Retributive Punishment - Discussion Starters

Retribution. [Lesson 7 for Nov 12, 2016] We don’t often see the word “retribution” presented as the adjective, “retributive,” do we? What is retribution? Is punishment-bearing retribution stronger than simply suffering from the results of sin? Why doesn’t God choose retribution as punishment for all of our sins? Or does He?
First Accusations from Eliphaz, then Bildad. How were Bildad’s lectures against Job different from those of Eliphaz? What is Bildad’s primary blunder in presenting God’s way of dealing with sin? Are you or I ever tempted to look at the sins that beset us as logical outcomes of our earthy lives? Bildad is criticized by Bible students for his imbalanced presentation of what God is like. What is missing?
And now Zophar speaks. Would you give Zophar more–or less–credit for wanting to help Job than Eliphaz did? Or Bildad? Why? Imagine being Job, the subject of these poetic lectures. Do you ever feel that God should punish you more than he does? Did Job? What does Zophar, a “friend” of Job think that Job should do to appease God? Is he right? Partly so? How does Zophar’s message speak to you?
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Divine Retribution. Do you think stories and memories of the universal flood could have been seen by those who lived afterwards as unwavering evidence of God’s desire for retribution because of man’s sins? Are the events associated with the Second Coming of Jesus equally retributive in nature? Is there more to God’s justice than His grace and forgiveness? What is divine retribution?
If the Lord Creates a New Thing. True or not: “Promise after promise” and “warning after warning” pretty much summarize the Old Testament. Do you think that Job’s “comforters” clearly understood that God metes out punishment for those who rebel against Him? Are you and I–and our children–ever in danger of invoking God’s wrath? Explain how a loving God can use anger as a method of dealing with His people.
The Second Death. Do you ever imagine God weeping in pain as He tosses yet another unrepentant sinner into the fire of eternal death? If it makes Him sad to destroy the wicked, why does He do it? Is all suffering the result of the sin of the person who is suffering? What about the two-year-old killed in a fiery explosion at sea? How should we try to comfort those stricken with the pain of disease or injury? How can we assure them of God’s love for them?

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Retributive Punishment – Discussion Starters

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