Isaiah
27:7
7 Hath he smitten [nakah] him, as he smote [makkah]
those that smote [nakah] him? or is he slain [harag] according to the slaughter [hereg] of them that are slain [harag] by him? KJV-Interlinear
7 Has he struck them as he struck
those who struck them? Or have they been slain as their slayers were slain? ESV
The question is, ‘Has God disciplined His own people,
as harshly as their enemies have punished them?’
And the second question, ‘Has God disciplined as
harshly as He has allowed others to punish them.’ The key word in this second phrase is,
allowed.
And this brings out the principle of allowing evil to
punish evil.
Jesus Christ controls history. He does so in three ways.
The first way is directly. God created the universe. God creates life.
The second way of control is indirect, wherein God
allows the volition of man to guide his destiny through doctrine, through the
laws of divine establishment and so forth.
Man learns right from wrong, doctrine from the false, and conducts
himself accordingly. Man learns the
principles of establishment and lives his life accordingly. Man chooses.
Man marries. Man raises a
family. Man establishes communities and
nations and enterprise and armies for defense and so forth.
And the third way that God controls history is to
allow the free will of man to run in its own direction. Evil inevitably grows and therefore evil is
allowed to compete with and punish evil.
One nation goes bad and another nation goes bad and they go to war and
they settle things in a conflict of their choosing. And this third principle is in view here.
But the question raised is, does God punish as harshly
as do the punishments of others?
And the answer is, no.
God shows compassion, fairness and there is a
resolution.
It is far better to have God punish you, than to allow
people to punish you.
People are harsh, unforgiving and tend to punish far
beyond that which is necessary. Human punishment
tends to be filled with harsh bias, prejudice, hate, vindictiveness, desire and
so forth. History is filled with
examples of phenomenal inhuman treatment of people against people.
Even in the gossip world, the punishments inflicted
are used to totally destroy someone, and even and especially when there is no
need. These things are driven by
arrogance and jealousy and inordinate competition. The idea is to promote oneself, at the
expense of another.
One of the worst things that has come out of the
internet is the social media, where nearly anyone can tear down someone else
with little or no factual basis. A mere
comment can become disastrous to someone. And there is virtually no way to control the
abuse.
But God punishes with compassion. God punishes with
the objective of bringing someone around to the truth and the knowledge of the
error of their ways. God punishes to
improve. Man punishes to destroy.
