"As a man disciplines his son, so the Lord your God disciplines you." (v.5)
The idea of discipline for the purpose of training is quite biblical. In today's text we see the Lord's discipline of His people to prepare them for right living. In it, God describes the Promised Land in vivid detail as a rich and abundant land (vv. 1, 7-9). But between these verses comes the somewhat surprising description of God's preparation of His people for their arrival. The Lord has led them through the wilderness to “humble” and “test” them (v. 2). Verse 3 again identifies God's humbling action as He let Israel feel hunger, then fed them with manna. They wandered for forty years in the desert and yet they were never in want of food, water, or clothing.
Why did God allow Israel to experience such hardship? The answer is provided in our key verse for today. All the hardship experienced by Israel was a demonstration of God's fatherly discipline, meant to train them to trust His goodness and provision when they entered the land. Indeed, such divine discipline was intended not as punishment for doing wrong, but as training for doing right, so that they might learn to “live and increase” in the land (v. 1).
As with the Israelites, we too need God's training, discipline, and education - which begins with humility. Some never even make it past this first essential step. If we are not humble and not teachable, there is then no point to the rest of any of God’s education. Israel had to rely on God beyond their own knowledge (which you did not know v.3), and beyond their own ability. While that kind of discipline is never easy to accept, it makes one truly grateful for His goodness and provision along the way.
LORD, thank you for Your hand of discipline in my life, for training me up in "the way" I should go.
The Truth: "Do not take the LORD's discipline lightly or lose heart when you are reproved by Him, for the LORD disciplines the one He loves." (Proverbs 3:11-12)
