In Exodus chapter four, verse twenty-four, Moses had neglected to perform the covenant sign of circumcision of his son. This response is a clear sign of disobedience by Moses and his wife. God afflicted Moses with a potentially fatal illness until he had his son circumcised. This incident demonstrates that God’s election of an individual continues only as long as believers remain obedient.
An example of disobedience is King Saul. In First Samuel, chapter thirteen, verse thirteen, he did not do what was instructed by the Lord through Samuel. Instead of advancement where God would have established his reign as King and the kingdom, Saul lost it after, and eventually his life. In First Kings, chapter thirteen, the man of God from Judah disobeyed the Lord by going to another man’s house to eat bread. Even though the man of God’s failure to obey came through deception by another, it was the man of God’s responsibility to discern and ask God before deciding to go to the man’s house to eat bread.
The Lord sought someone that has a heart towards Him. The deeper we get with God, the more conscious we become of what He approves or disapproves of in the union. Similar to a relationship with a spouse or a child. We live together and interact with each other. As we grow together, we become familiar with likes, dislikes, tendencies, and other pertinent things in our relationship.
The flip side to a relationship is when things go wrong. Especially when a spouse breaks the covenant in a marriage, and the innocent one seeks to atone for that mistake. Sometimes situations within a relationship, unfortunately, are fatal where a tragedy occurs in the end. The Lord does not seek to destroy His creation but save them. However, there are examples in the Word of God where God’s wrath comes down on people causing them to reap what they have sown.