Reasons Why God Disciplines Us - Proverbs 3:12

Solomon makes it clear that God disciplines those He loves. Since this is the case, does the Bible tell us why? The answer is - yes. Last time we noted that God disciplines us to lead us to repentance. But God also chastises us in order to humble us. Pride is a killer when it comes to growing in wisdom. Therefore, God, at times, uses difficulties and adversities to humble us.

In Deuteronomy 8, God reminded the second generation of Israelites why they had to endure hardships in the wilderness. He did this in order to humble and test test them. Does that mean that slavery in Egypt was not sufficient humility? Apparently not. Remember, the Exodus event is a picture of God's redemption. Egypt pictures slavery to sin while the redemption of Israel pictures the redemption that Christ provide His bride. Even after redemption from the humility of slavery, God sees that we need further discipline. Many of the Israelites, after being redeemed from slavery, required further humbling and testing to determine the nature of their heart. Many found the journey too hard (they did not count the cost of freedom) and desired to return to Egypt when the journey God placed them on became inconvenient. God has preserved them and their response to adversity as a model not to follow (I Corinthians 10).