God's Word - It "Comforts" and "Afflicts"

Have you ever heard the saying, "God's Word comforts the afflicted and afflicts the comfortable"? I have, and I beleive it's true.

For instance, notice the words Paul uses to describe the benefits of the Bible in 2 Timothy 3:16-17, "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work" (NIV).

Did you catch that? God's Word is "useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness." The main point to understand here is that God's Word is profitable for every season of our lives. Sometimes we're afflicted, and the promises of Scriptures soothe our wounded souls; at other times we grow too "comfortable" (meaning, we're complacent, apathethic, lax, etc.), and the message of God's Word stirs us to repentance. For example, Isaiah proclaimed words of comfort (see Isaiah 40:1ff) and challenge (see Isaiah 1:1ff); Jesus preached words of reassurance (see Matthew 11:28-30) and rebuke (Matthew 23:1ff).

We actually see God's Word fulfilling both of these roles in Nehemiah 8-9. One of the main features of the book of Nehemiah is its description of Ezra reading and interpreting God's Word publicly while the people stood and listened to the Scriptures for hours (see Nehemiah 8:2-8). What a powerful picture!

Now as the Word of God was read and explained, we see different responses to its message. First, the people were told not to mourn because they "had been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law" (Nehemiah 8:9b, NIV). Here we can see how the Scriptures comforted the people (see also Nehemiah 2:9-12).

Second, the people also confessed and repented when they heard God's Word. Nehemiah 9:3 says, "[The people] stood where they were and read from the Book of the Law of the Lord their God for a quarter of a day, and spent another quarter in confession and in worshiping the Lord their God" (NIV). Here we can see how God's Word flashed light on His people's sin and "afflicted" them in their disobedience (see also Nehemiah 9).

It's important for us to understand this two-pronged benefit of God's Word - "comfort" and "affliction". Why? Simple: The Bible, as a true lamp to our feet and light to our path (see Psalm 119:105), does give us rays of hope in the darkness ("comfort") and does reveal areas for repentance because of our disobedience ("afflict the comfortable").

So, again, I beleive it - God's Word truly "comforts the afflicted" and "afflicts the comfortable!"

Let's always have open hearts to the powerful truth of the Scripture which sets us free, indeed (see Psalm 119:9-11; John 8:31-32; Hebrews 4:12-13).

Blessings...