Discipline
Growth occurs when we are open to learning from others or when we share our knowledge to guide someone else. Recently, I was reading Numbers 12:1–14, which tells the story of Aaron and Miriam. They sinned against the Lord, and as a result, Miriam was struck with leprosy. According to the Word of God, people with leprosy had to be isolated from the camp for seven days until they were healed (Numbers 5:2–3, Leviticus 13:45–46). This was to prevent the disease from spreading throughout the community. Fortunately, leprosy is rare today and can be treated with modern medicine.
The verse that stuck with me was verse 14:
“But the LORD said to Moses, “If her father had but spit in her face, should she not be shamed seven days? Let her be shut outside the camp seven days, and after that she may be brought in again.”
I thought about this verse and what it means. God is saying that if an earthly father showed his displeasure by spitting in his daughter’s face, she would be ashamed for seven days. To put it another way, if you did something wrong and your parent was unhappy with you, they might scold you and send you to your room. You would feel ashamed and eventually have a talk with them about it. As a child, you would accept their displeasure and the punishment they gave you (Heb 12:9). We wrong against God when we don’t live in obedience to Him or follow the laws He has given us in His Word.
Discipline
God is asking in verse 14, is why do we accept our earthly parent’s punishment, but not His?
I’m human too, and sometimes it’s hard to accept punishment from God when I’ve done something wrong. But I never turn away from Him. There are times when I stay away from God for a couple of days because I feel guilty about my actions. But I always come back to Him. I reconnect by spending time in His Word and in prayer. It’s like when a child gets scolded — sometimes I need that time to reflect on my behavior. But I do not leave Him, I always come back because love is caring enough to bring it to our attention that we are wrong in what we have done.
This made me wonder: Why do people leave God when they’re angry with Him? Why do they turn away when He disciplines us for our mistakes? We don’t abandon our earthly parents when they scold us, so why do we do it with God?
Growth
We grow and mature as adult Christians when God disciplines us. He gives us His Word, the Bible, to read His statutes, and through this, we grow into Christians who live a life that is pleasing to God. For example, the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20). In verse 7, we learn that we should not take the Name of God in vain. How would we ever know that saying “Oh my God” or using “Jesus Christ” as a curse word is wrong if God hadn’t brought it to our attention through His Word? By reading His Word and living it out in faith, we grow into mature Christians, and we can be the salt of the earth (Matthew 5:13).
God disciplines us because He loves us and He wants to see us grow into people who can be an example to others who so desperately needs Him. He is a parent, a Father (Mat 6:9) who cares enough not to leave us and perish in our own sinful way — the mistakes we make.
