Okay, I know I just did this topic, but I don't feel like I completed it. I keep seeing so many instances where people just aren't getting what is from God and what is not as people are often confusing disaster with God testing us.
Yes, God does test us. We see this when God tested Abraham by asking him to sacrifice his son on the alter. This is the same son that God gave to Abraham when he was by all natural standards too old to have a son and this was his only son. Abraham did take his son with him fully prepared to sacrifice his son. My pastor has painted a fantastic picture of this describing how Isaac must have helped carry the wood. We see where Isaac asked where the lamb for the sacrifice was and Abraham answered that God would provide a lamb. We see that Isaac allowed his father to tie him up and must have known at this point that he was to be the sacrifice made. How hard this must have been for Abraham prepared to do this in obedience of God.
I will take a moment to point out that this was not judgment against Isaac or Abraham. We see nothing here where they were being punished for a sin against God, and yet Abraham was fully prepared to obey.
Now we come to the point where Isaac is bound and Abraham is bringing the knife down to kill his son and the angel of the Lord stayed his hand. A sacrifice was still made that day with the ram in the thicket that God had provided.
If interested, you can find this full account in Genesis 21 through 22. This is an instance where a man was tested. This also, incidentally, established the covenant for God to provide His only son as a sacrifice for us. That, however, is for another blog post.
When a person's home is destroyed or a family member is taken, that is bad and not from God. It is not a test. It is not a way of getting the person to lean more on God. It is bad.
When 9-11 happened and thousands died, it was not the wrath of God for the sins of America. It was evil and was not judgment for our sins.
Does God judge? Emphatically yes, however, when we see this happen, it is only the person who sinned who dies or is punished. We see this as Lot's wife turns to salt when she turned back as the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 19. We see judgment against Ananias and Saphirah as they lied about what they sold their house for in Acts 5. We see it when Korah rebelled in Numbers 16.
In all of these cases, it is individuals sinning against God, it is never a whole punished for the actions of a few. In fact, we see examples of this when Lot leaves to separate himself and when Korah is punished. An angel specifically tells Lot that he cannot destroy Sodom and Gomorrah until Lot has left. Moses also tells the people to separate themselves from those being judged so that the do not suffer for the sins of Korah and the others rebelling with him.
People even blame the weather on God when things happen like killing crops. Truth is that even rain was a result of our sin. Before that, mist rose from the ground to water the plants. In fact, the first rain to ever happen was the one the flooded the earth. Think of what Noah's neighbor's thought when he said he was building an ark because it was going to rain. They must have all wondered about the crazy man talking about this thing called rain that was water that fell from the sky.
Well, that's enough on that for now. As my pastor often says, we are never really done, we just take a break. I may continue on this topic on my next post or move onto a new topic.
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