Theological Bites
Last time, we ended on a note where we had opened a Pandora’s box of difficult questions.
If Satan is responsible for the pain and suffering of Job, then how should we perceive an omniscient God who created him? How about the fact that before Satan attacked the life of Job, he had to seek permission from the God of Job? Is God part of our suffering and pain or not? If he is, can we then philosophically conclude that God is an absolute eternal Principal who is good?
These sensitive questions require precaution and attention. These issues make the book of Job worth a study. A promise cannot be made that these questions will be answered exhaustively in these introductions but instead, the reader/listener can be assured that their conscious will be provoked and taken captive by the Holy Spirit to be inspired.
The conclusion that Satan is the source of Pain and Suffering and God is the creator of the being that became Satan (the source of pain and suffering) implicates God. According to the Jewish perception of God, this has no problem at all since on several occasions, God has been implicated in a number of atrocious practices.
It is said that He that sent an evil spirit to possess King Saul (1Samuel 16:14; 18:10; 19:9). He brought evil upon Israel for her sins (1Kings 9:9). The Lord appointed the defeat of Ahithophel’s counsel that he might bring evil upon Absolom (2Samuel 17:14). God sent an evil spirit between the men of Shechem and Abimelech (Judges 9:23-24). A lying spirit was sent by God to lead Ahab to his defeat and death (1Kings 22:20-23).
As it was in the Jewish mindset in the Old Testament, God is still responsible for the pain, loss and suffering in the hearts of many today.
Whenever we are hurt, God comes into perspective and often he is either the cause of our pain or the one who has been that negligent to our detriment. At every vigil, scene of an accident, and all horrible scenarios, God is castigated more than Satan is. The question is; why is this so?
The answer to this is a simple one; Suffering and Pain are not based on whether one believes there is a superior power (being) in control or not. Pain and suffering hit hard and go beyond our physiology to our psychology and spirituality especially when our preconceived ideas dictate that there is an inherently omnipotent, omniscient and loving God who acts indifferent while we suffer. In the book of Job, the man Job hurts more in his soul than he does in his body (Job 13:15, 19:25).
To those who have no business whatsoever with God, Pain and Suffering are physical entities that require medical and counselling solutions. However, to those of us who are mystical, pain and suffering are matters that shouldn’t be restricted to our physiology and psychology but extended to our spirituality too. The source of our pain and suffering cannot be restricted to nature and its creatures but rather all these could be objects of pain and suffering as well.
It is at this point that we turn and re-evaluate our conclusions on the being known as Satan (as the cause of pain and suffering). If Satan is a former perfect Angel created by God as the Jewish philosophers put it (Isaiah 14:12-15), then Satan too is a victim and a mere agent. But if Satan has always been Satan from the beginning as Jesus puts it (John 8:44) then he is the source of evil, pain and suffering.
The problem with concluding that Satan (as a being) has always been evil and therefore the source of all evil, however, is that it makes this being (Satan) independent of God. A contemporary of an eternal God whose (Satan) origin has nothing whatsoever to do with God the creator. This could serve us better except that it would affect the truth that there was nothing before God. These are the complexities of theology. We maintain therefore that the hypothetical ‘being’ known as Satan (Isaiah 14:12-15) is squarely a victim and an agent of the real cause of evil, pain and suffering.
Secondly, the magnitude and scope of pain and suffering cannot be a product of the works of a mere being not equivalent to God himself in capacity. The most reliable conclusion would be that of Apostle Paul in the book of Romans who argues that even Satan, as the former perfect Angel was a victim of a cosmic power known as SIN (Romans 7).
Sin here has nothing to do with morality but a foreign power in a universe whose sole opponent is God and his will. The concept of Satan, therefore, is a personification of this cosmic power known as SIN. In John’s Gospel, it is written, “everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin” (John 8:34). Sin is a power that enslaves.
In Romans 7:20 it says; “Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I that do it, but sin which dwells within me”. Notice that it is not Satan who dwells in me but Sin that dwells inside. There is a sinful power within that is responsible for all the evil that manifests. The mysterious power known as sin is the cause of all pain and suffering and the producer of Satan and all demons that afflict us (John 8:44). Satan is but a personification of this mysterious cosmic power known as SIN.
Sin is the cause of Satan, Evil, Pain and Suffering. The Sin talked about here, however, is not moral but an amoral cosmic power. The origin of SIN (which is the source of all pain and suffering) is mysterious since it is scientifically not yet discovered how in a perfect universe, imperfection manifested.
According to the Jewish mythology, Satan was a former perfect Angel in heaven (Isaiah 14:12-15). And then, out of nowhere, unrighteousness (SIN) manifested in him. A perfect being in a perfect environment like Heaven mysteriously manifested unrighteousness (SIN).
I. Howard Marshall, a New Testament scholar puts it this way:
“The Bible is clear that God is not the author of evil. Its origin is and perhaps must be a mystery. Its evilness lies in its lack of good purpose, and thus in its irrationality and opposition to the purpose of God. How it can have come to exist in a universe created by God is unknowable. We must be content to leave the question unresolved.”
The tranquillity in Heaven ended at the point sin showed up and according to the word of God, war erupted in Heaven and it was between righteousness (God) and unrighteousness (sin) (Revelation 12:7-8). Heaven had to deal with this other mysterious principal to ensure their safety and their (Heavenly host) success is recorded in Revelation 12:8-9.
This unrighteousness was detected by the righteous God and the quality of this unrighteousness was not moral but a reversal of the divine will and mission. Let me explain this;
In the story of creation, we see a creator who begins with a void universe and starts filling it with beauty and wealth. God speaks things and life into existence throughout Genesis 1 and ordains multiplication in nature. The common denominator and stamp on each thing created is ‘GOOD’.
For the Bible says and God saw that it was good (Genesis 1:10, 12, 18, 21, 25). Everything was pain-free and geared towards continuous prosperity here on planet earth. All this was reversed when the sin that deserted heaven landed here and that is why John the Revelator says: “Rejoice then, O heaven and you that dwell therein! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath because he knows that his time is short!” (Revelation 12:12).
Joy in heaven where sin had been eliminated, but trouble on earth where sin had landed and in Genesis 3, Sin conquers and immediately suffering and pain begins.
In case you are wondering how this has anything to with the book of Job, read the story again. In the book of Job, we begin with a man in abundance who has everything and always increasing just as it is happening in Genesis 1-2. The presence of sin (cosmic power), everything about Job is reversed.
Suffering and Pain, therefore, in this world, cannot be resolved until God deals with it here as he dealt with it when it manifested in Heaven. Jesus never shied away from telling us that in the world we have tribulation (John 16:33).
The source of suffering, therefore, is SIN and as long as that power exists, suffering will be.
God bless you I invoke TRUTH, REASON and FAITH (2Tim 2:7)
Pr. T.I.M WHITE
The Gospel Hawker
@iTiS Well of Worship Fellowship (John 4:24)
iTiS Well of Worship Fellowship (John 4:24) 