"Look how you have fallen from the sky, O shining one, son of the dawn (Lucifer: Satan)! You have been cut down to the ground, O conqueror of the nations! You said to yourself, “I will climb up to the sky. Above the stars of El (God). I will set up my throne... I will climb up to the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High!... Is this the one who made the world like a desert, who ruined its cities, and refused to free his prisoners so they could return home?” (Isa 14:12-17)
So [Jesus] said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Look, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions and on the full force of the enemy, and nothing will hurt you." (Luke 10:18-19)
“Pure and undefiled religion before God the Father is this:
to care for orphans and widows in their misfortune and to keep oneself
unstained by the world" (James 1:27).
A few months ago I went on a fasting/prayer retreat in the
desert areas in west Texas, and on the last night I read the entire book of
Job. One central issue that stood out to me on this occasion was the issue of innocent suffering and the human situation in a gone-wrong world.
During the trip, I was struck by the small towns in the desert, mostly
impoverished, and the visual impress of evil that was conveyed amidst
desolation. More so I was struck when camping near the border of Mexico. There
was a town just over the border (80 miles away from nearest Mexican town) that
has suffered greatly, economically speaking, in the last decade due to the increase border
security since 9/11 that greatly hindered trade, even though the local officials told us they rarely had any drug problems with
this particular town. On a side note, the National Park where we were staying wanted to help
bring this town electricity but environmental activists fought against it because it
would hurt wildlife. Additionally, I found it striking that a cloud or animal can
pass over the boarder freely and a human being cannot. Anyways, I was struck
by the irony of having grown up in America and having a good education and
opportunities, yet I 'could' have been born in that town. In such a case my story would be
very different. Moreover, how could I tell a person my age who lived in such a town that they could not be successful or used by God because they didn't have the "western credentials" that I grew up believing were necessary to be "somebody" in this world. At this moment I became struck with how many from among the human race have been
born into a desert, whether literally or metaphorically speaking, e.g. a kid
living in a mansion whose parents ignore him and simply try to buy his love. Many people are born into an oppressive culture, e.g.
enslaved, not able to receive education, bound to a low caste, they became
orphans at a young age, or even died due to malnutrition.
When I read the
narratives of Scripture, I see a God speaking into and acting in a gone wrong
desert-like world full of visible and invisible oppression. Babylon and Assyria
were used in the prophetic texts to represent such wide-scale oppression. Such horrific oppression has not ceased today whether externally in places like Syria
and North Korea, or internally due to ideologies in many Islamic countries, and even the
oppression of a consumeristic culture, e.g. sex industry, addictions, and
physical disorders like stress/ depression, as well as the negative impact of our culture of leisure and entertainment on the rest of the world that make it affordable for us.
God not only acts in the world against such oppression, but He issues decrees and sends forth His Spirit to promote the cause of the Divine justice. He rages against an oppressive force that in the OT becomes symbolized by earthly symbols, e.g. mountain, rivers, countries, etc., or in the NT as revealed to ultimately be satanic oppression by the thief, planter of weeds, god of this evil age, murderer, slanderer, father of lies, deceiver of the world, lion seeking to devour humanity, etc.
God not only acts in the world against such oppression, but He issues decrees and sends forth His Spirit to promote the cause of the Divine justice. He rages against an oppressive force that in the OT becomes symbolized by earthly symbols, e.g. mountain, rivers, countries, etc., or in the NT as revealed to ultimately be satanic oppression by the thief, planter of weeds, god of this evil age, murderer, slanderer, father of lies, deceiver of the world, lion seeking to devour humanity, etc.
In the OT Israel was meant to be a force against these
oppressive powers and a civil politic of justice, though not a Western sense of
justice. God's justice included mandatory leaving of excess supply in fields
for the poor, distributing land among all the tribes and families equally, years of
liberation, laws to protect widows, etc. David was the ideal representative of
one who, for the most part, sought to bring about justice throughout the land.
The essence of true religion of Christianity echoes this OT principle of
genuine righteousness, concerning pure and undefiled religion. It calls us
to minister to the oppressed in likeness to Christ who went around healing
those oppressed by Satan, who mainly oppresses people within their soul, e.g. depression (Acts
10:38). In reading the Old Testament prophets one discovers that one of the main basis for condemning Israel/Judah was for neglecting or even taking advantage of those suffering injustice or economic poverty, e.g. poor, orphans widows.
In our Western world righteousness is focused on the individual, e.g. check list of 'good' conduct, whereas righteousness of Scripture is focused outwardly on promoting God's cause of justice in one's sphere of influence. God judged His people in view of the cries of oppression in their sphere of influence either going unnoticed or partly against His people themselves as part of the problem of their misfortune. I'm reminded on the real consequences of a sex-hyped culture that takes place in the extremely lucrative sex industry full of oppression, misfortune, and suffering, not to forget the suffering of teens suffering psychologically from sexual immorality and addiction being swept into the current of media's facade of happiness and freedom. I live in one of the main hubs of sex trafficking in the world, Houston, and I have firsthand seen the very real face of suffering and oppression on the streets and in brothels. I have close friends who work as light in these pits of darkness. I have seen hundreds of cars circling clubs along a few blocks into early hours of Saturday morning picking up prostitutes without a cop in sight, while my brothers and sisters in Christ reached out into the darkness to grab those in the fires (Jude 1:23).
With this being said, I agree that we should not simply
question suffering but take action. Although, I do believe that theological deliberations helps
us to better assess the spiritual dimensions of human suffering, such as the
work of the Devil, but we must not neglect action. God calls us like the
Israelites to be His hands and feet of compassionate care in a gone-wrong world
full of unjust suffering. Most of this suffering is brought on by the decisions
of others, circumstances beyond one's control, and so a lot of innocent suffering abounds, such as among orphans and
widows. May we truly, be like Christ to them, to offer them both physical and
spiritual water for them in the 'desert' of their circumstances and souls.
The story of Job speaks of a man who was an advocate of
Divine justice who looked after the poor, misfortunate, and oppressed, yet he
himself became oppressed by Satan's invisible influence in the world. Job
himself recognized that often those who were righteous and innocent suffered in
the world, and often the wicked prosper. We need the wisdom of Job to counter
the trend of "if you follow God you will externally prosper in this life", such that
"Every day is a Friday" while our brothers and sisters suffer
greatly overseas. Job recognized the great misfortunes upon the earth, just
like Solomon did in Ecclesiastes. Instead of turning against God, in view of
the problem of unfair suffering, he worked against the 'system' of oppression
in the ways that he could. He served as a light of hope for those in darkness.
The unfolding dialogues reveal the theological tension in his heart between
what he knows, believes, and feels about God's relation to human suffering. He
like us struggled with the theological dimensions of suffering, and at times
this gave him a ray of hope (Job 19:23-27).
When we try to 'rationally' make sense of Job's suffering or
for any suffering for that matter, we should recognize that the greatest
suffering Job had was grieving over what he saw as his once 'prosperous'
God-relationship, what he calls "God's intimate friendship" (Job
29:1-10). He had a sword pierced through his heart that he thought God, his
closest companion in life, had placed. Even when his friends and wife abandoned
him, he thought He still had God on His side. However, this belief became
seriously contested within him, for he at times came to think God was indeed
against him. "I cry out to you, but you do not answer me... You have
become cruel to me; with the strength for your hand you attack me... Have I not
wept for the unfortunate? Was not my soul grieved for the poor? But when I
hoped for good, trouble came... My heart is in turmoil unceasingly" (Job
30:20-27). But according to what Job could not see, God was not against him, in
actuality God was proud of him and called Job His servant, upright and pure
(Job 1). The greatest suffering of Job was psychological as he was subjected to
the lies of the Father of Lies and the Slanderer.
When Job himself becomes faced with unfair suffering of
great magnitude (at the hands of Satan, which Job did not know) he argues that
God is just, fair, gracious, merciful, and forgiving, and at other times as
unjust, unfair, cruel, oppressive, and spiteful. He comes face to face with the
paradox of the desert-like state of this fallen world, in which the NT
revelation makes clear is the work of Satan. Christ came to destroy the
works of Satan and set free those oppressed by darkness. I believe that
believers should take the revelations of the NT into consideration when reading and understanding OT
stories, especially that of Job. From this vantage point, we have a better idea of what is taking
place behind the scenes and from an eschatological perspective. I believe that
a lot of what we can do to relieve the suffering of others is to work against the oppressive lies and work of the Devil that take root primarily in the soul,
especially slanderous lies of accusation/ condemnation and fear/ anxiety of
doubting God's character, provision, and grace.
"Your enemy the devil, like a roaring lion, is on the prowl looking for someone to devour. Resist him, strong in your faith, because you know that your brothers and sisters throughout the world are enduring the same kinds of suffering" (1 Pet 5:8-9)
"May we not be exploited by Satan (for we are not ignorant of his schemes)" (2 Cor 2:11).
I believe that there is a lot of smog that comes to veil
people's perception of God's love, grace, and goodness, and as Christians we
are called to rage against the forces of darkness that rage war in the human
soul to bring psychological suffering that is greater than any physical
suffering. I believe reasoning based on God's revelation can help us make sense
of the Evil One's work in exploiting human suffering, and we can pray and act
accordingly. I believe this is a battleground that in Christ's name, by His
blood, and the power of the Holy Spirit, God through us can turn the tide of
suffering. In other words, the body of believers should be a wall of protection for those suffering unfairly under the oppression of Evil, and that we actively
resist the Evil One who comes to poke the wounds and pour salt into them who suffer innocently. To
this end, we can intellectually understand what is happening invisibly in view
of the revelations of Scripture, and we can act wisely in view of how God has
revealed the hidden aspects of suffering, especially of how to mitigate or
remedy its spiritual and soulish dimension.
I believe that in order to properly understand both what God
does and has done to overcome unjust suffering and what He calls us to do in
partnership with Him to these ends, we must ask such questions about origins
and hidden dimensions of such suffering and evil. One such issues relates to "the god of this evil age" who
"rules the whole world" as Satan, and Jesus Christ was revealed to destroy
the Devil's works and heal those oppressed by him (John 12:31; Acts 10:38; 2
Cor 4:5; Eph 2:2; Gal 1:3-4; 1 John 3:8; 5:19). With this proper biblical
perspective of the cosmic struggle at the center of this world, we can better
understand how Christ overcomes this evil and our part as His followers
empowered with the same Spirit of Liberation.
God has acted and continues to act to break the power of
evil, through His people who bear the name of Jesus Christ and His blood. I
believe the passive acceptance of great suffering and misfortune is dangerous,
as well as pointing the finger at the wrong place, whether that be a person or
God Himself. The finger should be placed at Satan ultimately. He is the one who
plants weeds in the field of creation and is a thief who comes to steal, kill,
and destroy. According to Scripture, Satan is a vanquished foe wherever the
reign of Christ becomes established upon the earth. God is not passive, for
even when "justice is driven back; godliness standard far off" and
"He sees there is no advocate... He takes matters in His own hands; His
desire for justice drives Him on. He wears His desire for justice like body
armor, and His desire to deliver is like a helmet on HIs head" (Isaiah
59:14-17). Against spiritual foes, He calls us to put on His armor and follow
Him into battle against darkness (Eph 6).
In view of this battle motif of the story revealed in the
pages of Scripture, the action God calls us to do is "remove the sinful
chains (e.g. addiction), to tear away the burdensome yoke (e.g. depression), to
set free the oppressed... share food with hungry and provide shelter for
homeless, oppressed people... Then our light will shine like the sunrise; our
restoration will quickly arrive; our godly behavior will go before us, and the Lord's
splendor will be our rear guard. Then we will call out and the Lord will
respond" (Isa 58:6-9). God is seeking for us to be light in a dark world.
The world is dark, because of the power of darkness. Christ came as light into
this world, to raise up an army of children of light to bring forth His
liberating power from Satan's grip over hearts and minds of the human race (Eph 2:1-3).
There was much misfortune and unjust suffering in Israel because of
the lack of heeding the call to be advocates alongside God against the darkness.
The prophets pointed their fingers at those who neglected the call of God to
work against the darkness. Jesus Himself pointed to the Pharisees saying, "They
tie up heavy loads, hard to carry, and put them on men's shoulders, but they
themselves are not willing even to lift a finger to move them" (Matt
23:4).
God seeks those who will build
walls against the darkness, so that judgment against a failure to promote
righteousness in the land does not come about (Ezek 22:30-31). When the
leaders of Israel did this, the people prospered, and when they did not, they
suffered oppression. One cannot read story of Israel and not understood this
retributive justice that even God Himself points to that those who ignore unjust suffering will themselves suffer (e.g. Jer 2-4). Yet, this
issue of prospering by promoting God's justice comes down to experiencing internal prosperity of character/virtue/ and eternal life by standing up for the
oppressed, as oneself says no to the powers of oppression, e.g. the
task-masters of sin (materialism/ consumerism for example that can bring greed,
idolatry, self-centeredness).
Maybe so many of our brothers and sisters lie in sinful
bondage or psychological bondages like fear, anxiety, and depression, for these
reasons. So we should be quickened to join Christ, as being light penetrating
the darkness of the world, instead of letting the enemy have his way, e.g.
keeping our brothers and sisters in bondage, as well as those who will become
our brothers and sisters. For argument's sake many passages in the OT reveal
that often God brings physical calamity as a last resort against non-combated
moral evils. With this revelation in mind, we should be quickened to work
against the chains of immorality that enslave communities around us, lest they
become like Sodom and Gomorrah, as well as countless other cities, including
Jerusalem, because of a lack of a 'turning of the tide' against immoral
bondage. God used them as lessons for humanity to repent and turn to Him to
avoid destruction, and even Jesus used Sodom and Gomorrah as such a lesson to
condemn the city of Capernaum. Throughout Scripture God often used natural
evils to discipline, warn, and stir repentance among humanity (e.g. Isa 47;
Amos 4:3-6 where God says He brought plagues, famine, and sword to draw His
people back to Himself). Even eschatologically speaking, Jesus and Revelations
speak to increase of natural evil, for this very reason, due to rise of
wickedness and to spur repentance among unbelievers and holiness among
believers.
Now when Jesus approached and saw the city, he wept over it,
saying, “If you had only known on this day even you, the things that make for
peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For the days will come upon you
when your enemies will build an embankment against you and surround you and
close in on you from every side. They will demolish you – you and your children
within your walls – and they will not leave within you one stone on top of
another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God.”
(Luke 19:41-44)
“Yet even now,” the Lord says, “return to me with all your
heart – with fasting, weeping, and mourning. Tear your hearts, not just your
garments!” Return to the Lord your God, for he is merciful and compassionate,
slow to anger and boundless in loyal love – often relenting from calamitous
punishment. Who knows? Perhaps he will be compassionate and grant a reprieve,
and leave blessing in his wake – a meal offering and a drink offering for you
to offer to the Lord your God" (Joel 2:12-14)
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