Ask about Chastisement: What is Chastisement? In other words, what does it mean to be chastised?…According to the Bible Dictionary, it is the action of the Heavenly Father towards his wayward and disobedient child that he “should not be condemned with the world”. In other words, if a Christ follower is falling into temptation and being consumed by the distractions and pleasures of the world, God will intervene and correct you.
Ask about discipline: What’s the difference between discipline and chastening? Chastening is God’s way of disciplining us to make us more obedient to Him.
Read Jeremiah 31:18-22…like an untrained calf, bring me back that I may be restored. According to this verse, chastisement includes being trained, pointed in the right direction. Also, it is similar to restoration. According to versebyverseministry.org, Chastisement is the process of disciplining until it ends and obedience is restored.
Read Psalm 32:8-9…The most powerful example of chastisement in the Bible is the way the Lord chastises the nation of Israel over the course of its history. The Lord’s discipline eventually leads back to faithfulness at the end of the age. What were some things that God did since the Israelites weren’t obeying? He let them get invaded by Assyrians. He sent lions to kill them.
Ask about additional examples of Chastisement: In what other instances has God chastised his people?
Ask about examples of chastening: What are some everyday examples of God chastening us?…God allows you to go through a financial struggle as the response to financial selfishness. God allows others to spread rumors about you after you spread rumors about others. God allowing your girlfriend to get pregnant after you have been falling into temptation to sleep with her. In all of these examples, God lets painful struggles occur with hope that you will depend on Him for support. Does anyone disagree with these examples?
Read Job 33:12-33…Chastened with pain on his bed? What does this mean?…Through our trials that God allows us to go through, we may lean more on God.
Read Psalm 6:1… Is chastisement associated with God’s wrath. From God’s perspective, instilling fear often helps to put someone back on the right path. When has this happened in the bible?
Read Psalm 94:12…Chastening is associated with God’s teachings from the law. Does this indicate that God may chasten or punish/correct a person that sins? It appears that chastening is an important part of our relationship. Inevitably, we will stray, but God will correct us, chasten us, and bring us back to him.
Read Psalm 118:18… Does this mean that God won’t kill you if you reject his correction?
Read Proverbs 15:10…We may need to get more context to this. Does this mean that those who hate God’s correction will be killed by him or will inevitably die because we are all sinners?…With discipline comes peaceful fruit of righteousness for those who have been trained by it.
Ask additional questions:
What does his correction look like?
Is he wrathful in his correction?
What does God’s wrath with chastisement look like?
Are we allowed to use chastisement towards each other?
Is chastisement the same thing as discipline?
When chastised by God, does it result in pain, guilt, or death?
Read Hebrews 12:4-13
Ask about lessons learned: What lessons can we learn in this scripture about discipline or chastening? These include the following:
- Do not stray when we are rebuked.
- Respect God and His discipline as we respect our own father’s discipline.
- Discipline is temporary, but it is good for you in the long run. Discipline gives struggles meaning.
- Verse 7 indicates that we should endure hardship as discipline. Does this mean that God’s chastening is prevalent through our struggles. What if we thought this way? What if we thought, “When I am going through a struggle in life, it is God’s effort in directing me to him, helping me to become more disobedient to Him”? Then we would be less fearful of life challenges.
- Verse 12 says that we should strengthen our feeble arms and our weak knees/Make level paths for our feet. This is a reference to Proverbs 4: 26-27. What does this mean?
Finally, remember this:
As a follower of Christ, you will be chastened so that we remain obedient to Him
The Lord disciplines and will chasten those that he loves.