Dear Friends,

If God loves us so much, why do we suffer? Sometimes, the answer is fairly obvious.

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Unraveling the paradox

We examined last time one way in which these three things…

• Human suffering :_(
• God’s omnipotence ↑ [purple is the color of royalty, in case you were wondering 🙂 ]
• God’s love ♥

…could coexist. So, I talked about how God’s role as our Father brings some clarity to the topic…i.e., the experience of parenthood shows that the three bulleted items above are not necessarily contradictory. It sounds like a paradox at first, but then you reflect on the experience of parenthood and realize the paradox is not all that intractable.

But I wasn’t done exploring the benefit of a parent’s perspective when it comes to the Problem of Evil. You see, I only discussed last time the case where God withdraws his hand of protection in order for His disobedient children to learn an important lesson.

But God, like any good teacher, uses multiple ways of getting the lesson across. And, like any good parent, He is willing to suffer vicariously but intensely through His child so that the child can learn crucial life lessons.

In other words: Sometimes a disobedient child may lose God’s protective hand for a while, and other times the disobedient child may feel God’s chastening hand. Today, we discuss God’s chastening hand.

The street

“Don’t run into the street! Otherwise I will give you a timeout/spanking/etc.” That is a parent’s love for his/her child. It is a protective kind of love. The parent hopes to never have to administer the penalty, especially a spanking. 

But what if Junior decides to run out into the street anyway? Like the stove scenario I mentioned last time, both of these scenarios can incur their own painful consequences, without any parental involvement at all. But the difference is that the street scenario entails life-altering, life-ending consequences. So, it’s not responsible to allow the child to learn from the natural consequence of the misbehavior.

So, the parent hands out the promised chastisement. That is a suffering kind of love. It’s the love that says, “In order for you to learn this very important lesson, we are both going to have to endure some momentary suffering.”

It’s the love that says, “I could lock you inside the house all day. I could give you up for adoption. I could put you on a leash whenever you are outside until you are 13. But instead, I will teach you to responsibly approach the dangers of the outside world.” So, the parent hands out the consequence. The child cries. The parent feels the agony that any loving parent feels when their children are hurting. And the child stops running out into the street.

Take note; the child…

• Is suffering the direct chastisement of his parents
• Could have been prevented from ever running out into the street
• Is loved by his parents

Disclaimer!

I don’t claim that all human suffering is explained by today’s post or the previous one; but I am certainly trying to show that God’s chastening hand, and God’s removal of His protective hand as a consequence for sin, are sometimes the perfect explanation for our present suffering. Now, we rewind a few thousand years and consider a Biblical parallel.

It doesn’t get much worse than this

Human suffering, God’s power, AND God’s love…they are all on neon display throughout the Old Testament narrative. In Numbers 21, God sends fiery serpents that bite a bunch of Israelites, and it’s hard to imagine something more horrifying and painful. So, it’s a clear example of human suffering and God’s power, but how is it a demonstration of His love?

His love?

Before discussing God’s ultimate motive in sending the fiery serpents, let’s talk about the particular trigger for this sad episode. Namely, the Israelites were wallowing in bitterness and discontent: 

[Num 21:4-5 KJV] 4 And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way of the Red sea, to compass the land of Edom: and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way. 5 And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for [there is] no bread, neither [is there any] water; and our soul loatheth this light bread.

Granted, this is just one instance of complaining…but leading up to the events of this chapter, I count 14 instances of Israelite rebellion or ingratitude toward God:

• 10 instances by the time of Numbers 14:22
  • [Num 14:22 KJV] 22 Because all those men which have seen my glory, and my miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now these TEN TIMES, and have not hearkened to my voice;
• 1 instance at the end of Numbers 14
  • [Num 14:42-44 KJV] 42 Go not up, for the LORD [is] not among you; that ye be not smitten before your enemies. 43 For the Amalekites and the Canaanites [are] there before you, and ye shall fall by the sword: because ye are turned away from the LORD, therefore the LORD will not be with you. 44 BUT THEY PRESUMED TO GO UP UNTO THE HILL TOP: nevertheless the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and Moses, departed not out of the camp.
• 1 instance in Numbers 15
  • [Num 15:32 KJV] 32 And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man that gathered sticks upon the sabbath day.
• 1 instance in Numbers 16
  • Rebellion of Korah et al.
• 1 instance in Numbers 20
  • [Num 20:2-5 KJV] 2 And there was no water for the congregation: and they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron. 3 And THE PEOPLE CHODE WITH MOSES, and spake, saying, Would God that we had died when our brethren died before the LORD! 4 And why have ye brought up the congregation of the LORD into this wilderness, that we and our cattle should die there? 5 And wherefore have ye made us to come up out of Egypt, to bring us in unto this evil place? it [is] no place of seed, or of figs, or of vines, or of pomegranates; neither [is] there any water to drink.

So, the fiery serpents were God’s chastisement (in addition to previous chastisement) for the Israelites’ continuing ingratitude and rebellion.

Note, God decided to forbear this earlier time:

[Exo 15:24 KJV] 24 And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink?

and this earlier time:

[Exo 16:2-3 KJV] 2 And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness: 3 And the children of Israel said unto them, Would to God we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, [and] when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger.

and perhaps some other times. He did not hand out any punishment.

But, eventually, He decided in His wisdom that it was time for chastisement. But still, the question remains: how was this chastisement an expression of God’s love?

Cultivating gratitude and trust is better than wallowing in bitterness and fear

The chastisement was an expression of God’s love because (parents and adults who remember being children should understand this) the Israelites were going down a ruinous path and they needed a painful lesson to get them back on track.

This is how the apostle Paul described being on track, from a Roman prison:

[Phl 4:11 KJV] 11 Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, [therewith] to be content.

This is how Jesus describes it after ministering to the woman at the well:

[Jhn 4:34 KJV] 34 Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.

And this was the contrarian, God-honoring attitude that Caleb displayed in front of thousands of moaning and groaning Israelites:

[Num 13:30 KJV] 30 And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it.

The Israelites were refusing to trust, they were refusing to cultivate thankful hearts, and they were refusing to exercise faith:

[Heb 4:2 KJV] 2 For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard [it].

So, God in his love decided to get their attention.

If it still doesn’t make sense to you…

I don’t blame you. Death by fiery serpent as a punishment for complaining seems harsh, even if the goal is to teach an important lesson about contentment.

I have two thoughts to share on this topic.

Thought #1:

Maybe death seems like an unreasonable punishment for God to hand out to His children because death ends the relationship between a human father and his human son. Fatherhood is supposed to be an unbreakable bond, so how could a loving father break that bond by killing a complaining son? I get that, but we have to remember that the Father handing out death by serpent in Numbers 21 is an eternal Father. We are His children on both sides of eternity. He did not end his relationship with His children by killing them; rather, they became far closer to Him the instant that they passed from this life.

When I look at it from this perspective, I still see the shock and horror of death by serpent, but I no longer see a reason to question God’s love towards His children. God’s elect family members who died from the fiery serpents immediately went home to be with the Savior. The ones who were bitten but looked at the brass serpent, as well as the ones who were not bitten at all, got a crucial lesson in contentment.

Thought #2:

I promise it’s a good thought, and it’s not original with me. But I’m saving it for a later post 🙂

Now let’s get real

Dear child of God, is it possible that your present suffering is God’s chastisement for some sin in your life?

Don’t get me wrong…Jesus made it very clear in John 9, and by His very own death, and by many other Biblical examples, that it is WRONG to assume that the person suffering next to you is being punished for something. But the Bible also has many examples of God directly chastising His children for their sin, so you should prayerfully consider this possibility.

In my own life, it seems that my suffering is mostly or all brought on as a direct result of my own sin…more of a cause-and-effect /domino phenomenon than direct chastisement from God. But God, because He is a loving Father, always includes His rod of direct chastisement as a possible response to disobedience.

So, we should ask ourselves…have we adopted a complaining, bitter spirit (Ephesians 4:31)? Are we fantasizing about sexual sin, or actually carrying it out (Matthew 5:28)? Are we fantasizing about taking revenge, or actually carrying it out (Romans 12:19)? Are we refusing to deliver God’s message to someone who needs it, because we don’t want to get involved or because we want that person to suffer God’s judgment (Jonah 1:2-3, 4:2)? Are we scraping and scrambling to make ends meet to such an extent that we don’t have time to assemble with the saints (Hebrews 10:25)? Are we seeking the praise of men rather than the praise of God (John 12:43)? The suffering in our lives could be explained by these sins….whether as a direct result of those sins, or as part of God’s tough-love chastisement towards us for those sins.

This could be really good for us

We have an opportunity here for a better life. Let’s be like Joshua and Caleb. Let’s be like the Joshua generation. They got the message. They saw God’s mighty works. They obeyed God, they slew the giants, and they triumphed in the great battle that we call life.

Our heavenly Father is willing to step into our lives with chastisement, to have His character dragged through the mud and spat upon, to be reviled and hated, for the purpose of teaching His children how to have better, more victorious lives.

I’m very comfortable calling that love. How about you?

God bless.