The Field's Musings

Continued from last lecture c) God uses suffering on unbelievers to thwart their plans Ultimately God uses suffering for one purpose. John 9:1-3 As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 And his disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" 3 Jesus answered, "It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. Suffering exists to glorify God. Job 40:1-8 shows us that God is not obligated to give us answers for our sufferings. Suffering comes to believers from a God who is kind and works for our benefit. All thing work for our good (Rom 8:28) Duet 29:29 – the secret things belong to the Lord The sovereignty of God is the basis of our comfort. His sovereignty of God is not just a characteristic but His essence. The greatest event of sorrow (Christ being crucified) turned out to give the greatest joy. The Psalms Psalm 1 Everything is searching for happiness in the wron...

The term Satan means ‘the adversary’. The word can be used to describe a general enemy of evil. Zechariah 3:1-2 ‘He showed me Joshua the high priest and the Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him’. Here the word Satan stands for a definite article as it does in Job. The devil is satan and satan is the devil. See Rev 20:2 ‘He laid hold of the dragon… who was the devil and Satan’ Job 1:7 Satan has been ‘roaming about on the earth’. This means ‘stirring things up’. The word is similar to that of whipping. Satan’s work is to attack the sons of men. Evil and sin do not only come from inside a man but from the devil as well. Job 1, 2 and 42 are written in prose narrative. The rest is written in poetry. The prose narrative shows us that this was meant to be a historical account. The foundation of scripture is the doctrine of the sovereignty of God. God is all-powerful. There is nothing that he can’t restrain. Daniel 4:34-35 ‘ for his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdo...

Personification Personification occurs when human characteristics are attributed to anything non-human. Psalm 98:8 ‘let the rivers clap their hands’ Psalm 93:3‘the floods have lifted up their voice’ Anthropomorphism This occurs when a writer attributes human characteristics to God. ‘Incline your ear to me’ These figures of speech help us to understand who God is. Figures of Substitution When word is substituted for another because of some relationship between the two words. Sinectickys/Synecktike?? When the relationship of the two words entails the part of the whole. Eg Do you have any wheels? The part of the car is a figure for the whole car. Psalm 132:15 ‘I will satisfy her needy with bread’ Bread represents needs in general Psalm 44:6 ‘I will not trust in my bow nor will my sword save me.’ Meaning: Human/temporal strength will not save me Metonymy An attributive word is used for what is actually meant. Eg Joe is addicted to the bottle Joe is not addicted to the actual bottle but rat...