Does God stands behind all evil on earth

Previously posted on Bijbelvorsers, June 29, 2011, obtained the article “Staat God achter al het kwaad hier op aarde” (Does God stands behind all evil on earth) to December 11, 2014 1029 viewings by Bible scholars on Webs, the website of the Association for Bible study.

Neuroimaging sheds light on the seat of suffering

Neuroimaging sheds light on the seat of suffering (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The article looked at the bad elements which may come over us in our life and how they influence our relationship with others and with the Divine Creator.

We often hear people give the remark that it is God who punishes the world. They say that disasters are on this world, the wrath of God. According to them it is a rebuke of God for the people living wrong. One may well ask why people still do their best to live well are also ‘being punished’. Why should people who do well suffer also?

Day, Fred Holland (1864-1933) - Da Suffering t...

Day, Fred Holland (1864-1933) – Da Suffering the ideal 2 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In the ancient Hebrew scriptures one can find the Book of Job, in which an image is outlined why there is suffering on this planet. We can read the story in the book of Job, the wealthy man who is unexpectedly hit by calamities of all sorts of nature which make life difficult for him so that he even wants to put an end to it.

The Book of Job can be a very good teaching tool for us to make a new start or to find new ways to cope with our suffering and with all the problems which seem to be too much for us.

Therefore I would like to advice you to take that Old Book at hand and to read it. Perhaps the Bible Study I wrote on our ecclesia site can help you to go through it and to see solutions to your own situation.

Perhaps it can be interesting to look at what happened to the biblical figure Job. This rich man who lived according the Will of God but suddenly had to find that everything went wrong in his previously so blessed live. What had gone wrong? was it a penalty from God? Did somebody found that vengeance should have come over this godly man and his family?

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Please do find out in the Bible Study at the Christadelphian Ecclesia Brussel-Leuven.

  1. Bad things no punishment from God
  2. Profitable disasters
  3. Facing disaster fatigue
  4. Fragments from the Book of Job #1: chapters 1-12
  5. Fragments from the Book of Job #2: chapters 12-20
  6. Fragments from the Book of Job #3: chapters 21-26
  7. Fragments from the Book of Job #4: chapters 27-31
  8. Fragments from the Book of Job #5: chapters 32-37
  9. Fragments from the Book of Job #6: chapters 38-42
  10. Fragments from the Book of Job #7 Epilogue
  11. Let us recognise how great God is

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Dutch version about this subject / Nederlandse tekst over dit gegeven: Staat God achter al het kwaad hier op aarde

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Additional reading:

  1. Science, scepticism, doubts and beliefs
  2. Science, belief, denial and visibility 2
  3. Are religious and secular ethicists climbing the same mountain
  4. Being Religious and Spiritual 1 Immateriality and Spiritual experience
  5. Because men choose to go their own way
  6. We are ourselves responsible
  7. Looking on what is going on and not being of it
  8. Dealing with worries in our lives
  9. Self inflicted misery #1 The root by man
  10. Self inflicted misery #7 Good news to our suffering
  11. Self inflicted misery #9 Subject to worldly things
  12. About suffering
  13. Seems no future in suffering
  14. Partakers of the sufferings
  15. Suffering continues
  16. I Can’t Believe That (1) … God would send anyone to hell
  17. I Can’t Believe That … (2) God would allow children to suffer
  18. Choices to make in suffering
  19. Suffering produces perseverance
  20. Suffering leading to joy
  21. Suffering-through the apparent silence of God
  22. Suffering redemptive because Jesus redeemed us from sin
  23. Words from God about suffering
  24. Gospel = Good tidings, good news, a good message
  25. God’s promises to us in our suffering
  26. God’s Comfort
  27. Miracles in our time of suffering
  28. Objects of God’s final wrath
  29. He who smiles rather than rages is always the stronger
  30. Not holding back and getting out of darkness
  31. Being Religious and Spiritual 7 Transcendence to become one
  32. National Natural Disaster and Bible Prophecy
  33. Reacting to Disasters
  34. Cancerous Black Holes
  35. Getting out of the dark corners of this world
  36. Thoughts on Passover
  37. Salvation, trust and action in Jesus #1 Suffering covered by Peace Offering
  38. A love not exempting us from trials
  39. From pain to purpose
  40. Dying or not
  41. Some one or something to fear #6 Faith in the Most High
  42. Commit your self to the trustworthy creator
  43. Creator and Blogger God 3 Lesson and solution
  44. Let us recognise how great God is
  45. God should be your hope
  46. You God hold the future
  47. Heed of the Saviour
  48. Trusting, Faith, Calling and Ascribing to Jehovah #10 Prayer #8 Condition
  49. Continuing Paul’s Prayer Requests
  50. Prayer for the day
  51. Songs in the night Worship God only
  52. Rejoice even though bound to grieve
  53. Profitable disasters
  54. Character is built
  55. Pain and Suffering is inevitable but Misery is optional
  56. The blessing of a broken leg
  57. Faith and trial
  58. Autumn traditions for 2014 – 4 Blasphemy and ridiculing faith in God
  59. That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us
  60. True riches
  61. What moves mountains? Trust!
  62. Poetry of Peace
  63. Aligned
  64. Importance of parents 1
  65. We all have to have dreams

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  • Questioning God (dailybibleplan.com)
    The next time you feel tempted to question God or to try to explain His actions, remember this passage.  Remember that we were not there for creation.  Remember that we cannot explain the intricacies of this world.  Remember that we cannot explain how the wind blows or how storms move.  Most importantly, remember to trust God.  He has a plan.  He is in control.  He loves you and will always do what is best for you.  When we submit to God’s authority in our lives, we can rest in the knowledge that He will care for us completely.
  • I think ignorance should be punishable (maasaiboys.wordpress.com)
    It is a long stretch of imagination to read in Job the hope for a future Christ, one born of a virgin. There is nothing in Job that can be read to mean he is making a prophecy of a future Messiah.
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    If one believed they were headed for heaven, they wouldn’t be holding on to life as hard as they do even in the face of terminal illness. If there were true theists, they would be praying more than they are actually doing and we would have them concerned more seriously in finding out which of the many religions is the correct one for insurance against finding oneself in the wrong place. And I think if they truly believed the words found in Mark, none of them would work, they would live like birds expecting their god to provide for them. Being non-believers, they pray halfheartedly knowing all they believe is a lie and do it only for show. They work their asses off because no god is going to bring food on their tables.
  • Making Sense of Suffering (enteringthepromisedland.wordpress.com)
    Eventually, in God’s timing, the story of Job became incredibly real to me as I began to experience deep suffering in my own life. I learned I had a choice: to either let the suffering accomplish the goal and purpose that God wanted in my life; or, let the suffering crush and destroy me. God put the book of Job right in the center of the Bible for a very good reason: it’s an example of faith in the night seasons. God intends for all of us to use it as a “road map” on our journey through the dark night, always keeping in mind that at the end of the road, Job finally “saw” God as he never had seen Him before, and it changed his life forever.
  • With Friends Like These… (thebluepaper.com)
    “don’t fight the law because the law wins” or “burning the chicken on the barbecue might not be a bad thing” or “if you see God and Satan having a drink together and they happen to glance your way, grab your ankles and…” Well. You know the rest.
  • Protecting Your Heart from Entitlement (pastortyrus.com)
    Job, he never charged God foolishly for his lost, and in the end he was awarded double than what he had before his divine test. If you are reading this blog today and you feel that you have allowed possessions to lead you to entitlement, stop and repent. Ask God to clean your heart from the ungodliness that can come with riches, and vow to always be conscious and grateful of everything in your life.  For this is the sentiments of a grateFull heart – if I lose it all, to God be the Glory for what I had, if I gain more, to God be the Glory for what he has given.
  • Wrestling with the Big Questions: A Day In Job at LICC (bibleandmission.redcliffe.org)
    The book of Job speaks a compelling word of honesty and hope into the deepest and most difficult of human experiences. Job’s story of suffering and the process he goes through with his comforters and with God is just as relevant for Christians and local churches today as we wrestle with our own questions and the questions of those around us.
  • The Weather (frmilovan.wordpress.com)
    In the end, however, the weather doesn’t have to be any sort of indication of God’s disposition. As our Lord tells us: “For He makes His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matt. 5:45).
  • I Am Job (billboardministry1.wordpress.com)
    He has given him power over all that I have, even me /  But death is not near / I have lost all and at moments thought of death.
  • Proverbs and fart jokes and other ancient wisdom literature (patheos.com)
    Read Job, the Psalms and Ecclesiastes and you’ll have a proper perspective for reading those platitudes in Proverbs.

    “The Lord’s curse is on the house of the wicked, but he blesses the abode of the righteous,” Proverbs 3:33 says.

    “Funny you should say that,” says the Psalmist. “I just came from the house of the wicked, and they’re doing pretty well. They’re expanding the place, actually, since they just took over the abode of the righteous and sent those poor saps packing.”

    “Trust me,” Job adds, “the world does not work that way.”

  • November 28, 2014 – wrestling (cohdailyprayer2014.wordpress.com)
    If our pain is something that needs to be removed as soon as possible, the opportunities it sets before us are stifled. The world offers us solutions to our pain: technology gives us peace and distraction, psychology fixes our interior life, medicine helps us live forever and promises us well-being.

    But we will still get sick, we will still suffer, we will still die. The promises of the passing-away world are empty, but they stoke our vain expectations nonetheless. Even when our pain does not require psychological or medical help, our society provides experts to save us from discomfort.

    Our struggle does not belong to the experts, it is ours. It is part of the upside-down gift of redemption by which we can be driven to God and experience light casting out darkness. The impact of the new creation is not instant, however. I’m not sure God is into the quick fixes; spritiual recovery is a process. Learning to appreciate the process is a big part of participating in the solution.