Tribulation exactly what you should want!

In Deuteronomy 28 is a theology of suffering you won’t hear preached. God gives Israel a list of 60-plus bad things He’ll let happen to them if they don’t keep their covenant with Him.

Among the pure misery promised the Jews: “If thou wilt not observe to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that thou mayest fear this glorious and fearful name, THE LORD THY GOD;
[59] Then the LORD will make thy plagues wonderful, and the plagues of thy seed, even great plagues, and of long continuance, and sore sicknesses, and of long continuance.
[60] Moreover he will bring upon thee all the diseases of Egypt, which thou wast afraid of; and they shall cleave unto thee.
[61] Also every sickness, and every plague, which is not written in the book of this law, them will the LORD bring upon thee, until thou be destroyed.
[62] And ye shall be left few in number, whereas ye were as the stars of heaven for multitude; because thou wouldest not obey the voice of the LORD thy God.”

“That word ‘wonderful’ in the passage means something to wonder at, such as, ‘Man, how much sicker can we get?!’ ” explains Richard Jordan. “God promises, ‘I’ll smite you with the botch of Egypt.’ I'd just as soon not know what that is! He even promises every sickness and every plague which is not written. I mean, He’s going to give them all the ones that are written and then, ‘With the ones I didn’t put in, I’m going to give you those too! And ye shall be left few in number.’

“The trouble that came to Israel gave them an idea about God’s attitude toward them. He says, ‘If you’re not keeping my covenant and you get sick it’s because I made you sick! I’m going to put diseases on you and while you’re laid up in bed trying to recover, I’m going to let the Gentiles swoop in and steal your crops!’

“He says, ‘You’ll be too sick to go out and fight but, if you keep my covenant and a Gentile even pokes his head into your field, one errand boy with a stick can make a thousand of them flee!’

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“Health and wealthers” hate it when you remind them of Jesus’ famous saying, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.”

As Jordan explains, “Israel was under the curse of those curses back there in Deuteronomy 28 and the wealthy people were violators of God’s Word while the poor people were God’s people. That’s why He said ‘sell all that you’ve got and give it to the poor and I’ll give you the blessings in the kingdom.’ Little different kind of economy than today, huh?

“Now, if you lived in that economy, or thought that’s where we are today, and you got sick, you would have to think, ‘God made me sick and is trying to teach me something through my suffering. He’s telling me I’m out of the will of God.’

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“Under today’s program, Paul says tribulation is designed to work patience and is actually the context for Believers to apply the Bible doctrine that gives them the capacity to gain experience. This is why unbelievers often don’t get why a loving God allows suffering.

“Tribulation will teach you that you better stay by the doctrine because that’s all that works. The only thing going to work in your life is who God’s made you in Christ, and when you stay with that, and you have that patience just to stay with the truth, you get some experience and that experience gives you hope.

“You know, I’ve asked myself this question many times: ‘Why would I want to know about all this information in Scripture if I never had a time in my life when I needed it and could see it live in me?’ And all of a sudden, when you think about it that way, the tribulation isn’t tribulation so much.

“The justice of God can give you peace, but it can’t give you patience. He can give you access, but He can’t give you experience. Patience comes from the experiences of life. You develop persistent fortitude; the unwavering endurance by just sticking with the Word.

“In Galatians 2:20, Paul says the only thing you’re ever going to learn in life, you’re just going to learn it at different, deeper levels, is, ‘I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.’ ”