One of the backward ideas we seem to have is that God doesn’t “punish” his people because he looooovvvvves them.

As if discipline isn’t love.

He finally had to bring Judah down to get their attention. It was harsh. It was brutal. Yet, it was not out of God’s fierce anger for revenge. It was out of his heart to get them back home.

And they would learn:

¹⁸ I hear, yes, I hear Ephraim lamenting:
“You disciplined me,
and I learned my lesson,
even though I was as stubborn as a mule.
Bring me back, let me return,
because you are the Lord my God.
¹⁹ After I turned away from you,
I regretted it;
I realized what I had done,
and I have hit myself—
I was humiliated and disgraced,
and I have carried this disgrace
since I was young.” (Jer. 31:18=19, CEB)

“I have hit myself…”

Remember that old Skin Bracer commercial?

Too often we think God dealing with us is some sort of “child abuse,” so we think it’s someone else’s fault. It’s not someone else’s fault. God had to deliver the discipline. And it’s not HIS fault, either. If we’ve strayed off, it’s our fault.