Home | Sermon Home | Studies Home | | Feedback Form

The Signposts of Chastening

Pastor Bill Farrow

Daniel 1:2

 And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with some of the articles of the house of God, which he carried into the land of Shinar to the house of his god; and he brought the articles into the treasure house of his god.

(Verse 2) - There is a fundamental difference between God's dealing with the Northern and Southern Kingdoms. They wee both quite similar in their behavior. They were both a part of the same exterior unit - the nation of Israel.  Neither had any particular advantage over the other. They were two aspects of the some group with two different destinies at the hand of God.

In this they can be thought of in terms similar to the visible church. This term can be quite misleading as, in reality, the term church can only truly apply to an unmixed group of genuinely redeemed people. However, that being said, it is useful to think of it in the more general and non-specific sense in which most people use the term referring to the external organization that we call a church.

It is much like the nation of Israel at the time of God's action using foreign nations to judge and chasten them. God judged the Northern Kingdom out of existence. They never returned from captivity to Assyria. On the other hand, we could say that He only chastened Judah. They did return from Babylon. The aim of God's action regarding the Northern Kingdom was destruction. His aim regarding the Southern was correction and restoration. That is the essential difference between the two.

This verse gives us a couple "signposts" of chastening that are helpful.

The Signposts of Chastening.

1. It comes at the hand of God.

Judah's experience at the hand of the Babylonians was, in reality, an experience at the hand of God. This is true of any such experience on the part of God's people.

2. It involves that which could be and often is perceived as negative.

No one, under any circumstances, would describe the events of the captivity as pleasant or positive. But we must be just as quick to remember that this was at God's hand!

3. The Governments of men are not exempt.

No person or group is safe or exempt from the power or use of God. It doesn't matter who or what nation we are talking about.

4. The affairs of human governments are often expressions of it.

From the sovereign God's point of view all of the affairs of men are expressions of His power and authority over all men. The earth and the affairs of men are the medium in which the Master works to express Himself. The rise and fall of human governments are often the means by which God expresses His will.

5. The house of God is not exempt.

Even the great Temple of God was not exempt from the effects of God's chastening. In fact, in Israel's case, the Temple, or more properly, what was going on in the Temple, was one of the major causes of the captivity. God exempts no one from chastening when it comes.

6. It often appears as a victory of false religion.

In this case it appears, for a while, as if the god of Babylon is the victor over the God of Israel. Chastening often appears as such. It looks, to the casual observer, as if evil is winning.

7. It often involves profound material loss.

Note that there was tremendous monetary loss to Israel involved in the captivity to Babylon. Many of the items that were a part of the Temple treasury were taken away. This represented a huge montetary loss.

8. It can involve that which unthinkable and unimaginable.

No one in Israel would have ever even begun to think remotely in the direction that their national events took. Such goings on were unimaginable under any normal circumstances. So it is with chastening. God does things that normally would never enter our imaginations.

In the life of the child of God we can be assured that the will of God well certainly be done. The larger movements among the nations, and His movements among various people around us need not frighten or bewilder us. We can be assured that He is in complete control and that every detail, despite appearances, is absolutely inside of His determinate will.

I must learn to face negative things in my experience with this truth in mind. To believe less is to dishonor God and to place myself in an unnecessarily stressful situation.