God disciplines those whom He loves, and we should humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God; He does not deal with us vindictively but governmentally, disciplining us for the purpose of perfecting us.
Thank You Lord for Your love for You and also for Your sovereign hand in dealing with us according to Your government!
As believers in Christ, we need to realize that we are under God’s government, and we need to respect and learn to acknowledge God’s government. We must be willing to be humbled under the mighty hand of God, so that He may exalt us in due time.
He has a desire to do certain things in us and with us, and for Him to have a proper way to work Himself into us and give Himself to us in all His riches, He needs the system of government.
As God is governing us, however, He also supplies us with whatever we need; He grants us His divine provision so that we can cooperate with His government.
On the positive side, God supplies us with all things which relate to life and godliness, and He gives us the divine nature with all its riches to be our supply.
On the negative side, He disciplines us and deals with us governmentally to safeguard us and perfect us so that we may be qualified to enjoy Him, partake of Him, and be part of His expression.
On one hand we need to have a godly living under God’s governmental administration, and on the other, the divine provision is available for us to live such a life.
Praise the Lord that today we have the equally precious faith in the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ, and we have the divine nature as our divine provision!
As we enjoy and partake of the divine nature, there is also the divine government to safeguard us and perfect us, not allowing us to be stranded aside or falling back from the full enjoyment of all-inclusive Christ.
So on one hand we need to eat the Lord in His word and get the Spirit with the essence of the divine life, and on the other hand, we need to accept the Lord’s dealings and acknowledge His government over us and around us.
The Lord Jesus was a pattern to us in this matter – as He lived on earth, He always recognized the government of God, was limited by God’s time and His way, and He lived a life absolutely under the government of God.
When others mistreated Him and dealt harshly with Him, He didn’t revile in return but kept committing all to the One who judges righteously. This One now lives in us to live the same kind of life in our daily living today!
Cooperating with God’s Governmental Dealings by being Willing to be Humbled under His Hand
We can see God’s administrating hand in His judgement; His judgement is carried out in the environment arranged according to His sovereignty, and we should be willing to be humbled under His mighty hand.
We all can see that, in saving us, God’s hand was mighty; but much more now we can see the might of His hand in His judgement, for He disciplines all those whom He loves.
We should be humbled under the mighty hand of God, which carries out the government of God (1 Pet. 5:6).
Are we willing to be humbled under the hand of God, which carries out the government of God? This all comes down to the details and fine points of our daily living. If we are to be humbled by God, we need to not live in ourselves, not live automatically, not live traditionally or habitually but contact the Lord and take Him in our circumstances.
We need to allow the Lord to humble us through all the things that He has arranged around us, all the environment, people, and things that are sovereignly arranged around us; we shouldn’t live by ourselves but contact the Lord, receive Him, enjoy Him, and allow Him to humble us under His mighty hand.
The mighty hand of God refers to God’s administrating hand seen especially in His judgement (1 Pet. 1:17; 4:17).
He is involved in the various details of our daily living, and He disciplines us through the things, people, situations, and environments that He arranges for us, so that we may be humbled under the mighty hand of God.
To be humbled under God’s mighty hand is to be made humble by God; however, we must cooperate with God’s operation and be willing to be made humble, lowly, under His mighty hand.
As seen in Peter’s word in 1 Pet. 5:6-8, there are three main things we need to do in our experience related to the mighty hand of God: humble ourselves, cast all our anxiety on Him, and be sober and watch.
First, we need to acknowledge that all things are under God’s sovereign hand and everything that happens to us is under His mighty hand; so we should humble ourselves, and cast all our anxiety on Him.
There’s no need for us to be anxious and worry; though things around us may not go according to how we want them to go, though people may deal with us harshly and we may pass through much sufferings, we need to simply humble ourselves under God’s mighty hand and not resist it, and we need to cast all our anxieties on Him.
We may be anxious about this or about that, about our health or our possessions, about our family or our situation, and we may have all the human reasons to be worried; but God is in control, we humble ourselves under His mighty hand, and we cast all our anxiety upon Him.
Along with this, we learn to be sober and watchful.
Lord, we acknowledge the government of God in our life, even in the fine things and details of our daily living. We humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God. Lord, we want to cooperate with You in all our situations and environments so that we may be humbled under the mighty hand of God and You may gain what You are after in us. We cast all our cares, worries, and anxieties on You, knowing that You are in control and You are sovereign. Lord, we want to be sober and watchful, allowing You to gain what You desire in us and humbling ourselves under Your mighty hand!
God’s Dealing with His People is an Exercise of His Governmental Administration
The book of Deuteronomy speaks concerning the governmental administration of God; though this expression “governmental administration” is not found in this book, it clearly shows it (see Deut. 16:18-20; 17:8-20; 19:15-21; 21:1-9, 18-23; 22:13-30; 24:1-4, 7, 16; 25:1-3, 5-16).
In this book we see that the inheritors of the land – those who would live on the land and have longevity in the land – had to be a particular type of person to match their God.
Jehovah gave them His law with the statutes and ordinances, and they had to match Him in what He is so that they may enjoy Him and inherit Him.
Therefore, God’s people were not allow to give or receive bribes, there had to be no corruption, no amassing of wealth for personal gain at the expense of others, no stubbornness, no rebelliousness, no sexual immorality, and no excessive governmental punishment from the leaders.
The edicts and judgement were according to God, and God’s people had to live that way; if they lived according to what God is, they would have longevity in the land and be blessed, know Jehovah, be according to His heart, and have all that He intended them to have.
If we read the book of Deuteronomy thoroughly, we will see that it is a book of God’s government, even His governmental administration. God’s dealing with us, His people, is an exercise of His governmental administration (see Rev. 3:19).
When God reproves us or disciplines us, it is not vindictively but with the purpose of bringing forth a certain realization, a repentance, a change, and a blessing, so that we may know Him.
Our wise God is a perfecting Father who loves us, His children, and deals with us governmentally; He disciplines us for the purpose of perfecting us (Heb. 12:6).
For example, the children of Israel were disciplined for their mistakes.
In Num. 12:1-16 we how Miriam and Aaron rebelled against Moses, and they were dealt with by God; Miriam became leprous, and Aaron was disciplined later.
In Num. 14:38-45 we see how the people of Israel rebelled against God and believed the evil report which the ten spies gave them; this brought in God’s discipline, and many fell in the wilderness as a result.
In Num. 16:1-50 we see the rebellion of Korah, who was a leader but was ambitious for more, and he rebelled together with a group of leaders; God reacted supernaturally and the earth opened up and swallowed Korah and his family, the rebelling ones were also consumed, and a plague killed thousands in the camp.
Still, the people’s reaction was not to be humbled under the mighty hand of God thanking Him that He saved them, but they murmured against Jehovah and blamed Him for killing all these ones.
Even Moses was disciplined by God for his mistake in Num. 20:2-13; Moses made a serious mistake, which God could not tolerate, because it touched His administration.
He was told to speak to the rock – but he struck it, and he was angry with God’s people when God was not angry with them, thus failing to properly represent God.
In Num. 12:6-8 God admitted that He makes Himself known to a prophet by a vision or a dream, but it was not so with His servant Moses – he is faithful in all His house, and God spoke with him face to face, even openly, for he beholds the form of Jehovah.
Clearly Jehovah cared for Moses and loved him, holding him as a treasure of treasures; however, our God is not a respecter of persons, and He would not abandon His system of government in favor of His system of grace.
God’s administration is righteous, and even though He loved Moses, He could not for this reason fail to exercise His administration. Rather, because Moses offended God, he lost his right to enter into the good land (Deut. 3:23-29).
Moses pleaded with God that he would enter into the land, but God did not allow Him; He did allow Moses to go up on a mountain peak and see the land, but he didn’t go in it (Deut. 34:1, 4); rather, Moses the servant of Jehovah died there in the land of Moab according to the word of Jehovah (v. 5).
Moses served God faithfully for forty years, but because his mistake involved God’s governmental administration, he lost the right to enter into the good land.
In our experience today, if we don’t know God’s governmental administration and we don’t see a revelation of it and care for it, we have no way of entering into the experience of the all-inclusive, extensive Christ as the good land.
Moses’ being refused in the matter of entering and possessing the good land shows God’s righteous governmental administration; this was an instance of God’s governmental administration, of God’s governmental dealing (1:37).
The way that God dealt with Moses in not allowing him to enter into the good land, though very painful for Moses, caused the children of Israel to have more fear of God’s righteous dealing (4:21).
We do not want to be an example on the negative side, but if we don’t respond to God’s government in a proper way, we may cause Him to deal harshly with us, and when others look at us they will be sobered and humbled under God’s governmental administration.
Lord Jesus, grant us to have a knowledge and even a vision of God’s governmental administration so that we may humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God and not perish on the way. May we have a way to enter into the good land to experience the all-inclusive, extensive Christ, by knowing not only Your love and grace but also Your governmental administration. Amen, Lord, may we realize that Your dealing with us, Your people, is an exercise of Your governmental administration, for You discipline those whom You love, and Your love is for our perfecting.
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by bro. Rick Scatterday for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Deuteronomy, msgs. 2-5, 9, 15, 20, 23, 25, 29 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-Study of Deuteronomy, week 2, The Governmental Administration of the Righteous, Holy, Faithful, and Loving God.
- Further reading: see the article by Ron Kangas on, The Government of God: the Triune God in His Administration, via Affirmation and Critique.
- Hymns on this topic:
– I hardly know myself; / Deceived so much by pride, / I often think I’m right / And am self-satisfied. / Oh, may Thy living light, Lord, / Scatter all my night, Lord, / And everything make bright, Lord, / For this I pray to Thee. (Hymns #426)
– Every moment, every member, / Girded, waiting Thy command; / Underneath the yoke to labor / Or be laid aside as planned. / When restricted in pursuing, / No disquiet will beset; / Underneath Thy faithful dealing / Not a murmur or regret. (Hymns #403)
– Submitted to God’s ruling, / All virtue thus will win; / Rebellion to His Headship / Is but the root of sin. / The evil aim of Satan- / God’s throne to overthrow; / Our aim and goal is ever / His rule to fully know. (Hymns #941)
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