last days. A church persisting in backsliding will likewise eat the fruit of its doing until it abhors itself, unless she repents, turns from evil, and is converted.
Personal and Corporate Application
To eat of the fruit of one's own way is to gather what has been sown when God-given talents of time, means, and intellect are devoted to the gods of this world. Forsaking a true and loving Friend to follow the path of convenience and worldly pleasure while intending to return to God at some later time brings face to face with justice and the full consequences of that course at the great day of final judgment. The world with its follies and deceptions absorbs the attention, and frivolous amusements, pride of dress, and indulgence of appetite harden the heart and benumb the conscience. Then the voice of truth is not heard, duty is despised, and things of infinite value are lightly esteemed until the heart loses all desire to sacrifice for Him who has given so much.
Following an evil course of intemperance degrades those who give themselves to it and fills them with the consequences of their own choices. Their misery, including the ruin of their homes, is the fruit of the way they have chosen. Failing to live by love for God and neighbor, even while professing religious knowledge, likewise brings its own evils upon the wrongdoer. Cherishing suspicion, imagining evil, and harboring malicious thoughts debase character and bring upon people the very evils they fear, so that they reap what their own choices produce.
Walking in the way of one's own heart, following one's own sight and the imagination of the heart, and relying on one's own devices fills a person with the results of those devices. Such a self-directed life develops an earthbound character and brings debasement upon it, whereas trusting and obeying God brings blessing with dignity and calmness. Persisting in selfishness and refusing correction and opportunities to reform leaves one's own doings as one's portion. When the call to repent is rejected and mercy is finally withdrawn, the persistent are given over to and left to their chosen ways to bear the results of their own actions.
Those who refuse will eat the fruit of their own way and be filled with their own devices in the sense of receiving the full outcome of the course they chose and reaping what they sowed, being satisfied and overwhelmed with the results of their own plans. This follows rejecting when God called, disregarding His outstretched hand, setting at nought His counsel, having none of His reproof, hating knowledge, and not choosing the fear of the Lord. When fear comes as desolation and destruction comes as a whirlwind with distress and anguish, God will laugh at calamity and mock when fear comes, and those who then call and seek Him early will not be answered nor find Him. The misery is the natural harvest of the way chosen, including violation of the laws of body and life and indulgence of corrupt desires, and continuing in perversity brings the reward of one's own doings so that destruction is self-inflicted, for God finally leaves persistent refusers to their own ways with mercy withdrawn. By contrast, whoever listens to wisdom will dwell safely and be quiet from fear of evil, receiving blessing with the dignity and calmness that come from trusting and obeying God.
Context and Meaning
The verse closes a long refusal in which those addressed turned away when called, paid no regard to the outstretched hand, set at nothing all counsel, would have none of reproof, hated knowledge, did not choose the fear of the Lord, and despised all correction. It is the slighting of instruction and warnings and the despising of the great salvation offered that brings this outcome upon those who reject wisdom's calls. Lacking the fear of the Lord which is the beginning of wisdom, such refusers are left to the course they insisted upon.
To eat of the fruit of one's own way is to receive the full outcome of the course chosen and to gather what was sown. To be filled with one's own devices is to be satisfied and overwhelmed with the results of one's own plans, reaping what that way produces. Their distress follows refusal of warning and rejection of truth, so that earlier neglect leaves them without the help they seek.
When fear comes as desolation and destruction comes as a whirlwind, with distress and anguish, He will laugh at calamity and mock when fear comes. Those who then call will not be answered, and those who seek early will not find. Their own way and devices bring calamity and destruction, and calling for help in that distress comes too late, with no refuge or consolation and no relief in judgment.
By contrast, whoever listens to wisdom will dwell safely and be quiet from fear of evil. Those who heed dwell without fear, while those who trust and obey receive blessing with the dignity and calmness that come from connection with Him.
Nature of Retribution
The misery that follows refusal is the natural harvest of the way chosen and the schemes pursued, including what comes from violating the laws of body and life and from indulging corrupt desires. Judgment may be delayed, yet rebellion keeps working out its own consequences toward misery and ruin, and those who reject knowledge and refuse the fear of the Lord are filled with the outcome of their own plans. France in its Revolution and Reign of Terror stands as the historical illustration of a people who set aside God's law and rejected God and the Bible and were left to reap the fruits of that rejection.
Continuing in perversity and resisting God's Spirit brings the reward of one's own doings, so that destruction is self-inflicted. God finally leaves persistent refusers to their own ways and gives them over to their chosen ways, so that their own doings become their portion and the fruit that fills them. When correction is refused and the call to repent is rejected, mercy is at last withdrawn. Those who keep only a form of religion and refuse the kind and faithful call to be zealous and repent and to buy gold, white raiment, and eyesalve that they may be rich will be rejected as disgusting and thrust from Him, for though God is of tender pity He will not bear always, and when His Spirit is grieved away for the last time and mercy's sweet voice is heard no more they are left to their own ways to be filled with their own doings. Those who turn from everlasting truth are thus left to themselves.
Slighting the reproofs and warnings of God's word and His Spirit is a perilous step that leaves people to receive the results of their own way. Those who yield to temptation become blind to the true character of sin, flattering themselves that they had a good object in view and did no wrong in departing from the Lord's requirements, and by thus resisting grace they silence the Spirit's voice until it is no longer heard and are left to the delusions they have chosen. Those who refuse God's voice and reproof trust themselves and do not repent, and are surprised, fall, and are taken by the enemy. When distress comes their lives provide no refuge or consolation, and their fear and calamity are the harvest of the way they chose. For those who stubbornly reject warning, errors worsen until shame is publicly revealed.
Rejecting Light and Counsel
To disregard the visions is to disregard the way God has chosen to teach those who err from Bible truth, and those who profess to stand on present truth yet do so will be given up to their own ways and filled with the full result of their own doings. To strike against the visions is not to strike against a feeble human instrument but against the Holy Ghost; to speak against the instrument is a small thing, but to slight the words of God is dangerous. If they are in error and God chooses to show them their errors through visions and they disregard that teaching, they are left to take their own way and run in the way of error while thinking they are right until they find out too late. Then in the time of trouble they will cry to God in agony asking why He did not show them their wrong so they could have gotten right and ready, and the answer will be that the Father taught but they would not be instructed, He spoke through visions but they disregarded His voice.
God has chosen His own way to give light as straight testimonies through the simple means He has ordained, and if that light is doubted and not received it bears only a feather's weight and cannot move those who doubt it. God then gives them up to their own ways to be filled with their own doing. Those with only a form of religion who refuse God's kind and faithful call to be zealous and repent and to buy gold, white raiment and eyesalve that they may be rich will be rejected as disgusting, spued out of God's mouth and thrust from Him. God is of tender pity but will not bear always; when His Spirit is grieved away for the last time and mercy's sweet voice is heard no more, they are left to their own ways to be filled with their own doings.
People who repeatedly reject God's warnings, counsel, testimonies and reproof will suffer the consequences of their own choices, will reap what their way produces, and will be satisfied with and overwhelmed by the results of the plans they followed. Those who mock God's warnings may be left to follow their own way and face the consequences of their choices. The only hope is to turn to God wholeheartedly; when a sinner repents, God will pardon.
History Prophecy and Judgment
Setting aside divine law and rejecting God and the Bible brings national misery and ruin, for those who reject knowledge and refuse reverence for the Lord reap the misery produced by their own rebellion and are filled with the results of their own plans. Judgment may be delayed, yet rebellion keeps working out its own consequences until the harvest comes. The French Revolution and Reign of Terror stand as the historical illustration, showing how a people that casts off God can be left to gather the fruits of that rejection.
Men of corrupt hearts plot wickedness as if no overruling Providence will cross their designs, having none of divine counsel and despising all reproof and lacking the reverence for the Lord that is the beginning of wisdom. Basing success on treason and crime, they are derided from heaven and left to eat the fruit of their own way and be filled with their own devices, while their own turning away slays them and the prosperity of fools destroys them, as seen in Absalom's rebellion. So also at Christ's tomb human rulers and opposing powers could not carry out their will against Christ, and their devices could not keep Him imprisoned, but received the fruit of their way and were filled with their own plans.
At the great day of final judgment rejecters of mercy and despisers of grace will be brought face to face with justice and receive the full consequences of their own course without relief. Those who devote God-given talents of time, means, and intellect to the gods of this world, forsaking a true and loving Friend for convenience and worldly pleasure while intending to return to God later, will gather what they have sown. Frivolous amusements, pride of dress, and indulgence of appetite harden the heart and benumb the conscience so that the voice of truth is unheard, duty is despised, and things of infinite value are lightly esteemed until the heart loses all desire to sacrifice for Him who gave so much, and refusal of His call, His outstretched hand, His counsel, His reproof, with hatred of knowledge and rejection of reverence for the Lord, ends in unanswered calling amid fear as desolation, destruction as a whirlwind, distress and anguish, while whoever listens dwells safely and is quiet from fear of evil. At Christ's coming those who chose sin and worldly gain realize that the prosperity and worldly wisdom they trusted have become their ruin and cannot secure a share in heaven's glory.
To be unready when the Lord comes and to fail to make peace with Him now is to lose heaven and eternal life. Robbing Him of blood-purchased service by spending time in idle talk, foolish amusement, and worldly pleasure brings the full result of one's own course and plans, when those who refused when He called, disregarded His outstretched hand, set at naught His counsel, rejected His reproof, hated knowledge, and did not choose reverence for the Lord face calamity, fear, desolation, whirlwind destruction, distress and anguish in which they call and seek early but He laughs, mocks, refuses answer, and remains unfound, and they are sent from His presence to share the humiliation and punishment of Satan and his angels. This warning applies to the last days. A church persisting in backsliding will likewise eat the fruit of its doing until it abhors itself, unless she repents, turns from evil, and is converted.
Personal and Corporate Application
To eat of the fruit of one's own way is to gather what has been sown when God-given talents of time, means, and intellect are devoted to the gods of this world. Forsaking a true and loving Friend to follow the path of convenience and worldly pleasure while intending to return to God at some later time brings face to face with justice and the full consequences of that course at the great day of final judgment. The world with its follies and deceptions absorbs the attention, and frivolous amusements, pride of dress, and indulgence of appetite harden the heart and benumb the conscience. Then the voice of truth is not heard, duty is despised, and things of infinite value are lightly esteemed until the heart loses all desire to sacrifice for Him who has given so much.
Following an evil course of intemperance degrades those who give themselves to it and fills them with the consequences of their own choices. Their misery, including the ruin of their homes, is the fruit of the way they have chosen. Failing to live by love for God and neighbor, even while professing religious knowledge, likewise brings its own evils upon the wrongdoer. Cherishing suspicion, imagining evil, and harboring malicious thoughts debase character and bring upon people the very evils they fear, so that they reap what their own choices produce.
Walking in the way of one's own heart, following one's own sight and the imagination of the heart, and relying on one's own devices fills a person with the results of those devices. Such a self-directed life develops an earthbound character and brings debasement upon it, whereas trusting and obeying God brings blessing with dignity and calmness. Persisting in selfishness and refusing correction and opportunities to reform leaves one's own doings as one's portion. When the call to repent is rejected and mercy is finally withdrawn, the persistent are given over to and left to their chosen ways to bear the results of their own actions.