Human Suffering

“Again the LORD spoke to me and said, ‘Do not marry or have children in a place like this. I will tell you what is going to happen to the children who are born here and to their parents. They will die of terrible diseases, and no one will mourn for them or bury them. Their bodies will lie like piles of manure on the ground. They will be killed in war or die of starvation, and their bodies will be food for the birds and the wild animals.’” (Jeremiah 16:1-4)

“O LORD, how long must I call for help before you listen, before you save us from violence? Why do you make me see such trouble? How can you stand to look on such wrongdoing? Destruction and violence are all around me, and there is fighting and quarreling everywhere. The law is weak and useless, and justice is never done. Evil people get the better of the righteous, and so justice is perverted.” (Habakkuk 1:1-4)

“LORD, from the very beginning you are God. You are my God, holy and eternal. LORD, my God and protector, you have chosen the Babylonians and made them strong so that they can punish us. But how can you stand these treacherous, evil men? Your eyes are too holy to look at evil, and you cannot stand the sight of people doing wrong. So why are you silent while they destroy people who are more righteous than they are? How can you treat people like fish or like a swarm of insects that have no ruler to direct them?” (Habakkuk 1:12-14)

“The Babylonians catch people with hooks, as though they were fish. They drag them off in nets and shout for joy over their catch! They even worship their nets and offer sacrifices to them, because their nets provide them with the best of everything. Are they going to use their swords forever and keep on destroying nations without mercy?” (Habakkuk 1:15-17)

“The enemy will surround the city and try to kill its people. The siege will be so terrible that the people inside the city will eat one another and even their own children.” (Jeremiah 19:9)

“Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)

Abel Job Elisha Isaiah Jeremiah Ezekiel John the Baptist Jesus James Paul Peter John

“When the lamb opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slaughtered because of God’s word and the testimony they had given about him. They cried out in a loud voice, ‘Holy and true Master, how long before you judge and take revenge on those living on earth who shed our blood?’” (Revelation 6:9-10)

“Each of the souls was given a white robe. They were told to rest a little longer until all their coworkers, the other Christians, would be killed as they had been killed.” (Revelation 6:11)

God always does everything possible to prevent human suffering

If we could pull the curtain back on every situation of human suffering, it would make sense

Our perspective will be different when we look back on suffering

“The priests did not ask, 'Where is the LORD?' My own priests did not know me. The rulers rebelled against me; the prophets spoke in the name of Baal and worshiped useless idols.” (Jeremiah 2:8)

“They were furious with me and had me beaten and locked up in the house of Jonathan, the court secretary, whose house had been made into a prison. I was put in an underground cell and kept there a long time.” (Jeremiah 37:15-16)

“So they took me and let me down by ropes into [the] well, which was in the palace courtyard. There was no water in the well, only mud, and I sank down in it.” (Jeremiah 38:6)

“Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, who fought back with his angels; but the dragon was defeated, and he and his angels were not allowed to stay in heaven any longer. The huge dragon was thrown out---that ancient serpent, named the Devil, or Satan, that deceived the whole world. He was thrown down to earth, and all his angels with him.” (Revelation 12:7-9)

“God, who is the Creator of all things, kept his secret hidden through all the past ages, in order that at the present time, by means of the church, the angelic rulers and powers in the heavenly world might learn of his wisdom in all its different forms.” (Ephesians 3:9-10 GNB)

We are a “spectacle for the whole world of angels…” (1 Peter 1:12 GNB)

The Good News is referred to as “things which even the angels would like to understand.” (1 Corinthians 4:9 GNB)

God

Human Non-Human

“polemos” “polemics” – the art or

practice of argumentation or controversy

“In the middle of the garden stood the tree that gives life and the tree that gives knowledge of what is good and what is bad…’You may eat the fruit of any tree in the garden, except the tree that gives knowledge of what is good and what is bad. You must not eat the fruit of that tree; if you do, you will die the same day.’” (Genesis 2:16-17 GNB)

“Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?” (Genesis 3:1)

“You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden.” (Genesis 2:16)

“Very well, then, I will give you freedom: the freedom to die by war, disease, and starvation. I will make every nation in the world horrified at what I do to you.” (Jeremiah 34:17)

Eliminate all alcohol Little girls are never hurt by drunk

drivers Little boys…. Young people… Only the elderly are ever hurt by

drunk drivers Only drunk drivers are ever injured Drunk drivers never get into

accidents

We can, perhaps, conceive of a world in which God corrected the results of this abuse of free will by his creatures at every moment: so that a wooden beam became soft as grass when it was used as a weapon, and the air refused to obey me if I attempted to set up in it the sound waves that carry lies or insults. But such a world would be one in which wrong actions were impossible, and in which, therefore, freedom of the will would be void; nay, if the principle were carried out to its logical conclusion, evil thoughts would be impossible, for the cerebral matter which we use in thinking would refuse its task when we attempted to frame them.

C. S. Lewis The Problem of Pain Harper Collins: New York, 1996 p.24-25

“Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10 NKJV)

“Keep us safe from the Evil one” (Matthew 6:13)

…the ruler/prince of this world” (John 12:31, 14:30)

“Teacher, whose sin caused him to be born blind? Was it his own or his parents’ sin?” Jesus’ response was decisive. “His blindness has nothing to do with his sins or his parents’ sins” (John 9:2-3).

“Now here is this descendant of Abraham whom Satan has kept in bonds for eighteen years; should she not be released on the Sabbath?” (Luke 13:16)

“What about those 18 people who died when the tower at Siloam fell on them? Do you think that they were more sinful than other people living in Jerusalem? No! I can guarantee that they weren’t.” (Luke 13:4-5)

“For he makes his sun to shine on bad and good people alike, and gives rain to those who do good and to those who do evil” (Matthew 5:45).

“God could have destroyed Satan and his sympathizers as easily as one can cast a pebble to the earth; but he did not do this. Rebellion was not to be overcome by force. Compelling power is found only under Satan's government. The Lord's principles are not of this order. His authority rests upon goodness, mercy, and love; and the presentation of these principles is the means to be used. God's government is moral, and truth and love are to be the prevailing power.”

“A funeral procession was coming out as He approached the village gate. The young man who had died was a widow's only son, and a large crowd from the village was with her. When the Lord saw her, His heart overflowed with compassion. ‘Don't cry!’ He said. Then He walked over to the coffin and touched it, and the bearers stopped. ‘Young man,’ He said, ‘I tell you, get up.’” (Luke 7:12-14)

“A man suffering from a dreaded skin disease came to Jesus, knelt down, and begged him for help. ‘If you want to,’ he said, ‘you can make me clean.’ Jesus was filled with pity, and reached out and touched him. ‘I do want to,’ he answered. ‘Be clean!’” (Mark 1:40-41)

”My God, My God, why have You abandoned Me?” (Matthew 27:46)

“The prayer of a good person has a powerful effect.” (James 5:16)

“Daniel, don’t be afraid. God has heard your prayers ever since the first day you decided to humble yourself in order to rain understanding. I have come in answer to your prayer.” (Daniel 10:1,11-13)

“The angel prince of the kingdom of Persia* opposed me for twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief angels, came to help me… Now I have to go back and fight the guardian angel of Persia. After that the guardian angel of Greece will appear. There is no one to help me except Michael, Israel’s guardian angel. He is responsible for helping and defending me” (Daniel 10:13,20; 11:1 – GN).

* ”spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia”