Man is a free moral agent. Man can decide to follow God or the devil. He cannot serve both (Mt.6:24). If a person decides to do evil, commit sin, reject God, make wrong choices God will not stop himand with those there are terrible consequences. Even though a person may repent he is not shielded
from the results of his actions. There were three things God tolerated and man suffered the effects of their actions.
God tolerated the appointment of a king but it was not his will. Remember that Samuel was upset over the Children of Israel clamoring for a king but God said to him, “And the LORD said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but
they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them” (1 Sam. 8:7). God told Samuel to tell the people what the end result would be of their having a king over them (1 Sam. 8:10-18). In other words, “You
will pay for your rejection of me.”
God tolerated the building of the temple but it was not his will. It was David’s desire. Maybe David was feeling guilty about the house he had built for himself so he thought, “Let’s build a house for God” (2 Sam. 7). Even Nathan, the prophet, gave his stamp of approval to it (2 Sam. 7:3). However, God said no, as is recorded, “Go and tell David my servant, Thus saith the LORD, Thou shalt not build me an house to dwell in” (1 Chron. 17:4). The Temple was destroyed at least three times. It wasn’t God’s plan.
God tolerated man’s decision to put away his wife. Jesus taught them to go back to the beginning for God’s plan. If God didn’t approve, why did Moses allow it? Jesus answered “He saith unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so” (Mt. 19:8).
No doubt someone may conclude, “Well, I will do what I want and God will tolerate it.” Wait a minute. The Bible answers that, “And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent” (Acts 17:30).
Larry