The Purpose of God’s Discipline

MEMORY SELECTION: “Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit.” —Ezekiel 18:31

SELECTED SCRIPTURE: Ezekiel 17:11-18; 18:30-32

THE setting of the prophecy in our lesson is the long-promised kingdom. The Prophet Jeremiah spoke of the same days: “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man, and with the seed of beast. And it shall come to pass, that like as I have watched over them, to pluck up, and to break down, and to throw down, and to destroy, and to afflict; so will I watch over them, to build, and to plant, saith the Lord. In those days they shall say no more, The fathers have eaten a sour grape, and the children’s teeth are set on edge. But every one shall die for his own iniquity: every man that eateth the sour grape, his teeth shall be set on edge.”—Jer. 31:27-30

The prophecy was made in connection with the promise to establish a new covenant with the house of Israel. (vss. 33,34) It is under this New Covenant that the Israelites and all the world of mankind are to have an opportunity to learn righteousness and thereby earn life. It is under the terms of this Covenant that the people as individuals will be judged. And as our text states, those who transgress the laws (eat the sour grape) will be held accountable (that is, have their own teeth set on edge).

This is different from the circumstances that exist today. In the beginning God created Adam perfect. Adam was in the mental and moral image of God and was capable of obeying God’s perfect law. But he sinned willfully. (I Tim. 2:14) He ate of the sour grape, and because of this all his children’s teeth have been set on edge. They inherited the sentence of death that was pronounced upon Adam. The Apostle Paul, in Romans 5:12, states, “Wherefore, as by one man [Adam] sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.”

The apostle then continues to explain that condemnation is not the end as far as the human race is concerned, because God has provided a redemption for Adam. In addition, because all Adam’s children were condemned in him, the redemption of Adam lifted the condemnation that was inherited by his children. The apostle expresses it this way: “Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. For as by one man’s disobedience many [the many, Diaglott] were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many [the many, Diaglott] be made righteous.”—Rom. 5:18,19; I Cor. 15:20-22

Jesus was identified in the prophecies as the Messenger of the Covenant. “The Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the Messenger of the Covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts.” (Mal. 3:1) And in Matthew 26:27,28, when Jesus inaugurated the Passover supper with his disciples, he identified himself with the New Covenant and stated also that it was because of his sacrifice that the New Covenant could come into existence. “And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; for this is my blood of the new testament [covenant], which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” It is through the arrangement provided under the New Covenant that the children of Adam will be judged by their own performance, and it is only through this arrangement that the children of men will reap the benefits of the ransom price provided by Jesus.

The Apostle Peter, in Acts 3:20-23, quotes a prophecy by Moses and equates the time with the operation of the New Covenant. “And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God bath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began. For Moses truly said unto the fathers …” Then, after quoting the prophecy, the Apostle Peter reminds the Jews, and the world also, that this was the arrangement whereby they would be freed from the general condemnation of sin and death and that God “raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities.” (vs. 26) Yes, in those days every man who eats the sour grape, his teeth will be set on edge.

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