Ecclesiastes 8:11,
"Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the
heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil."
This morning, modern
man sadly believes himself "enlightened" and "civilly advanced." Many social
and government programs in existence today were unheard of 50 or 100 years ago,
and most of them were instituted in the name of advancement of civilization.
Foolishly, man believes himself capable of creating functions that will fix
problems as old as time, while he consistently ignores the source of true wisdom
in this world. Most of the time, the world's "best and brightest" scoff at the
instruction of the Bible. Believing the book outdated and antiquated, they
perceive their own conceptions to be wiser than God's Book. Yet, when one
contemplates just the simple moral and civil statements of the Bible, social
problems in this country and around the world could diminish rapidly. Civil
authority cannot change man's nature by its decisions, but the decisions of
civil government can inhibit or release man's nature based on consequences. Man
will never do the right thing for the right reason unless quickened by God's
Spirit, but man can choose to forgo evil actions should the civil or natural
consequences be great enough.
In our study verse,
Solomon gives wise counsel that applies to many different areas of life. The
most obvious application of the verse is the realm of civil punishment, but the
concept can be applied generally to many things, and we hope in the writing to
examine the application of this thought to societies, homes, and even churches.
When considering what the Bible has to say about punishment in general, it is
easily concluded that the concept of judgment and consequence for behaviour is
abundantly taught. However, punishment from associated judgment is not to be
conducted according to the whims of man but according to the guidelines set
forth by the Almighty. Therefore, let us examine those guidelines as inspired
by Him.
Socially speaking,
God intends and expects that the structure of civil government conform to the
moral code He has stipulated. As God interacted with Israel's government of
olden times, He showed forth blessing for keeping moral codes and directed
punishment for breaking it. Moving into the New Testament times, He instructs
His children to obey civil magistrates and higher powers, for they have been put
there for the benefit and direction of man. (Romans 13) Failure to see the
"authoritative structure" in society is simply a failure to see God's plainly
written word. Yet, those strutures should function honorably. Part of
honorable function is seen in our verse. Punishment of transgressors should be
done speedily and without undue delay. What would the benefit of this be?
God understands the
mind of man better than we do, and He understands that judgment delayed
encourages and breeds more misconduct. If I thought that my punishment might be
put off for years or even indefinitely, I might be emboldened to transgress
knowing that the punishment would be put off or even perhaps might be not at
all. In a society where criminals are given undue leeway, other criminals
become less concerned with keeping the precepts stipulated by that society. A
correlated thought here is the sense that when governemnt or civil authority
executes judgment, it must be speedy but also consistent. In the same vein that
criminals are emboldened to commit trespasses due to prolonged sentence, they
are also emboldened to transgress if they see inconsistent judgment being
issued. If only three of every five criminals are punished, then the
inconsistency of the judgment structure makes latent criminals more likely
instead of less likely to stoop to criminal activity.
Moving into the
familial realm, only a blinded reading of the Bible would fail to see the clear
injunction of Scripture for parents to discipline and punish children for
misbehaviour. God clearly stated that children should be spanked (Proverbs 13
and 22) when they disobey, and no modern "enlightenment" of man nullifies this
commandment. Today, man likes to promote concepts such as rehabilitation and
counseling when children misbehave. Programs are even in place for parents and
children to sit down together and "get to know each other and understand the
problems." God's ways are simplest, and a quick spanking for wrongdoing will
right the ship of problems faster than any program of man.
In keeping with the
thoughts of civil government, parents also should not delay in execution of the
punishment for that emboldens the child to transgress further and further. But
even on top of that, parents have to be consistent in what they do for the same
reasons as mentioned above. If a child perceives the "chance" that a
transgression will go unpunished due to the parent's inconsistent execution,
then they become more emboldened to push the envelope. Both a delay of
punishment and inconsistent punishment equates simply to the fact that the
parent lies to the child. They promise punishment over and over, but they fail
to deliver. Sometimes I become both amused and sad at the same time when I
observe parents delay punishment and also show great inconsistency with it.
After hearing them say for the twentieth time, "You're going to get it. I've
had it." I think, "If I were your child, I wouldn't change either."
Moving to the realm
of church activity, both Scripture and even personal history shows that delayed
punishment of clear wrongdoing breeds confusion and tension within the halls of
Zion. Paul told Timothy to rebuke people in the church for the cause that
others may fear. (I Timothy 5:20) If a clear violation is being tolerated within
the church and the much needed rebuke is slow to come or never comes, someone
else may not see the sense to refrain from doing the same thing. On the other
hand, if the rebuke comes quickly and correctly, others perk up to possibly be
spared from falling into the same trap.
When I was growing up
in the church, I observed perhaps 10-15 such cases where my natural father had
to go through the painful process of rebuking erring church members that had
committed a public offense and reproach upon the church. In most of the cases,
the members were penitent and begged forgiveness from the church - which the
church always freely gave. Yet, those moments when people like me in the
congregation saw such things, I repeatedly had the thought, "I don't want to be
there and have to do that." My mind feared - as it should - and did not want to
suffer the same. Yet, if delayed punishment for open transgression occurs or if
the church is inconsistent with her judgment, confusion and multiplied problems
come forth.
While subjects such
as these are certainly not pleasant points to consider, we need to remember that
the Bible lays out plain and clear instruction on these points for our benefit.
Whether the realm is our children, society at large, or even our churches, we
need to remember the old adage that, "An ounce of sweat spent now can save a
pound of blood later." No one wants to do these things. Godly parents do not
delight in spanking their children any more than a righeous judge likes handing
out harsh sentences or churches disciplining members. Yet, who knows what
consistent and timely punishment now saves later? When parents balk at spanking
their children today, my mom likes to say, "Would you rather have to deal with
that 5-6 year old now, or wait until they are 15-16 coming at you in
rebellion?" In society, would we rather deal with a few criminal cases now or
countless multitudes later? In churches, would we rather rebuke one or two now
or have a large portion of the congregation in tense rebellion later? The Bible
is no more out of date now than when God breathed it to be written. May we take
its clear commands over any "wisdom" from man's imagination.
In Hope,
Bro Philip
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