Isaiah 55:8-9
God's Thoughts are not Man's Thoughts
8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord.
9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
Job 1:1-22
Prologue of Job
1 In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil. 2 He had seven sons and three daughters, 3 and he owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen and five hundred donkeys, and had a large number of servants. He was the greatest man among all the people of the East.
4 His sons used to hold feasts in their homes on their birthdays, and they would invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. 5 When a period of feasting had run its course, Job would make arrangements for them to be purified. Early in the morning he would sacrifice a burnt offering for each of them, thinking, “Perhaps my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” This was Job’s regular custom.
6 One day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them. 7 The Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?”
Satan answered the Lord, “From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it.”
8 Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.”
9 “Does Job fear God for nothing?” Satan replied. 10 “Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. 11 But now stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.”
12 The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, then, everything he has is in your power, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.”
Then Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.
13 One day when Job’s sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother’s house, 14 a messenger came to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys were grazing nearby, 15 and the Sabeans attacked and made off with them. They put the servants to the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”
16 While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said, “The fire of God fell from the heavens and burned up the sheep and the servants, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”
17 While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said, “The Chaldeans formed three raiding parties and swept down on your camels and made off with them. They put the servants to the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”
18 While he was still speaking, yet another messenger came and said, “Your sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother’s house, 19 when suddenly a mighty wind swept in from the desert and struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on them and they are dead, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”
20 At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship 21 and said:
“Naked I came from my mother’s womb,
and naked I will depart.
The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away;
may the name of the Lord be praised.”
22 In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.
Job is the classic book on suffering...The author tries to tell us why there is suffering in the world...And the Book of Job also says something about evil...God allows evil...We know that there is wickedness in the world...We read about it everyday...We see evil and suffering in the Book of Job...God allows the evil one to kill all of Job's servants and children and evil one took his wealth in his livestock...Because we do not understand this, can we say that when God allows evil, it is wrong?...After all, we are given free will, and we are flawed, in that we sin -so should we expect the world to be free of both suffering and wickedness?...
Would the world be better if we were smarter on the subjects of suffering and evil?...What if we knew what was going on in God's mind?...What if we knew both his thoughts and His ways?...We know His thoughts and His ways are not our thoughts and our ways...Would there be more believer's and would we be closer to Him, if we knew His thoughts and His ways?...It seems that Adam and Eve got a little further away from their Creator when they gained some more knowledge when eating from the tree of good and evil...And when we really reflect about God's thoughts and His ways, would it even be wise for God to show us and to explain to us all of His thoughts and His ways, especially after our fall out of Eden?...When He comes out of the storm to talk to Job, He does not give Job answers to his questions...Instead, God gives Job a series of His own questions, which Job does not understand...It seems that God could have given Job the answers to evil and suffering at that time, if He wanted to...But God does not give Job answers, He gives Job questions, many questions...
And God has a reason for not giving Job the answers...God has a reason for all things...
What if God answered each of Job's specific questions?...How would all his answered questions affected Job and his life?...What if we were given every single reason to why there is evil and every single reason to why there is suffering?...How would us knowing these things change the world, or even change us?...Would mankind believe more in God or would man think he is just very intelligent or more intelligent?...Would knowing make less suffering, and less evil in our world?...Would our knowing the reasons to evil and suffering, make the world better for all who live on it?...