The Ancient Word...

Sometimes people suffer as punishment for their own sin. To illustrate, God destroyed Jerusalem and sent its citizens into Babylonian Exile as punishment for idolatry:

The LORD Almighty...has decreed disaster for you, because the house of Israel and the house of Judah have done evil and provoked me to anger by burning incense to Baal. (Jeremiah 11:17, NIV)

Likewise, the Apostle Paul declares:

The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men...Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in their own persons the due penalty for their perversion...[God] gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done...They are full of evil, lust, murder, strife, deceit, and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. (Romans 1:18-32, NIV/RSV)

In this text, notice the form that God's punishment takes: The Lord "gives over" sinners to their sin (vv. 24, 26, 28), allowing them to have their own way and the consequences it brings. To illustrate: The statement about "receiving in their own persons the due penalty for their perversion" (v. 27) may refer to the sexually transmitted diseases and emotional pain that can result from promiscuity.

Most Jews of Bible times assumed that all suffering was God's punishment for sin. Accordingly, when disaster came to Job's house, his friends insisted that he must have done evil (see, for example, Job 4:7; 8:3). Likewise, when Jesus' disciples saw a blind man, they automatically asked, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" (John 9:2, NIV) They could think of no other explanation.

However, Jesus declared that suffering is not that simple:

Do you think that these [murdered] Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered in this way? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them -- do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. (Luke 13:2-5)

Punishment for sin is not the only explanation for human grief and pain. We will explore some of the other reasons for suffering in this series of Bare Roots.

... for Today

Some find it hard to imagine that a gracious and loving God would punish us for sin. Nevertheless, the Bible indicates that the Lord, in His holiness, will not tolerate evil indefinitely. From time to time, He "decrees disaster" for the sinner. Ananias and Sapphira came under His judgment (Acts 5). Herod was struck down (Acts 12:23). And King David suffered the terrible consequences of his terrible deeds (2 Samuel 11-12).

The message is clear: We should neither trifle with God nor insult His grace by treating sin lightly (see Hebrews 10:26-31). As the Apostle Paul declared,

Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! (Romans 6:1)

Handing out punishment for sin breaks God's heart. He prefers a different way:

Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit...For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent and live! (Ezekiel 18:31-32)

Some suffering comes from God's hand and calls us to repentance.

Discuss...

1. Has our emphasis on God's love and grace clouded our view of His justice and holiness? Discuss.
   
2. How does the biblical idea of "the fear of the Lord" relate to this topic? Can we reconcile such "fear" with love?

Chris Davis, PhD & David Timms, PhD
Hope International University
Fullerton, California

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