Wisdom 11:1-16: a reflection

1Wisdom prospered their works in the hand of a holy prophet. 2They traveled through a desert without inhabitant, and they pitched their tents in trackless regions. 3They withstood enemies and repelled foes. 4They thirsted, and they called upon you, and water was given to them out of the flinty rock, and healing of their thirst out of the hard stone. 5For by what things their foes were punished, by these they in their need were benefited. 6When enemies were troubled with clotted blood instead of a river’s ever-flowing fountain, 7to rebuke the decree for the slaying of babies, you gave them abundant water beyond all hope, 8having shown by the thirst which they had suffered how you punished the adversaries. 9For when they were tried, although chastened in mercy, they learned how the ungodly were tormented, being judged with wrath. 10For you tested these as a father admonishing them; but you searched out those as a stern king condemning them. 11Yes and whether they were far off or near, they were equally distressed; 12for a double grief seized them, and a groaning at the memory of things past. 13For when they heard that through their own punishments the others benefited, they recognized the Lord. 14For him who long before was thrown out and exposed they stopped mocking. In the end of what happened, they marveled, having thirsted in another manner than the righteous. 15But in return for the senseless imaginings of their unrighteousness, wherein they were led astray to worship irrational reptiles and wretched vermin, you sent upon them a multitude of irrational creatures to punish them, 16that they might learn that by what things a man sins, by these he is punished.

Reflecting on the exodus, the book of Wisdom draws a contrast in how God dealt with two peoples. Israel, when they thirsted in the wilderness, cried out and were given water from the rock; they were disciplined, but in mercy, chastened as a father admonishes his children. Egypt, by contrast, was judged as a stern king condemning. The same God, but two very different modes: for his own people, correction in mercy; for the unrepentant, judgment. You tested these as a father admonishing them, the passage says, but you searched out those as a stern king condemning.

Notice the distinction the passage draws. God's dealings with his own people, even when hard, even painful, are fatherly discipline, correction aimed at their good, chastening in mercy, meant to teach and restore. This is different in kind from judgment. When God disciplines his children, it is the loving correction of a father, not the condemning sentence of a judge; the aim is not to destroy but to instruct and to draw them back.

That distinction is a comfort when we undergo hard things as God's people. The difficulties and corrections we face are not God condemning us as a stern judge, but a Father disciplining us in mercy, for our good, to teach and restore us. As Hebrews would later say, God disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in. When you undergo hard discipline, do not mistake it for condemnation. Receive it as the loving correction of a Father who is chastening you in mercy, aiming at your good. His discipline of his children is fatherly, not condemning; submit to it, and let it do its restoring work.

Lord, the book of Wisdom shows that you dealt with your own people as a father admonishing his children, disciplining them in mercy, even while you judged the unrepentant as a stern king. When I undergo hard things as your child, help me not to mistake your discipline for condemnation. Remind me that your correction of those you love is fatherly, aimed at my good, meant to teach and restore, not to destroy. You discipline those you love as a father the child he delights in. Help me receive your discipline as mercy, submit to it, and let it do its restoring work in me.