Verse
The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away.
Job 1:21 (NASB 1995)
Blessed be the name of the Lord.
Job reportedly lived in 2200 BC as a man of ancient times. It was a period before Moses and God’s law, possibly around the time of Abraham. Job did not have scripture to study or direct knowledge of the coming Messiah, and yet Job knew something monumental about God that we don’t accept today: our problems are the result of God’s plan. Job announced it right away when suffering struck. God was the reason for it, not bad luck, the fates, or bad people. His misery was ordained by God.
It was God’s doing that Job’s livestock were stolen, his servants were killed, and a sudden storm wiped out his family. It was God’s will that Job was bombarded with this news one after the other. It was only the beginning, as Job would endure painful sores. His forlorn wife would implore him to die.
From a comfortable life to an unbearable nightmare, Job responds to all with surprising maturity. His attitude over his life falling apart goes against human impulse and, especially, our modern independence. Job accepted that his life was granted by God. He didn’t own it. Its outcomes, either good or bad, were at God’s discretion. As God was the author of Job’s entire life, there would be no tragedies or random acts of suffering, only planned events.
A bitter pill
The idea is passed off as blasphemous today. “God, the author of bad events?” No, we see God as working with sin, channeling it to a purpose, but not in control of it. God can’t sin. He can’t be in the presence of sin. Taking the example of Job, we see God assenting to the plan of Satan. The idea wasn’t from God. It takes God off the hook in our minds for Job’s misery.
Does it, though? Do we accept a reading of the Bible that leaves God as a passive-aggressive actor? Is God a cosmic boss who entertains suggestions and blames subordinates? Could God be duped into agreeing to a bad plan?
Removing sin, evil, and bad events from God’s control is a kind of comfort. We don’t want to believe our suffering is God’s fault. And yet, this mental maneuver doesn’t satisfy. If God isn’t in charge, then the world is ruled by random sin. Worse, it’s controlled by our own bad actions. We end up in charge, not God. We become chaos agents God tidies up after like a janitor.
Surprising truth
A nightmare scenario of sinners running the asylum isn’t in the Bible we have. We’re repeatedly told that God is in charge of everything, including evil. It’s a weird concept for many. Aside from being grounded in the Bible, it gives us a God we can appeal to. If God is in charge of everything, then God is in total control. It’s no mistake that God places us in a world where sin and evil are allowed to operate. Does it make sense? The reason is not accidental and is not as mysterious as it seems, but it takes a close reading of scripture.
To hear our sorrows are God’s doing seems to contradict Romans 8:28, “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” The human mind can’t view intense suffering as beneficial. We are ruled by our flesh, which is resistant to God. To accept pain and loss as part of God’s plan is an act of faith. The tidal wave, the cancer diagnosis, the car accident, and the death of a child are ordained by God, however random or meaningless these events appear to be. The most nonsensical event in history, from a human perspective, was Jesus going to the cross. We see how it saved humanity.
Many view the existence of evil as a deal-breaker for accepting God’s plan. Hearing that God uses evil for a holy purpose seems worse. Yet, the Biblical promises suddenly become relevant. If evil isn’t someone else’s fault and God is in control, then finally, the God we’ve heard about all our lives is truly God.
The evidence
A theodicy explains God’s authority in the face of evil. A theodicy is a foray into Biblical concepts that are foreign to human thinking. As Isaiah 55:8 says, “‘For My thoughts are not your thoughts / Nor are your ways My ways.’” It takes a seasoned Bible teacher to remind us of God’s counterintuitive truth.
In “Why Does Evil Dominate the World?” John MacArthur argues for God’s ultimate authority. He provides an exhaustive list of verses (below, NASB 1955). Together, they demonstrate God’s control of all events in the universe.
Yours is the dominion, O Lord,
1 Chronicles 29:11
and You exalt Yourself as head over all.
But our God is in the heavens;
Psalm 115:3
He does whatever he pleases.
He does according to His will in the host of heaven
Psalm 115:3
And among inhabitants of earth;
And no one can ward off His hand
Or say to Him, “What have You done?”
He who is the blessed and only Sovereign,
1 Timothy 6:15
the King of kings and Lord of lords
For You created all things,
Revelation 4:11
and because of Your will they existed and were created
The LORD has made everything for its own purpose,
Proverbs 16:4
Even the wicked for the day of evil.
It is I who put to death and give life.
Deuteronomy 32:39
I have wounded and it is I who heal,
And there is no one who can deliver from My hand.
The LORD said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth?
Exodus 4:11
Or who makes him mute or deaf, or seeing or blind?
Is it not I, the LORD?”
And He called for a famine upon the land;
Psalm 105:16
He broke the whle staff of bread.
They did not fear the LORD; therefore
2 Kings 17:25
the LORD sent lions among them which
killed some of them
The LORD nullifies the counsel of the nations;
Psalm 33:9-11
He frustrates the plans of the peoples.
The counsel of the LORD stands forever,
The plans of His heart from generation to generation
The LORD has established His throne in the heavens,
Psalm 103:19
And His sovereignty rules over all.
For the LORD of hosts has planned, and who can frustrate it?
Isaiah 14:27
And as for His stretched-out hand, who can turn it back?
My purpose will be established,
Isaiah 46:10
And I will accomplish all My good pleasure
“The LORD kills and makes alive;
Isaiah 46:10
He brings down to Sheol and raises up
“The Lord makes poor and rich;
He brings low, He also exalts.
He raises the poor from the dust,
He lifts the needy from the ash heap
To make them sit with nobles,
And inherit a seat of honor;
For the pillars of the earth are the LORD’s,
And he set the world on them.
Accepting sorrows
To think God brings about hardships is a seismic shift. It puts a name to our daily miseries and deepest longings. We aren’t victims of an uncaring world. We’re inside a plan that God is setting forth. What we want from life isn’t always part of this plan. We can pray and hope, but God has the final say.
Our culture disagrees. You can be anything you want, it says. “You only need to dream it.” Vision casters benefit financially from running dream factories. We buy our way in, handing them money so our dreams can become a reality. Many of us have tried this. On a personal note, I went to graduate school for writing. I studied under successful novelists but wasn’t published like they were. The reasons for my failure were, in retrospect, understandable. The culture moved away from reading as a major hobby. My subject matter of faith in a secular world became very unpopular. Getting published went from a calculated risk to a pure game of chance, like winning the lottery. I had lost.
Many of us live with disappointment, moving through life like the walking wounded. Whether it’s a couple unable to be parents, a person who can’t find a life partner, or a dreamer with a passion that never found an outlet, we can’t simply shake it off and pretend the failure didn’t matter. It defines us. This is why the knowledge of God’s sovereignty reveals our place in a bigger plan. Our task now becomes accepting the result if God didn’t will our success.
Job’s lesson
We see Job wrestle with this truth. He knew God had a right to his life. He responded faithfully. “Through all this Job did not sin nor did he blame God.” (Job 1:22) Only Job wanted something in return: to know why.
Let the Almighty answer me!
Job 31:35
Job endured a catastrophic series of events. It was unusual and unlikely, so demanding an explanation made sense from a human perspective. Job hadn’t sinned. It gave him confidence that God was obligated to give an account.
The truest lesson of Job lies in God’s eventual answer: Job deserved nothing.
Will the faultfinder contend with the Almighty?
Job 40:2
Let him who reporves God answer it.
God chastises Job’s presumption. “Will you really annul My judgment? Will you condemn Me that you may be justified?” (Job 40:8). God is God. No matter the level of suffering Job accepted on God’s behalf, Job earned no right to criticize. He remained a subject, and Job’s will was not God’s concern.
God’s reason
Why would a God who “causes all things to work together for good” use evil? If nothing surprises God, then the sin of Adam and Eve was ordained. Why would God create a universe where rebellion played a prominent role?
Many believe it’s a mystery of God. And yet, John MacArthur reminds us that God does everything for His own glory. In every dramatic Biblical event, God’s glory is always revealed. “For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, ‘For this very purpose I raised you up, to demonstrate My power in you, and that My name might be proclaimed throughout the whole earth.’” (Romans 9:17).
God’s chief aim of revealing his glory strikes us as egotistical. Yet, everyone strives to show their own glory. For God, there’s a better reason. MacArthur explains that God’s attributes are heightened against the backdrop of sin.
What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory,
Romans 9:22-23
Patience, righteousness, and grace are best revealed in darkness. It’s the way God makes these attributes known to us in this world. If we accept God’s invitation, we’ll inherit a new heaven and earth (Revelation 21) free from sin.
Our hope
Once Job fully accepts God’s sovereignty, he receives his former blessings and more. This suggests a correlation between our obedience and God’s favor. Job may not have forgotten his loss; how could he? But he was able to view his sorrows against the promise of eternity. He didn’t dismiss God as mercurial, harsh, and unapproachable or believe himself to be a victim of circumstance. He did a radical thing in being a man who let God be God.
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