JEWELS FROM SUNDAY SCHOOL: Using Multiple Scripture Passages To Understand a Biblical Doctrine

JEWELS FROM SUNDAY SCHOOL

Using Multiple Scripture Passages

To Understand a Biblical Doctrine

Explore the Bible Fall 2017

Session 13 – p. 125

God Disciplines His Children

Psalm 94:12-13 Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, O Lord, and teachest him out of thy law; That thou mayest give him rest from the days of adversity, until the pit be digged for the wicked.

Psalm 94:12-13 (AMPC) Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) is the man whom You discipline and instruct, O Lord, and teach out of Your law, That You may give him power to keep himself calm in the days of adversity, until the [inevitable] pit of corruption is dug for the wicked.

Susan: God instructs us from His manual for life, His word.

Susie: God disciplines us when we stray from His commandments in order to keep us going in the right direction.

Susan: He disciplines us because of His love for us in order to give us an unshakeable peace in the days of adversity.

Susie: One way we know our parents love us, especially looking back, is recognizing the times they kept us from doing stupid things by telling us “no.” God, our Father, reins us in to keep us from engaging in wrongdoing and suffering its inevitable consequences.

Proverbs 3:12 For whom the Lord loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.

Susie: As Susan said before, God corrects us because He loves us, not because He is angry with us. A loving father realizes that true love means teaching a child obedience. Obedience is a protection. I remember one of my grandchildren at about 18 months old headed down my driveway toward the street. Her mother loudly but calmly said, “Freeze!” The baby stopped in her tracks and turned around just as a car whizzed by. Her obedience protected her. God knows Satan is whizzing by every few minutes hoping to knock us off course. Therefore, the Lord corrects us to prevent us from heading into the danger zone.

Judges 2:1-3 And an angel of the Lord came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you unto the land which I sware unto your fathers; and I said, I will never break my covenant with you. And ye shall make no league with the inhabitants of this land; ye shall throw down their altars: but ye have not obeyed my voice: why have ye done this?  Wherefore I also said, I will not drive them out from before you; but they shall be as thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare unto you. And it came to pass, when the angel of the Lord spake these words unto all the children of Israel, that the people lifted up their voice, and wept. And they called the name of that place Bochim: and they sacrificed there unto the Lord.

Susie: When God delivered the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, he commanded them not to make alliances with the people of Canaan and in many instances told them specifically to annihilate entire cities. However, Israel did not follow His instructions. Although God would never forsake them or go back on His covenant with Abraham, He did punish them by not taking care of those hostile nations for them but instead telling the Israelite they would suffer the consequences of having to fight them over and over again and the temptations to follow after idols.

Susan: The Israelites chose to be in this situation by not obeying the Lord’s command or remembering their choices had consequences.

Susie: All the people wept upon hearing God’s plan of discipline. They could have wept in true sorrow for their sin and sacrificed in acknowledgement of God’s sovereignty.

Susan: Or they may have wept in frustration at the prospect of not being able to drive out the Canaanites and tried to appease God with a sacrifice. Or they may have been mad at themselves for disappointing the Lord.

Susie: As with our earthly parents, there are consequences when we choose not to obey God the Father.

Hebrews 12:5-7 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. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?

Susan: When God disciplines you, it is a sign that you are in a Father/Child relationship with Him. Discipline shows that you have incredible value. If He did not discipline you, it would say He did not care, that He was not invested in you.

Susie: We must go forward to verse 11 to see the entire point of this passage:

Hebrews 12:11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

Susie: Physical discipline (exercise, healthy eating, etc.) results in strength and good health. Godly discipline results in righteousness and perfect peace.

1 Peter 1:15-16 But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.

Susan: God’s discipline leads us to maturity. Entrusting Him with our words, thoughts, deeds, and our entire being ensures that discipline will have its perfect result of maturity for those who are in Christ.

Susie: Leading a life “set apart” for God’s service involves self-discipline and the proper response of submission to God’s authority when He disciplines us as His children.