January 31
An Act of God?
While
he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The fire of God is fallen from heaven, and hath burned up the
sheep, and the servants, and consumed them; and I only am escaped alone to tell
thee (Job 1:16)
Many of us rightfully chastise the insurance
companies that call natural disasters, “an act of God”. However, God has long
been blamed for acts that He really had nothing to do with. When we read verses
6 to 12 of Job chapter 1, we learn that Satan made false accusations against
God and Job. He then challenged God to prove him a liar by allowing him to
destroy Job’s life. God reluctantly allowed this test in order to remove doubt about
His and Job’s character from the minds of the watching angels.
The people during Job’s time had very little
revelation of a being called Satan. Therefore, everything was attributed to God
including the work of Satan. God Himself, using the modes of expression of the
people of that time takes responsibility for Satan’s actions, even though He
was not pleased with them (Job 1:11-12; 2:3). As some scholars have noted:
“Since there is
no developed picture of a devil or satan in most of the Old Testament, God
takes responsibility for everything, even for evil he might have prevented. God
stands above opposing deities; his power is unsurpassable, according to the
Hebrew Bible. And in that world of competing deities and rival religions,
absolute control was essential. In other words, in order to meet ancient
Israelites in terms they could understand in their world, God takes ultimate
responsibility.”[1]
The Old Testament believers had a good reason for
attributing these things to God. They did not have a full revelation concerning
the works of the devil that have been given since the time that Jesus manifested
in the flesh. However, our Lord Jesus and His inspired writers of the New
Testament have given us a fuller understanding of the true personality behind
evil, including natural disasters. Therefore, we should stop blaming God,
accepting evil, and stand against it by our authority in Christ.
[1] Clark, Douglas
R.; Brunt, John C. (editors) Introducing
the Bible Volume I: The Old Testament and Intertestamental Literature (New
York: University Press of America, 1997), p. 171
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