The Discipline and Mercy of the LORD : The Business of Christian Education LXVI

¹⁷ Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, ¹⁸ “Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, who is in Samaria; behold, he is in the vineyard of Naboth, where he has gone to take possession. ¹⁹ And you shall say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Have you killed and also taken possession?” ’ And you shall say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord: “In the place where dogs licked up the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick your own blood.” ’ ”

²⁰ Ahab said to Elijah, “Have you found me, O my enemy?” He answered, “I have found you, because you have sold yourself to do what is evil in the sight of the Lord. ²¹ Behold, I will bring disaster upon you. I will utterly burn you up, and will cut off from Ahab every male, bond or free, in Israel. ²² And I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah, for the anger to which you have provoked me, and because you have made Israel to sin. ²³ And of Jezebel the Lord also said, ‘The dogs shall eat Jezebel within the walls of Jezreel.’ ²⁴ Anyone belonging to Ahab who dies in the city the dogs shall eat, and anyone of his who dies in the open country the birds of the heavens shall eat.”

²⁵ (There was none who sold himself to do what was evil in the sight of the Lord like Ahab, whom Jezebel his wife incited. ²⁶ He acted very abominably in going after idols, as the Amorites had done, whom the Lord cast out before the people of Israel.)

²⁷ And when Ahab heard those words, he tore his clothes and put sackcloth on his flesh and fasted and lay in sackcloth and went about dejectedly. ²⁸ And the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, ²⁹ “Have you seen how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has humbled himself before me, I will not bring the disaster in his days; but in his son’s days I will bring the disaster upon his house.”

1 Kings 21:17-29

           

            Soon after Ahab unjustly took possession of the vineyard of Naboth, God sent Elijah to chastise and foretell him of the coming judgment from the Lord.  Earlier, Ahab was shown to be wanting the vineyard of Naboth.  When he came to Naboth to buy his vineyard, naboth refused him.  And the King of Israel was said to be sullen and angry because of the refusal.  He knew full well that according to the Law of Moses, Naboth had every right not to
sell his ancestor’s inheritance which was given to his ancestor as instructed by Moses regarding the distribution of the land of Canaan when Joshua led Israel to possess it.  Ahab knew that he could not do anything about it.  But then his wife, Queen Jezebel found out about the matter and she took care of business.  She devised a wicked and evil scheme that involved the politicians of the city in order to murder Naboth using the Law.  Naboth, though innocent, was sentenced to death by stoning for the crime he did not commit.  Naboth’s death cleared the passage for Ahab to own the vineyard.  Ahab did not ask how Naboth died, for he did not care about justice at all.  He only cared about himself.  But the Lord knew.  So he sent Elijah the prophet, who earlier killed 400 prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel in the demonstration of God’s holiness in the presence of all the people and the king, to deliver his judgment to the house of Ahab for his wickedness.

            The prophecy and judgment shocked Ahab.  For all his moves were under God’s surveillance.  But God did not use his omniscience for his own advantage at the expense of the people.  But instead, God’s omniscience was used effectively to administer justice, to defend the weak, to help the helpless, to take care of the poor, and to protect the oppressed.  Unlike the current dispute in the world about surveillance involving powerful countries spying on each other and weaker countries for their own advantage regardless of justice and whatnot.  So God in his perfect knowledge and wisdom spoke his judgment through his servant Elijah.  As Elijah delivered his message to Ahab face to face, Ahab received it in great shock.  It was said that:

²⁷ And when Ahab heard those words, he tore his clothes and put sackcloth on his flesh and fasted and lay in sackcloth and went about dejectedly.  (1 Kings 21:27)

Ahab realized his sin.  He understood the full extent of his evil way.  So he tore his clothes as a symbol of his mourning and repentance.  He went further as to put on sackcloth and went through the gruesome pain of fasting in order to humble himself before the Lord.  Elijah’s words pierced into his heart and all the horror of God’s judgment came vivid into his mind.  He did not refuse God’s words.  He did not defy it either.  He did not scoff on it.  And he did not ignore it.  He acted upon it.  But his action was interesting.  As king he could use his power to kill Elijah.  But he did not use his power to act defiantly against God’s words.  He repented!

            Ahab’s repentance was uncharacteristic of the line of the kings of Israel.  God warned Jeroboam of his evil way but he did not repent.  God also warned Ahijah of his evil way, but he also did not repent.  But when God warned Ahab, he repented.  What’s more interesting was God’s reaction to Ahab’s repentance.  God did not take Ahab’s repentance lightly.  It was said:

²⁸ And the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, ²⁹ “Have you seen how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has humbled himself before me, I will not bring the disaster in his days; but in his son’s days I will bring the disaster upon his house.”  (1 Kings 21:28-29)

It was within God’s right to bring the judgment in Ahab’s lifetime.  For Ahab was so evil in the eyes of God.  But God postponed his judgment.  He did it because Ahab humbled himself before him.  The depiction of who God was and how he dealt with Ahab showed God’s loving and merciful character.  The theology of the 21^st century focused a lot on God’s love and mercy.  Certainly Christians embrace this side of God.  Not only that the New Testament states very often of God’s love, but also that the entire world has been awakened into the new movement of love.  Love becomes the number one and biggest word today.  Everything we do should be done in accordance with love.  For sure, the force of love is undeniable.  And so when the story of Ahab’s repentance is read and reflected, people often connect it with how great is God’s love and mercy.  And it is true that God’s love and mercy is great.

            However, I need to remind us of a very important thing.  Very often, once we put love as main idea and character, then we soon ignore the other side of the story.  The story of Ahab did not just tell about God’s love and mercy.  The problem is when people quickly go with love and thus dismiss the idea of discipline and even justice.  So when people talk about love, all would just sing the chorus and shout amen.  But when justice is being discussed, many would frown upon it.  When discipline and punishment is being discussed, many people would just attack it or water it down with love.  Now, in the passage that tells about Ahab’s repentance, it was shown vividly how angry God was toward Ahab.  For sure, if we continue to read the story we will find that every single prophetic judgment uttered by Elijah was fulfilled.  Ahab did not see with his own eyes the downfall of his house because of God’s mercy to him in response to his humility.  But God’s judgment was carried on.  His discipline was strong.  Without the Lord’s discipline, Ahab would not humble himself before the Lord.

            The world of education right now is being reduced significantly to the point of the elimination of discipline.  Discipline has been redefined in modern education to contain only the idea of rewards giving and rewards voiding.  Anything beyond that would be considered too harsh.  Punishment is now shunned because it is considered to be cruel.  Discipline now can be imagined like an old and weak lion without teeth or claws.  The mentioning of discipline is laughable without its imposing strength.  The world of education has been stripped off its authority to discipline.  Many modern educators love to jump to the conclusion of repentance and mercy without taking into account the weight of punishment as the drive of discipline that leads to repentance.  People are mesmerized with the beauty of repentance and mercy and thus blindsided to the fact that discipline plays a key role on the leading toward repentance.  And so with the twist of rewards and the subtle negative reinforcements, many educators today opt to throw away discipline into the trash can.  In practice, some educators even go further by eliminating the structure of discipline altogether.  The law is there just for decoration, but it is void of its power.  Every single law can be bent as long as love is behind it.  Whenever the word love is present, there law can be bypassed.  It is important for us to be reminded again of the holy word of God that says:

⁵ And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons?

                “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,

nor be weary when reproved by him.

                ⁶ For the Lord disciplines the one he loves,

and chastises every son whom he receives.”

⁷ It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? ⁸ If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. ⁹ Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? ¹⁰ For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. ¹¹ For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.  (Hebrews 12:5-11)

Before Ahab realized his sin, the Lord had to speak words of judgment to him.  God’s discipline was effective.  Ahab realized his sin and repented.  As he humbled himself, the Lord took note and felt compassion that he had mercy on Ahab.  But today people demand that God must have mercy no matter what.  People force God to be merciful as if mercy is bigger than God.  People even dare to say that if God is not being merciful then he is not God.  But Ahab’s reaction showed differently.  He understood that God was God and he was just a human being.  Thus he humbled himself before the Lord.  He accepted God’s discipline.  The passage in Hebrews also reminds us of God’s discipline.  He disciplines not because he is happy to inflict suffering upon his children, but instead it is for our own good.  Moreover, if God doesn’t discipline his children, then those not disciplined might just be illegitimate children.  In other words, God won’t care to discipline those who are not his children.  Now, Christian education is gradually adopting the way of the world.  Especially in the understanding of love as the main drive of education.  The current face of education is changing into an education of mercy without discipline.  Christian education jumps right away into the wagon of love and mercy and leaving behind the framework of discipline.

            It is true that when discipline is implemented without love and mercy, it would be cruel.  For the sake of education, discipline cannot stand alone by itself.  If learning is the aim, then discipline must be accompanied by love and mercy.  However, in the same way, for the sake of education and learning, love and mercy must not stand alone.  Discipline must accompany love and mercy.  The model in the Bible is clear.  God gave Israel his Law.  His rules and regulations are to govern the conduct, ethics, and way of life of his people.  Going outside the boundary of the Law would invite God’s discipline.  God’s discipline comes in many forms.  It could be in the forms of plague, or sword, or snake bites, and many other forms.  In the case of Ahab, God’s discipline came in the form of prophetic judgment.  Similar to what he did to David when he committed adultery with Bathsheba and then killed Uriah as he took Bathsheba to be his wife.  The prophetic judgment came to David through the prophet Nathan.  David repented and God had mercy on him.  But his judgment came afterwards.  In both case, David and Ahab, God’s judgment was not cancelled.  God did not bend his own Law.  He fulfilled it while at the same time he had mercy on David and Ahab.

            Discipline and mercy must work together.  Discipline without mercy is cruelty.  Mercy without discipline is compromise.  The boundary of the Law must be preserved.  Its framework must be honored.  But the execution must be done in love.  Love is the most overused and misused term in the world today.  Love is one of the most difficult words to understand.  People like to misuse love because it brings advantage to them, in that they could get away with murder.  John 8:1-11 is often used to showcase God’s love that trumps the Law.  But seldom people realize that when Jesus forgave the woman caught in adultery he bore her sin on the cross and died for her sin.  Today people want to be given love and mercy without even considering that someone has got to pay for the sin committed.  It is as if love and mercy is their right in the first place even after they commit a terrible sin.  The word for that is entitlement.  Love and mercy is not right, but a gift.  It is a gift from the one who is willing to bear the consequences and just punishments of the sin.  God gave mercy to Ahab.  It was not Ahab’s right to receive mercy from God.  Ahab deserved to be punished right there and then.  In God’s disciplining process, Ahab repented.  He humbled himself.  And so God had mercy on him.

            If the education is Christian, then it must imitate God’s way.  The process of discipline in Christian education cannot be obscured by the world’s idea of discipline.  Neither the cruel discipline nor the compromised discipline is the Christian way.  Modern education today is leaning toward the compromised discipline.  Christian education stands in balance of the two.  Both discipline and mercy are two ingredients that ought to stay integrated.  This I call as the integrated discipline.