Runaway Child

Now the Lord provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights... And the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.

Jonah 1:17 & 2:10

Why did God provide the fish? It's a simple question, but it's one you may not have thought about. 

Certainly you remember Jonah's story! God told the prophet to go to Nineveh to preach to them, but Jonah couldn't bear the thought that they might turn from their wickedness, repent and be forgiven, so He disobeyed His God. He ran. He boarded a ship sailing in the opposite direction. 

The thing about sin though, is that always brings a storm into our lives. For Jonah it was a literal storm. The Almighty bore down on that ship with a storm was so powerful that the ship threatened to break apart. The sailors threw everything they could overboard and prayed to every deity they could think of to try to keep the ship from sinking. Finally, Jonah told them it was his fault. He told them that if they didn't throw him overboard into the sea the weight of his sin would sink their ship. These good sailors didn't want to do it, but because of the power of the storm they relented and cast Jonah into the sea. 

Which brings us back to our question. Why did God provide a fish to swallow Jonah? To save him! To bring Jonah back to God! 

You see, God discipline's His children like a Father discipline's the son he loves. If God wanted to kill Jonah, He would have had him drown. God didn't do that because punishing Jonah wasn't His purpose. He wasn't punishing Jonah, He was disciplining Jonah and bringing him back to Himself. This is a minor but important difference. God wasn't trying to get even with Jonah or pay him back for his sin. He was trying to get his attention and place him back on the narrow way. That's why God provided a big fish instead of a watery grave. 

Remember that the next time you think God is out to get you. If you are one of His children, it may very well be that He is...out to get you and bring you back to Himself. God chases down His runaway children just like any good Father would. But when will we learn to stop running away?

The Goodness of God's Wrath

Some like to think that the Old and New Testaments present two different gods. The Old Testament presents a God of wrath while the New Testament portrays God as being full of grace and mercy, or so the argument goes. These two images conflict and simply cannot be reconciled. But the God of the Bible is not schizophrenic or two-faced. A close reading of Scripture will yield a simple but powerful truth that helps us here.

God's wrath is mixed with grace.

God is not schizophrenic or two faced. His character is the same throughout Scripture, but God isn't simple either. Even humans are complicated mixtures of many different traits and characteristics all coming together to define who we are as individuals. So too God is one, yet He has wrath and grace... and patience and justice and gentleness and righteousness, and on and on. God has many attributes in his character and they are all in the perfect proportion and measure so that all come together in one perfect God. Since God's wrath and grace are in perfect proportion, they are not contrary to one another but often show up side-by side. They are intermingled. You will almost never see God's wrath presented in Scripture without an accompanying offer of grace.

This is what we see in the book of Zephaniah. The book starts out with an announcement of God's wrath.

"I will sweep away everything from the face of the earth,” declares the Lord. “I will sweep away both man and beast; I will sweep away the birds in the sky and the fish in the sea— and the idols that cause the wicked to stumble.” “When I destroy all mankind on the face of the earth,” declares the Lord. (Zephaniah 1:2-3)

This leads us to a couple of questions. Why is God angry? And what is the result of God's anger?

If you study the context of this passage you'll find that God had good reason to be angry. God's people have forsaken Him and run after false gods. They have set up idols in the temple that Solomon built in which God's Shekinah glory had dwelt. There was an Asherah idol in the Temple, altars on the roof, and even houses for male cult prostitutes alongside the temple where the people would practice sexual rituals in worship of these false gods. There were high places all over Judah where the people bowed down to the stars, sun, moon and planets. In the Valley of Topheth the people made sacrifices to Molek. This was particularly detestable to God because parents would sacrifice their own children in fire to this false god. 2 Kings 21:16 tells us that King Manasseh (who had recently reigned) "shed so much innocent blood that he filled Jerusalem from end to end." God's people were prideful, violent, deceitful and complacent. (The content of this paragraph is gleaned from the book of Zephaniah as well as 2 Kings 21-23 and 2 Chronicles 33-35.)

God will not stand by while His children worship false gods. The New Testament tells us that when people sacrifice to these idols they are really sacrificing to demons. This isn’t just wrong it is dangerous for us. God often uses the analogy of marriage to describe His relationship to His people. God will not share His worship any more than a good husband will share his wife or vice versa. God will not suffer an open marriage. He is a jealous God in the best way. We are rightfully His, He will not allow us to be stolen away by demons who intend to do us harm.

So it turns out that God should be angry! His wrath is just. A God who has no wrath is no good. I don't want to serve a god who has no anger over child sacrifices. I don't want a god who doesn't get angry when the weak are victimized and abused, when the poor are defrauded, or when his people worship demons. If God wasn’t angry at these things, if He didn’t punish these, then He wouldn’t be good! So, I'll say it again. A god with no wrath is no good.

What we find in the book of Zephaniah and throughout the Old Testament and the whole of the Bible though is not only that God's wrath is justified but that it is in fact intermingled with grace. God’s wrath is good and He can be trusted! We see this when we ask our second question: what is the result of God's anger? Consider the outcome in the book of Zephaniah.

Sing, Daughter Zion; shout aloud, Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, Daughter Jerusalem! The Lord has taken away your punishment, he has turned back your enemy. The Lord, the King of Israel, is with you; never again will you fear any harm. On that day they will say to Jerusalem, “Do not fear, Zion; do not let your hands hang limp. The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.”(Zephaniah 3:14-17)

Do you see what God has done? A book that began with fear and complete destruction ends with joy and singing. The punishment God brings results in singing, shouts of joy, rejoicing, and gladness for His people. His anger is turned to delight, forgiveness, love, and nearness to His people. As Matthew Henry puts it, “God’s design is not to drive them to despair but to drive them to God and to their duty- not to frighten them out of their wits, but to frighten them out of their sins” (quoted from Matthew Henry's Unabridged Commentary on the Whole Bible, notes on Zephaniah.)

God disciplines His children as a father disciplines the son He loves (Hebrews 12:5-7). The results He longs to bring for His children are restoration and joy! This isn’t a fickle, despotic God, but a fiercely loving, jealous and righteous God. So if you sense that you are under Gods wrath, under His discipline right now, then take comfort in this truth. It is not God’s pleasure to crush you, but to restore you! Even this is for your good. God is eager for your return. He pursues you for relationship and for restoration, not for destruction.

Praise God for His goodness that even His wrath is mixed with grace, even His judgment is consistent with mercy. God is a God of hope. Even in His fierce anger, he longs for us to turn to Him. Will you stop running away from God today? Will you turn toward Him? Will you repent and lay down your arms and surrender? If you will, then He will make you a beloved son or daughter today. That’s what a Christian is. We all used to be enemies of God. We hated Him and His ways. We rebelled against His authority, but He captured us with His love. We surrendered to His grace and He has adopted us and made us His very own sons and daughters.

For Those Who Have Been Trained by It

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.

Hebrews 12:11

Discipline. Chances are that when you read that word you think of spankings or timeouts, depending on how your parents punished you. But discipline isn't always about punishment. Self-discipline, for example, is about forcing yourself to do things that you would rather not do in order to better yourself. Sometimes our parents discipline us in this way as well. They ask us to do things that are meant to test and strengthen us. A father might teach his daughters a strong work ethic by asking them to do hard work. He isn't punishing them for doing something wrong, he is disciplining and training his daughters up to become a certain type of women. The hard work shapes their character.

This is the type of discipline presented in today's verse. It refers to trials that God sends into our lives in order to test, strengthen and shape us into the people He wants us to become. Building character like this is never fun, but it produces the right result for those who are trained by it. The result isn't automatic. You have to be trainable. In the original language the word for trainable is gymnazo. Not hard to figure out that it is connected with the idea of the gymnasium and exercise. The idea is that the person who is willing to endure the trial, who doesn't give up or refuse to submit to the training will benefit from it. These trials seem painful at the time but they produce the right result if we will be trained by them. Most of the time when I am really struggling I sense an emphatic lack of peace and yet this passage says that peace and righteousness are the end result of those who are trained by God's discipline. It makes us stronger, better able to hold onto our peace in the midst of a storm. And it produces the right character in us, i.e. righteousness. 

When we face a difficult trial it is normal and even appropriate for us to ask why. Why has this come into my life? Have I sinned? Do I need to repent or is this just something that in God's wisdom He has chosen to allow in my life? But too often we stall out at the why questions because we can't always answer them. So in the midst of whatever difficult trial you are facing right now don't just ask why. Ask, what am I supposed to learn from this? How can I be trained by it? How can this make me a better person? How can it shape me into the type of person who trusts God more, who has walked through the fire with Him and has learned more about His character? Remember, God always disciplines his children in order to draw us nearer to Him.

Longsuffering Grace Checked by Justice

This is what the Lord says to Israel: “Seek me and live; do not seek Bethel, do not go to Gilgal, do not journey to Beersheba. For Gilgal will surely go into exile, and Bethel will be reduced to nothing.” Seek the Lord and live, or he will sweep through the tribes of Joseph like a fire; it will devour them, and Bethel will have no one to quench it.

Amos 5:4-6

 

 

Parents often struggle to discipline their children. We can see that a rebellious heart is being revealed in our toddler when she sits in the floor, sticks her pouty little lip out, and scowls at us. But the truth is that sometimes children can be such cute little sinners. There is a part of us imperfect parents that sometimes just wants to scoop them up in our arms and say something like, "Oh I just love you too much to tell you no." The Bible makes clear to us that our Heavenly Father is not subject to this weakness. That is not to say that He is short on grace. He is patient and longsuffering, slow to anger, and abounding in love; but He will not let sin go unchecked in the life of one of His children (Numbers 14:18 & Nahum 1:3).

 

The Old Testament prophet Amos illustrates this nicely for the people of Israel shortly before they would be conquered by the Assyrians and taken into exile. The Israelites were looking forward to the day of the Lord as the day when He would bring judgment on the wickedness of their enemies. But Amos says to them, "Woe to you who long for the day of the Lord! Why do you long for the day of the Lord? That day will be darkness, not light..." (Amos 5:18). He goes on to explain that on that day the Lord would bring judgment not only on their enemies but also on their own sin which they had grown so blind to. Amos names Israel's sin in 2:6-8. He says that they have exploited the poor and the righteous as well as worshipped false gods through performing ritual acts of sex.

 

Amos shows Israel just how blind they have been to their sin. Their loving, Heavenly Father has been trying to get their attention for sometime now to no avail. They have silenced the prophets (2:12) and ignored all the warnings He has sent them. Finally, God has sent Amos (a shepherd from the kingdom of Judah) over to Israel as a prophet to warn them. In chapter four Amos lays out for Israel all the ways that God has disciplined them in patience, gentleness and grace, giving them opportunities to turn from their sin and return to Him. Amos reveals to Israel that God has sent famine on their cities (4:6); He has withheld rain (4:7-8); He plagued their crops with blight, mildew and locust (4:9); He sent pestilence and disease in the land killing young men and horses (4:10); and He even sent destruction on some of them (4:11). God did all of this in an effort to wake them up to their sin, to bring them to repentance. Yet, Israel remained hardened and oblivious, resolute in her ways. Now Amos has come to pronounce that her final judgment would be the destruction of the nation. And yet even after all this, Amos 5:4-6 tells us that God still holds out the opportunity for repentance. "Seek the Lord and live," Amos says.

 

I wonder how often we stubbornly or blindly fail to see God's warnings in our lives. How are we oblivious to the discipline that is designed to turn us from our sin? I'm not saying that every difficult circumstance in our lives is God's judgment, but we should stop and carefully consider, "Is the difficulty I'm experiencing right now God's way of graciously and patiently trying to get my attention, to reveal to me that I have been blind to sin in my life?" Maybe you have been through difficult circumstances recently. Maybe God has removed His blessing from your life. Maybe you have a general feeling of discontent, a restlessness, or a financial difficulty. Stop and consider. Is God trying to get your attention? Is their sin in your life right now? Perhaps you are falling prey to lust, pride, anger, or self-centered living. Heed the warnings of the Lord. Repent on your knees and ask for forgiveness. Ask Him to give you the strength to turn away from your sin and to live the way He has called you to live. And thank Him for His loving, patient, gracious warning that has restored you to right relationship with Him.

 

For further reading... 

• Hebrews 12:5-11- Thank God that He disciplines us like a loving Father.
• Amos- Read the entire book. It's only nine chapters.
• Hosea- This prophet also ministered to Israel shortly before their destruction by the Assyrians.

Count Your Blessings, Count Your Sins

Save us, Lord our God, and gather us from the nations, that we may give thanks to your holy name and glory in your praise.

Psalm 106:47

If you were to list all the ways that you have rejected God's authority in your life, all the ways you have rebelled against Him, been unfaithful to Him, and disobeyed His commands, how long would that list be? In Psalm 106 the psalmist does just this for the people of Israel. He heaps praise on the Lord by noting His goodness to His people in spite of all the ways they forgot Him, tested Him, questioned Him, rejected Him, disobeyed Him, spoke out against Him, angered Him, and took Him for granted. The psalmist testifies that in spite of all the sins God's people have committed against Him, God is still faithful in His love toward them.

Verse 47 is the second to last verse in the psalm and it implies that it was written while in exile in another country. It appears that the psalmist was writing this song of praise to the Lord even as he was experiencing God's judgment for Israel's sin. Repeatedly God allowed surrounding nations to conquer Israel and carry them off captive as a punishment for their sin. Yet when Israel repented and turned back to God, He would shower them with His blessings and faithful love once again. This happened time after time. The psalmist is fully aware of this pattern and boldly asks God to act in keeping with His character again, not because his people deserve it (the psalmist knows they do not deserve forgiveness or rescue) but so that God's name may continue to be praised for His amazingly faithful, wonderful love. At a time when another man might have looked at his situation and blamed or even accused God, the psalmist turns to praise because he knows just how great his sin and the sin of his people is.

I wonder if we do not appreciate God's faithful love toward us as much as we should because we forget just how unfaithful to Him we have been. Take out a sheet of paper and jot down some of the ways that you have been unfaithful to God. Then carefully note all the ways that God has continued to faithfully love you in spite of your imperfection. Take this opportunity to give God praise for His longsuffering goodness in your life.

For further reading:

• Read all of Psalm 106.
• Read Daniel's response to exile in Daniel 9.
• Exodus 34:1-9: Consider the "name" god proclaimed to Moses regarding Himself directly following Israel's sin at Sinai.

A Father's Discipline

Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord...Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the Lord your God disciplines you...He gave you manna to eat in the wilderness, something your ancestors had never known, to humble and test you so that in the end it might go well with you.

Deuteronomy 8:2-3, 5, 16

When we suffer we must remember that God is a loving Father who disciplines us for our good. Sometimes this discipline is in response to our sin, a punishment. Other times it is discipline in a different sense of the word like a father teaching his son the discipline he needs to work hard and hold down a job. Sometimes God "disciplines" us in preparation for the good future He has in store for us. So it was with the people of Israel. As they walked through the dessert and hungered for food it wasn't discipline for some sin they had committed, rather it was preparation for the future. God was teaching them to look to him alone to supply their needs. God did this "so that it might go well with them" in their future. He knew that if they were to fight for the Promised Land and drive out the nations who were much stronger than they were, then they would need to have perfected the skill of trusting Him and looking to Him to supply their needs. 

It is the same with us. It is very easy to get frustrated with God when difficulty comes into our life, but the truth is that these challenges often cause us to grow in new ways. These challenges actually end up providing an opportunity for us to build up the endurance, strength and wisdom we will need in the future. We must remember that God is preparing us for a bright future just like He was the Israelites. Not only does He have plans for each of us here on earth (Ephesians 2:10), but He is also leading us to a "Promised Land" of our own - Heaven. Until the time that we receive this promise in full, He is working in us to conform us more and more into the image of His Son. He is purifying us from sin and teaching us to find our joy in nothing other than Him. But we can rest easy knowing that all the tests that He allows in our life were put there so that "in the end it might go well" with us (Romans 8:28). 

When was the last time you thanked God for difficulty in your life? Today take a moment to praise God for his Fatherly discipline in your life? 

For further reading...

• Romans 8:18-30- Predestined to be conformed into Christ's image.
• Genesis 50:19-20- See what Joseph said about all the suffering he had to endure in life.
• Matthew 4:1-11- See how Jesus used this passage to encourage Himself when He was experiencing a difficult time of His own.

A Father's Discipline

Which of you will listen to this or pay close attention in time to come? Who handed Jacob over to become loot, and Israel to the plunderers? Was it not the Lord, against whom we have sinned? For they would not follow his ways; they did not obey his law. So he poured out on them his burning anger, the violence of war. It enveloped them in flames, yet they did not understand; it consumed them, but they did not take it to heart.

Isaiah 42:23-25

Christians today often shy away from pointing to difficult circumstances or situations in our lives and considering them to be God's punishment. I think this is partly because we don't like to think of God punishing us. "Sure we find passages like the one above in the Old Testament" we think, "but not in the New Testament." Actually, the New Testament has some pretty specific examples of God punishing His children for their sin. (See for example the story of Ananias and Sapphira.) We don't much like this though. We prefer to think of God as loving Father more than righteous judge. But the truth is, when God punishes us, He acts as both our Father and Judge. Let me explain...

In the above passage, Isaiah prophesies over the people of Judah who will one day be taken into Babylonian captivity. The Lord, speaking through Isaiah, makes it perfectly clear that He will be responsible for their exile. He will send them into captivity as a punishment because of their continued disobedience. But the passage also makes clear that God's punishment is an opportunity for correction. God wants them to "listen" and "pay close attention." He wants them to "take it to heart" so that they will change their ways and live in accordance with His commands. We must always consider God's discipline in our lives as Proverbs 3:11-12 would have us. "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." God punishes us as a Father so that we may avoid later judgment. 

When we refuse to even consider that the difficult circumstances and situations in our life may be the Lord's discipline, then we miss out on important warnings from our Heavenly Father. Now, I don't advocate constantly chalking up your difficulties as an assault from the Lord, but it does make good Christian sense to stop and ask yourself a few questions when you encounter a season of uncommon difficulty. 

1. Is there persistent sin in my life that God may be disciplining me for? 
2. Is the difficulty I am experiencing tied to or the result of sin in my life? 
3. Is this simply normal suffering as a result of the fallen nature of this world? We all suffer. Sometimes we suffer greatly at no fault of our own. The fact that we are suffering does not necessarily mean we are being punished.
4. Could this be an attack of the devil? Am I following the Lord closely enough to warrant an attack from the Devil?

Don't be quick to rush to judgment when it comes to difficulty in your life. Suffering is common to all mankind. Only through prayer and self-examination can you determine if your difficult circumstances are really the Lord's correction, but I urge you not to skip over considering this possibility. Ignoring the Lord's discipline comes at a very high cost.

For further reading...

• Acts 5:1-10- Read the story of Ananias & Sapphira.
• Acts 8:9-24- Peter has some choice words for Simon the sorcerer after he tries to buy the Holy Spirit.
• I Corinthians 11:17-32- Paul talks clearly about God's judgment on those who misuse the Lord's Supper.