September 16, 2023 WWJWMTD by Steve, the son of John (2SoJ)
Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart,
All ye that hope in the LORD. Psalm 31:24 KJV
Guest author R.T. Kendall
(Article comes via Otis Davis, my good brother in the Lord,)
Is There Hope For America? Going back to the Old Testament, Joshua was preparing people to come into their inheritance. They had never been that way before. But first they would need to learn to expect what preceded coming into their inheritance. Similarly, the writer of Hebrews was helping his readers understand what they were going through—as part of their preparation. Strange as it may seem, they were undergoing chastening. Could this be the explanation for what you are going through now? It is so easy to forget this. The doctrine of chastening is often neglected when it comes to Christian teaching. And yet it is so comforting when we realize that God’s disciplining us is the explanation of what could be going on in our lives. I now turn to the subject of chastening or disciplining, following the pattern of the writer of the letter to the Hebrews. As soon as he urges us to focus on “looking into Jesus,” who is seated at the right hand of the throne of God, he asks a question: Have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.” —HEBREWS 12:5–6 The word paideuei in Hebrews 12—chastens, disciplines—means enforced learning. It is when God teaches us a lesson. He can be very strict like a relentless schoolteacher who does what it takes to secure the needed change in us. But God carries this out entirely because He loves us. Indeed, He chastens only those He loves. If we were not disciplined, it would show we are “illegitimate children and not sons” (Heb. 12:8). We should therefore rejoice when we are chastened; it is a sign we are truly saved. There are three kinds of chastening: internal, external, and terminal.
1. Internal chastening This is God’s plan A. It’s when God speaks to our hearts through His word. This can be painful. It operates on us. Sometimes God does not use an anesthetic. It cuts. It hurts. After all, the Word of God is “living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Heb. 4:12). As painful as it might be, God dealing with us through His word is the best way to have our problems solved. If God speaks to you through His word—even though you see its demands could cost you a lot, take it! Take it with both hands. It will save you incalculable regret down the road. So when God speaks to you through His word, my advice to you is to say, “Yes, Lord”—then and there.
2. External chastening This is plan B. God turns to this when plan A does not achieve the change in us that He wanted. God spoke His word to Jonah (plan A): “Go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it” (Jon. 1:2). God said, “Go,” and Jonah said, “No.” If only Jonah had listened to God’s word—the call that went right to his heart. But he did not heed the word. And God turned to plan B. Because “Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish” (Jon. 1:3) and got on a ship going there, “the LORD hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea” (Jon. 1:4). Plan B began to work when Jonah was in the belly of a fish: “Then Jonah prayed” (Jon. 2:1). Often, God uses plan B to get our attention because we have not sufficiently prayed. What will it take for you to pray? God wants your time. He loves your company. Will it take being swallowed up by the equivalent of a big fish to get you to pray? What we know is it worked with Jonah: “Then Jonah prayed.” Not only that; God secured the response in Jonah He was after. Enforced learning worked. After the fish ejected Jonah and God repeated His original order to go to Nineveh, “Jonah arose and went to Nineveh” Jonah 3:3. Plan B worked.
3. Terminal chastening What if plan B had failed? Answer: Plan C—terminal chastening—would be put into effect. Pray that God does not resort to this in your case. Terminal chastening means death. It is the “sin that leads to death” (1 John 5:16). Christians in Corinth had abused the Lord’s Supper. Paul answered a question they must have asked: Why are people in our church ill, weak, sickly, and some have died? Having pointed out how they had abused the Lord’s Supper (1 Cor. 11:20–29), he then answers, “This is why many of you are weak and ill [plan B], and some have died [plan C]” (v. 30). The generation of Israel that did not make it to the Promised Land were those with whom God was not pleased (1 Cor. 10:5). God swore in His wrath that they would not enter His rest (Heb. 3:11). They died in the wilderness, being an example of terminal chastening. This also goes to show that God expects us to ask why when extraordinarily bad things happen—such as the coronavirus and the violence we have been seeing in America. So, is our double whammy God’s judgment on the United States of America? Yes.
That said, there are five kinds of judgment of God: retributive judgment, gracious judgment, redemptive judgment, natural judgment, and silent judgment. Which of these is God’s judgment on America? First, let me define each of these.
1. Retributive judgment This is when God gets even. It is when His full wrath is poured out. God warned Adam not to eat of a particular tree in the Garden of Eden. Otherwise, he would bring death upon himself (Gen. 2:16–17). Adam disobeyed. “The wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23). We read later in Genesis: “All the days that Adam lived were 930 years, and he died” (Gen. 5:5). This is retributive judgment. Retributive means deserved and severe punishment, not to improve a person but to mete out punishment for its own sake. It is like the Mosaic law that requires “eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth” (Exod. 21:24). The biblical teaching of eternal punishment is retributive judgment. It is not for correcting, improving, or changing a person; it is punishment for sin.
2. Gracious judgment This is partly retributive and partly merciful—but it is always a warning. Retributive judgment is the wrath of God poured out in “full strength” (Rev. 14:10). The King James Version renders this as “the wrath of God without mixture.” By contrast, gracious judgment is mixed with mercy. Jesus said, “Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline” (Rev. 3:19). Therefore, where there is gracious judgment, painful though it is, there is also hope. This type of judgment can be partly retributive—to the point of plagues coming. But why? Answer: to induce repentance. When He is angry, God may send judgment, yes. But He is doing it to warn us, to stop us. He may send a plague to turn us around. This is what happened with Jonah. You will recall that when God told Jonah to go to Nineveh, Jonah said no and ran from God. So, God sent a great fish, and it swallowed Jonah. It was judgment, but it was mostly a warning. As we saw previously, God secured the response He wanted in Jonah. Therefore, at the bottom of it all was gracious judgment. Are you running from God?
3. Redemptive judgment This is partly retribution and partly promise. This can be seen on the occasion when the children of Israel murmured against God. God sent poisonous snakes that bit the people. People were dying all over the place. But God ordered Moses to make a fiery serpent and set it up on a pole, and all who were bitten and looked upon the serpent would live (Num. 21:8). Moses held up the serpent of brass, and all who looked on it lived. This then is redemptive judgment. It is a variation of gracious judgment.
4. Natural judgment This is a variation of retributive judgment, with the emphasis being on the inevitable consequences of sin. It is a principle that may be summed up in the saying “You reap what you sow.” There is a natural judgment at work. It could be explained simply as the consequence of sin. It is a natural law at work.
5. Silent judgment This is when God appears to do nothing. This is, to me, in a sense, the scariest judgment of all. If I have learned anything from a study of Romans 1:18–32, it is that when God is angriest, He does nothing. God never loses His temper like you and I do. We may think that if God gets really mad, He is going to show it immediately. But God isn’t like that. “The wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God” (Jas. 1:20, KJV). We may think we can tempt God. We may think we can needle Him. Or challenge Him to send a bolt of lightning. But the angrier God is, the calmer He is because time is on His side. He can wait. He has an awful lot of patience. When Pontius Pilate sent Jesus to Herod, Herod was glad to see Him. He hoped that Jesus might perform a miracle before his eyes. So, Herod questioned Jesus at some length, but Jesus “made no answer” (Luke 23:9). Utter silence. Since Jesus said He only did what He saw the Father doing (John 5:19), we know that this mirrored the Father’s response to Herod. In a word, when God is at His angriest, He doesn’t do anything. He doesn’t send pain. He doesn’t even send a warning. There is no hint that God sent a warning to Sodom and Gomorrah. Suddenly, without warning to its inhabitants, God sent fire and brimstone (Gen. 19). When sin and promiscuity prosper, God may choose to be silent. Those who have defied God go right on in their evil deeds. Remember that David also raised this issue: Fret not yourself because of evildoers; be not envious of wrongdoers! For they will soon fade like the grass and wither like the green herb. —PSALM 37:1–2
America is under God’s judgment right now. Good news. It is gracious judgment. There is hope. Yes. Millions of Christians are praying. God is not being silent. But thankfully it is not God’s silent judgment. It is His gracious judgment. Millions of Christians should be encouraged. It is one of the ways by which He drives us to our knees. We should pray for mercy that God will grant grace by which we may see His glory. Our only hope: another great awakening. The people of Nineveh repented, and God sent great revival. God can do it again, and I believe He will. But He wants us to know His ways.
By Kendall, R.T. We’ve Never Been This Way Before: Trusting God in Unprecedented Times (p. 48-58).
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