Proverbs 3:11-12 (God's Love is His Discipline)

Proverbs 3:11-12

My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline, and do not resent His rebuke, because the Lord disciplines those He loves, as a father the son he delights in.

Here's a scene for you: It's the era of the Old Testament, in the time of Joshua. You and your family have finally settled into the land formerly known as Canaan. You survived wars and witnessed miracles, all so your people could live in this place flowing with milk and honey.

Two weeks later, one of your children discovers something greenish on the wall of your new house. You tell the priest that there is "something that looks like a defiling mold," (Leviticus 14:35). The priest determines it is mold; a bad case too. He "must have all the inside walls of the house scraped and the material that is scraped off dumped into an unclean place outside the town," (Leviticus 14:41). So, you, the priest and a few others tear your new house to pieces. After it's in shambles, you then "take other stones to replace these and take new clay and plaster the house," (Leviticus 14:42). But it gets worse. The priest reexamines your rebuilt home, and finds that "the mold has spread, it is a persistent defiling mold," (Leviticus 14:44). He gives you horrible news. The house "must be torn down," (Leviticus 14:45). By sun set, your beautiful new home is a heap of rubble in a garbage pit.

And you family watches at the dismantling of
what God promised you.

This scene can be depressing. Who would do this to someone; get their hopes up, only to have it destroyed by something they couldn't prevent? Who? The answer is in the sentence preceding this story. Concerning defiling molds, God told Moses, "When you enter the land of Canaan, which I am giving you as your possession, and I put a spreading mold in a house," (Leviticus 14:34). God sent the mold.

Why would a loving God send something so heartbreaking?

Because this is how God loves His children.

Readers of my other blog, A Novel Approach, may recall that I faced this question back in February when I wrote the post "All According to Whose Plan." I said, "This month has been mostly bad news." Much of the problems I encountered then are still around. So, I am not writing from outside of suffering. I write as someone who is still in its midst.

Scripture teaches that God sends suffering, so that His children can grow.

Jesus says, "Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline," (Revelation 3:19). The Apostle Peter wrote to the early church, "though now for a little while you have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor," (1 Peter 1:6-7). God also prophesied to Daniel that He would send a powerful leader to earth who would oppose all God's believers. When this evil man arises, "some of the wise will stumble, so that they may be refined, purified and made spotless," (Daniel 11:35). God makes His children suffer, so that they can be more valuable than any gemstone. The way God loves His children is through their trials.

It is indeed true, that "whoever spares the rod
hates their children, but the one who loves
their children is careful to discipline them,"
(Proverbs 13:24).

So, if God loves through suffering, then what does His hatred look like?

There's an odd chapter in Romans where Paul writes, "It is written: 'Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.' What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all!" (Romans 9:13-14). These verses confound even the most Biblical scholars. How is God just in hating someone while loving someone else? I, myself, have wrestled with this, but I recently heard an eye-opening sermon from Paul Washer that addressed this topic. Not only that, but it helped me understand what it means for God to rebuke the ones He loves. The following is an abridged excerpt from Washer's sermon:

If you look at Esau’s life, God fulfilled every promise He made regarding Esau. He blessed Esau with wealth, with power. He became a great leader, a great nation. So how is it that God’s hatred was manifested toward Esau? God never disciplined Esau. He let Esau be Esau. He never worked to make Esau holy. He just cut the rope and let Esau go and live exactly like Esau wanted to live.

Now how did God manifest His love toward Jacob? He beat Jacob every day of his life. He would not allow Jacob to continue on as Jacob. When Jacob became a son, God said, 'Jacob, it’s going to take a while, but I’m going to change you from a deceiver into a prince.' And you look at the life of Jacob, the trials he suffered, the things that he went through. So that when he entered into the Promised Land, he entered in limping. Why?

Because here’s what you need to understand. The goal of God in your life is not prosperity. It’s not health. It’s not wealth. God’s goal, if you belong to Him as a child, is to make you holy, to conform you to the image of Christ. He will cleanse you from your filthiness. He will cleanse you from your idols, and He will be very zealous in doing that. He will do anything that is necessary to make you conform to the image of His son. Is He doing that in your life?

"We glory in our sufferings, because we know
that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance,
character; and character, hope. And hope does not
put us to shame, because God’s love has been
poured out into our hearts," (Romans 5:3-5).

God's love for His children is shown through His discipline. This might come in the form of home disasters, debilitating injuries or any kind of suffering. It can be disheartening, but don't be discouraged, child of God. When you face suffering, remember that this is proof of God's immense love towards you.

Sources

• The Bible (New International Version)
• Paul Washer: What is the Gospel