Thy Word is Truth: encouraging serious study of the word of God Welcome friends. Thankyou for visiting this web site. I have always loved to teach the Word. Too many of God's people let their pastor or teacher do all their studying for them. But if the Bible is the Word of God, shouldn't you take a serious look at it yourself? To study and discover things on your own is both faith building and spiritually rewarding. It is exciting to discover the treasures of God's Word. Studying the Bible doesn't have to be a chore, it can be a most thrilling adventure. I hope to stimulate thought by this web site, provoke you to want to dig into the scriptures yourself, and honor the God of Israel, and our Saviour, the Messiah our soon coming King.

It's All God's Fault
by Alon Ronk


"Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the LORD. And the LORD said unto Satan, From whence comest thou? And Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it. And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? and still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause. And Satan answered the LORD, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life. But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face. And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life. So went Satan forth from the presence of the LORD, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his fo ot unto his crown. And he took him a potsherd to scrape himself withal; and he sat down among the ashes.Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse God, and die. But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips." This passage of scripture is found in the book of Job, chapter 1, verses 1 through10.

We do not know why God allowed this to happen to Job, God never even explained it to Job himself. We can see, however, that it was Satan who was afflicting Job and not God. In Job's great anguish his wife comes to him and says, "Curse God and die." In other words, she was telling Job, This is all God's fault.

This is a time when God is blamed for all the evil in the world. When a loved one dies, some get angry at God. When something bad happens people say, why did God allow this to happen, or, couldn't God have stopped it. But is God really to blame?

In John 11:1-44 the story is told of a man named Lazarus who had died. "Now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus, of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. (It was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.) Therefore his sisters sent unto him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick. When Jesus heard that, he said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby. Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus. When he had heard therefore that he was sick, he abode two days still in the same place where he was. Then after that saith he to his disciples, Let us go into Judaea again. His disciples say unto him, Master, the Jews of late sought to stone thee; and goest thou thither again? Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world. But if a man walk in the night, he stumbleth, because there is no light in him. These things said he: and after that he saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep. Then said his disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well. Howbeit Jesus spake of his death: but they thought that he had spoken of taking of rest in sleep. Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead. And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, to the intent ye may believe; nevertheless let us go unto him. Then said Thomas, which is called Didymus, unto his fellowdisciples, Let us also go, that we may die with him. Then when Jesus came, he found that he had lain in the grave four days already. Now Bethany was nigh unto Jerusalem, about fifteen furlongs off: And many of the Jews came to Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother. Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met him: but Mary sat still in the house. Then said Mart ha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. But I know, that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee. Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again. Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? She saith unto him, Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world. And when she had so said, she went her way, and called Mary her sister secretly, saying, The Master is come, and calleth for thee. As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly, and came unto him. Now Jesus was not yet come into the town, but was in that place where Martha met him. The Jews then which were with her in the house, and comforted her, when they saw Mary, that she rose up hastily and went out, followed her, saying, She goeth unto the grave to weep there. Then when Mary was come where Jesus was, and saw him, she fell down at his feet, saying unto him, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled, And said, Where have ye laid him? They said unto him, Lord, come and see. Jesus wept. Then said the Jews, Behold how he loved him! And some of them said, Could not this man, which opened the eyes of the blind, have caused that even this man should not have died? Jesus therefore again groaning in himself cometh to the grave. It was a cave, and a stone lay upon it. Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days. Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God? Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. And I knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me. And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go. Then many of the Jews which came to Mary, and had seen the things which Jesus did, believed on him. But some of them went their ways to the Pharisees, and told them what things Jesus had done."

I have underlined certain words to point something out. Twice in this story Jesus seems to be faulted with Lazarus' death. Martha told the Lord, if you had been here, Lazarus would not have died. Why did you wait so long before coming? Also some of those present said the same thing. If Jesus knew Lazarus was sick why didn't He do anything about it? Where were you when we needed you? It was a no win situation for Jesus because some blamed Him for not being there and others reported Him to the authorities for what He did by raising Lazarus from the dead. Not only did the authorities plot to kill Jesus for it but Lazarus as well. John 12:9-11, "Much people of the Jews therefore knew that he was there: and they came not for Jesus' sake only, but that they might see Lazarus also, whom he had raised from the dead. But the chief priests consulted that they might put Lazarus also to death; Because that by reason of him many of the Jews went away, and believed on Jesus." Why did He raise Lazar us, but not others? Well at least one reason might be that this incident became scripture to manifest openly to all generations that Jesus had the power to give life.

But as to the accusations, did Lazarus die because Jesus did not show up? Did Lazarus die because Jesus was not there when He was needed? Was it really the Lord's fault? The fact is, Lazarus died because he was sick. Jesus did not make him sick nor did He cause his death. He was sick because we live in a sinful world and sin has some rather severe side effects.

Are mankind's sufferings really God's fault? Has the Lord somehow forsaken us? Turn to Ezekiel 8:12; "Then said he unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen what the ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the chambers of his imagery? for they say, The LORD seeth us not; the LORD hath forsaken the earth." And again in Ezkl.9:9, "Then said he unto me, The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceeding great, and the land is full of blood, and the city full of perverseness: for they say, The LORD hath forsaken the earth, and the LORD seeth not." Israel is specifically mentioned here because the prophet Ezekiel was a prophet of Israel. However, the same can be said for all people everywhere. Here, we see that because it was felt that God had forsaken the earth, people took advantage of it to sin. So we see that evil is not the result of the presence of God, it is due to an absence of good. Ecclesiastes 7:20 says, "For there is not a just man upon earth, that doet h good, and sinneth not." Where God is not wanted sin runs rampant.

Yet some would say, God isn't fair. Is God not fair? Is it not us who waiver like a reed in the wind? In Ezkl. 18:25 and 29 a charge was made against God that God swiftly answered. " Yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal. Hear now, O house of Israel; Is not my way equal? are not your ways unequal?...Yet saith the house of Israel, The way of the Lord is not equal. O house of Israel, are not my ways equal? are not your ways unequal?" People do not see themselves the way God does. Some examples of that are found in Malachai. Mal.1:2, "I have loved you, saith the LORD. Yet ye say, Wherein hast thou loved us?..." Man is to preoccupied with his own self to consider how greatly God loves us. Mal.1:6, " A son honoureth his father, and a servant his master: if then I be a father, where is mine honour? and if I be a master, where is my fear?" If God were to ask YOU that question what would you say? Would you argue with Him? Would you try to justify yourself? Look again at Mal.2:17, "Ye have wearied the LORD with your words. Yet ye say, Wherein have we wearied him?" Do you see how God leveled a charge and they answered, How do you figure that? Again in Mal.3:13-14, " Your words have been stout against me, saith the LORD. Yet ye say, What have we spoken so much against thee? Ye have said, It is vain to serve God: and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully before the LORD of hosts?" When God showed people their faults they just didn't see it.

It is so easy to blame God for all of our troubles. But have we ever stopped to consider, why life is full of troubles? Romans 8:18-23 tells us, " For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body." God has subjected the entire creation to vanity because of sin. It is written that we are in bondage t o corruption. Another way of saying it is, the slavery of perishing.

But mankind is blind to the depth and severity of sin. People do not realize just how serious a matter sin is. Many times we must admit that we are the cause of alot of our own troubles. If not us, then someone else. Many times we are the cause of someone elses trouble whether on accident or on purpose. We must accept responsibility for having gone our own way. Isaiah 53:6 says, "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all." God will not allow Himself to be anyone's personal genie. When we need Him we just rub our magic lamp and He obeys all of our wishes. When we get what we want we just put Him back into our lamp until next time.

Sin is not without consequences. Our world is always looking for ways justify sin and at the same time escape the consequences for it. But sin has left its mark on the world in which we live and that's just the way it is down here. Suffering is not selective, it's universal. It happens to everyone and everything. So why doesn't God get rid of sin. Is that really what you want? The last time He did that He flooded the earth by water. We are all carriers of sin and if God were to send another flood we would all drown.

There is some good news however. There is coming a day of judgement. All who have died in the Lord will have been resurrected and present with Him. All who died without the Lord will be consciously separated from Him and punished forever. After that, there will be no one left to die anymore who has not already died. Then God will create a new beginning. Not as with Noah and his sons who did not die on the ark yet remained alive to pass on the sin nature to their children. But a brand new start with those who died and were resurrected. For, the redeemed shall all be perfect after they lay their mortality aside. Sin will have died in their flesh but not be quickened in their resurrection. It will therefore not be possible to pass on a sin nature anymore. At that time we will truly live in a world without sin and therefore without any consequences of sin. But we can not expect to have that kind of a world now. If God suddenly made our world perfect while we were still in our fallen state we would just end up corrupting it again just like after Noah's flood. This was one reason why God prevented Adam and Eve from eating of the tree of life in their fallen state. Sin could have never died with the sinner.

There is a new world coming in the which there will be no more death, sorrow, sickness etc. 2 Peter 3:10-13, "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness."

Revelation 21:1-5, " And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful."

So let us not confuse this world with the one which is to come. Let us not blame God for the byproducts of sin in this world. When bad things happen to us we just have to ride it out. God will help us through. Bad things happen to us all. It is not God's fault when things go wrong. That's just the way it is down here. Nevertheless, we have a better hope to look forward to.

Proverbs 3:5-6, "Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths."

Psalm 37:5, "Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass."

1 Peter 4:19, "Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator."