Habakkuk Series-Pt. 3

Read Time: 4 minutes

by AJ Canterbury

There is a biblical difference between discipline and wrath. For the Christian, the correction or the trial or the punishment (whatever term fits the situation) is God’s discipline in their life. It is not for their destruction.

I’m sure, after reading my blog posts, you’ve picked up on my conviction that God has a purpose in everything. Even when you are disciplined. He uses those times to draw his people back into fellowship with him.

I learned that insight a decade ago, and it has been one of those truths that proves to be so helpful in maintaining perspective as I navigate a progressive disease. A truth, I have rested in ever since.

In fact, a sermon on Habakkuk 2 exposed me to this knowledge. While doing a study through the book, I heard a sermon series by Matt Chandler where he drew the parallel between what God accomplishes both in Judah and in Babylon. Chandler observed a distinction that gives insight to the way in which God works.

[God] would step in and act to turn their hearts back to him.

For Judah, discipline…

Habakkuk’s second complaint against God centered on the fairness of God. God revealed he intended to send a completely evil and pagan nation to correct the sin in Israel. Their rebellion against him polluted the way they treated one another.

God, in all of his holiness and perfect justice, needed to deal with this tyranny and he would. Long before Israel was even a nation, God had chosen this people for himself and he committed to maintain a remnant through them, children he would hold to himself.

Even in their sin, God would not leave the remnant of Israel, his true people, to themselves. He would step in and act to turn their hearts back to him. And Babylon would be the means to accomplish just that.

Habakkuk understood God’s commitment to his people. “We shall not die. O Lord, you have ordained them for reproof,” (Hab. 2:12). Babylon wouldn’t be their end, no matter the horror that awaited them.

His punishment against the sins of Judah would be certain, but the result would be discipline.

God is not bound to show [Babylon] the mercy he gave Judah, his children.

For Babylon, wrath…

Habakkuk’s revulsion at Babylon oppressing Judah came with good reason; they truly were wicked and detestable. If his discipline to Judah stemmed from God’s perfect justice, what about Babylon? Could God let them get away with the evil they had done?

God assures the prophet that he has no intention of letting the wickedness of Babylon go without punishment. He gives Habakkuk a vision of Babylon’s demise, a definitive and final end. Even if wrath seems slow to be seen, God wants Habakkuk to know it will happen and proclaim it to anyone who will listen (2:3).

The vision reveals sobering woes harbingering their doom. The violence Babylon brought against other nations will come back on them. It is a pronouncement of poetic justice; Babylon will reap what it has sown.

“The cup in the Lord’s right hand will come around to you [Babylon] and utter shame will come upon your glory” (Hab. 2:16).

God’s perfect justice would be on full display when he deals with Babylon. When his wrath pours out, nothing will be left of the Babylonian nation except the memory they existed. God is not bound to show them the mercy he gave Judah, his children.

Babylon may look to their idols, begging for help, but the idols will show themselves to be impotent. Those idols cannot save them for they are mute. The creator of the universe can speak, however, and when he does, all of creation will listen. “…but the Lord is in his holy temple, let all the earth keep silence before him” (Hab. 2:20).

Power belongs to God alone, and he means what he says.

The pain is, actually, his mercy at work in the believer.

Why discipline?

You have one God performing the same action (punishing a nation for their wickedness) but leading to different results (restoration vs. destruction). What then constitutes whether God employs discipline or wrath?

I suggest that the difference between the two rests upon the one the act is being dealt. For the child of God, the destination of judgement is conformity to the image of his son (Romans 8:29). The pain is, actually, his mercy at work in the believer.

The author of Hebrews confirms this idea: “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves and chastises every son whom he receives” (Heb. 12:5-6).

Experiencing God’s discipline proves you are his child. Because God views the believer as a child, he disciplines them as any loving father would. A believer cannot wish to be left out of being disciplined for it would mean that they are not legitimate children, who never belonged to him (Heb. 12:7-10).

In the case of Judah, they were most definitely being disciplined for how they had turned their back on God. There have been times in my life when my selfishness and pride forged their own path, and God disciplined me to reject my rebellion and return me to the path of righteousness. But not all discipline is a result of personal disobedience

Even though my physical disability is not a result of my disobedience, I consider it God’s discipline. I’ve noticed how living daily with disability exposes ugly tendencies in me like impatience, bitterness, and a lack of regard for others. By enduring discipline, the Holy Spirit cultivates his fruits in me.

I can call my diagnosis discipline because of the destination it drives me to. The person I was 24 years ago at the time of my diagnosis is not the same person I am now. The disability has shaped me, sculpting me to where I look more and more like Jesus. 

“He disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness” (Heb. 12:10).

If I long to reach such a glorious destination, I can embrace the discipline that will get me there.

How can discipline be for my good?

No discipline at the time seems pleasant. No athlete in the middle of breaking down their body to compete or a medical student studying to pass their MCAT enjoys the act of discipline. There have been numerous moments, when the disability has felt more like being at the center of God’s hatred rather than encompassed by his love.

That is why the truth of God’s wrath vs. his discipline has been so invaluable to me. Because it doesn’t matter how I feel. My experience may tell me I am under wrath, but it is not true biblically.

Because I am God’s child through Jesus, I press forward in confidence, knowing my disability is not meant for my destruction. It serves a higher purpose: inviting me into his fellowship. I endure the disability because the process molds me into his image, which is what my heart most wants.

I fight to keep my eyes locked on this for it holds the eternal perspective that holds me to him. I wrote about my personal need to keep my eyes on things above in my post, Gaining Perspective.

If I long to reach such a glorious destination, I can embrace the discipline that will get me there.

Can you recognize God’s discipline in your own life? Don’t resist it. Let it do its perfect work.

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