| JUNE 1, 2024 -- Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all. Psalm 34:19
And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. Deuteronomy 8:3
I will start out by saying that I have never found a completely adequate explanation of why good people suffer (or why bad things happen to good people). Biblical history and commentaries on biblical history have struggled with this question for thousands of years. The Book of Job explores this subject in great detail, and four explanations are given therein, none of them satisfactory:
A. Suffering is caused by the Devil to test a good person as a challenge to God.
B. Suffering is a punishment for offenses committed by individuals or their parents, grandparents, or great-grandparents.
C. Suffering is a challenging condition produced by God to help people learn wisdom and abandon folly.
D. Suffering is a great mystery known to God alone.
The first hypothesis, with God and the Devil cooperating to test a person through suffering, is found only in Job, and is contrary to every other biblical reference where the Devil is enemy to God’s will.
The thought that suffering is a punishment for our sins or those of our parents was the common understanding in most of ancient Israel right up through the years of Roman rule. It gradually went out of favor primarily because of our increasing understanding that God is an all-loving being who would not willingly cause suffering. This also casts doubt on the third hypothesis that suffering is caused by God to help people learn wisdom.
However, I’m not yet willing to concede that only the fourth hypothesis is valid, that “suffering is a great mystery, known to God alone”. And I also feel that there is just a bit of truth in the third hypothesis. My own explanation, which is mine alone, and therefore not necessarily valid, is that God does not cause suffering, but often allows it to exist as a byproduct of free will, hoping that we humans will respond by taking it on our own initiative to reduce or prevent it whenever it is within our power to do so.
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