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How is repentance wrought in the regenerate children of God?
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- I am continually amazed at how “the law is slacked”, how “judgment doth never go forth”, how “wrong judgment proceedeth” (Hab. 1:4)! A corrupted law and wrong judgments sent forth through unending media streams, echoed back again by the church on every corner – it is all like a house of mirrors built up around each human soul, making them lost in a warped reality. God says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 5:3), but depravity makes men rich in self-righteousness, a pseudo-religious sincerity, and they are honest people who are honestly deceived. They are sincere and religious but Godless…and therefore the mass of men who live in a certain generation become the final authority of faith and practice. They all join hand in hand as one voice to collectively decide on matters of conscience and religion, self-inventing the moral compass of righteousness and unrighteousness, self-identifying the feeling and communications of God’s love and wrath, and self-verifying the persons who will make up the populations of heaven and hell – and they do it all without God. The “thing” is right or wrong as the mass of people do decide it to be. Then, to help this cause, hell spawns for them such colorful preachers, a people’s preacher instead of God’s preacher, and they become, therefore, preacher parrots, pet preachers, repeating and resounding what tickles the clubhouse-congregation to passion and humor. Their sermons have just enough religious symbolism and biblical phraseology to suffocate the guilty conscience. The audience leaves built up in bondages, but feeling well, feeling like they are doing something right for “Jesus” in their life. The devil sought out for himself pastors that are, behold, “men after man’s own heart”. Willful sin is like an addictive hobby, and what is the matter with it, right!? Every “Christian” has his hobbies…and so, time passes, degeneration takes its awful course, and this collective conscience of once-born men unites in a terrifying direction – they become impassioned to destroy the true work of the living Spirit of Jesus Christ. “When He is come, He will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment” (John 16:8), and when He moves in the midst of these religious circles, so that a person comes to be convicted of sin, then the people will call the conviction – itself – a sin, that the man is doubting God’s love, but this is because their faith is a “peacefulness of conscience” on the broad way, a “solid faith” without sincere conviction, an unashamed boldness, without fear, while reveling in personal hypocrisies. Real sin is treated like pets to tame – “pet sins”. The people learn to cage their pet sins just at the right times, some just for a little while, and the animals learn to behave themselves, you see, at least for the hour of religion, but these pet sins are coddled and cherished, the people are encouraged to “live abundantly” in a life which is condemned, and it is because their pet sins have become culturally acceptable pleasures. Behold the conclusion of the whole matter – God says, “Their fear toward Me is taught by the precept of men” (Isa. 29:13). Reader, do you think what people say about “the fear of God” is directly connected to a person’s repentance?
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You may think that the unregenerate multitudes which meet the former description do need to hear about the condemning fear of God, but is there any way Satan has deceived us, even the regenerate multitudes, so that we have heresies which corrupt and suppress the messages of the Holy Spirit which provoke “godly fear” (Heb. 12:28) and “terror” (2 Cor. 5:11)?
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Let us examine this through this question: --> how is repentance wrought in the regenerate children of God? In answer to this question, many Calvinists would think of God’s chastening, but I suppose that the most learned Calvinists would think that the man needs a greater revelation of the love of God. That can be rephrased to, “a greater revelation of the goodness of God which leads to repentance”. Calvinists view God in His sovereign, eternal, changeless aspects of existence, and relate to God in this view alone, therefore they believe that God can never be angry with a Christian again. Therefore wrath will never be preached to the regenerate multitude to motivate repentance. Essentially, Calvinists believe that they do love God “enough” so that they will always repent. The Bible would call this high-mindedness, but nevertheless, this whole understanding permeates the very interpretive lens of a Calvinist as he or she studies the word of God. Everything is viewed through this foundational perspective, and therefore men become blind to what the scriptures actually teach.
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“Or despisest thou the riches of His goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; Who will render to every man according to his deeds.” (Rom. 2:4-6)
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Might I ask the relevant question? What is a scripturally backed definition of God’s “goodness”, “forbearance”, and “longsuffering”? We can interpret these attributes of God how we feel that they mean, or how these attributes exist in our ordinary human lives. Or, we can look up a modern or historical dictionary and choose one of all the definitions therein rendered, or its synonyms therein listed, and now in a matter of seconds the word is exhaustively amplified. We can look up the words in a Greek lexicon, or in Hebrew, and see the various definitions of the root word used elsewhere in scripture. We can look up the secular history of each of the words, or the etymology of the words…After all of this, we can think we are getting somewhere in our journey to interpret the word of God, but let me plead with you all! Let us first look up the roots of the word in biblical instruction, in biblical history, within the safeguard of absolute inerrancy, and then let us look up every other instance it is used. Let us look, firstly, at each word in chronology from Genesis to Revelation, in each context, until finally we can grasp exactly what the biblical definition of the word is, and then let us conclude our searching and resolve, “this is the meaning indeed”. Yea, let us not wander into further inquiries so as to bring this definition into doubt. If we venture elsewhere into the aforementioned grounds (Greek, Hebrew, history, systematized theology, dictionary, or etymology), let it be to enlarge upon the meaning already established by the infallibly-holy and definitively-peculiar exactitude of inspired scripture.
We must not err, my beloved brethren, by seeking God’s definitions amongst godless men, wresting God’s writing because of the uninspired pens of fallible men who claim “such and such” from history, who imagine “such and such” because of what is discoverable through original language proficiency, who affirm “such and such” as a legitimate and definitive trespass against the Book’s defining Author – God Almighty – I speak so as to defend Him, for the Lord’s sake: such men are puffed up in the hot air of scholarship, whose idolatry is intelligence, and they, hating humility and hallowing human education, do bow down to the hierarchy of a self-invented, unbiblical, para-Church authority. We are rejecting biblical verity for extra-biblical ideologies – pearls for pride – we are rejecting sola scriptura for the vulnerable and sabotaged manuscripts of human-documented, human-collected, God-rejected “church” history. The childlikeness of Peter the fisherman - he is chided, the God-ordination of the uneducated man is denounced as laughable, and with the eyes of faith effectually gouged out, men follow a system of God-unprotected philosophies and ideologies which are venerated because they are antique. Let us not seek the Living among the dead! Be astonished at this – these pastors preach without broken hearts! They are arrayed in graduation robes with hands blood red! With honorable letters by their name, look at them; they are prayerless preachers without any shame! Fattened for hibernation and prepared, and for what? For nothing but a long sleep…every one of them can be found deep within the dark cave of their three-thousand-book personal library – this is the bane of their existence. Nevertheless, let us have the holy resolve found in the Holy Ghost – in the purity of true meekness and void of pride – and let us assuredly exclaim: I am “wiser”, “I have more understanding than all my teachers,” “I understand more than the ancients, because I keep Thy precepts” (Psalm 119:97-100). The inspired psalmist was not proud when he said that.
We must not err, my beloved brethren, by seeking God’s definitions amongst godless men, wresting God’s writing because of the uninspired pens of fallible men who claim “such and such” from history, who imagine “such and such” because of what is discoverable through original language proficiency, who affirm “such and such” as a legitimate and definitive trespass against the Book’s defining Author – God Almighty – I speak so as to defend Him, for the Lord’s sake: such men are puffed up in the hot air of scholarship, whose idolatry is intelligence, and they, hating humility and hallowing human education, do bow down to the hierarchy of a self-invented, unbiblical, para-Church authority. We are rejecting biblical verity for extra-biblical ideologies – pearls for pride – we are rejecting sola scriptura for the vulnerable and sabotaged manuscripts of human-documented, human-collected, God-rejected “church” history. The childlikeness of Peter the fisherman - he is chided, the God-ordination of the uneducated man is denounced as laughable, and with the eyes of faith effectually gouged out, men follow a system of God-unprotected philosophies and ideologies which are venerated because they are antique. Let us not seek the Living among the dead! Be astonished at this – these pastors preach without broken hearts! They are arrayed in graduation robes with hands blood red! With honorable letters by their name, look at them; they are prayerless preachers without any shame! Fattened for hibernation and prepared, and for what? For nothing but a long sleep…every one of them can be found deep within the dark cave of their three-thousand-book personal library – this is the bane of their existence. Nevertheless, let us have the holy resolve found in the Holy Ghost – in the purity of true meekness and void of pride – and let us assuredly exclaim: I am “wiser”, “I have more understanding than all my teachers,” “I understand more than the ancients, because I keep Thy precepts” (Psalm 119:97-100). The inspired psalmist was not proud when he said that.
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Please, let me bring my question before you again. What is a scripturally backed definition of God’s “goodness”, “forbearance”, and “longsuffering,” so that we might preach on these magnificent attributes of God when the Lord’s people are in need of repentance?
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Just as people quote that “God is faithful,” or, “His mercy endureth forever,” and these truths are abused to mean the near opposite of what they actually do mean, so also, many quote the saying that it is “the riches of His goodness and forbearance and longsuffering” which leads a man to repentance. They interpret this to mean that men need to see the goodness of God, and not the fear of God, when they are in need of repentance. Such persons understand that the goodness of God is something entirely disconnected from the wrath of God, or the fear of God, but again, it is the contrary!
Forbearance
I suppose, when men think of the forbearance that God has over His children, they think that God is not as a man, and they understand this to mean that, what makes men terribly angry, and also, how quickly men are angered, comes to be incomparable to how God would behave in these scenarios, and that God, Who is infinitely more loving than men, would in these situations be much more “slow to anger” (Ps. 103). For example, when a man would get terribly and uncontrollably angry over his children, it is then that God would be just “a little displeased” (Zech. 1:15). So also, when a man might be harsh, or even harmful, when he corrects his child in such scenarios, God would use perfect wisdom and gentleness to His children, which means that He would “correct thee in measure,” a measurement much less than man (Jer. 30:11). I know that this may sound right and pleasing to you, my reader, but is that a correct comparison? Are the three passages which I quoted from in their correct contexts and application? Sadly, analogies from the life experiences of humanity are the definitive paradigm which interprets the Bible these days, and this leads into heresy! I beg you, again, for we are confronted with the same dilemma! What is a scripturally backed definition of God’s slowness to anger (Ps. 103)? What does it means for God to have a little displeasure (Zech. 1:15), or a calculated correction in a measure (Jer. 30:11)!? If you would read those passages, you would understand that God’s slowness to anger, little displeasure, and correction in measure magnifies the wonder that God left any of His people alive – and only nearly annihilated them – for they deserved a total annihilation! Now, if the near annihilation of God’s people was a primary aspect in view when speaking the former three phrases, what do you think God has in mind about forbearance?
Forbearance
I suppose, when men think of the forbearance that God has over His children, they think that God is not as a man, and they understand this to mean that, what makes men terribly angry, and also, how quickly men are angered, comes to be incomparable to how God would behave in these scenarios, and that God, Who is infinitely more loving than men, would in these situations be much more “slow to anger” (Ps. 103). For example, when a man would get terribly and uncontrollably angry over his children, it is then that God would be just “a little displeased” (Zech. 1:15). So also, when a man might be harsh, or even harmful, when he corrects his child in such scenarios, God would use perfect wisdom and gentleness to His children, which means that He would “correct thee in measure,” a measurement much less than man (Jer. 30:11). I know that this may sound right and pleasing to you, my reader, but is that a correct comparison? Are the three passages which I quoted from in their correct contexts and application? Sadly, analogies from the life experiences of humanity are the definitive paradigm which interprets the Bible these days, and this leads into heresy! I beg you, again, for we are confronted with the same dilemma! What is a scripturally backed definition of God’s slowness to anger (Ps. 103)? What does it means for God to have a little displeasure (Zech. 1:15), or a calculated correction in a measure (Jer. 30:11)!? If you would read those passages, you would understand that God’s slowness to anger, little displeasure, and correction in measure magnifies the wonder that God left any of His people alive – and only nearly annihilated them – for they deserved a total annihilation! Now, if the near annihilation of God’s people was a primary aspect in view when speaking the former three phrases, what do you think God has in mind about forbearance?
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“Yet many years didst Thou forbear them, and testifiedst against them by Thy Spirit in Thy prophets: yet would they not give ear: therefore gavest Thou them into the hand of the people of the lands. Nevertheless for Thy great mercies' sake Thou didst not utterly consume them, nor forsake them; for Thou art a gracious and merciful God.” (Nehemiah 9:30-31)
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This verse serves as a correct interpretative lens for the word “forbearance”. Do I need to comment on it? You remember the context of Nehemiah chapter 9, don’t you? I hope this astonishes you into the holy wonder of how backslidden our generation is, and oh, how wrong we have got it!
Goodness
Goodness
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“…the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance” – Rom. 2:4
“For He is GOOD” – Psalms 106:1, 107:1, 118:1, 29 “Praise the LORD for His goodness” – Psalm 107:8, 15, 21, 31 |
Likewise to the other words, the goodness of God is used exactly like the enduring mercy of God. “The goodness of God endureth continually” (Ps. 52:1), the scripture exclaims! It is not that the goodness of God makes people repent by focusing on some attribute which is disconnected from God’s wrath, but the goodness of God is good because when men are unrepentant and then they look upon the wrath of God hovering overhead, understanding that it is breaking forth to a possible near annihilation, and then, when they are distressed over it so as to call upon the Lord in tearful, repentant fear – the goodness of God is that He will hear and save such a man! Tragically, men believe that it is the goodness of God which makes impossible fear, and men are to believe that because God is good, then there is no wrath, but it is the contrary! When men behold the wrath of God, it is then that men are enabled to obtain the saving goodness of God (Ps. 106:1, 107:1, 8, 15, 21, 31)!
Longsuffering
Longsuffering
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“The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9)
“And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you.” (2 Peter 3:15) |
Please my reader, listen closely. The two verses above perfectly place the biblical use of the word “longsuffering.” These two verses are from the same chapter, and they are only five verses apart from one another. If we want to know what is so saving and repentance-working about a biblical understanding of God’s longsuffering, then we ought to be pointed to look upon the emotional expression upon God’s face which is impressed upon the reader in this chapter. In other words, what is the author pointing the reader to at this time, in the surrounding context of these two passages!? What impression do you get? Is longsuffering an attribute of God which is altogether disconnected from God’s wrath or fear, or the potential of damnation? Let us read these verses from 2 Peter in their surrounding context, starting from verse 7 instead of verse 9: -->
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“But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the Day of Judgment and perdition of ungodly men. But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of Him in peace, without spot, and blameless. And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you…” (2 Peter 3:7-15)
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When you read this passage, recognize that the author is pointing toward the judgment of God against the ungodly at the END of the world, and the ability for a regenerate Christian to spend away, abuse, be hardened against, and despise the longsuffering of God, by refusing to repent, spurning and disregarding how that the longsuffering of God stalls final judgment because the regenerate man is not repenting. Seeking to get the attention of the unrepentant regenerate persons still lingering in the world, Peter warns them to SEE something, or, to LOOK upon something! What is it? Is it the feelings of no fear or no wrath!? No! Peter points them to look and see how the “earth,” “the works” therein, and the “ungodly men” are doomed for “perdition,” so that when they are “seeing then” all of this (2 Peter 3:11), they should be careful to repent and keep repentance, so that they would be found “in all holy conversation and godliness” (2 Pet. 3:11), “in peace, without spot, and blameless” (2 Peter 3:14) at Christ’s coming. If they do not repent, let my reader take note, that they will not be in peace, without spot, and blameless at Christ’s coming, because he is not in all the holiness of godliness that God would require.
Tender Mercies
“tender mercies” – Psalm 103:4
“very pitiful and of tender mercy” – James 5:11
The “tender mercies” and “gentleness” (Ps. 18) of God, also, just as the former attributes, are contrary to the common understanding. I remember the heresies of one man who I knew in the past – he constantly speaks of the tenderness of God in an unbiblical sense, and, such a one also falsely understands that mercy is the central theme of the whole Bible. This is not so! God is the central theme of the whole Bible, and in God, two colors of His glory are displayed, and they are – Saving Mercy & Condemning Wrath – FOR HIS GLORY. God’s glory is the central theme of the Bible, in these two colors.
Let me attempt to establish this very clearly, as with all the aforementioned biblical attributes in God. The tender mercies of God, for Job, did not make impossible the experience of the wrath of God! As the verse above states, God was “very pitiful and of tender mercy” to Job (Jas. 5:11), but do you know what Job went through?! Have you any biblical recollection? Let Job’s own words cry out the experience of WOE that was upon him, that you may know now that God’s tender mercy does not negate the experience, or danger, of WRATH upon a saved, just, upright, perfect man who falls into sin. Tender mercies and pity come to lift a soul like Job’s out of bitter agony and lamentation, BUT IT WAS THE WRATH of God which bound him and beat him into bitter agony and lamentation!
Tender Mercies
“tender mercies” – Psalm 103:4
“very pitiful and of tender mercy” – James 5:11
The “tender mercies” and “gentleness” (Ps. 18) of God, also, just as the former attributes, are contrary to the common understanding. I remember the heresies of one man who I knew in the past – he constantly speaks of the tenderness of God in an unbiblical sense, and, such a one also falsely understands that mercy is the central theme of the whole Bible. This is not so! God is the central theme of the whole Bible, and in God, two colors of His glory are displayed, and they are – Saving Mercy & Condemning Wrath – FOR HIS GLORY. God’s glory is the central theme of the Bible, in these two colors.
Let me attempt to establish this very clearly, as with all the aforementioned biblical attributes in God. The tender mercies of God, for Job, did not make impossible the experience of the wrath of God! As the verse above states, God was “very pitiful and of tender mercy” to Job (Jas. 5:11), but do you know what Job went through?! Have you any biblical recollection? Let Job’s own words cry out the experience of WOE that was upon him, that you may know now that God’s tender mercy does not negate the experience, or danger, of WRATH upon a saved, just, upright, perfect man who falls into sin. Tender mercies and pity come to lift a soul like Job’s out of bitter agony and lamentation, BUT IT WAS THE WRATH of God which bound him and beat him into bitter agony and lamentation!
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“Wherefore hidest Thou Thy face” – Job 13:24
“Wherefore…holdest me for Thine enemy” – Job 13:24 “He teareth me in His wrath, Who hateth me” – Job 16:9 “His archers compass me round about, He cleaveth my reins asunder” – Job 16:13 “Behold, I cry out of wrong, but I am not heard: I cry aloud, but there is no judgment. He hath fenced up my way that I cannot pass, and He hath set darkness in my paths” – Job 19:7-8 “He hath destroyed me” – Job 19:10 “kindled His wrath against me…counteth me unto Him as one of His enemies” – Job 19:11 |
The pity and tender mercy of God is that God saved Job from His wrath, but this merciful salvation was NOT without the outpouring of God’s wrath upon Job at the first! A man in bitter agony and lamentation does not reach forth for wrath and condemnation, but being mindful of the mercy, pity, longsuffering, forbearance, and goodness in God, he reaches forth for salvation through repentance. Exactly as this experience was for Job, even so, again and again, the psalmists underwent the same things. They spoke of them in the exact same ways and words, bitterness and breaking. When the psalmist prayed, “Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Thy lovingkindness: according to the multitude of Thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions” (Ps. 51:1), it did not mean that the man was in no danger of wrath, that he was not being exercised by the threatening of wrath, or was not under the very bitter crushing of wrath at that very moment –they were in the midst of a soul-threatening and fiercely destroying wrath, and thus, they did cry out in repentance and hope for “tender mercies” to undeservedly save them! You know the context of Psalm 51, don’t you!? David knew God would cast him away even as He did King Saul, and so he cried out for mercy: “Cast me not away from Thy Presence; and take not Thy Holy Spirit from me” (Ps. 51:11). All of these verses below are prayerful cries from the very straits of wrath:
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“Remember, O LORD, thy tender mercies and thy lovingkindnesses; for they have been ever of old.” (Ps. 25:6)
“Hear me, O LORD; for thy lovingkindness is good: turn unto me according to the multitude of thy tender mercies.” (Ps. 69:16) |
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“Look upon mine affliction and my pain; and forgive all my sins.” (Ps. 25:18)
“Hide not Thy face from Thy servant; for I am in trouble.” (Ps. 69:17) |
When such men were under the wrath of God, and then they called upon the tender mercies of God, this did not mean that they were absolutely sure they would be forgiven and delivered. Need I comment on the context of Psalms 77, 103, and 79?
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“Hath God forgotten to be gracious? hath He in anger shut up His tender mercies?” (Ps. 77:9)
“Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; Who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies.” (Ps. 103:4) “O remember not against us former iniquities: let Thy tender mercies speedily prevent us: for we are brought very low.” (Ps. 79:8) |
Chastening & The ROD
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“I will be his Father, and he shall be My son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the ROD of men, and with the stripes of the children of men” – 2 Samuel 7:14
“…I will visit their transgression with the ROD, and their iniquity with stripes” – Psalm 89:32 |
Few words so pointedly direct our thoughts to God’s Fatherly compassion and paternal love, besides the words “Chastening” and “the ROD”. How many times have you heard a man gladly, and loudly, with the sharp tones of carnal pride, declare – “I am a child of God!” – and you know the man is set on devouring iniquity? As devastating as this is, it has a root. Men and women, of the regenerate household of God and the once-born mass of Americanized “Christianity”, do believe that because they are a child of God, therefore God will not “hide” Himself, not for a little while or “forever”, and His “wrath” will never “burn like fire” (Psalm 89:46). “Look”, they say, “God hath spoken”, and what are they pointing at? They point to God’s Fatherly “ROD” and Paternal “stripes”, how that, by promise, the intent behind it is for the oath – “Nevertheless My lovingkindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer My faithfulness to tail” (Psalm 89:33). Now PLEASE, my reader, look closer, and at ALL of the scripture, and we can quickly see how the psalmist of Psalm 89 did plainly disagree (Ps. 89:38-53).
Most people are not ignorant, at least, that “the ROD” is the biblical instrument used by the parents to chasten a stubborn and disobedient child, but they suppose that when they are that disobedient child of God, that they, always, without fail, will be turned to repentance and faith again, that it is an absolute impossibility that they could be lost in such a state unto eternal damnation. The foremost NT scriptures which are commonly used to define and interpret what God’s chastening is are the following verses:
Most people are not ignorant, at least, that “the ROD” is the biblical instrument used by the parents to chasten a stubborn and disobedient child, but they suppose that when they are that disobedient child of God, that they, always, without fail, will be turned to repentance and faith again, that it is an absolute impossibility that they could be lost in such a state unto eternal damnation. The foremost NT scriptures which are commonly used to define and interpret what God’s chastening is are the following verses:
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“And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of Him: For whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth.” (Hebrews 12:5-6)
“As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.” (Rev. 3:19) |
Do you think that you have the correct interpretation on what biblical chastening is, and more specifically, the emotional mind of God behind the beating of the ROD? Could God ever be angry when He beats with the rod? What about the purposes and potentials of being beaten by the rod, is it dangerous and can it be damnable? When common people read these two verses above, they would not think so, despite the staggering clarity in the wider context of Rev. 3:19. What many do not know is that the verses quoted in Hebrews 12:5-6, which was written before John wrote the book of Revelation, originate from the OT:
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“My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of His correction: For whom the LORD loveth He correcteth; even as a Father the son in whom He delighteth. Happy is the man that findeth wisdom…” (Proverbs 3:11-13)
“Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty. For He maketh sore, and bindeth up: He woundeth, and His hands make whole.” (Job 5:17-18) |
When encountering the exact same sentences or phrases in two different books, like the two verses above, we can understand that the later book is quoting the earlier book, and seeing that the book of Proverbs was written after the book of Job (probably dated pre-flood), then we can understand that Solomon (the author of Proverbs) had Job’s interpretation and experience of chastening in his mind as he quoted it in Proverbs 3:11-13. Therefore it is necessary for us to study the book of Job that we might understand what biblical chastening is, according to Job, and not according to our own human philosophies, or, how we chasten our children at “such and such” a time, with “such and such” a purpose and potential. In Job 5:17-18, God’s correction and chastening was describing what Job was going through at that time, and though Eliphaz was not perfectly correct in his assessment of why Job was being chastened, Job did not disagree that he was being chastened. Fatherly chastening is by the ROD, as formerly mentioned; therefore Job speaks of his experiences as a product of God’s beating ROD upon him:
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“Let Him take His rod away from me, and let not His fear terrify me…” (Job 9:34)
“Their houses are safe from fear, neither is the rod of God upon them.” (Job 21:9) |
In Job 9:34, Job speaks of the rod of God as something that is terrifying him. In Job 21:9, Job acknowledges the rod to be used upon a choice people, the godly and regenerate children of God, which means that it is not used upon the once-born wicked of the earth, and again, here, like as before, this chastening rod has the power of destruction which seizes men with fear. Do you understand the significance of this reference in Job? Job considers his experiences of suffering as the work of God’s Fatherly, compassionate ROD! Consequentially, therefore, all of these experiences listed below are categorically defined as chastening. What Job underwent was, therefore, an inerrant and biblical demonstration of what it is, definitively, for a choice servant of God to go under the Paternal ROD:
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“Wherefore hidest Thou Thy face” – Job 13:24
“Wherefore…holdest me for Thine enemy” – Job 13:24 “He teareth me in His wrath, Who hateth me” – Job 16:9 “His archers compass me round about, He cleaveth my reins asunder” – Job 16:13 “Behold, I cry out of wrong, but I am not heard: I cry aloud, but there is no judgment. He hath fenced up my way that I cannot pass, and He hath set darkness in my paths” – Job 19:7-8 “He hath destroyed me” – Job 19:10 “kindled His wrath against me…counteth me unto Him as one of His enemies” – Job 19:11 |
Is this how you understand chastening, and the ROD? You may vainly assert that I have taken an enormous and unverified leap, that I am, in some way, forcing this experience to define God’s Paternal chastening. My reader, let us look further, for yet another book (written after Job) speaks of chastening and the rod in the same exact context of definition and description, exactly parallel with Job’s experience and affirmation. In fact, Job’s exact experience of chastening under the rod, as he described it above, namely that it was an affliction of the wrath of God, is the exact same description of God’s chastening and the rod in biblical inspiration henceforth. If the experience of chastening by God’s rod is not “endured” so that the person is brought under “subjection” to God by it, which means they are brought to repentance through it, then they will not be saved, but destroyed (Heb. 12:7, 9). We must come under subjection to our Father, for there, and only there, is the place that we might continue to “live” (Heb. 12:9). Therefore did the godly saints learn to pray:
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“O LORD, rebuke me not in Thine anger, neither chasten me in Thy hot displeasure. Have mercy upon me, O LORD; for I am weak: O LORD, heal me; for my bones are vexed.” (Ps. 6:1-2)
“O LORD, rebuke me not in Thy wrath: neither chasten me in Thy hot displeasure. For Thine arrows stick fast in me, and Thy hand presseth me sore.” (Ps. 38:1) “O LORD, correct me, but with judgment; not in Thine anger, lest Thou bring me to nothing.” (Jer. 10:24) “Let Thy tender mercies come unto me, that I may live: for Thy law is my delight.” (Ps. 119:77) |
Do you think these inspired writers had something in their mind, by definition, which is fundamentally different and thus contradicting your understanding of what God’s chastening is? Would you ever, naturally, pray the prayers that these men prayed, fearing with the fear that they are affrighted with? My reader, it is the human philosophies which have led you astray! You are thinking that God is, naturally, like your nature, and now you cringe in distaste, and at what? Do you think God is a “monster” of a Person now, and you are, rather, a good parent? God gives better gifts than you – more valuable, meritorious, and merciful – and God gets angrier than you, He chastens better than you, delivering chastisement-blows of harder, more precise, life-threatening power, which then, as you can see, became terrifyingly famous throughout history. As for God the Father, whether it be the goodness of His blessing, or, the severity of His wrath, whether it be the compassion of His condescension and humility, or, the overpowering fierceness of His punishment; my reader, “if ye then, being evil,” knoweth how to “give good gifts” to your children, and also, “if ye then, being evil,” knoweth how to demand “reverence” from your children by the severity of chastisement and “correction” you deliver, “how much more” mature, superior, infinitely perfect, and trustworthy is God’s Parenting in both veins, and, “shall we not much rather be in subjection to the Father of spirits” (see Matt. 7:11 & Heb. 12:9)? When God said of us that we are parents – comparatively “evil” – when in the light of God’s Parenting, He means to explain that our parenting philosophies are stinking with depravity, are twisted with corruption, that they are inferior in fatherly compassion and fatherly chastening. He means to show us that we would never “love mercy” or “do justly” like as He does, and therefore we need to learn of Him, His ways, and “walk humbly with [our] God” (Micah 6:8).
Do you want to understand this kind of chastening which is according to scripture – biblical chastening? The most significant passage, which frames all definitive verses thereafter, is found in Leviticus 26:28, where God says – “I, even I, will chastise you seven times for your sins.” This is spoken in the 5th of 5 phases of chastening which God afflicts Israel with, in the case that they are in rebellion and disobedience ((1st) 26:16-17, (2nd) 26:18-20, (3rd) 26:21-22, (4th) 26:23-26, and (5th) 26:27-39). Read the wider context of the 5th phase of chastening, and see just what emotions and determinations God had in his heart when He was chastising them!
Do you want to understand this kind of chastening which is according to scripture – biblical chastening? The most significant passage, which frames all definitive verses thereafter, is found in Leviticus 26:28, where God says – “I, even I, will chastise you seven times for your sins.” This is spoken in the 5th of 5 phases of chastening which God afflicts Israel with, in the case that they are in rebellion and disobedience ((1st) 26:16-17, (2nd) 26:18-20, (3rd) 26:21-22, (4th) 26:23-26, and (5th) 26:27-39). Read the wider context of the 5th phase of chastening, and see just what emotions and determinations God had in his heart when He was chastising them!
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“And if ye will not for all this hearken unto Me, but walk contrary unto Me; Then I will walk contrary unto you also in fury; and I, even I, will chastise you seven times for your sins. And ye shall eat the flesh of your sons, and the flesh of your daughters shall ye eat. And I will destroy your high places, and cut down your images, and cast your carcases upon the carcases of your idols, and my soul shall abhor you. And I will make your cities waste, and bring your sanctuaries unto desolation, and I will not smell the savour of your sweet odours. And I will bring the land into desolation: and your enemies which dwell therein shall be astonished at it. And I will scatter you among the heathen, and will draw out a sword after you: and your land shall be desolate, and your cities waste. Then shall the land enjoy her sabbaths, as long as it lieth desolate, and ye be in your enemies' land; even then shall the land rest, and enjoy her sabbaths. As long as it lieth desolate it shall rest; because it did not rest in your sabbaths, when ye dwelt upon it. And upon them that are left alive of you I will send a faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies; and the sound of a shaken leaf shall chase them; and they shall flee, as fleeing from a sword; and they shall fall when none pursueth. And they shall fall one upon another, as it were before a sword, when none pursueth: and ye shall have no power to stand before your enemies. And ye shall perish among the heathen, and the land of your enemies shall eat you up. And they that are left of you shall pine away in their iniquity in your enemies' lands; and also in the iniquities of their fathers shall they pine away with them.” (Leviticus 26:27-39)
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This is the wrath of God in the great dispersion, otherwise called the captivities, the OT near-annihilation which should have been a total annihilation and reprobation! My reader, the Assyrians and Babylonians are, God says, “the ROD of Mine anger” (Isa. 10:5, 15, 24, Micah 6:9)! God brought them upon Israel and Judah, and God beat them down! Jeremiah laments this chastening in the stead of all Israel, and said – “I am the man that hath seen affliction by the ROD of His wrath” (Lamentations 3:1). This amazes and astounds me! The biblical consistency and clarity which comes by a proper, balanced, unadulterated study of God’s word! My reader, in the book of Lamentations, Jeremiah describes the experience of God’s near-annihilating wrath to be exactly the same as what Job experienced:
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Job
“Wherefore hidest Thou Thy face” – Job 13:24 “Wherefore…holdest me for Thine enemy” – Job 13:24 “He teareth me in His wrath, Who hateth me” – Job 16:9 “Behold, I cry out of wrong, but I am not heard: I cry aloud, but there is no judgment. He hath fenced up my way that I cannot pass… …and He hath set darkness in my paths” – Job 19:7-8 “He hath destroyed me” – Job 19:10 “kindled His wrath against me…counteth me unto Him as one of His enemies” – Job 19:11 “His archers compass me round about, He cleaveth my reins asunder” – Job 16:13 |
Lamentations
“against me is He turned” – Lam. 3:3 “The Lord was an enemy: He hath swallowed up Israel” – Lam 2:5 “He hath… pulled me in pieces: He hath made me desolate” – Lam. 3:11 “when I cry and shout, He shutteth out my prayer” – Lam. 3:8 “He hath hedged me about, that I cannot get out…He hath inclosed my ways with hewn stone” – Lam. 3:7,9 “brought me into darkness, but not into light” – Lam. 3:2 “He was unto me as a bear lying in wait, and as a lion in secret places” – Lam. 3:10 “Thou hast not pardoned” – Lam. 3:42 “Thou hast not pitied” – Lam. 3:43 “desolation and destruction” – Lam. 3:47 “bent His bow” & “caused the arrow” – Lam. 3:12-13, 2:4 |
Jeremiah, the writer of Lamentations, the prophet of the Captivities, addresses this event of chastening in Jeremiah 30:11-14 with the very same witness:
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“For I am with thee, saith the LORD, to save thee: though I make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee, yet will I not make a full end of thee: but I will correct thee in measure, and will not leave thee altogether unpunished. For thus saith the LORD, Thy bruise is incurable, and thy wound is grievous. There is none to plead thy cause, that thou mayest be bound up: thou hast no healing medicines. All thy lovers have forgotten thee; they seek thee not; for I have wounded thee with the wound of an enemy, with the chastisement of a cruel one, for the multitude of thine iniquity; because thy sins were increased.” (Jeremiah 30:11-14)
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As we have, in former chapters, exhaustively addressed the near annihilation of God’s people in the Captivities, we can understand that, this chastisement was one of condemnation and salvation, hatred and merciful redemption, but only those who survived it were redeemed by it. Not all chastening is a condemning stroke from God’s ROD. Remember how there were four phases of wrath which went before this fifth phase, all of which were not of the intensity of the fifth phase. When the first four phases of wrath were not responded to, and sin remained yet un-surrendered, the flames of wrath which burned against sin did turn upon the people who held it dear. The five phases increasingly intensified until when, God said, “I will chastise you seven times for your sins” (Lev. 26:28). Job underwent the severity of such definitively parallel chastening as the generation of the Captivities because he thought evil of God, accusing Him, to the point that he desired to argue for God’s apparent injustice against himself, and thus left off the integrity of faith and patience which he held to in the beginning of his trial.
Job’s experience of chastening and the ROD was not peculiar. Just as you have seen above, David also, and the other psalmists, with others, describe temporary or permanent experiences of wrath with the same vocabulary and phraseology, only it is in their personal lives. The whole of scripture could be exhausted to echo these realities, but let these clear and explicitly categorized verses conclude the biblical meanings of God’s Chastening and ROD for now.
The rod is for someone who is in a damnable condition, which is:
Job’s experience of chastening and the ROD was not peculiar. Just as you have seen above, David also, and the other psalmists, with others, describe temporary or permanent experiences of wrath with the same vocabulary and phraseology, only it is in their personal lives. The whole of scripture could be exhausted to echo these realities, but let these clear and explicitly categorized verses conclude the biblical meanings of God’s Chastening and ROD for now.
The rod is for someone who is in a damnable condition, which is:
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“him that is void of understanding” – Prov. 10:13
“for the fool’s back” – Prov. 26:3, 17:10 “evil” – Prov. 20:30 |
In the case of physical children:
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“He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes.” (Prov. 13:24)
“Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.” (Prov. 22:15) “Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die. Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell.” (Prov. 23:13-14) “The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame.” (Prov. 29:15) |
The rod is used for physical children who are in a condition which is damnable. To confirm this, the scriptures affirm that chastening with the rod is a saving experience from death and hell, and from foolishness. It is a means of grace, a holy instrument, by which God will interrupt and suppress the course and chaos of depravity, making room for heartfelt conviction and eventual salvation.
Chastening & The ROD = Judgment Beginning at the House of God
Chastening & The ROD = Judgment Beginning at the House of God
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For the LORD shall judge His people, and repent Himself for His servants, when He seeth that their power is gone, and there is none shut up, or left.” (Deut. 32:36)
“For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?” (1 Peter 4:17-18) |
Judgment must begin at the House of God. People acknowledge this with their mouth – but what does it mean? How do we interpret and understand what is meant for God to judge the House of God? The meaning is exactly in context with the passage above, in Deuteronomy 32:36. This verse is the closest verse of the exact expression of what is in reference in 1 Peter 4:17-18, “Judgment must begin at the House of God… and if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?” What is so scarce about the salvation of the people of God, specifically speaking, after Fatherly chastening & judgment!? It is that “there is none shut up or left” (Deut. 32:36)! It is that God has nearly annihilated them in His judgment and chastening (Deut. 32:26-27)!
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“The LORD shall judge His people” – Deut. 32:36
“For we know Him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto Me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge His people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” (Hebrews 10:30-31) “For the Day of vengeance is in Mine heart…therefore He was turned to be their enemy, and He fought against them.” (Isa. 63:4, 10) |
Both Deut. 32 & Isa. 63 reference God as their Father, and Deut. 32:36 references wrath and annihilation as “judgment”, which is also called the vengeance of God in Isa. 63, meaning exactly that. It is the vengeance of God toward God’s people! This is the exact rendering of the words used in Hebrews 10:30-31, speaking again, but now in the NT, to the children of God that lost their salvation (Heb. 10:26-29). “Judgments are prepared for scorners,” and God’s people can become scorners (Prov. 19:29). “Stripes [are] for the back of fools”, and God’s people can become fools (Prov. 19:29). “Vengeance” comes upon the “adversaries” (Heb. 10:27) and “enemies” of God (Jas. 4:4), and God’s people can become such men (Isa. 63:10). In biblical history, how exactly did Judgment BEGIN at the house of God, so that, secondarily, it did afterward, fall upon the heathen? This is the very heart of 1 Peter 4:17-18! The apostle understands this to be a reality alive, or still applicable, in the New Covenant dispensation. As in the case of the captivities, which were the greatest judgment of God upon His people in the Old Covenant, it was perfectly exemplified that Israel and Judah, firstly, were judged by the wrath of God, and this was the beginning of God’s judgments, but then, secondarily, God turned to the heathen with the rest of His judgments.
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“And I am very sore displeased with the heathen that are at ease: for I was but a little displeased, and they helped forward the affliction. Therefore thus saith the LORD; I am returned to Jerusalem with mercies: my house shall be built in it, saith the LORD of hosts, and a line shall be stretched forth upon Jerusalem.” (Zechariah 1:15-16)
“Behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith the LORD, and Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and an hissing, and perpetual desolations. Moreover I will take from them the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the candle. And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the LORD, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolations.” (Jeremiah 25:9-12) “For I am with thee, saith the LORD, to save thee: though I make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee, yet will I not make a full end of thee: but I will correct thee in measure, and will not leave thee altogether unpunished.” (Jeremiah 30:11) “Fear thou not, O Jacob my servant, saith the LORD: for I am with thee; for I will make a full end of all the nations whither I have driven thee: but I will not make a full end of thee, but correct thee in measure; yet will I not leave thee wholly unpunished.” (Jeremiah 46:28) |
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“Begin at the House of God” --> Near Annihilation (scarcely saved)
“Where Shall the Ungodly and Sinner Appear?” --> Total Annihilation |
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Israel 1st -->
The Heathen (Assyria & Babylon) 2nd --> |
“Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at my sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the House.” (Ezekiel 9:6)
“In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the LORD thy Redeemer.” (Isaiah 54:8) “For thus hath the LORD said, The whole land shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full end.” (Jeremiah 4:27) “Go ye up upon her walls, and destroy; but make not a full end: take away her battlements; for they are not the LORD'S.” (Jeremiah 5:10) “Nevertheless in those days, saith the LORD, I will not make a full end with you.” (Jeremiah 5:18) “Behold, the eyes of the Lord GOD are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off the face of the earth; saving that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, saith the LORD. For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth.” (Amos 9:8-9) “And I will render unto Babylon and to all the inhabitants of Chaldea all their evil that they have done in Zion in your sight, saith the LORD.” (Jeremiah 51:24) “Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon hath devoured me, he hath crushed me, he hath made me an empty vessel, he hath swallowed me up like a dragon, he hath filled his belly with my delicates, he hath cast me out. The violence done to me and to my flesh be upon Babylon, shall the inhabitant of Zion say; and my blood upon the inhabitants of Chaldea, shall Jerusalem say.” (Jeremiah 51:34-35) “Therefore, ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord GOD; Thus saith the Lord GOD to the mountains, and to the hills, to the rivers, and to the valleys, to the desolate wastes, and to the cities that are forsaken, which became a prey and derision to the residue of the heathen that are round about; Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Surely in the fire of my jealousy have I spoken against the residue of the heathen, and against all Idumea, which have appointed my land into their possession with the joy of all their heart, with despiteful minds, to cast it out for a prey.” (Ezekiel 36:4-5) “For the day of the LORD is near upon all the heathen: as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee: thy reward shall return upon thine own head. For as ye have drunk upon my holy mountain, so shall all the heathen drink continually, yea, they shall drink, and they shall swallow down, and they shall be as though they had not been.” (Obadiah 1:15-16) |
Don’t you remember how many of the prophets did present their holy complaints to the Lord, being in an agony, because the heathen were “at ease” (Zech. 1:15) in “prosperity” (Ps. 73:3) while Israel was “plagued” (Ps. 73), judged, and brought low? Habakkuk does encapsulate the same complaint very well, when he said: “Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity: wherefore lookest Thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest Thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he” (Hab. 1:13)? Again, Jeremiah says, “Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper? Wherefore are all they happy that deal very treacherously? Thou hast planted them, yea, they have taken root: they grow, yea, they bring forth fruit: Thou art near in their mouth, and far from their reins” (Jer. 12:1-2). God’s answer is: Chastening is meant for the salvation of a remnant that was to be “plucked out of the fire” (Zech. 3:2). In the midst of the fires of annihilation, it is there that God is burning, smelting, and refining, making ready a people that would go through with Him unto the end, thus He says in Isaiah 48:10: “Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction” (Isa. 48:10). Do you see how all of these judgments are meant for the salvation of a select and chosen remnant? Just as the NT affirms: “But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world” (1 Cor. 11:32).
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“…we went through the fire…” – Psalm 66:12
“…save with fear, pulling them out of the fire” – Jude 1:23 “…the furnace for gold” – Proverbs 17:3 “…gold tried in the fire” – Revelation 3:18 “…he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire” – 1 Corinthians 3:15 |
Psalm 66:8-15 Proverbs 17:3, 25:4 Isaiah 1:25, 48:8-12 Jeremiah 6:28-30 Ezekiel 22:17-22 Daniel 12:10 Malachi 3:1-3 |
The intention of God to save through judgment (1 Cor. 11:32, see also “The Purpose & Intent for Salvation”) is exactly parallel to the metaphorical rendering of the same experience, wherein, chastening and judgment upon God’s people is called the furnace of fire (for salvific-smelting and damnable-annihilation, and universally, for the trying of the faith). This beating of God’s ROD of anger is exactly parallel to when God burns Israel to save her. The fires of God are simultaneously intended to save and intended to annihilate, but not all will savingly respond to the fires (Amos 4:11, Jer. 6:28-30), whose heat increases by phases of intensity, until a near annihilation transpires with a remnant plucked out (Isa. 48:9).
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“Yea, thou heardest not; yea, thou knewest not; yea, from that time that thine ear was not opened: for I knew that thou wouldest deal very treacherously, and wast called a transgressor from the womb. For my name's sake will I defer mine anger, and for my praise will I refrain for thee, that I cut thee not off. Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction. For mine own sake, even for mine own sake, will I do it: for how should my name be polluted? and I will not give my glory unto another. Hearken unto me, O Jacob and Israel, my called; I am he; I am the first, I also am the last” (Isaiah 48:8-12).
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He took the whole nation of Israel and cast her into the flames of His fierce and destroying wrath, until, nearly all were burned up – AND THEN – God reached into the furnace of wrath and pulled out a small remnant, smelted and soft, a brand from the burning, ready now, after suffering the heat of the most vehement flames – God’s chastening – they are molded into “a vessel for the Finer” (Prov. 25:4). Ezekiel 6:8-10 accurately declares how this people, finally, after being fire-burned and ROD-broken will mourn their sinful deeds at last:
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“Yet will I leave a remnant, that ye may have some that shall escape the sword among the nations, when ye shall be scattered through the countries. And they that escape of you shall remember me among the nations whither they shall be carried captives, because I am broken with their whorish heart, which hath departed from me, and with their eyes, which go a whoring after their idols: and they shall lothe themselves for the evils which they have committed in all their abominations. And they shall know that I am the LORD, and that I have not said in vain that I would do this evil unto them” (Ezekiel 6:8-10).
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Being saved by fire is – EXACTLY AS – being saved by the chastening ROD & House-judgments. God chastened Israel as a whole nation like as a parent would judge a single child, but God, in high, holy, and terrifying severity, beat with the ROD in wrath, hot displeasure, and fierce anger, until finally, the whole body of the single child nearly died (the Israelite nation), but scarcely though, life was spared…the child is now wounded, bleeding, and bruised, suffering a loss of limbs, and the ability to walk, but God does heal the child with miraculous powers so that the bruises heal the heart, the wounds heal without scars, the limbs and legs grow back to walk and keep the strait and narrow path, so that in the END, though the child was near death, you would not know it at last.
“But ye that did cleave unto the LORD your God are alive every one of you this day” – Deut. 4:4
The chastening of the Captivities is a more intensified expression of what formerly happened to the Exodus generation, when nearly all of that generation died in reprobating wrath. In the Exodus generation and the Captivities, generally speaking, all that “did cleave unto the LORD” were enabled to remain alive (Deut. 4:4). Those that did remain alive were, primarily, the children of the Exodus generation, and they were instructed as to what their eyes have seen, that it was, namely, “the chastisement of the LORD your God”. They saw, Moses said, “the chastisement of the LORD your God, His greatness, His mighty hand, and His stretched out arm…and what He did unto you in the wilderness, until ye came into this place; and what He did unto Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and the son of Reuben: how the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their households, and their tents, and all the substance that was in their possessions, in the midst of all Israel:…your eyes have seen all the great acts of the LORD which He did” (Deut. 11:1-7), and this example is pointedly applied to the NT children of God with a fearful warning – “Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: that are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall” (1 Cor. 10:11-12). With this in mind, do you think Paul was defining biblical chastening, as mentioned in 1 Corinthians 11:31-32, with a different understanding than the previous chapter’s awful annals (recounted in 1 Corinthians 10:1-12, stemming from what Deut. 11:2 called “chastisement”). It is understandable, then, why Paul declared chastening to be a means for redemption, and it is – just that – for those who survive it, but it is condemnation for those who die in it (with few exceptions). While watching men die, be chastened therewith, let us avoid dying like unto their example! While watching men fall, be chastened therewith, let us take heed lest we fall, and so become like unto them.
God is intent on salvation, even if, like as the generation of the Captivities, he must nearly annihilate an entire generation, and thus he did to the Exodus generation by breach of promise, by plagues of power, until the exercise of chastening motivated their children to learn and behave differently. Again, those that live through the chastening of God, they are the ones who are redeemed by it, but in the process of it – so many will perish in it.
According to God’s argument of what resulted from the judgments and chastening in the Captivities, salvation arose from the most unlikely of places which self-righteous, religious backsliders would wonder to learn. We need to learn this lesson today, like as the children of the Exodus generation learned their lessons, and henceforth persevered. As a result of God judging the children of God first, in the Captivities, since God judged Israel through the heathen’s instrumentality (coupled with other means), the heathen were aroused to blaspheme and speak proudly against God and His people. The heathen were estranged from what actually happened, and how God gave Israel into their hand, thus they were compelled thence to speak “strangely”. This is what they said…
“But ye that did cleave unto the LORD your God are alive every one of you this day” – Deut. 4:4
The chastening of the Captivities is a more intensified expression of what formerly happened to the Exodus generation, when nearly all of that generation died in reprobating wrath. In the Exodus generation and the Captivities, generally speaking, all that “did cleave unto the LORD” were enabled to remain alive (Deut. 4:4). Those that did remain alive were, primarily, the children of the Exodus generation, and they were instructed as to what their eyes have seen, that it was, namely, “the chastisement of the LORD your God”. They saw, Moses said, “the chastisement of the LORD your God, His greatness, His mighty hand, and His stretched out arm…and what He did unto you in the wilderness, until ye came into this place; and what He did unto Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and the son of Reuben: how the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their households, and their tents, and all the substance that was in their possessions, in the midst of all Israel:…your eyes have seen all the great acts of the LORD which He did” (Deut. 11:1-7), and this example is pointedly applied to the NT children of God with a fearful warning – “Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: that are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall” (1 Cor. 10:11-12). With this in mind, do you think Paul was defining biblical chastening, as mentioned in 1 Corinthians 11:31-32, with a different understanding than the previous chapter’s awful annals (recounted in 1 Corinthians 10:1-12, stemming from what Deut. 11:2 called “chastisement”). It is understandable, then, why Paul declared chastening to be a means for redemption, and it is – just that – for those who survive it, but it is condemnation for those who die in it (with few exceptions). While watching men die, be chastened therewith, let us avoid dying like unto their example! While watching men fall, be chastened therewith, let us take heed lest we fall, and so become like unto them.
God is intent on salvation, even if, like as the generation of the Captivities, he must nearly annihilate an entire generation, and thus he did to the Exodus generation by breach of promise, by plagues of power, until the exercise of chastening motivated their children to learn and behave differently. Again, those that live through the chastening of God, they are the ones who are redeemed by it, but in the process of it – so many will perish in it.
According to God’s argument of what resulted from the judgments and chastening in the Captivities, salvation arose from the most unlikely of places which self-righteous, religious backsliders would wonder to learn. We need to learn this lesson today, like as the children of the Exodus generation learned their lessons, and henceforth persevered. As a result of God judging the children of God first, in the Captivities, since God judged Israel through the heathen’s instrumentality (coupled with other means), the heathen were aroused to blaspheme and speak proudly against God and His people. The heathen were estranged from what actually happened, and how God gave Israel into their hand, thus they were compelled thence to speak “strangely”. This is what they said…
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“Our hand is high, and the LORD hath not done all this” – Deut. 32:27
“Because thou saidst, ‘Aha’, against My sanctuary, when it was profaned; and against the land of Israel, when it was desolate; and against the house of Judah, when they went into captivity;” – Ezek. 25:3 “Because thou hast clapped thine hands, and stamped with the feet, and rejoiced in heart with all thy despite against the land of Israel…therefore…I will cause thee to perish out of the countries: I will destroy thee…” – Ezek. 25:6-7 “Because that Moab and Seir do say, Behold, the house of Judah is like unto all the heathen; therefore, behold…I will execute judgments upon Moab” – Ezek. 25:8-11 “Because that Tyrus hath said against Jerusalem, Aha, she is broken that was the gates of the people: she is turned unto me: I shall be replenished, now she is laid waste… Behold, I am against thee, O Tyrus, and will cause many nations to come up against thee, as the sea causeth his waves to come up” – Ezek. 26:3 |
Do you see how this blasphemy of the heathen does move the heart of God with such force, pressing Him into the desire to save His people from total annihilation (Deut. 32:26-27, Isa. 48:9-12)? It is because the Lord’s own Name is connected with His people, and blasphemed, resulting in the greatest evil to the Most Good – God’s Name. It is in this way that the righteous are scarcely saved from the judgment of God which began with them, and woefully, thence, turned upon the heathen men! It amazes me that God saves His people in this way, repenting from a present-tense annihilation – God, feelingly desiring a total annihilation of them, changes both mind and emotion, and moves into love and salvation, because – lo, the heathen blasphemed the Church who was being smitten down by God, saying, “This is Zion, whom no man seeketh after” (Jer. 30:17), accusing them that it was not God who smote them, that their God is no God, and these things happened by their own hand. When God was judging His people, they came to such a low estate, and deplorable, because of the strokes of the ROD in wrath, the flames of the furnace in licking destruction, the world of heathen men spoke strangely about it, and against God’s people. Then God, suddenly, responding to this accusatory speech of ill-fame, decidedly turned to save Israel and destroy the heathen! Oh that God would speak of such loving redemption to His people, saying, “For I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the LORD;” and it is because the heathen blasphemed! Namely, God says, “because they called thee [God’s people] an Outcast, saying, This is Zion, whom no man seeketh after” (Jer. 30:17). To read that this is the very signal for God’s salvation is amazing, but to be such a people (a NT biblical Church) chastened by God, then likewise, buried under strange blasphemies and sharp denouncement as in a grave of ignominy…and from thence, recognizing, as from the valley of humiliation, that this condemning, double-tongued, slander of the devil is the very signal of salvation which God is hearing, responding to, and arising against – putting it to shame and contradicting it – with trumpet-loud MERCY for the world to marvel at glory endowed! For such, this is an unforgettable wonder! “And as he passed over Penuel the sun rose upon him, and he halted upon his thigh” (Genesis 32:31). Praise God!