God gives and takes away, right?

God gives and takes away, right?

 

Before I begin, I want to mention that the Bible is not a mystery that only certain people can understand. It does not take a degree in theology to read the Bible and know what God's will is. It takes religion to make people think that they need an "over-shepherd" to explain the Bible to them. In actuality, the Bible is clear in that we can understand God's mysteries because as soon as we are born again, we are a new creation and we have the mind of Christ. In Ephesians 3:4, Paul says, "By reading this, you will be able to grasp my understanding of the secret about the Messiah" (ISV) and John says, "As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit--just as it has taught you, remain in him." (1 John 2:27). In James 1:22, we are told, "Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says." It is OUR responsibility to do what the word of God says to do. We will stand before Jesus ALONE. Our "over-shepherd" will not be there taking responsibilty for our inaction or wrong beliefs.
 

Job 1:12

The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, then, everything he has is in your hands, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.” Then Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.

We see God giving the devil permission to take everything Job has.

Job 1:21

and (Job) said: "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised."

Here we see Job saying that God gives and takes away, but in actuality, the devil is the one who took away, Job just didn't know it.

Hebrews 13:8

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

Paul says this about Jesus in Hebrews (proof of God's character in the New Testament).

Numbers 23:19

God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?

The Lord told this to Balaam (proof of God's character in the Old Testament).

According to most scholars, the book of Job is the oldest book in the Bible, and was written sometime between Adam and Abraham. Abraham was the father of faith, and lived over 400 years before Moses brought the law and Ten Commandments to the Israelites.

Deuteronomy 29:12 & 24-25

You are standing here in order to enter into a covenant with the Lord your God, a covenant the Lord is making with you this day and sealing with an oath,

This is the first covenant that God made with an entire human race, the Israelites to be exact (note that it is for the Israelites, not the Gentiles, which is the category we are in before we accept Jesus).

All the nations will ask: “Why has the Lord done this to this land? Why this fierce, burning anger?” And the answer will be: “It is because this people abandoned the covenant of the Lord, the God of their fathers, the covenant he made with them when he brought them out of Egypt.

In the same chapter of Deuteronomy God is telling the Israelites that they will be punished if they abandon the covenant He has with them.

What about Jesus telling Peter that the devil wants to sift him as wheat?

Luke 22:31-32

“Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”

Jesus said that satan asked to sift Peter as wheat. He never says that God gave him permission. But Jesus is warning Peter because the devil is a liar and a thief, and Jesus wants Peter to be prepared. Since the devil asked, it means that he is going to attack Peter with or without God's permission. The Greek word for "has asked" is eksaitéomai, which means "a full handing over" and the Helps Word Studies explains that it means "Satan requests Peter be completely removed out of God's hands – and be put totally in his power." The Scriptures never show that happen to Peter.

What about the blind man who God "made blind"?

John 9:1-5

As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

“Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life. As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

If you say that God makes people sick or blind in order to heal them, that's like saying that God makes us sinners for His glory. The Hindus practice a form of that. They break their kids legs when they are still babies so that they can earn a living. People won't give money to healthy kids, but they will to crippled kids. That is a pagan practice, and I have a problem with people who say that my God does that.

The man was born blind, and Jesus said that in order for God's works to be displayed in his life, Jesus had to heal him. If you look at this verse, Jesus says that his blindness was not from sin, so that means sickness and disease are not always the result of sin. Also, if you look at James 5:15, James says that the elders will pray for the sick, and the sick will be healed, and IF he has sinned, he will be forgiven.

God and His covenants

God's Covenant With Noah

Centuries before the time of Abraham, God made a covenant with Noah, assuring Noah that He would never again destroy the world by flood (Gen. 9). Before that, God saw how evil the man had become and destroyed the earth with the Flood. He made a covenant with Noah, but that doesn't mean that He changed, it simple means His covenant changed.

God's Covenant With Abraham

In making a covenant with Abraham, God promised to bless his descendants and make them His own special people -- in return, Abraham was to remain faithful to God and to serve as a channel through which God's blessings could flow to the rest of the world (Gen. 12:1-3).

The Mosaic Covenant

The Israelites moved to Egypt during the time of Joseph. A new Pharaoh came upon the scene and turned the Israelites into common slaves. The people cried out to the God of their forefathers. "So God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob" (Exo. 2:24). After a series of ten plagues upon the land of Egypt, God brought the Israelites out "of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand" (Exo. 32:11).

God's Covenant With David

Another covenant was between God and King David, in which David and his descendants were established as the royal heirs to the throne of the nation of Israel (2 Sam. 7:12-13).

The Covenant Of Christ

The New Testament makes a clear distinction between the covenants of the Mosaic Law and the covenant of Promise. The apostle Paul spoke of these "two covenants," one originating "from Mount Sinai," the other from "the Jerusalem above" (Gal. 4:24-26). Paul also argued that the covenant established at Mount Sinai was a "ministry of death" and "condemnation" (2 Cor. 3:7, 9).

The devil is a liar and a thief

John 8:44

You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

Jesus is talking to the Pharisees and telling them they are the devil's children because he is a murderer (he steals life) and a liar.

John 10:10

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

Jesus tells His disciples that the thief comes to steal kill and destroy. The thief He is talking about is the devil.

Everything good comes from God

James 1:17

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

James writes that every good and perfect gift is from God, and reason dictates that sickness and disease cannot be from God.

Psalm 100:5

For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.

Luke 18:19

"Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good - except God alone."

1 John 1:15

This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.

There is NO darkness in God at all. Since He is good and loving, He cannot be the one who gives us sickness, disease, and bad situations.

Jesus brought with Him a New Covenant

Hebrews 8:6-8

But the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, and it is founded on better promises. For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another. But God found fault with the people and said:

“The time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah."

Jesus is the mediator of a new covenant, which is superior to the old one. God Himself said that the time is coming when He makes a new covenant with His people. That time came to pass when Jesus was whipped and gave His life on the cross. This verse in Hebrews is quoting Jeremiah 31:31-34, which was written over 560 years before Jesus walked the Earth, and it was a prophecy about Jesus.

John 17:15

My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.

Jesus prays that God would protect His disciples (we are His disciples) from the evil one. If God's Spirit lives in us, and the Bible says that the Spirit teaches us all things, why would He give us sickness or disease to teach us something?

Hebrews 8:13

By calling this covenant “new,” he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear.

Jesus sealed the new covenant with us and made the old one obsolete. He paid by His stripes and by His blood.

Luke 22:17

After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, “Take this and divide it among you. For I tell you I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.

When Jesus had the last supper with His disciples, He told them that the cup was the new covenant in His blood that He poured out for them. It is the first time Jesus mentioned the new covenant that God made with His people.

2 Timothy 1:8-11

So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God, who has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. And of this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher.

God's plan of grace was planned since the beginning of time but was only revealed through Jesus. The reason it was hidden was so that Jesus could walk as a man on the Earth, and never sin, and then pay for the sins of all the world. Adam, one man, allowed sin into the world, Jesus, one man, destroyed death and conquered the sin of the world.

God Sent His Holy Spirit To Live In Us

Luke 4:18

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free,"

Jesus says that the Spirit of the Lord is on Him because the Lord anointed Him to proclaim the good news to the poor.

1 Corinthians 3:16

Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you?

If God's Spirit lives in you, you are anionted just like Jesus. Here is why:

2 Corinthians 1:21-22 Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed (same Greek word as above) us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

So FIRST He anointed us, then set His seal of ownership on us, then He put His Spirit in our hearts as a deposit.

John 3:34

For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit.

The Holy Spirit Teaches Us, Not The Devil

Luke 12:11-12

"When you are brought before synagogues, rulers and authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say."

This does NOT say that a man or your "covering" or your pastor will teach you what to say. It says that the Holy Spirit will teach you what to say.

John 14:26

But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.

If Jesus Himself prayed that God would protect us from the evil one, and if God's Spirit lives in us, and this verse says that the Spirit teaches us all things, why would He give us sickness or disease to teach us something? This verse says that the Spirit teaches us ALL things. Not: "The Spirit teaches you SOME things, and the devil teaches you some things." Neither does it say, "The Spirit will teach you some things, and men will teach you the rest." If a person is truly in Christ and speaking the words of Christ, it will be the Holy Spirit teaching you through that person.

John 15:26

"When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me.

John 16:13

But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.

1 Corinthians 2:9-16

However, as it is written:

“No eye has seen,

no ear has heard,

no mind has conceived

what God has prepared for those who love him”—

but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man’s judgment:

“For who has known the mind of the Lord

that he may instruct him?”

But we have the mind of Christ.

It is not a mystery. The Old Testament says that "No eye has seen, no ear has heard..." but the New Testament says "...BUT God has revealed it." No one who is in Christ can say that we don't know what God has prepared for us or how He treats us. This verse goes on to say that no one knows the thoughts of God. BUT we have the Spirit, Who is from God. WE HAVE THE MIND OF CHRIST.

1 John 2:20-27

But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth. I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth. Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist—he denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also. See that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. And this is what he promised us—even eternal life. I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray. As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in him.

The anointing we received from Him REMAINS in us. Wow! It doesn't come and go. We don't have to call it down from heaven. We don't have to beg for MORE. This verse says that the anionting teaches us about all things and it is real. John 14:26 says that the Holy Spirit will teach us all things. So the Spirit is on us because God has anointed us. The Holy Spirit is a person, there is no way we can have more or less of Him. He is here to stay.

The "Paul's Thorn" Excuse

2 Corinthians 12:3-7

And I know that this man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows—was caught up to paradise and heard inexpressible things, things that no one is permitted to tell. I will boast about a man like that, but I will not boast about myself, except about my weaknesses. Even if I should choose to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain, so no one will think more of me than is warranted by what I do or say, or because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.

Many people believe that Pau's thorn was some kind of sickness or disease. Here, in Paul's own letter to the Corinthians, you see that Paul says the thorn in his flesh is a messenger of Satan sent to torment him.

The "Thorn In The Side" References

When the Bible uses the saying "thorn in the side," it refers to evil men or the enemies of Israel when they fail to drive them out. Paul was a "Pharisee of Pharisees" meaning he was a highly religious Pharisee. It is only natural that he would know the Old Testament scriptures. He obviously knew how the phrase, "thorn in the side" was used in the OT, so when he refers to a thorn in his side, he is using it to refer to a person just like the OT. 

Numbers 33:55

“‘But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land, those you allow to remain will become barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides. They will give you trouble in the land where you will live.

Joshua 23:13

then you may be sure that the Lord your God will no longer drive out these nations before you. Instead, they will become snares and traps for you, whips on your backs and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land, which the Lord your God has given you.

Judges 2:3

Wherefore I also said, I will not drive them out from before you; but they shall be as thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare unto you.

2 Samuel 23:6

But evil men are all to be cast aside like thorns,

which are not gathered with the hand.

Isaiah 10:17

The Light of Israel will become a fire,

their Holy One a flame;

in a single day it will burn and consume

his thorns and his briers.

Not to mention:

Mark 3:23-26

So Jesus called them and spoke to them in parables: “How can Satan drive out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come.

Matthew 12:25

Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, "Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand.

Conclusion:

God really is the same yesterday, today, and forever, there is no argument about that. Job did NOT have a covenant with God, and God allowed the devil to take everything away from him, but he blamed God, not the devil, who was really the one responsible. The Israelites had the old covenant, but we have the new covenant. The first covenant required that sins be paid for by blood. In the second covenant, Jesus paid His own blood for us, and we are forgiven, our sins have been washed away. Not only that, Jesus asked God to protect us from the evil one. If we can ask God for anything in Jesus' Name, and He gives it to us, how much moreso will He give Jesus what He asked for? So God already knew what was going to happen and He made a provision for it, even since the beginning of time. Even though God is the same yesterday, today and forever, and He never changes, His covenants change. His heart has always been for His people, but after Adam let sin into the world, God had to treat us differently. He has always wanted to walk with us like He originally intended, side by side in the garden, but He could not because of sin in the world. Jesus made us a new creation so that God's Spirit can live in us and walk with us in the garden. God can now treat us the way He has always wanted to, the way He treated Adam and Eve before the fall.

Does He allow the devil to afflict us to teach us something?

No. We have a covenant with God, Job didn't. We have God's Spirit living inside of us, Job didn't. God is the same as He always has been, meaning His personality and His love for us never change, but His covenants change. He instituted a covenant with us when He sent Jesus, a covenant He can't go back on because it is already paid for by Jesus' blood. He planned from before time began to send Jesus because He knew the future. If I say that He allows the devil to afflict us to teach us something, then I am saying God goes back on His Word, and even more, that God lied when He said if we ask anything in His Name, we will receive what we ask. The Bible says that the Holy Spirit is the One Who teaches us, why would God need the devil to teach us, too? Paul admits that he had a thorn in his flesh. He says that because of his many revelations, it was a messenger of satan to torment him, so it was not a physical ailment, sickness, or disease. We see the way "thorn" is used in other parts of the Bible, and Paul was a devout Jew, so he knew the Old Testament inside and out, and he obviously knew how the phrase "thorn in the side" was used, so he used it to refer to the messenger of satan.

If the devil were not a thief, ie. if God gave the devil permission to "steal, kill and destroy" us, then Jesus would not have called him a thief. Anything that comes from the devil is meant to destroy us. He hates us because we are made in God's image, and he can't touch God so he attacks the ones who are made in God's image. Hebrews 12:7-11 says this:

"Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it."

It says to endure hardship as discipline. God disciplines those He loves. It doesn't say, "Endure sickness and disease as discipline." Sickness and disease is from the devil stealing our health. What army has ever brought glory to it's king or commander by suffering at the hands of an enemy army? What mother or father would break their kid's arm to discipline him? Or hand thier kid over to their enemy to punish them?

When unbelievers hear us saying that "God gives and takes away," why would they want anything to do with Him? They already get that from the world. If God really gives and takes away, how can anyone trust Him? Saying that God gives and takes away is saying that God is fickle, and if we don't do everything "just right" He will strike us down or take everything away from us. The New Covenant says just the opposite. It says that we are saved, not by what we do, but by the Blood of Jesus. We are saved by trusting in His Name. I choose to believe that God is good, and He is all light, in Him there is no darkness. I choose to believe that God is the only giver of all good gifts and the devil is a liar and a thief.

Wait a minute. I just found a couple of verses that prove God gives and takes away... John 10:28, "I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand." And John 1:29, "The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!"