Forty stripes may be given him, but not more, lest, if one should go on to beat him with more stripes than these, your brother be degraded in your sight. Deuteronomy 25:3 – Here we see God outlining a punishment to be given to those who committed a crime deserving of such a punishment. They were to beaten with a whip/rod in an amount that correlated to the severity of the crime committed. We see though that God limited the stripes one could be given to 40, for any more could beat the man so badly that he’d be forever scarred and mutilated in his community. While given as a way to correct evil, we see that this law was abused and even used as a tool in the hands of the enemy. Paul, a powerhouse for the Gospel in the New Testament, says in 2 Corinthians 11:24 that five different times he was given 39 stripes, a custom of the Jews to subtract one from the total they could give just in case they miscounted. Many say Jesus also got the 39 stripes, but we must remember it wasn’t the Jews that flogged Jesus, it was the Romans. They had no care to follow Jewish law so likely Jesus was beaten far more than the limit of 40. What’s the takeaway though for us from all this? Holy living doesn’t equate a bypass to feeling pain. Paul lived holy, boldly preaching the Gospel, yet faced such terrible pain. Jesus, God in the flesh, One who could do no wrong, felt the fullest extent of pain one could at His crucifixion. I say this not to frighten, but simply to prepare. In this life we will navigate physical, emotional, and relational pain even when we are living well for Christ. We have an enemy seeking to dissuade us from following Jesus. Choose to stay faithful through the pain knowing its temporary for this life is temporary. Trust the Lord in the pain knowing He walked through the pain first. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 3463
Question To Ponder: How has going through a painful situation grown you?
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