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NASB | Job 1:8 The LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil." |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Job 1:8 The LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered and reflected on My servant Job? For there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God [with reverence] and abstains from and turns away from evil [because he honors God]." |
Bible Question:
We all know the book of Job is a hard one to fathom. There are many verses in Bible that affirm the sovereinty of the Lord. And Lord mentions that He is sovereign, He does not have any counsellor. OK. My question is why would God create Satan in the first place. And in the book of Job why He would listen to Satan's masochistic plans and nod to them too!?? Even when God reveals His Will and nature to Job... it does not compensate him justly as his relatives and family members are already dead and are never brought back to life? Q1- What about the sovereingty of God in the face of Satan's doings in God's presence? Q2. If God is all knowing and determines everything.. isnt our free will a myth?? God decides whether we believe in Him or not? This is predestination. Belief in God is not a choice but fate already decided by Him? I find it heart breaking. Please answer these two questions in the light of my comment and dont try to paint all positive and shining picture. Be realistic. Thanks. |
Bible Answer: God is soveriegn. This means He can and will do whatever He wants or whatever He deems best. If He wants to let Satan appear before Him for some reason, He can allow it. If He doesn't, He won't allow it. If He wanted to let Satan test Job, that is God's choice. If not, that is God's choice too (and in fact, for many years He didn't allow it. Thus, Job's prosperity). Honestly, I think the whole free-will debate is a little short sighted. People make statements like, "If God knows everything, then He knows who will be saved. Thus, everything is predestined, and we really have no choice." Here is the crux of the matter. Free will is very real to us. That is to say, we make choices every day, and if God is directing each and every one of them, we have no obvious indication of it. Does God know what we will do in every circumstance? Does He know who will be saved and who will perish? Here is, I think, the answer that best conforms to the soveriegnty of God: If He decides he wants to know, He can know. If He decides to let us have a go of it on our own and see where the dice fall, He has every right and ability to do that too. After all, He is soveriegn. If we are predestined and chosen, then we can give thanks to God that He chose us to spend all eternity with Him. And we should try to bring the Gopel to as many people as we can, so that God's other chosen individuals will respond. If it is all a big crapshoot, then we'd better seek God with all of our hearts and bring as many people to God as we can. In the end, perhaps we won't know until we have the opportunity to ask Him. We don't need to completely understand every aspect of how God does things in order to follow Him. To make such a demand would be to say: "I'll not believe in God until I am God myself!" How do you know, (regardless of whether predestination is true), if you are a child of God? The answer: Romans 8:15. Galatians 4:6. |