When one thinks of the distinction between judgment and discipline in action, one would see that they look very much alike. Oh, except for one major dissimilarity.
Judgment ends in destruction while discipline has purpose to teach a lesson and bring restoration because the one, or ones, receiving the discipline have shown repentance and willingness to seek the Lord and learn from this training in righteousness.
I have just learned this difference explained so well by listening to a verse by verse podcast with a speaker named Stephen Armstrong. This is a big revelation to me and I'm grateful to learn of it.
Recently, I read through the books of Isaiah and Jeremiah which show God's dealings with the House of Israel and of Judah - the Northern and Southern Kingdoms, respectively. What each of these kingdoms suffered looked very similar. Each of their cities was destroyed, the wall and temple in ruins while the people were taken away into captivity.
The Northern Kingdom folks were scattered among the nations and to this day cannot be found, yet the Southern Kingdom citizens were only in exile for 70 years and then brought back to Jerusalem and had their kingdom, wall and temple restored.
Why did God treat the two differently?
Ah, the Southern Kingdom showed bursts of repentance throughout their history when they had kings that did right in the eyes of the LORD. They also learned a valuable lesson from their captivity. God still had to give the punishment for sin - sin always has its consequences - but He also brought about the restoration. They had to learn the lesson and see the difference between serving the Lord and serving the kings of other lands (2 Chronicles 12:6-8).
This is a great lesson for us too, whom are we serving? Which king? King Jesus or King Self? Let us each examine our own lives and repent of what needs repentance. Seek the Lord daily and make any necessary changes towards God honoring behavior and attitudes. May the fruit of righteousness be evident in our lives and may peace reign in our lives, minds, and hearts.
~ERC February 2022~
Based on 1 Kings 14 and 2 Chronicles 12:1-8 (NIV) & podcast.
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