Divine Discipline – Isaiah 1:5-8

I found this man’s description of army discipline interesting and applicable to what Isaiah is talking about in his prophecy to Israel. When you’re in the army the army owns you. And when you misbehave the army imposes discipline. This is what God is doing to Israel. Will it work?

Why will you still be struck down? Why will you continue to rebel? The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.  From the sole of the foot even to the head, there is no soundness in it, but bruises and sores and raw wounds; they are not pressed out or bound up or softened with oil.

Your country lies desolate; your cities are burned with fire; in your very presence foreigners devour your land; it is desolate, as overthrown by foreigners.  And the daughter of Zion is left like a booth in a vineyard, like a lodge in a cucumber field, like a besieged city. (Isaiah 1:5-8 ESV)

If Israel is likened to a body, her whole person is beat up from head to toe.  This is how Isaiah sees her. And this is because of her rebellion.  More literally speaking, Israel, the nation, has experienced famine, destruction of her cities by enemies, and foreign armies in her midst eating up her profits.  Like the little booth or hut vineyard keepers would erect in the middle of their fields for shelter, Israel stands like an isolated and pitiful structure surrounded by her enemies.

Without saying it Yahweh is telling them that this is His doing.  He is disciplining Israel with the rod of correction but she has not seen it and has not been willing to repent of her rebellion.  So she is completely beat up. Why would God do such a thing? Why would He let His beloved suffer so? The answer is, He will do it for our own good. The pain of these circumstances is not worse than the destructiveness of separation from God.

God will discipline us, as well, in order to restore us to sanity.  It is crucial to recognize when this is happening and to order our hearts before the Lord. What if we don’t know that this is what is happening? God does allow suffering into our lives when we are not in rebellion (see Psalm 44). Not all suffering is because of sin (see John 9). How will we know? Ask Him. He’ll tell you. Paul discovered that his “thorn in the flesh” was to curb his arrogance (2 Corinthians 12). God let him know that. He’ll let us know, too.

Discussion Questions

1. What is the most near dead condition you have been in and what caused it?
2. What was the key to your healing from this condition?
3. What is the key to Israel’s healing from her condition?
4. What is the key to our country’s healing from our condition?
5. What role might you play in our country’s healing?
6. When have you experienced God’s loving, yet painful discipline?