wrath – Moment to Moment (Bible blog)

Is God punishing us?

In the midst of this Corona virus crisis, I occasionally hear from Christian circles that this is God’s judgment on people for their sin.

Is that true? Is God punishing us?

I wouldn’t rule out that there is some aspect to God’s judgment in all this. He has used plague in the past as judgment (see Egypt in the book of Exodus, for example), and he will use it in the future (see Revelation).

That said, I wouldn’t dogmatically say, “This is God’s judgment on the world!”

What I will say is that we Christians, as God’s people, should never think that God is punishing us in order to destroy us.

One thing you see in this passage is that there is a clear distinction between judgment to destroy and judgment to discipline. God will sometimes punish his people in order to discipline them.

That he makes clear in verse 11 where he says,

I will bring destruction on all the nations
where I have scattered you;
however, I will not bring destruction on you.

I will discipline you justly,
and I will by no means leave you unpunished. (Jeremiah 30:11)

Here you see the clear distinction between those who are God’s people and those who are not.

Just as God ultimately judged Israel’s conquerors Assyria and Babylon for all their sins, so he will judge all those who reject him.

But God’s promise to Israel, and to all who are all God’s people, is that though he may discipline us, he will not destroy us. And ultimately, he will restore us. (17)

How is it possible that he shows us such grace? Because of Jesus. And in this passage, we see the promise of his first coming.

God told the Israelites,

Jacob’s leader will be one of them;
his ruler will issue from him.

I will invite him to me, and he will approach me,
for who would otherwise risk his life to approach me?

This is the LORD’s declaration. (Jeremiah 30:21)

The interesting thing about this leader is that he would act not only as king, but as priest.

The language of approaching God is the same that God uses of a priest approaching him.

With rare exception, none but the high priest ever did dare approach God in the Old Testament.

And as the high priest did on the Day of Atonement (Levlticus 17), Jesus approached the Father with blood to atone for all our sins.

But Jesus didn’t come with the blood of bulls and goats. He came with his own blood shed on the cross.

And because of that, God can now say the same thing of us that he said of the Israelites,

You will be my people,
and I will be your God. (Jeremiah 30:22)

One final thing on God’s wrath. Jeremiah said concerning the nations that had conquered Israel,

Look, a storm from the LORD!

Wrath has gone out,
a churning storm.

The LORD’s burning anger will not turn back
until he has completely fulfilled the purposes of his heart. (Jeremiah 30:23-24)

Again, both Assyria and Babylon faced God’s full wrath and were overthrown.

But remember this: the Lord’s burning anger did eventually turn back when he completely fulfilled the purposes of his heart.

God’s wrath turned back after the full storm of it was poured out on Jesus on the cross.

And when it was done, Jesus said, “It is finished. All your purposes have been fulfilled, Father. I have paid the price for sin.”

So as God’s people, even if you may be struggling in these difficult times, remember that God is not punishing you. Jesus took all of the Father’s wrath on himself, and there is no wrath left for you.

God may discipline you, and you may go through the fire of refinement. But remember the words of Job, and hold on to them.

Yet he knows the way I have taken;
when he has tested me, I will emerge as pure gold. (Job 23:10)

Ignoring the word of Jesus

In my last post, we saw how Paul told Timothy, “Remember Jesus Christ.”

Here we see similar words by the author of Hebrews: “Consider Jesus.” (Hebrews 3:1)

I have probably read Hebrews dozens of times, but as I’ve been reading it through this time, I’m starting to see what the author is saying more clearly.

I’ve always seen how he was talking about the superiority of Christ: to angels, to Moses, to the priests, to the animal sacrifices.

But this time, something else struck me even more strongly: Why was the writer of Hebrews talking about all this?

I’ve mentioned in my first blog postings on Hebrews, that the book of Hebrews was written by a Hebrews (Jew) to the Hebrews, telling them to stop acting like Hebrews and start acting like Christians.

In other words, because of persecution, these Jews were being tempted to go back to their old Jewish rituals in order to obtain their salvation. But the only way to do so would be to turn their backs on Jesus and his message of salvation.

And that was the main point of all that the writer of Hebrews was warning against in these four chapters (and for the rest of the book for that matter.)

In chapter 1, the writer says,

Long ago God spoke to the fathers by the prophets at different times and in different ways. In these last days, he has spoken to us by his Son. (Hebrews 1:1)

He then lists the qualifications of Jesus:

He is the heir of all things.
He is the creator of the universe.
He is the radiance of God’s glory.
He is the exact expression of God’s nature.
He sustains all things by his powerful word.
He was confirmed by the Father as God’s Son.
All the angels worship him.
His throne will last forever.
He is flawless in justice and righteousness.
He is eternal.
All things are put under his rule.

And it is because Jesus is all these things, the writer of Hebrews says this,

For this reason, we must pay attention all the more to what we have heard, so that we will not drift away. (Hebrews 2:1)

Why? Because if the law which was brought to Moses by angels was binding and required obedience on pain of punishment, how much more is the word of Jesus binding on us and requires our obedience?

How do we dare ignore the message of salvation he brings.

And the writer makes it clear that it was Jesus himself that spoke of this salvation that we have, right after his resurrection from the dead. (Luke 24:44-47)

The apostles then testified to that same message. (Acts 2:22-39, among other places.)

For that matter, God in Trinity attested to this message that Jesus brought: the Father through signs and wonders, and the Holy Spirit through the distribution of his gifts.

In chapter 3, the writer then points out that Jesus is the Son over God’s house, and that we ourselves our God’s house.

The implication? That we are answerable to Jesus. And we are to obey him.

And then here’s the kicker. The writer quotes Psalm 95, something that clearly refers to Yahweh, and applies it to Jesus.

Today, if you hear his (Jesus’) voice,
do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion…(Hebrews 3:7-8)

In the desert, they tested Jesus, and so Jesus swore to them in his wrath, “They will never enter my rest.” (3:11)

No less than three times in chapters 3 and 4 does the writer reiterate, “Don’t harden your heart to Jesus’ voice. For if you do, you will never enter his rest.”

And so the writer encourages us,

Therefore, a Sabbath rest remains for God’s people. For the person who has entered his rest has rested from his own works, just as God did from his.

Let us then make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall into the same pattern of disobedience. (Hebrews 4:9-11)

But then he warns us,

For the word of God is living and effective and sharper than any double-edged sword, penetrating as far as the separation of soul and spirit, joints and marrow.

It is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. No creature is hidden from him, but all things are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give an account. (4:12-13)

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Jesus himself is called “the Word of God” by John.

And the writer of Hebrews warns us: we cannot simply ignore him. For everything is exposed before him and we will give an account to him for what we’ve done.

And again, the main point of this whole passage is Jesus’ specific word on the way of salvation. There is no other way but through him.

So many people want to say that there must be other ways. That God wouldn’t be so narrow as to limit the way of salvation to Jesus.

But there is no rest or peace apart from Christ. There is no salvation apart from him. And if you choose to ignore him and his message of salvation, only his wrath remains.

As John put it,

Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them. (John 3:36)

How about you? What will you do with the word of Jesus?