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the God who slaps

Ezekiel 7:5-9 (JDV)

Ezekiel 7:5 This is what the Lord Yahveh says: Notice, one disaster after another is coming!
Ezekiel 7:6 An end has come; the end has come! It has awakened against you. Notice, it is coming!
Ezekiel 7:7 Doom has come on you, residents of the land. The time has come; the day is near. There will be panic on the mountains and not celebration.
Ezekiel 7:8 I will pour out my wrath on you very soon; I will exhaust my anger against you and judge you according to your ways. I will punish you for all your repulsive practices.
Ezekiel 7:9 I will not look on you compassionately or spare you. I will punish you for your ways and for your repulsive practices within you. Then you will know that it is I, Yahveh, who slaps.

the God who slaps

I only remember one spanking from my dad, Buck Vann, but it was a doozy. He wailed on me with a belt. What did I do to incur his wrath? I had repeatedly acted up in church. After warning me for weeks, he met me at the steps of our house and commenced to punish me without pity.

The LORD gave his people fair warning that disasters would come upon them for their idolatry, and that when it happened, everybody would know that these disasters are from him. He is the God who slaps. But thank God for the slap. If it were not for God’s discipline, we would all turn away from him and do our own thing — resulting in permanent death.

But our God who disciplines the ones he loves also calls us back to himself. He is not going to take pity on a sinful son or daughter. He wants to restore them. So, he disciplines the way a truly loving father would.

LORD, thank you for loving us so much that you will not overlook our acts of rebellion and sin.