What is the greatest discipline Israel will face?
Israel’s greatest discipline is the tribulation, a period of judgment unlike anything any other people have ever experienced. Though God will discipline the nation for unbelief and sin, He will not destroy Israel or permanently turn His back on them; His mercy will not depart, and He has set them aside only for a time.
Les teaches that even though Israel commits iniquity, the “but” of verse 15 shows the flip side: God says His mercy will not depart from him, unlike what He took from Saul. Regardless of how far Israel falls into wickedness, God will discipline them, and they will still face the greatest discipline any people have ever had when they go through the tribulation. But He is not destroying the nation of Israel, nor has He turned His back on them forever. He has set them aside. Les also notes the timeline: about 2,000 years to Abraham, then another 2,000 years from Abraham to Christ’s first advent, during which God dealt primarily with the favored nation of Israel, with some exceptions. Even after the crucifixion, in the early chapters of Acts, Peter addresses the children of Israel and men of Israel and pleads with them to respond to the fact that the one they crucified was their Messiah. Israel nationally would not believe it—some did, but for the most part the nation rejected it—and so God set them aside.