IS HARDSHIP A SIGN OF OUR SIN? (4)
Scripture: Job 14:1-16, Job 14:19-21
This content is part of a series.
Is Hardship a Sign of Our Sin? (4)
Series: Wisdom - Suffering, Thinking, Loving, and Living Authentically
Patrick Edwards
Job 14:1-21:34
Introduction
The apostle John records in his gospel the following event:
As [Jesus] passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, ''Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?'' Jesus answered, ''It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.'' Having said these things, he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man's eyes with the mud and said to him, ''Go, wash in the pool of Siloam'' (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing.
The disciples' question regarding the cause of the man's blindness is not an odd question nor is it out of line. For starters we see throughout the Old Testament an expectation that one's offspring would be punished for the sins of a person. Exodus 20, ''You shall not worship [false gods] or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me.'' Numbers 14, '''The LORD is slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, forgiving iniquity and transgression; but He will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generations.'' And so we see in the disciples' question of Jesus that this promise was taken quite literally, and it's something that we, as well, often apply literally.
Outside the biblical world, it often seems to be the logical expectation that bad people are punished. We spoke at length on the positive side of this argument last week, that if you do good then good will come back to you. Bu ...
Series: Wisdom - Suffering, Thinking, Loving, and Living Authentically
Patrick Edwards
Job 14:1-21:34
Introduction
The apostle John records in his gospel the following event:
As [Jesus] passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, ''Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?'' Jesus answered, ''It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.'' Having said these things, he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man's eyes with the mud and said to him, ''Go, wash in the pool of Siloam'' (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing.
The disciples' question regarding the cause of the man's blindness is not an odd question nor is it out of line. For starters we see throughout the Old Testament an expectation that one's offspring would be punished for the sins of a person. Exodus 20, ''You shall not worship [false gods] or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me.'' Numbers 14, '''The LORD is slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, forgiving iniquity and transgression; but He will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generations.'' And so we see in the disciples' question of Jesus that this promise was taken quite literally, and it's something that we, as well, often apply literally.
Outside the biblical world, it often seems to be the logical expectation that bad people are punished. We spoke at length on the positive side of this argument last week, that if you do good then good will come back to you. Bu ...
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