Quote:
Originally Posted by Trapped
As for Job himself? The torment he was put through? Yeah. Ya got me. Job 4:18 says "For He wounds, but He also binds; He strikes, but His hands also heal." Sounds like a human being I would be scared of, honestly. So I'm partially with you on this one.
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You made some great points
Trapped, but isn't Job's assessment here inaccurate? The beginning of Job makes it clear just who "wounds and strikes." Yes, God permitted it, but it is Satan who always does the evil to us. In His wisdom, God uses all the damages done by His adversary to perfect His seekers, though damaged by the fall. The encouragement drawn by all from Job, is not that we will understand "why" such and such is happening in our life, but that we are assured the God is sovereign and truly loves us.
Is not this the real result of the fall, Adam's disobediance in the garden? Nothing is easy, and all "easy" things become worthless to the children of God. All the precious things in life are not physical possessions, but things like love, faith, hope, etc. These don't come cheap. They all require testing and proving to make them valuable. Like Peter learned the hard way, "the proving of our faith more precious than gold."
Which man of God in the Bible or church history did not follow this narrow and difficult way? Adam tried the easy way, and thus he seemed to learn nothing. Yes, Job's suffering was extreme, because he established the groundwork, the example, for others. In this regard Job was a type of Christ; he was not punished for his own sins, rather he was clearly righteous according to God's demands. I think Job's raw cries are quite similar to David's and the Lord's on the cross, "My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?" Yet unlike the Lord, Job was proud and righteous in his own mind. In the end, however, he repented, and God seemed to reward him like no other.