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IT IS FOR DISCIPLINE THAT YOU ENDURE: eis paideian hupomenete (2PPAI):
NOTE: KJV follows a faulty Greek text in word “if”
The recipients of this letter
are exhorted to remain under (endure = bear under) the chastening hand
& training rod of God, for the grand purpose of the conflicts &
afflictions is worth it. Don't grow faint, don't lose heart, don't
take your eyes off Jesus, don't forget that you have endured a great
conflict of sufferings, don't stop pursuing holiness because you're
accused of being too radical, don't forget to strengthen your arms
that are feeble & legs that are weak...you're marching on to Zion,
your're looking of a city which has foundations & cannot be shaken,
you're goal is almost here because He Who is coming is coming soon and
He will not delay. So hold fast your confession & assurance firm until
the end. Your endurance of this momentary, light child rearing by the
Father will yield not only temporal but eternal benefits. Glory to
God.
Endure ( 5278)
(hupomeno from hupo = under + meno = abide) means
to persevere, endure. To remain under not simply with resignation, but
with vibrant hope. It means to continue in activity despite resistance
and opposition and so to hold one's ground, not be moved (as in
Ja 1:12). Hupomeno was a military term used of an army’s holding a
vital position at all costs. Every hardship and every suffering is to
be endured in order to hold fast. It speaks of enduring patiently and
triumphantly.
To endure or to exhibit patience is a critical Christian
virtue. Unless we have patience, we can never learn many of the truths
that God wants us to learn, truths that will lead us into a deeper
life and a more fruitful ministry. Children are usually impatient;
they cannot sit still long enough to get the things done that need to
be done. “How long do we have to wait?” is the stock question of the
child. Impatience is a mark of immaturity. Impatience is also a mark
of unbelief. Isa28:16 “He who believes will not be in a hurry”. When
you find yourself restless and nervous, anxious to “do something,” you
can be sure you are not trusting God to work.
By enduring or remaining under the
disciplining hand of God, we permit Him to mold us into His image. If
we try to short-circuit His dealings with us, He may have to teach us
over a longer period of time, using more instructive, and
consequently, more difficult methods. There are grades in the school
of God, and promotion comes only when we have learned our lessons.
So when testings come to us, we should realize that God is treating us
as sons. In any normal father-son relationship, the father trains his
son because he loves him and wants the best for him. God loves us too
much to let us develop naturally.
Discipline
(3809)
(paideia
from país = child) (Click
for study of related verb
paideuo) means to provide
instruction, with the intent of forming proper habits of behavior, of
providing guidance for responsible living, of rearing and guiding a
child toward maturity. Paideia is a broad term, signifying
whatever parents and teachers do to train, correct, cultivate, and
educate children in order to help them develop and mature as they
ought.
Although paideia refers
primarily to the training or discipline of children (whether in the
schools of men -
Acts 7:22,
Acts 22:3 or in the school of God,
see note
Titus 2:12,
et al), at one end of the spectrum it describes the training that
occurs by teaching, instructing, educating or nurturing and at the
other end of the spectrum the training that occurs by utilizing
correction and punishment if necessary (which it usually is for
children) as a part of the training or child rearing process bringing
them to maturity (this end of the spectrum conveyed by English words
like chastise or chasten, as morally disciplining an adult, correcting
them and giving them guidance). From these definitions one can see
that the meaning of paideia is dependent on the context.
Detzler
writes that paideia (and paideuo)...
moves from education to correction
and finally embraces the concept of punishment. This idea is quite
unpopular, because many Christians confuse salvation with
sentimentality. God does not tolerate sin among Christians, but rather
disciplines them as a good father would (Heb. 12:5-11). In fact, if a
Christian is comfortable and undisciplined, there is cause to doubt
that he truly is a believer. (Detzler,
Wayne E: New Testament Words in Today's Language. Victor. 1986)
Webster
says that the English word discipline describes training that
corrects, molds, or perfects the mental faculties or moral character
Thayer
says paideia describes...
the whole training and education of
children (which relates to the cultivation of mind and morals, and
employs for this purpose now commands and admonitions, now reproof and
punishment). In Greek writings from Aeschylus on, it includes also the
care and training of the body. Whatever in adults also cultivates the
soul, especially by correcting mistakes and curbing the passions
hence, a. instruction which aims at the increase of virtue: b.
according to Biblical usage chastisement, chastening (of the evils
with which God visits men for their amendment)
TDNT
writes that...
Paideia from pais a
child. In classical usage, that which is applied to train and educate
a child. So Plato:
“Education (Paideia) is the
constraining and directing of youth toward that right reason which the
law affirms, and which the experience of the best of our elders has
agreed to be truly right” (“Laws,” 659).(Kittel,
G., Friedrich, G., & Bromiley, G. W. Theological Dictionary of the
New Testament. Eerdmans)
Vincent
adds that...
In scriptural usage another meaning
has come into it and its kindred verb paideuein, which recognizes the
necessity of correction or chastisement to thorough discipline. So
Lev. 26:18; Ps. 6:1; Isa. 53:5; Heb. 12:5–8. In Acts 7:22 paideuo
occurs in the original classical sense: “Moses was instructed (epaideuthe)
in all the wisdom,” etc. The term here covers all the agencies which
contribute to moral and spiritual training. (Vincent, M. R. Word
Studies in the New Testament 3:404).
John
MacArthur has a helpful note on paideia writing that it
refers to...
the systematic training of
children. It includes the idea of correction for wrongdoing, as seen
in the well–known proverb,
“He who spares his rod hates his
son, but he who loves him disciplines him diligently” (Pr. 13:24).
In the several uses of the term in
Hebrews 12:5-11, the translators of the Authorized Version rendered
it “chastening,” which is clearly the emphasis of that context.
Paul’s meaning here is expressed even more fully, however, in the
proverb
“Train up a child in the way he
should go, even when he is old he will not depart from it” (Pr
22:6).
Discipline has to do with the
overall training of children, including punishment.
Susannah Wesley, the mother of John
and Charles Wesley, raised seventeen children and had these words to
say about raising children:
“The parent who studies to subdue
[self–will] in his child works together with God in the renewing and
saving a soul. The parent who indulges it does the devil’s work, makes
religion impracticable, salvation unattainable, and does all that in
him lies to damn his child, soul and body forever” (cited in The
Journal of John Wesley [Chicago: Moody, n.d.], p. 106).
Paideia
is used 50 times in the
Septuagint (LXX)
(Deut. 11:2; Ezra 7:26; Job 20:3; 37:13; Ps. 2:12; 18:35; 50:17;
119:66; Pr. 1:2, 7f; 3:11; 4:1, 13; 5:12; 6:23; 8:10; 10:17; 12:1;
13:18; 15:5, 10, 32f; 16:17, 22; 17:8; 19:20, 27; 22:15; 23:12; 24:32;
25:1; Isa. 26:16; 50:4f; 53:5; Jer. 2:30; 5:3; 7:27; 17:23; 30:14;
32:33; 35:13; Ezek. 13:9; Dan. 1:20; Amos 3:7; Hab. 1:12; Zeph. 3:2,
7). Here are a few representative uses...
Psalm 50:17 "For you hate
discipline (Lxx = paideia), and you cast My words behind you.
Proverbs 1:8 Hear, my son,
your father's instruction, And do not forsake your mother's
teaching;
Proverbs 3:11 My son, do not
reject the discipline of the LORD, Or loathe His reproof,
Proverbs 6:23 For the
commandment is a lamp, and the teaching is light; And reproofs for
discipline are the way of life,
Proverbs 10:17 He is on the
path of life who heeds instruction, But he who forsakes reproof
goes astray.
Proverbs 12:1 Whoever loves
discipline loves knowledge, But he who hates reproof is stupid.
Proverbs 13:18 Poverty and
shame will come to him who neglects discipline, But he who
regards reproof will be honored.
Proverbs 15:5 A fool rejects
his father's discipline, But he who regards reproof is prudent.
Proverbs 15:10 Stern
discipline is for him who forsakes the way; He who hates reproof
will die.
Proverbs 15:32 He who
neglects discipline despises himself, But he who listens to
reproof acquires understanding.
Proverbs 15:33 The fear of
the LORD is the instruction for wisdom, And before honor comes
humility.
Proverbs 16:22
Understanding is a fountain of life to him who has it, But the
discipline of fools is folly.
Proverbs 19:20 Listen to
counsel and accept discipline, That you may be wise the rest of
your days.
Proverbs 19:27 Cease
listening, my son, to discipline, And you will stray from the
words of knowledge.
Proverbs 22:15 Foolishness
is bound up in the heart of a child; The rod of discipline will
remove it far from him.
Proverbs 23:12 Apply your
heart to discipline, And your ears to words of knowledge.
Jeremiah 2:30 "In vain I
have struck your sons; They accepted no chastening. Your sword
has devoured your prophets Like a destroying lion.
Jeremiah 17:23 "Yet they did
not listen or incline their ears, but stiffened their necks in order
not to listen or take correction.
Habakkuk 1:12 Art Thou not
from everlasting, O LORD, my God, my Holy One? We will not die. Thou,
O LORD, hast appointed them to judge; And Thou, O Rock, hast
established them to correct.
Zephaniah 3:2 She heeded no
voice; She accepted no instruction. She did not trust in the
LORD; She did not draw near to her God.
Paideia is used 6 times
in the NT...
Ephesians 6:4 (note)
And, fathers, do not provoke your children to anger; but bring them up
in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
2 Timothy 3:16
(note) All
Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof,
for correction, for training in righteousness;
Hebrews 12:5
(note) and you
have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons, "My
son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, Nor faint when
you are reproved by Him;
Hebrews 12:7
(note) It is for
discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what
son is there whom his father does not discipline?
Hebrews 12:8
(note) But if you
are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you
are illegitimate children and not sons.
Hebrews 12:11
(note) All
discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet
to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the
peaceful fruit of righteousness.
GOD DEALS WITH YOU AS WITH SONS: os huiois humin prospheretai (3SPPI)
o theos:
Deals (4374)
(prosphero from prós = to, toward + phéro =
bring) refers primarily to an an offering, whether of gifts, prayers,
or sacrifices. It conveys the idea of carrying or bringing something
into the presence of someone usually implying a transfer of something
to that person.
In this verse in Hebrews prosphero is in
the
passive voice
and conveys the meaning of “to
behave toward, to deal with.” That is, the afflictive dealing of God
with the recipients is an evidence that they are sons of God. We must
keep in mind that this letter is written to the professing Christian
Church made up of saved and unsaved. Both classes were the recipients
of the persecution, because both classes had left the temple
sacrifices and had identified themselves with the visible church. But
only those who would remain under the chastening hand of God would
prove themselves to be true sons of God. Those who would renounce
their profession of Messiah as High Priest and return to the
sacrifices in order to escape the persecution, would show by that,
that they had never been saved.
An incident from the Old
Testament illustrates this. David was rebuked by the Lord for
numbering Israel and was given the choice of three punishments. He
wisely let the Lord decide, and undoubtedly experienced the least
hurtful of the three, but in the plague God sent, 70,000 Israelites
died! (2Samuel 24).
FOR WHAT SON IS THERE WHOM [HIS] FATHER DOES NOT DISCIPLINE: tis gar
huios on ou paideuei (3SPAI) pater:
Discipline
(3811)
(paideuo
from país = child) (Click
word study on
paideuo)
refers primarily to the training or discipline of children (whether in
the schools of men -
Acts 7:22,
Acts 22:3 or in the school of God,
Titus 2:12, et al), at one end of the
spectrum training by teaching, instructing, educating or nurturing and
at the other end of the spectrum utilizing correction and punishment
if necessary (which it usually is for children) as a part of the
training or child rearing process bringing them to maturity (this end
of the spectrum conveyed by English words like chastise or chasten -
see below - as morally disciplining an adult, correcting them and
giving them guidance). In that regard we will briefly look at some of
the most common English words used to translate paideuo and will
attempt to draw out the sometimes subtle differences in meaning. From
this introduction, you can see that the meaning of paideuo is
dependent on the context.
Disciplines is not
synonymous with punish, since paideuo always implies an
infliction which contemplates the subject’s amendment; and hence
answers to chastise or chasten. In popular speech chastise and
punish are often confounded. Chasten is from the Latin ,
“pure,” “chaste ;” and to chasten is, properly, to purify! This
meaning underlies even the use of the word by Pilate, who was not
likely to be nice in his choice of words. Instead of punishing the
Messiah with death, he sought to chastise him, in order to teach him
better! (see Luke 23:16)
Paideuo includes instruction,
discipline, correction, and warning. All are designed to cultivate
Christian virtues and drive out evil. In this passage, the chastening
was not punishment for wrongdoing, but training through persecution.
Coach Tom
Landry of the Dallas Cowboys is reputed to have said,
The job of a coach is to make men do what they don’t want to do, in
order to be what they’ve always wanted to be!
Our author would have welcomed that
as an accurate statement of what God does with those he calls to be
his children. They should “hang tough” because their trials are proof
that they are beloved children and not illegitimate sons
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Our Daily Bread - Good Dads -
Columnist Leonard Pitts Jr. grew
up with a father he describes as physically present but emotionally
absent. In his first book on parenting, Pitts openly chronicles his
struggle to come to terms with his alcoholic father and the climate of
fear he had created in their home. Pitts challenges all men to resolve
the resentment toward their absent or abusive fathers instead of
passing it on to the next generation.
There's a passage in Hebrews 12 that applies to all Christians, but it
has special relevance to dads. It reads: "Pursue peace with all
people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord: looking
carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of
bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become
defiled" (vv.14-15).
Think of what could happen in our families if we emptied our hearts of
bitterness and made peaceful relationships our goal! If we have been
blessed with a wise and loving father, we should be grateful and
follow his example. But if our father has failed us, we must rely on
God's grace, resolve our anger toward him, and strive to be the kind
of dad we never had. It won't be easy, but with our heavenly Father as
a perfect example, we can learn to be good dads. —David C. McCasland (Our
Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by
permission. All rights reserved)
A faithful father leads by love
With tender firmness from above,
For he himself has learned from God
The lessons of His chastening rod. --DJD
A good father reflects the love of the heavenly Father. |
