There
are degrees of punishment. Some are mild, yet suffice to end bad behavior.
When I was around 13 or 14 I
noticed there was something different between boys and girls. I really didn't
know exactly what this was, but I knew when girls were around my body felt
different and the feeling was both pleasurable and anxious. I was very curious
about this and though it had something to do with the way girls’ bodies were
changing. They didn’t look like just a boy with long hair anymore.
Down at
the local newsstand they sold all kinds of magazines. One section of the magazine
racks said no one under twenty-one could buy the items on display. These items
were known as "girlie" magazines. I knew what was in them, the
secrets I was curious about. I wanted to see these secrets, but was far from
being 21. I really wanted to buy the things, but being barred from that
opportunity, I began stuffing two or three inside my shirt. This is called
stealing.
I shoplifted
for quite a while and it was their fault I had to steal. I rationalized I was
just trying to satisfy my natural curiosity and would gladly pay for the
magazines, but they wouldn’t let me.
Actually,
I wasn’t accomplishing anything except more frustration. Most of the women in
these magazines were wearing bathing suits or some other brief costume (this
was the early 'fifties remember and Playboy wasn't even around yet).
Occasionally a model posed in the buff, but the "dirty bits" as Monty
Python called them, were somehow always hidden behind a potted plant or fence
post or vase or some other oddly placed object. Still I pursued the secret,
stealing more, stuffing perhaps four magazines in my shirt at a time.
Then Mr.
Charles, who owned the newsstand, caught me. Oh man, right there in public in
front of everybody he told me where he was going to put those magazines if he
ever caught me stealing again. It was not a place anyone would want a magazine
put. I never stole anything after that. It was the end of my criminal career. It
only took a punishment of public humiliation and a threat that certainly would
not have been carried out literally, but still it was enough to stop my
stealing.
Of
course, punishment doesn't always deter, (as I said, the cars we "borrowed...) and then a harsher punishment is
needed to end such behavior.
Although
Mr. Charles' actions stopped me from any future shoplifting, they did not end my
lustful desires for those magazines. Not too many years later I found another source
for that sin, but that’s a tale for another time.
We find this term throughout the Bible. “Remove this evil from among you.” (
Deuteronomy 13:5; 17:7; 17:12; 19:19; 21:21; 22:21-24; 23:9; 24:7) Often the
removal involved the execution of the guilty party. Why? It is because “a little
leaven leavens the whole lump” as Paul puts it in Galatians 5:9.
Other
punishments are harsh, but not fatal. Adam and Eve were banished from the
garden and Cain spend the rest of his life as an outcast and wanderer.
If the
punishment is coming from God, then it is just and will fit the crime or the
nature of the person being punished. If punishment is being doled out by our
fellow man it is not always perfect. Sometimes it is very unfair and even
cruel, even illegal. But we must remember sin begets sin. The blame for such
injustice should not be aimed at God, because it is the result of the free will
we have to reject the will of God. Unjust men reject the guidelines of God
through their free will for their own gain and purpose.
Although
we all recognize there is much injustice in our world, we also recognize that
punishments are often deserved. When our child does something against our will,
we punish them in some way, whether this is grounding them, spanking them or
taking away a privilege. It is very hard to punish our children, but we would
be wrong if we neglected to do it when they stray. It is truly for their own good.
In the same way, God would be neglectful if he didn't punish us for our sins.
And punishment must involve suffering. We would simply ignore punishment that
caused us no pain. In fact, we all measure our committing a "crime"
against the possible punishment. If we feel we can bear the suffering more than
we can bear not doing what we wish, we will do what we wish.
Most
sins cause suffering for others. We have plenty of people committing sins that
we suffer for, but how much worse would be the suffering we would be subjected
to if there were no punishment inflicting suffering on those who commit such
sins? How many sins might we commit ourselves if not for the swords of
punishment dangling over our heads? When I hear people say, “Well, they’ll do
it anyway”, I cringe. Yes, some will do it anyway, but many will not because
the consequences outweigh the desire.
We all
need punishment now and again. It always comes as suffering, but if we take
heed to its purpose it will work for our betterment.
However,
like Ananias and Sapphira, sometimes punishment is harsher and very final. To
our human mind some suffering can't be fully understood. It appears extreme and
unfair to us, but we don't have the full picture that God sees. Someday we may
learn the why of such punishment. In the meantime, we can only accept that
punishment is a necessity resulting from our free will to choose sin over God.
We must also recognize that all suffering isn't punishment.
There is
another reason for suffering somewhat akin to punishment. In some Bible
passages we can see it and punishment working side by side. Here is what you
should read, Numbers 14:20-38, and decide what was punishment and what was this
other thing.
Then
the Lord said, “I have pardoned, according to your word. But truly, as I live,
and as all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord, none of the
men who have seen my glory and my signs that I did in Egypt and in the
wilderness, and yet have put me to the test these ten times and have not obeyed
my voice, shall see the land that I swore to give to their fathers. And none of
those who despised me shall see it. But my servant Caleb, because he has a
different spirit and has followed me fully, I will bring into the land into
which he went, and his descendants shall possess it. Now, since the Amalekites
and the Canaanites dwell in the valleys, turn tomorrow and set out for the
wilderness by the way to the Red Sea.”
And
the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, “How long shall this wicked
congregation grumble against me? I have heard the grumblings of the people of
Israel, which they grumble against me. Say to them, ‘As I live, declares the
Lord, what you have said in my hearing I will do to you: your dead bodies shall
fall in this wilderness, and of all your number, listed in the census from
twenty years old and upward, who have grumbled against me, not one shall come
into the land where I swore that I would make you dwell, except Caleb the son
of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun. But your little ones, who you said
would become a prey, I will bring in, and they shall know the land that you
have rejected. But as for you, your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness.
And your children shall be shepherds in the wilderness forty years and shall
suffer for your faithlessness, until the last of your dead bodies lies in the
wilderness. According to the number of the days in which you spied out the
land, forty days, a year for each day, you shall bear your iniquity forty
years, and you shall know my displeasure.’ I, the Lord, have spoken. Surely
this will I do to all this wicked congregation who are gathered together
against me: in this wilderness they shall come to a full end, and there they
shall die.”
And
the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land, who returned and made all the
congregation grumble against him by bringing up a bad report about the land—
the men who brought up a bad report of the land—died by plague before the Lord.
Of those men who went to spy out the land, only Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb
the son of Jephunneh remained alive.
There is punishment
in these verses, but something else. What?
References: Deuteronomy
13:5; 17:7; 17:12; 19:19; 21:21; 22:21-24; 23:9; 24:7, Numbers 14:20-38
NEXT TIME: DO NOT REGARD LIGHTLY
More what Scripture says about our suffering:
Beloved, do not be
surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though
something strange were happening to you. 1 Peter 4:12
It is good for me that
I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes. Psalm 119:71
As an example of
suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of
the Lord. Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have
heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord,
how the Lord is compassionate and merciful. James 5:10-11
In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day
of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that man
may not find out anything that will be after him. Ecclesiastes 7:14
Do not be anxious about anything, but in
everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be
made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,
will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7
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