The purpose of God’s judgment on his chosen people for their
transgressions is not to grind them down into oblivion, rather to deliver and
save them, putting their faith to the test by subjecting them to the pressure
of suffering and loss so they would turn from their wicked ways and reaffirm in
their hearts the sovereignty of the Lord in their lives.
Chastisement was never a pleasant experience. It has to hurt
or we will never appreciate the unbiased justice of God, which was the basis of
our salvation, and which will be poured at the appointed time on those who have
not obeyed the gospel of the Lord Jesus and have persecuted the saints of the
Most High.
