When the people of God fail to keep their part of the covenant He has made with them by falling into sin, God disciplines them with the rod of men. Many accounts in the Old Testament Scriptures – given for our learning (Romans 15:4) – show this very pattern.
For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God. “When you beget children and grandchildren and have grown old in the land, and act corruptly and make a carved image in the form of anything, and do evil in the sight of the Lord your God to provoke Him to anger, I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that you will soon utterly perish from the land which you cross over the Jordan to possess; you will not prolong your days in it, but will be utterly destroyed. And the Lord will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where the Lord will drive you. And there you will serve gods, the work of men’s hands, wood and stone, which neither see nor hear nor eat nor smell. But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul.” (Deuteronomy 4:24-29 NKJV)
The Israelites were by no means in the same position as God’s children today, especially because of their perpetual disobedience and always hardening their hearts’ (Hebrews 3; 4). In fact, most never seem to have been converted in the first place. The Lord showed the beginning of His warning in a pattern that occurred perpetually in the book of Judges. There, the people fell away, cried to the Lord and were delivered – over and over. We see the same pattern occurring throughout Israel’s 1,620-year history. The people fell away to sin, were oppressed, cried to the Lord and were delivered.
- Judges 3:9 – “When the children of Israel cried out to the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer for the children of Israel, who delivered them: Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother.”
- Judges 3:15 – “But when the children of Israel cried out to the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer for them: Ehud the son of Gera, the Benjamite, a left-handed man. By him the children of Israel sent tribute to Eglon king of Moab.”
- Judges 4:3 – “And the children of Israel cried out to the Lord; for Jabin had nine hundred chariots of iron, and for twenty years he had harshly oppressed the children of Israel.”
- Judges 6:6 – “So Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites, and the children of Israel cried out to the Lord.”
- Judges 6:7-8 – “And it came to pass, when the children of Israel cried out to the Lord because of the Midianites, that the Lord sent a prophet to the children of Israel, who said to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God of Israel: I brought you up from Egypt and brought you out of the house of bondage.’”
- Judges 10:10 – “And the children of Israel cried out to the Lord, saying, ‘We have sinned against You, because we have both forsaken our God and served the Baals!’”
- Judges 10:15 – “And the children of Israel said to the Lord, ‘We have sinned! Do to us whatever seems best to You; only deliver us this day, we pray.’”
Even though Deborah was greatly honored by God because of her leadership and judgment during this time, it certainly was no honor to the people of Israel that their leader was a woman. We see in several passages that it was a sign of God’s keen displeasure when a woman ruled over them.
- Isaiah 3:11-12 – “Woe to the wicked! It shall be ill with him, For the reward of his hands shall be given him. As for My people, children are their oppressors, And women rule over them. O My people! Those who lead you cause you to err, And destroy the way of your paths.”
- Isaiah 3:4 – “I will give children to be their princes, And babes shall rule over them.”
In the New Testament, we see a better pattern with better promises. Jesus said in Revelation 3:19, “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.” Affliction and chastening are not signs of God’s anger, but rather of His love. God showed a similar love to one man in the Old Testament. Not only did God greatly love David and richly bless his faithful children, but He also saw something excellent in David’s son Solomon. Even before he became king, He gave him a promise second only to God’s children in the New Testament.
I will be his Father, and he shall be My son. If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men. But My mercy shall not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I removed from before you. And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever. According to all these words and according to all this vision, so Nathan spoke to David. (2 Samuel 7:14-17)
God promised to be a father to Solomon and to deal with him as a son. This is the same special promise we find in the New Testament for God’s children (Hebrews 12:5-12). Solomon did go astray, even to the point of worshipping idols (1 Kings 11:1-6). God had warned His kings that if they multiplied wives to themselves, the wives were liable to turn their hearts from Him (Deuteronomy 17:17). As we know, Solomon, in all his wisdom, made the mistake of multiplying wives and paid for it. However, as God had promised David, He did not remove His steadfast love from Solomon. The book of Ecclesiastes must have been written toward the end of his life, for he testified to what he did throughout his life. God granted him understanding, and when he considered, not only his sin, but also the vanities of his life, he repented and turned to God.
Whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure, For my heart rejoiced in all my labor; And this was my reward from all my labor. Then I looked on all the works that my hands had done And on the labor in which I had toiled; And indeed all was vanity and grasping for the wind. There was no profit under the sun. Then I turned myself to consider wisdom and madness and folly; For what can the man do who succeeds the king? – Only what he has already done. (Ecclesiastes 2:10-12)
Solomon ended his life, understanding that man’s full duty is to fear God and keep His commandments. God wants all of His children, even if they go astray for a while, to have this understanding. Jesus knows that His children will not only make mistakes, but they also sin. Yet, He chastens and rebukes them to turn them back to the paths of righteousness. He promises never to leave nor forsake us if we will seek Him with all of our hearts and souls (Hebrews 13:5). What a wonderful Lord with so many great and precious promises so that we can be partakers of His divine nature (2 Peter 1:3-4)!
God chastened His people and caused them much pain, and yet, He was faithful to restore them to Himself as soon as they repented. What better example could we have for what is happening in the church and in our nation today than to read such accounts from God’s Word. Truly, He is merciful and just in His dealings with the children of men. Shall we learn from these accounts so that we are not totally destroyed? “He who is often rebuked, and hardens his neck, Will suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy” (Proverbs 29:1). “O Lord, do not rebuke me in Your wrath, Nor chasten me in Your hot displeasure!” (Psalm 38:1).