In our last study we noticed how God had given a challenge to Israel for them to repent and to return unto Him. Instead, Israel determined to be religious and to rely upon outward rituals and ceremonies instead of turning back toward God. So no, God strengthens His case by proclaiming that Israel's sinfulness is like adding fuel to an oven. Whenever we give in to sin it is like adding fuel to the fire. And each piece of wood we throw into the fire becomes larger.
Sins have a way of growing.
To help us understand how sins progress one upon another until the fire is red hot and out of control, let us examine probably the most well known account of sin outside of that of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. I am speaking about the sin of David with Bathsheba, as recorded in 2 Samuel 11. Let's see if we can understand the number of sins which were involved in this tragic story. First, it says in verse 1 that it was the time of year when the kings normally went to war. David had done this on many other occasions, but this year, for reasons not explained in the text, he remained at home.