Ezra 9

In this chapter of Ezra, we encounter an idea that weaves its way throughout the Old Testament: "Blessings" for those who obey the Lord, and "punishment" for those who do not. In this case, Ezra is lamenting the discovery of further disobedience by the exiles. "I am too ashamed and disgraced, my God, to lift up my face to you, because our sins are higher than our heads and our guilt has reached to the heavens. From the days of our ancestors until now, our guilt has been great. Because of our sins, we and our kings and our priests have been subjected to the sword and captivity, to pillage and humiliation at the hand of foreign kings, as it is today." (vs 6-7)

This is actually one of the more gracious descriptions of God’s involvement in Israel’s devastation and humiliation. To say that, because of their disobedience, the people of Israel "have been subjected to" punishment or consequences sounds a lot different than many of the other passages which give God the full blame: If you obey, I will bless you, and if you disobey, I will destroy you, and so forth.

Many Christians I know do not like the way God is portrayed in this seemingly punitive way. They believe (and I agree with them) that the ultimate consequences of sin are not imposed by God, but are natural consequences. It’s sort of like saying that if you jump off the Empire State building, nobody needs to kill you for your disobedience on the way down. You will realize those natural consequences when you hit the pavement at the bottom.

But these Christians also believe that the seemingly punitive descriptions of God are actually misrepresentations of Him by the Bible writers—which I don’t agree with. Because what if you wanted to educate somebody—especially if it was your own child—about the dangers of jumping off the Empire State building? You couldn’t teach them by experience—that would defeat the purpose, as it would be the last thing they ever learned. Instead, you could teach them about the importance of obedience in other ways that don’t carry such grave consequences. Or you could teach them about gravity and its consequences on fragile objects by using a tall ladder, an egg, and a sidewalk.

Either way, it’s the lesson about obedience and its consequences (or disobedience and its consequences) that you want your child to learn. And you want them to learn that lesson before they’re in a situation where obedience or disobedience might be a life or death matter.I believe God is operating under the same principle. That’s why I have no problem with the passages in the Old Testament that seem to make God look "punitive." I have no problem with God saying, "If you don’t do what I ask, bad things will happen to you." Because one of the most important lessons God needs to teach us is that His protection is not universal. We do have the capability of ultimately putting ourselves outside the realm of His protection.

God is the Source of Life, but that life is not built on an arbitrary foundation. It is based on love, freedom, and a relationship with God. Therefore, if we are determined to live in rebellious self-sufficiency, we can’t say to God, "I want to do things my own way and look out for myself, but I want you to save me from the consequences of living like that." We can’t have it both ways. We can’t choose to jump off the Empire State building and say, "But, Dad, I want you to make it so that when I hit the pavement at the bottom, I’ll get up and walk away without a scratch." It doesn’t work that way. In that situation, a parent has no power to save you.

That’s why I think God resorts to so much that looks punitive. By teaching us that His protection is not universal in this temporal life, God is helping us to understand that this is also the way it is with eternal life. We have the choice to place ourselves outside of His reach—although this isn’t what He wants—but if we do that, we will ultimately find ourselves destroyed. We won’t be destroyed by Him, but we’ll be destroyed just the same.

So, remember that the next time you’re reading an Old Testament passage that makes God look arbitrary and punitive. If you have or have had small children, think of what you would do in order to motivate them to obey you—not because you "demand to be obeyed," but because you have their best interests in mind, and you want to save them from unnecessary harm.