Category: Article

I came across the following in my perusal of If You Could Ask God One Question:

As far as Jesus is concerned, even the tiniest mark on the page of the Old Testament holds unique power. According to him, whether you call it “the Law”, “Scripture” or the “Old Testament”, one thing holds true: it comes from God, and its authority is unquestionable.

Paul Williams  and Barry Cooper. If You Could Ask God One Question (New malden, UK: The Good Book Company, 2007), 22.

            One of the conversations that I have found myself having on occasion with counselees regards the issue of the punishment of God.  A person will be suffering for one reason or another, and they will assume that their suffering is the punishment of God on their lives for something they did in their past. 

            Often I will try to help the person to recognize that, if they are in Christ, all the penalty for all of their sin has already been fully punished in Christ on the cross.  Yet it is still hard for them to see that God is not adding some extra punishment to them.

            Of course I understand that God chastens his children.  He disciplines all he loves.  But he disciplines us for our good and his glory.  God never gives a Christian the penalty for his or her sin.  That penalty was paid in Christ as our substitute.

            I was happy, then, to come across the following in Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology regarding this very issue:

Throughout our Christian lives we know that we never have to pay any penalty for sin, for that has all been taken by Christ (Rom. 8:1). Therefore, when we do experience pain and suffering in this life, we should never think it is because God is punishing us (for our harm). Sometimes suffering is simply a result of living in a sinful, fallen world, and sometimes it is because God is disciplining us (for our good), but in all cases we are assured by Romans 8:28 that “God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose” (nasb).

The positive purpose for God’s discipline is clear in Hebrews 12, where we read:

The Lord disciplines him whom he loves….He disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant; later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. (Heb. 12:6, 10–11)

Not all discipline is in order to correct us from sins that we have committed; it can also be allowed by God to strengthen us in order that we may gain greater ability to trust God and resist sin in the challenging path of obedience. We see this clearly in the life of Jesus, who, though he was without sin, yet “learned obedience through what he suffered” (Heb. 5:8). He was made perfect “through suffering” (Heb. 2:10). Therefore we should see all the hardship and suffering that comes to us in life as something that God brings to us to do us good strengthening our trust in him and our obedience, and ultimately increasing our ability to glorify him.

Wayne A. Grudem, Systematic Theology : An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1994), 811.

Isaiah 9:6 (ESV)

For to us a child is born,

to us a son is given;

and the government shall be upon his shoulder,

and his name shall be called

Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,

Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

John Calvin on Isaiah 9:6 –

Now, to apply this for our own instruction, whenever any distrust arises, and all means of escape are taken away from us, whenever, in short, it appears to us that everything is in a ruinous condition, let us recall to our remembrance that Christ is called Wonderful, because he has inconceivable methods of assisting us, and because his power is far beyond what we are able to conceive. When we need counsel, let us remember that he is the Counsellor. When we need strength, let us remember that he is Mighty and Strong. When new terrors spring up suddenly every instant, and when many deaths threaten us from various quarters, let us rely on that eternity of which he is with good reason called the Father, and by the same comfort let us learn to soothe all temporal distresses. When we are inwardly tossed by various tempests, and when Satan attempts to disturb our consciences, let us remember that Christ is The Prince of Peace, and that it is easy for him quickly to allay all our uneasy feelings. Thus will these titles confirm us more and more in the faith of Christ, and fortify us against Satan and against hell itself.

Scholars estimate that between one-third and one-half of the Bible is written in poetry; yet very few Christians seem to give much consideration to this style.

Recognizing Poetry

Poetic passages are often recognized by scholars because of two main components:

·        Figurative language – Poetic passages use more figures of speech, similes, and metaphors than do prose passages.  While prose passages will use figures of speech, the complexity and frequency of figures of speech are greater in poetry.

·        Parallelism – Poetic passages are often written with short lines that play off of each other.  These can occur in groups of 2, 3, or even 4 lines of poetic text.  The point is that elements of one or more lines are balanced, repeated, or expanded in the following lines.

Types of Parallelism

In the 19^th century, Robert Lowth listed three categories of Hebrew parallelism which have been used to help people think through Hebrew poetry.  Though Lowth’s categories have been modified and at times rejected by scholars as far too simplistic (rightfully so), they offer a helpful starting point for modern Bible readers.  Lowth’s categories include:

·        Synonymous parallelism – The parallel lines say essentially the same thing with different words.  Be careful not to assume that the second line is an exact restatement.  Often the second line will help to clarify the reader’s understanding of the first.

Example: Proverbs 9:7 (ESV)

Whoever corrects a scoffer gets himself abuse, and he who reproves a wicked man incurs injury.

·        Antithetical parallelism – The second line of the pair teaches us with opposites from the first line.  This is not to say that the first line is being contradicted, but that another angle of the truth is being examined.  For example, if the first line of a parallel offers a blessing for right actions, the second line might offer a curse for evil actions.

Example:  Proverbs 9:8 (ESV)

Do not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you; reprove a wise man, and he will love you.

·        Synthetic (or formal) parallelism – The second line does not repeat the first, but expands

on the thought of the first.  This might include a line that completes the thought of another.  It might repeat part of the first line while expanding with thoughts not in the first line.  This category is a sort-of catch-all category in which lines are obviously intended to go together in a poetic way which are neither synonymous nor antithetical.

Example:  Psalm 46:1 (ESV)

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

Features of Poetry

Hebrew poetry can have a great variety of features that distinguish it.  Only 1 follows:

·        Chiasm – Not a type of parallelism but more a technique, a chiasm parallels a previous line in a reverse (a, b, c, c, b, a) order.  The name derives from the Greek letter chi, which looks like our letter X.  Chiasms can occur with the points of two lines or the balancing of opposite lines in a larger section of Scripture. 

Example:  Isaiah 11:13b (ESV)

Ephraim shall not be jealous of Judah, and Judah shall not harass Ephraim.

Why Notice Poetry?

·        Strong emotion – Writing in poetry indicates a level of emotion from the author that may not be present in prose.  We should recognize this in order to take the passage of Scripture with the emotion intended by its author.

·        Figurative language – Because poetry often uses figurative language, we should be sure to recognize poetry in order to better interpret the meaning of the text.

·        Memorization – It is likely that texts were written in poetic couplet in order to aid in their being committed to memory.

·        Prevalence – Scholars estimate that between ½ and 1/3 of Scripture is written in poetry.  Since so much of God’s word is in this style, we must take it seriously.

·        Beauty – Poetry enhances the beauty and emotional connection of the text.

See George L. Klein, “Poetry” in Walter A. Elwell, Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1996).;