Why God Allows Suffering? (8)

A choice of blessings or curses

About 2,500 years after Adam and Eve, God offered tangible relief from suffering to the Israelites. He began working with them while they were still in bondage in Egypt. He promised not only to free them from slavery but to give them the opportunity to be a model nation others would want to emulate (Deuteronomy:4:5-8


).

As a part of God's agreement with them, they were to become His obedient people (Exodus:19:5). He instructed them in the 10 cardinal points of His eternal, spiritual law—the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20). He gave them additional laws and statutes, which we find primarily in the books written by Moses (the Pentateuch).

That law, He told them, would be their "wisdom" and "understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear all these statutes, and say, 'Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people'" (Deuteronomy:4:6).

God told the Israelites they had the freedom to choose between the two ways of living: "I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; that you may love the LORD your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days" (Deuteronomy:30:19-20
).

He informed them that if they obeyed they would reap many blessings (Deuteronomy:28:2), but if they disobeyed they would be accursed (verse 15). Many of the curses God said would result from disobedience (verses 15-68) are virtually identical to the pain and suffering that wrack modern nations. Some of these troubles would affect the nation as a whole. Others were to be personal afflictions, both physical and mental.

Regrettably, Israel disobeyed and reaped terrible misery that God foretold. These included agricultural catastrophes, poverty, family problems, ill health, crime and violence, military defeats and eventual captivity.

After the Israelites' centuries-long experiment with freedom of choice—during which they consistently chose to ignore God and do things their own way—they were returned to a state of national enslavement.

Cause and effect: often overlooked


God has often tried to impress on man the crucial principle that every effect has a cause.But we have difficulty grasping this truth, so we continue to suffer the debilitating effects of our transgressions.

We can trace many tragedies and much suffering to our own all-too-human actions and decisions. In a world of freedom of choice, some choices inevitably lead to harmful and painful results.

Actions yield consequences. Many people recognize the saying "You reap what you sow," but they do not realize that it comes from the Bible (see Galatians:6:6-7
). Proverbs:22:8says that "He who sows iniquity will reap sorrow."

When we analyze the phenomenon of suffering, we can learn much if we will trace the circumstances back to their cause. Proverbs:22:3 warns us to consider the long-term consequences of our actions: "A prudent man foresees evil and hides himself, but the simple pass on and are punished."

When we look for the main causes of suffering, we often need look no further than ourselves—the decisions and actions of individuals and humanity as a whole. In one way or another sin is usually the underlying cause, and suffering is the effect.

To be cont'd.

God Bless You.