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NASB | Ruth 1:20 She said to them, "Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Ruth 1:20 She said to them, "Do not call me Naomi (sweetness); call me Mara (bitter), for the Almighty has caused me great grief and bitterness. |
Subject: Why does God impart familial bitterness? |
Bible Note: Searcher, I am particularly referencing Naomi's statement in Ruth 1:20, wherein she accredits God as dealing bitterly with her in the destruction of her family. Job himself issued similar accreditation to God when his children were destroyed through the handiwork of the devil, albeit with God ultimately sovereign over all things. While he was still speaking, another also came and said, "Your sons and your daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house, and behold, a great wind came from across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young people and they died, and I alone have escaped to tell you." Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head, and he fell to the ground and worshiped. He said, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, And naked I shall return there. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD." Through all this Job did not sin nor did he blame God. (Job 1:18-22 NAS95) ---- And here God further confesses to committing evil (adversity) on the earth, (albeit commonly through intermediate forces). "I am the LORD, and there is no other; Besides Me there is no God. I will gird you, though you have not known Me; That men may know from the rising to the setting of the sun That there is no one besides Me. I am the LORD, and there is no other, The One forming light and creating darkness, Causing well-being and creating calamity; I am the LORD who does all these. (Isaiah 45:5-7 NAS95) Please compare the NASB with the King James rendering. I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me: That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else. I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things. (Isaiah 45:5-7 KJV) ---- And to top it all off, here's a vision of Micaiah the prophet, wherein God actually both calls and sends a demon to politically decieve an earthly king. Micaiah said, "Therefore, hear the word of the LORD. I saw the LORD sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing by Him on His right and on His left. "The LORD said, 'Who will entice Ahab to go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?' And one said this while another said that. "Then a spirit came forward and stood before the LORD and said, 'I will entice him.' "The LORD said to him, 'How?' And he said, 'I will go out and be a deceiving spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.' Then He said, 'You are to entice him and also prevail. Go and do so.' (1 Kings 22:19-22 NAS95) Herein I believe lies evidence that God is truly sovereign over all the ministries of both greater and lesser angels, whether divine or demonic. All serve a purpose in the growth and sanctification of God's people. Reighnskye |