Despise not thou the chastening of the Lord

Hebrews 12:5-8 KJVS
[5] And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: [6] For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. [7] If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? [8] But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.

When the Lord chastises you, it can produce varying emotions within you, during and after the fact. Shame, embarrassment and regret at first, and later there can be resentment, anger and bitterness. We are told not to harden our hearts when being tempted or tried earlier on in the book of Hebrews, and cautioned not to let a root of bitterness spring up in us, a few verse later in the 12th chapter of Hebrews, He 3:8-10, 12:15. Keep in mind our hearts are purified by faith, Acts 15: 9, and part of that process entails for us being tried, or put to the proof, by fiery trial, 1Pe 4:12. The peaceable fruit of righteousness, He 12:11, can only come about through chastening by the Lord. When we were reconciled to God by the blood of the cross, we were still, at times, enemies in our mind by wicked works, Col 1:21. But in time God will correct that situation if you continue in the faith and be not removed from the hope of the gospel, Col 1:21-23. It is amazing how many years you can read and study scripture and still come away with new knowledge and timely insight pertaining to yourself, in light of your individual salvation process. I suppose that is why it is called the living word. God scourges the sons he loves and due to the deceitful nature of sin, He 3:13, Ro 7:11, you can receive chastisement many times for the same sin or lack of holiness. A couple times in my life, the small still voice of the Spirit in my head gave a warning, and I either ignored it or did not catch the significance of it at the time. And then payed the consequences for my action. We are exhorted to lay aside the sin that so easily beset us, He 12:1, but not more than four verses later we are told to faint not when we are rebuked by the Lord. It is perplexing at times the struggle we face concerning sin in our lives. Paul tells us to work out our salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in us to will and to do His good pleasure. To me, sin is the symptom of the underlining true problem God has with man. The hearts of mankind and what their heart’s motivates them to do, Mt 15:19-20. It is easy enough to have a heart overflowing with kindness and love when the sun is shining and everything is going your way. But when trial and difficulty is a part of your daily life it is a entirely different matter. Read the book of Job sometime. I know I have more than a few times trying to find insight on why I have had to suffer as I have. It would profit us to take a closer look at the Greek word and definition for that word which is translated into the English word chasten and its derivatives

Strong’s Number
G3809
Original Word
παιδεία
Transliterated Word
paideia
Phonetic Spelling
pahee-di’-ah
Parts of Speech
Noun Feminine
Definition
1. the whole training and education of children (which relates to the cultivation of mind and morals, and employs for this purpose now commands and admonitions, now reproof and punishment) It also includes the training and care of the body
2. whatever in adults also cultivates the soul, esp. by correcting mistakes and curbing passions.
a. instruction which aims at increasing virtue
b. chastisement, chastening, (of the evils with which God visits men for their amendment)

The very last part of the definition jumped out at me a week or so ago. Odd that I noticed it now, but not so odd in light of a recent evil visited on me for my amendment. It would appear from the book of Job, that God doesn’t directly visit evil on a man but uses Satan, in his role as the adversary, to do so. And the evils visited on us are due to our being drawn away and enticed by our own lusts.

James 1:12-14 KJVS
[12] Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. [13] Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: [14] But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.

Keep in mind the good, acceptable and perfect will of God. The longer you are a child of God and continue to grow into maturity. The more knowledge you attain, the less latitude your are given in regards to behavior and feelings in your heart. You reach a point where you begin to comprehend fully these two verses mentioned previously.

Philippians 2:12-13 KJVS
[12] Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. [13] For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

The trouble is, A person really has little power over themselves to generate a life that is pleasing to God. We are God’s workmanship in Christ Jesus. Our works of righteousness mean nothing and attempting to justify ourselves by observing the law and laws of religious organizations, using our own strength, actually makes us fallen from grace, Ga 5:4. Remember by grace we are taught, chastised and disciplined by God, Titus 2:12. The Greek word teaching in Titus 2:12 is G3809 whose Strong’s Concordance information is pasted just above in the article. If you have the time it would do you well to look up the verses in which that word is used in the New Testament. You can only learn true obedience and submission to God’s will through having been put to the proof, tested and tried, through suffering, afflictions, tribulations and perhaps even persecutions. The analogy the Marine Corps used in a commercial years ago, of a sword being forged through fire, hammered and shaped into a sharp, tempered instrument of great beauty and strength, lends itself well to how the body of Christ is being prepared for the age to come. But the weapons of our warfare are not carnal.

2 Co 10:3 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. NIV

This war, a significant part of which is against our own flesh, can ultimately only be won by obedience to the will of God in our lives. Suffering, due to being scourged by our Father in heaven, is part of how God changes us into the new creature in Christ. So of late, I try and keep in mind the exhortation in Hebrews, and admonishment in Corinthians.

Hebrews 12:5-6 KJVS
[5] And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: [6] For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.

1 Corinthians 10:12-13 KJVS
[12] Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. [13] There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

I have often looked at the previous verse for meaning and a hope for escape. I have suffered due a spinal cord injury for over 30 years, and at the beginning of this suffering, was encouraged by the Holy Ghost with this verse.

Hebrews 11:1 KJVS
[1] Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

At the time I thought that if I had enough faith I would be healed. And I am being healed but not in the way I even slightly envisioned 30 years ago. We are being blessed by God, by Him sending His son to turn us away from our iniquities, Acts 3:25&26. In order to understand He 11:1, the verse needs to be read in context. The 11th chapter of Hebrews gives examples of the Old Testament saints who demonstrated faith and the last several verses in chapter 11 and first verse of chapter 12 puts the whole 11th chapter in context.

Hebrews 11:36-40 KJVS
[36] And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: [37] They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; [38] (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. [39] And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: [40] God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.
Hebrews 12:1 KJVS
[1] Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us , and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

So how exactly are we to lay aside that sin that so easily besets us? A few verse later provides a answer to the question and offers this advice which brings us full circle.

Justified Freely

That we might become the righteousness of God in him.

Despise not thou the chastening of the Lord