Suffering — Ralph Shallis

O Father, we pray that you will turn men's thoughts and hearts away from me and fix them on you.

Ti preghiamo che tu prenderai il pensiero dei presenti e li rivolgerai da me a te.

O Father, the word of life can come from you alone.

Padre, la parola di vita può venire soltanto da te.

And we ask that you will sprinkle the hearts of each one of us now with the blood of the Lord Jesus.

E noi ti preghiamo di spruzzare sul cuore di ognuno di noi il sangue di Gesù Cristo.

That there may be nothing that the enemy can use among us.

Affinché non ci sia niente in mezzo a noi che il nemico possa adoperare.

I pray that my own heart and lips and thought may be completely controlled by your Holy Spirit.

Io prego che il mio cuore, la mia bocca e il mio pensiero possano essere controllati dal tuo spirito.

For the Lord Jesus Christ's sake.

Nel nome del Signore Gesù Cristo. Amen. Amen.

Job's Righteousness and Extraordinary Suffering

Would you look at the second oldest book in the Bible, Job.

Vogliamo guardare il secondo più antico libro della Bibbia, Job.

I can't prove that it is the second oldest, but I believe it goes right back to about the time of Abraham.

Io non posso provare che sia il secondo più antico, ma io credo che risale ai tempi di Abramo.

The only Bible that Job had was probably the first few chapters of Genesis.

L 'unica Bibbia che Job possedeva probabilmente erano i primi capitoli della Genesis.

And apart from that, the stars, the dawn, the sunset.

E al di fuori da quello le stelle, l 'alba, il tramonto.

The desert mountains and flowers.

Le montagne del deserto, i fiori.

The miracle of the birth of his little children.

Il miracolo della nascita dei suoi figli.

And the flowers that he cultivated around his house.

Ed i fiori che coltivava intorno alla sua casa.

Job didn't have the advantage that we have of a whole Bible and of the words of Christ.

Job non aveva il vantaggio che abbiamo noi di possedere tutta la Bibbia e le parole di Cristo.

And yet God revealed to Job all the great doctrines.

Eppure Dio rivelò a Job tutte le dottrine grandi della Bibbia.

Let us just look at this book a minute.

Allora guardiamo un momento a questo libro.

We read in verse one that this man was blameless and upright, feared God and turned away from evil.

Leggiamo nel primo versetto che quest 'uomo era integro, retto e temeve Dio e fuggiva il male.

And that he was, in verse three, he was the greatest of all the people of the east.

E in versetto terzo leggiamo che era il più grande di tutti gli orientali.

The people of the east were the people who lived in the desert east of what is now Israel.

Gli orientali erano quelli uomini che vivevano nel deserto ad oriente di ciò che ora è chiamato Israele.

And Job was, if you like, a primitive Arab.

Se vogliamo dire così, Job era un arabo primitivo.

He had probably heard of Abraham, but there is no mention in this book of Abraham or of Israel.

Probabilmente aveva sentito nominare Abramo, ma Abramo né Israele non sono nominati in questo libro.

He was quite possibly descended from Abraham, just three or four generations removed.

È molto possibile che fosse disceso da Abramo per soltanto due o tre secoli a generazioni di differenza.

Well now note that Job was upright and he was a man whom God esteemed.

Allora notate che Job era un uomo integro, giusto e un uomo che Dio stimava. He was not a wicked man.

Non un uomo malvagio. And yet upon Job fell an absolute torment of suffering such as hardly any people have known.

Eppure cade su Job un tormento di sofferenze come pochi uomini hanno mai conosciuto.

Seven great catastrophes fell upon him one after the other.

Sette grandi catastrofi sono cadute su di lui l 'una dopo l 'altra.

First of all he lost his cattle in four great disasters.

Prima di tutto ha perduto il suo bestiame in quattro grandi catastrofi.

And then all his children perished in a storm.

E poi tutti i suoi figli sono periti in una tempesta.

And then the sixth thing that happened to him was that his wife turned against him.

Poi la sesta cosa che gli è successo è che sua moglie si è messa contro a lui.

And then the worst thing of all was when his three friends turned against him.

E poi la cosa peggiore è quando i suoi tre nemici si sono messi contro a lui.

And Job found himself utterly alone in a hostile universe.

E Job si è trovato totalmente solo in un universo ostile.

Sitting on his rubbish heap.

Seduto la sul lettemaio.

Covered with ulcers from head to foot.

E coperto da ulcere dalla testa ai piedi.

I wonder how we would react if we had that happen to us.

Io mi domando, domando come noi reagiremo se ciò succedesse a noi.

Job's only remark was, God has given and God has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.

L 'unico commento di Job era, Dio ha dato, Dio ha tolto. Sia benedetto il nome dell 'Eterno.

Satan's Challenge and the Heavenly Battlefield

Now Job didn't realize that he was a battlefield.

Job non si rendeva conto che egli era un campo di battaglia.

We read in chapter one that Satan had had an argument with God about Job.

Noi leggiamo nel primo capitolo che Satana era venuto a discussione con Dio riguardo a Job.

In verse eight of chapter one, sorry, verse nine, Satan says to the Lord, Does Job fear God for naught? Hast thou not put a hedge about him and his house and all he has on every side? Thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land.

But put forth thy hand now, and touch all that he has, and he will curse thee to thy face. And the Lord said to Satan, Behold, all that he has is in your power. Only upon himself do not put forth your hand.

Dal versetto nove, Satana risposa all 'eterno, Egli forse per nulla che Job temi Dio? Non l 'hai tu circondato di un riparo, Lui, la sua casa, e tutto quel che possiede? Tu hai benedetto l 'opera delle sue mani, E il suo bestiame ricopre tutto il paese.

Ma stendi un po' la tua mano, Tocca quanto egli possiede, E vedrai se non ti rinega in faccia. E l 'eterno disse a Satana, Ebbene, tutto quello che possiede è in tuo potere. Soltanto non stendere la mano sulla sua persona.

Does it seem astonishing to you that God should hand over one of his most upright men to Satan?

Ti sembra una cosa strana che Dio metta un uomo integro che appartiene a lui in mano a Satana?

And yet the Bible tells us that this is exactly what God did.

Eppure la Bibbia dice che Dio fece proprio questo.

God wanted to prove something.

Dio voleva dimostrare qualcosa. Job was a man of faith. Job, beh, era un uomo di fede.

Satan did not believe that any human being could really love God for nothing.

Satana non credeva che un essere umano potesse amare Dio senza un tornaconto.

His argument was that man only loves God for what he can get out of Him.

Il suo ragionamento era questo, che l 'uomo ama Dio soltanto per ciò che ottiene.

This, of course, is exactly what the world believes.

Questo è certamente ciò che oggi il mondo crede.

And God decided to hand over this righteous man to Satan to prove that Satan was wrong.

E Dio decise di mettere quest 'uomo giusto in mano di Satana per dimostrare che Satana aveva torto.

Don't you think that God took a terrific risk?

Non ti sembra che Dio abbia accettato un grandissimo rischio?

You see, this wasn't taking place only in Job's soul.

Guardate che questo non avveniva soltanto nell 'anima di Job nor in his desert town né soltanto nel suo villaggio del deserto.

This was taking place before the whole panoramic vision of the invisible world.

Questa prova avveniva davanti a tutta la visione panoramica di tutto il mondo invisibile.

We read in verse 6 that there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before God and Satan also came among them.

Leggiamo a versetto 6 che vi era un giorno in cui i figlioli di Dio vennero a presentarsi davanti all 'eterno e Satana era in mezzo a loro.

We know that God convenes a parliament in heaven from time to time.

Noi sappiamo che Dio fa riunire un parliamento in cielo di volta in volta.

Psalm 82 and the Powers Behind the Nations

We see this in Psalm 82.

Vediamo ciò in Salmo 82.

We'll just read that Psalm quickly.

Leggiamo rapidamente questo Salmo.

God has taken his place in the council of God. In the midst of the gods he holds judgment. Would the Italians just follow in their Bible?

Allora, per piacere, non lo leggeremo in italiano. Gli italiani seguono nella loro Bibbia la lettura in inglese.

And God says to these gods the following words.

E Dio dice allora a questi dei del primo versetto tutte le parole che seguono. Who are these gods then? Che sono questi dei?

We know from the book of Daniel that the nations are controlled by great mighty spirits.

Noi sappiamo dal libro di Daniele che le nazioni sono controllate dagli spiriti potenti.

And in the book of Daniel it seems that the only spirit controlling the nations that was faithful to God was Michael who was protecting Israel.

E dal libro di Daniele sembra che l 'unico spirito che era obbediente a Dio era Michele che proteggeva Israele.

Now, Satan is the god of this world as Paul says.

Satana è il dio di questo mondo come dice Paolo.

And Christ calls him the prince of this world.

E Cristo lo chiama il principe di questo mondo.

John says the whole world is controlled by the evil one.

E Giovanni dice che tutto il mondo è sotto il controllo del malvagio.

Behind all the nations there are satanic angelic powers that are controlling the affairs of this world.

Dietro a tutte le nazioni vi sono delle potenze angeliche ma demoniache che controllano questo mondo.

And these are the beings that God here calls gods, they are false gods.

E questi sono gli esseri che Dio qui chiama dei, sono dei falsi.

Of course all through the ancient world and all over the pagan world these beings have actually been worshipped.

Certamente attraverso tutto il mondo, il mondo antico e tutto il mondo questi esseri sono stati adorati.

The ancient gods, Jupiter, Venus, Isis, Ishtar, these were all real demonic powers.

Le divinità anziani di Giove, di Astarte, eccetera, erano tutte delle divinità demoniache.

In the days of the Roman Empire everybody had to worship the spirit of the Empire incarnated in the Emperor.

Nei tempi dell 'Impero Romano tutti dovevano adorare lo spirito dell 'Impero incarnato nell 'Imperatore.

Well for some reason that God hasn't revealed to us he still leaves these beings in control.

Ora per qualche motivo che Dio non ci ha rivelato e gli permette che questi esseri controllano ancora il mondo.

Let us see how God deals with them, verse 2.

Vediamo allora dal versetto 2 come Dio tratta con loro.

God says to them how long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked. Give justice to the weak and the fatherless. Maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute. Rescue the weak and the needy.

Deliver them from the hand of the wicked. In other words God insists that there should be at least some rough justice in the laws of this world.

Qui vediamo che Dio insiste che almeno una giustizia anche approssimativa esista ancora in questo mondo.

But God says in verse 5 speaking of these gods.

Ma parlando del versetto 5 Dio dice di questi dei.

They have neither knowledge nor understanding. They walk about in darkness. All the foundations of the earth are shaken. I say you are gods, sons of the most high, all of you. Nevertheless you shall die like men and fall like any prince.

And then at the end of the psalm the poet writes in his prayer. Arise oh God you judge the earth for to you belong all the nations.

Allora alla fine del salmo l 'ultimo versetto il salmista indirizza una preghiera a Dio chiedendo a Dio di intervenire per regnare sulle nazioni.

As God created the Bible from century to century a vision was opened on the invisible world.

Mentre Dio rivelava ciò che è la Bibbia di secolo in secolo si apriva sempre più una veduta su questo mondo spirituale.

But to Job this was all quite new.

Ma per Job tutto ciò era nuovo.

He was a battlefield between light and darkness.

Egli era un campo di battaglia fra le tenebre e la luce.

God and Satan were each trying to prove a theory out on him.

Dio e Satana tutte e due cercavano di dimostrare una loro teoria in lui.

Job's Friends and the False Prosperity Gospel

God was insisting that when the Spirit of God has put real faith in a man's heart that man will never turn against God.

Dio insisteva che quando Dio ha messo la fede nel cuore dell 'uomo quel uomo non si rivolterà mai contro Dio.

And Satan said it's quite impossible that anybody should continue to be faithful to God when God does evil to him.

E Satana diceva invece che è proprio impossibile che qualcuno possa continuare fedeli a Dio quando Dio gli fa del male.

Has it ever occurred to you that God often exerts great faith?

C 'è mai capitato di pensare che alle volte Dio esercita una grande fede?

God demands us to have great faith in him.

Dio richiede che noi abbiamo una grande fede in lui.

God says that without faith you can't do anything at all in the spiritual world.

Dio dice che senza la fede non potete compiere proprio niente nel mondo spirituale.

But God himself has faith.

Ma Dio stesso ha fede.

Do you realize that God has got faith in you?

Avete capito che Dio ha fede in voi?

At least. He hasn't got faith in you, but he's got faith in the spirit of God that is in you.

Almeno. Non ha fede in voi, ma ha fede nello spirito di Dio che è in voi.

He has faith in the Christ that's living in you.

Ha fede nel Cristo che abita in voi.

He has faith in your new nature.

Ha fede nella vostra nuova natura. And God trusts you. E Dio si fida di voi.

He trusts you to maintain the testimony of Christ unsullied.

Si fida di voi di mantenere la testimonianza di Cristo in purità. I find this is fantastic. Io trovo che questa è una cosa meravigliosa.

And of course this leads us to have faith in one another.

Questo ci porta ad avere fiducia l 'uno nell 'altro.

If I see my brother Bill doing something that seems to me all wrong,.

Se io vedo il mio fratello Bill che fa qualcosa che mi sembra completamente sbagliato, instead of judging him, anziché giudicarlo,.

I still believe that the spirit of God is doing something in him.

Io credo ancora che lo spirito di Dio sta facendo qualcosa in lui.

And I try to understand what's happening.

E cerco di capire ciò che sta succedendo.

I realize that perhaps Satan has tripped him up.

Io capisco che forse Dio l 'ha fatto intopare.

But instead of needing to be accused by me, he needs me to love him all the more.

Ma anziché avere bisogno che io l 'accuso, ha bisogno che io l 'amo sempre più.

And I still believe that the spirit of Christ in him is going to bring him through this.

Ed io credo ancora che lo spirito di Cristo in lui lo porterà attraverso questa esperienza.

And so I pray for him with real faith.

E perciò prego per lui con vera fede. My faith is really in God. La mia fede è veramente in Dio.

But because I know God is working in his heart, I also have faith in him.

Ma perché so che Dio sta lavorando nel suo cuore, io ho fede anche in lui.

And so on a team, if you can have faith in your fellow team members, this is going to save an awful lot of trouble.

Allora nel vostro gruppo, se voi potete avere fede nei vostri compagni di gruppo, questo vi risparmierà molti problemi.

But poor old Job didn't understand any of this.

Ma povero Job non capì niente di questo.

Do you know the most terrible thing after his wife turned against him was the arguments that his friends brought.

Sapete che la cosa più terribile dopo che sua moglie li si è messo contro sono i ragionamenti dei suoi amici.

These three friends actually were very scared. Scared.

Scared. Questi tre amici veramente erano molto spaventati.

Here was their best friend, ecco il loro miglior amico, the greatest man of the children of the east,.

Il più grande uomo degli orientali, the most righteous man, l 'uomo più giusto, the man they all looked up to, l 'uomo che tutti rispettavano,.

And he's just sitting on a rubbish heap,.

Ed eccolo seduto sull 'ettamaio, covered with filthy salt, coperto di piaghe sporche, utterly alone,.

Completamente solo. If ever there was a case of God having punished a man,.

Here it was. Se mai vi fosse un caso che Dio che punisse un uomo, eccolo qua.

Now these men knew that Job was righteous,.

Ora questi uomini sapevano che Job era giusto, but they were afraid,.

Ma avevano paura. They thought, if that can happen to a righteous man like Job,.

It could happen to me. Pensavano, se ciò può succedere a un uomo giusto come Job, potrebbe succedere anche a me.

Now these three men had a certain religion,.

Questi tre uomini avevano una certa religione, or let us say philosophy, oppure diciamo filosofia,.

The bigger the bank balance, the more certain it is that God approves of you. The bigger your cadillac, the more certain you are of getting to heaven. But if you are reduced to a wheelbarrow, this means that you must be a very wicked man.

In other words, material prosperity is the sign of God's blessing. And material poverty and suffering must be the sign of God's punishment. Now this is a very comfortable sort of philosophy when you've got a nice fat tummy and you're in peace.

But when you're going through an experience like Job, that kind of philosophy has nothing for you. All these following chapters written in the most beautiful poetry are a dialogue between Job and these three friends, sometimes interrupted when Job just cries to heaven, cries to God himself.

Job begins by just crying out, he says, why was I ever born? What's all this happened to me for? And then these three men start bringing their philosophy to him. They say, well, Job, you'd better confess.

You must be really a very, very wicked man. Job says, well, what have I done? And they say, ah, you must be a hypocrite. Outwardly you've been a very good man, but inwardly you must have been doing very wicked things.

And poor old Job, sometimes crying to God, sometimes crying out to his friends saying, why has all this happened to me, God? Why have you turned against me? And then to his friends he says, but what you're saying is absolutely false.

It isn't true. And finally, these three men become vicious in their language. And they say to him, you've committed adultery, you've stolen, you've lied. They have a whole list of all the things they accuse Job of.

And then finally, in a long chapter, Job defends himself. In chapter 31, he says, I haven't done any of these things. He says, I am righteous. And then a young man called Elihu jumps up. And he says, I waited for all you old people to teach me wisdom.

But he says, I see you're just a lot of ignoramuses. He turns to these three men, and he's very angry with them because they haven't been able to convince Job of his sin. And then he turns to Job, and he's very angry with Job.

And he says, how dare you argue with God? Don't you realize that God is so great that you can't argue with Him? And if God does something like this to you, well, you've just got to shut your mouth. But none of these men had any idea of what really was happening to Job.

None of them realized that God was sort of waiting with bated breath to see whether his experiment would come off. Job imagined that it was God who was doing all this to him. He didn't realize that all this came from the devil.

God's Revelation in the Whirlwind

And finally, there was silence. I lived for many years in the Middle East. I remember especially when I lived in the mountains of Kurdistan and Nuristan, east of Iraq. In the heat of midsummer, there would sometimes be terrible whirlwinds that would just come into being in a few seconds, go right across a plain, destroy everything, and then just disintegrate.

Suddenly, a whirlwind came down from the mountains and struck Job, and he was caught in this terrifying tempest. It's a terrifying experience to be caught in a whirlwind.

And suddenly, a whirlwind came down from the mountains and struck Job, and he was caught in this terrifying tempest. It's a terrifying experience to be caught in a whirlwind.

It's also a horrible experience because all the dust of the desert comes flying around, and it just fills your ears and your eyes and your nose and your mouth. And in this whirlwind, Job heard a voice.

And in this whirlwind, Job heard a voice.

We don't know whether he heard it with his ears or whether it was in his mind, but Job has written it all down for us in this beautiful verse. He has summed up the revelation that he had from God in those terrible few minutes.

He has summed up the revelation that he had from God in those terrible few minutes. And here, first of all, we must remember that God said to him, chapter 38, verse 2,.

And then God reveals his immense greatness in nature.

And then God reveals his immense greatness in nature.

He says in verse 4,. Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? And in verse 12, he says,. Have you commanded the morning since your days began and caused the dawn to know its place? And in verse 12, he says,.

Have you commanded the morning since your days began and caused the dawn to know its place?

In verse 17, he says, Have the gates of death been revealed to you? And in verse 19, Where is the way to the dwelling of light? And in verse 22, Have you entered the storehouses of the snow? And in verse 31, Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades or loose the cords of Orion?

And in verse 39, Do you know when the mountain goats bring forth?

And then in chapter 40, verse 1, The Lord said to Job, Do you know when the mountain goats bring forth?

And then in chapter 40, verse 1, The Lord said to Job, Shall a fault finder contend with the Almighty? And in verses 3 and 4 and 5, Job answers, Behold, I am of small account. What shall I answer thee?

I lay my hand on my mouth. I have spoken once, but I will not answer. Twice, but I will proceed no further.

And in verses 3 and 5, Job answers, Behold, I am of small account. What shall I answer thee? I lay my hand on my mouth. I have spoken once, but I will not answer. Twice, but I will proceed no further.

And in this terrifying and marvelous vision of God, Job in chapter 42 says, I know that you can do everything. And then, verse 5, he says, I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you.

I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you. Therefore I repent of dust and ashes.

And therefore.

The righteous man, Job, found that before God, who is all right, he could only.

Sit on the ashes and close his mouth. But a miracle had taken place. Job had seen God. It was academic. It was all quite correct. So much so that Job had a real faith in God. But until now, Job's experience of God had been that of blessing.

But now his experience was that of the blesser. God took away all Job's blessing so that he could reveal to him the hand that gave him the blessing. Now Satan is completely confounded. It is true that Job has rebelled.

He has cried out in agony. It's true he has thought that God put all this evil upon him. But Job hadn't turned against God. He couldn't understand. But at least he still respected and loved God. His great mistake was that he justified himself.

His great mistake was that he justified himself before God. And God wanted to remove that last obstacle from his revelation.

It wasn't until Job saw himself as a miserable sinner sitting on a muck heap that he was ready to have God's revelation. So not only had God confounded Satan with his own argument, so that all the angels of God and all the angels of Satan could see that God was right, and had to admit the miracle of the existence on this earth of a man who loved God for nothing, a man who had real faith, but God used this whole experience to bring Job into a face-to-face revelation with himself.

Suffering, Christ, and the Character of God

Now here we have the real secret of the problem of suffering. Suffering does not come from God. God, rather, is the one who receives the suffering. God has shown us how from Bethlehem's cradle right to the cross with his crown of thorns, God suffers and suffers and suffers and suffers.

But from the beginning to the end of the Bible God tells us that he will not spare us suffering. Christ said we could not be his disciples unless we took up the cross. The disciples, the disciples of Job, we'll just look at the end of the book of Job a minute.

In verse 7 and 8 God says, My anger is kindled. God says to the three friends, My anger is kindled against you and your two friends, for you have not spoken of me what is right as my servant Job has.

My anger is kindled against you and your two friends, for you have not spoken of me what is right as my servant Job has. Now this is astonishing to someone who doesn't.

Really know God. Because apparently Job had said some pretty hard things about God. He said, but you're afflicting me unjustly. You're doing it inexplicably, it's illogical, it's irrational. Whereas the three friends were saying God is righteous and he always punishes the wicked and you're the proof of it.