Punishment – Page 3

Morning Musing: 1 Samuel 2:25

July 25, 2018July 24, 2018Leave a comment

“‘If someone sins against a man, God will mediate for him, but if someone sins against the Lord, who can intercede for him?’ But they would not listen to the voice of their father, for it was the will of the Lord to put them to death.” (ESV – Read the chapter)

This is one of those verses that’s hard to get our minds around at first read. And second read. And third too. The Lord willed to put them to death? What happened to mercy and compassion and grace? Who can survive if the Lord deigns to destroy them? Read the rest…

Digging in Deeper: Genesis 19:26

April 20, 2018April 17, 2018Leave a comment

“But Lot’s wife, behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.” (ESV – Read the chapter)

This has always seemed like such an odd punishment to me. What would this have been like? Was it instant? Did she gradually start to transform from the feet up or the head down? Is there any kind of a natural explanation for this or was it entirely miraculous? Was Lot aware of it at first? Or, did he go on for some distance before realizing he couldn’t hear her trying to keep up any longer? If only they had smart phones back then! We could have gotten the whole thing on video. Imagine how many hits that would have received as a YouTube post… Read the rest…

Digging in Deeper: Isaiah 30:26

April 18, 2018April 17, 2018Leave a comment

“Moreover, the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day when the Lord binds up the brokenness of his people, and heals the wounds inflicted by his blow.” (ESV – Read the chapter)

Have you experienced the “blow” of the Lord? Israel was a stubborn group. They had the Law from Moses and an overwhelming amount of evidence to support the wisdom of following that particular path as the only way to life and flourishing, but still, they constantly looked at the nations around them with envy in their hearts. Read the rest…

Morning Musings: 2 Chronicles 26:16

September 15, 2017September 12, 2017Leave a comment

“But when he was strong, he grew proud, to his destruction. For he was unfaithful to the Lord his God and entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense.” (ESV – Read the chapter)

Uzziah’s punishment can seem awfully big in light of his apparent offense. I mean, he burned a bit of incense in the Temple. Why should that have drawn a punishment of leprosy? But, the light external offense was only a symptom of the much more dangerous internal issue. As faithful as he had been throughout his reign as king, he eventually started to see himself as the source of that success. Once he did this, his downfall was nigh. <!–more Read the rest…–>

This poses a stern reminder for all of us. The perils of success are great. We should run after it with all we have, but if we begin worshiping it as our god, it will lead to our doom. We never escape the necessity of being wary of this temptation. Pride, or a belief that we are sufficient in and of ourselves for, really, anything, will always eventually lead to our undoing, and not only ours, but often for all the people who have attached themselves to our wagon as well. This is never pretty. Instead, let us always remember who is God and remain humbly reliant on Him; constantly aware that apart from Him we are nothing.