The above three texts demonstrate several ways in which God still acts towards people in a sinful and broken world ‘as a father’—at least as some human fathers do towards their children. Even so, God also disciplines, reproves and corrects his children; but his primary motivations for doing so are his love for us, and his delight in us. And his goal is: to see us walking on ‘straight paths’, free from sin.

When the writer to the Hebrews cites the above text from Proverbs, he encourages his readers to think of the various kinds of hardships that come their way as their Father's discipline—as his training (Heb.12:5-12 Med.#33). But if such training is to bear fruit in our lives, we must embrace it by trusting our Father, and by recognizing our own limited perspective about the difficulties and calamities that enter our lives. As I once heard a pastor put it: “The question is not: Why do bad things happen to good people? Rather: What do good people do when bad things happen?”

This also applies to our Father's ‘reproof’, when his Spirit convicts me of some wrongdoing (Med.#57), or his Word challenges my behavior. Will I repent and ‘turn away’ from anything that is evil, trusting in his love and good purposes for me? Or will I try to justify myself? But an important part of ‘growing up’ spiritually, involves learning to differentiate our Father's correction from the rebukes of religious people who misrepresent him and his Word.

To recognize my Father's correction, I first need to adopt his perspective about sin—that it is not primarily about breaking rules, but about not walking in right relationship[i] with our Father and with other people. For the summary of the Law concerns our attitudes and behavior towards God and towards our ‘neighbor’ (Lk.10:25-37). Since we all still bear the image of our Father-Creator, then sin, at its deepest root, is anything we do or say that is not ‘honoring’ to my Father and their Father (Mal.1:6; Jn.8:49, Med.#64). Think of the first line in the prayer Jesus taught us (Med.#13).

Next, I need to learn to apply three tests. First, a word of prophecy from God is nourishing, like wheat. The word of people who speak falsely in his name is like straw (Jer.23:25-29). Both come from the same plant, but one produces holy, heart-felt conviction while the other only produces fear. Second, apply the Scripture test: does someone's prophetic ‘word’ for me reflect a healthy interpretation of God's written Word?

Third, apply the life-style test: is the ‘prophet’ living in full obedience to God's Word—with a lifestyle and way of speaking that reflect the fruit of the Spirit (Gal.5:14-26; Mat. 7:15-16, Med.#16)? More specifically, apply the anger test, using the first Bible text above. Do the angry words of a modern-day ‘prophet’ truly represent the anger of God? Probably not. For God is a Father who does not get angry easily and who does not stay angry very long; a Father whose momentary anger is overshadowed by his faithful love and grace, a Father who knows our weaknesses and vulnerabilities, and who takes these into account in the compassionate way he corrects us. Many religious people and leaders forget: that their angry words about sin will never ‘achieve the righteousness of God’ (Jas.1:20); and that ‘it is the kindness of God that leads (people) to repentance’ (Rom.2:4).

All three of the above Bible texts compare our Creator to an earthly father in some way. So many theologians have concluded that ‘Father’ is only a kind of metaphor for God. But this only works if God is like an ideal human father, since God is unlike all those fathers who are quick to get angry and stay angry with us for long periods of time. And the emphasis in Malachi is on us responding to God like a father because he is a Father to us. So yes, there are texts in the Bible where ‘father’ is a metaphor for God, but these are far outweighed in both the Tanakh (Old Testament) and in the New Testament by the vast majority of Scripture passages where he is called ‘Father’ simply because that is what he is to us.

Now the text from Proverbs compares God to a ‘father’ who seeks to apply appropriate correction and discipline to his children when they are still minors. In Malachi's prophecy, God compares himself to both a ‘father’ and a ‘master’, seemingly equating the two roles since both deserve honor and respect. As a result, many Christians and Christian leaders still think of themselves and other believers as underage children and servants in relation to God ‘as a father’. Yet, like the apostle Paul, who makes a similar household comparison between an underage child and a household servant, they need a revelation that such a comparison was only appropriate during the first phase of our Father's plan for human beings. For with the coming of the Messiah and the Spirit, our Father's intention is to both redeem us and begin relating to us as his adult sons and daughters (Med.#4).[ii]

Are you able to see how God, though like an earthly father in some ways, is also more loving and faithful, more just and trustworthy, and more worthy of respect as a Father than the father figures in your family, tribe or religious group? And are you able to learn these important things about his character from the limited paradigm of the Tanakh, by embracing these passages within the context of the larger revelation of the Father that has been given to us in Jesus?

Father, even your discipline and correction flow out of your delight in me as your son (daughter); and out of your faithful love, and compassion for me in my vulnerabilities; (Prv.3:11-12; Ps.103:8,11,13-14)

I praise you that your goal in disciplining and correcting me is to establish me on a straight path towards your home: in peace and free me from the imprisonments of sin, (Deut.32:6; Prov.3:6,2; Ps.23:3,6; 103:12; )

Father, I choose again today to trust you with all my heart, and not to lean on my own understanding; nor on the supposed ‘wisdom’ of false prophets who presume to speak in your name. (Prov.3:5; Jer.23:25)

I choose to respect and honor you, Father: by submitting to your discipline in the hardships that come my way; by heeding your reproofs and corrections and by turning away from all evil. (Mal.1:6; Heb.12:7a,9b; Prv.3:11,7)

[i] The ‘straight paths’ (Pr.3:6) that our Father wants to lead us into are also called ‘paths of righteousness’ (Ps.23:3; Prv.2:9). In these two texts, the Hebrew word for righteousness [tzdq] can also mean ‘justice’, but in the Septuagint, the Greek word [dikaio-sunee] (literally, ‘righteous-with’) implies ‘right relationship’—i.e. with God and with people.

[ii] See also Med.#33 for how the author of the letter to the Hebrews applies the text about a father's discipline (Prv.3:6) to us as adult sons and daughters.