This post is more to inspire discussion than to expound on any particular subject myself...
On page 93 in his book, Hopkins writes, "God had sent him [Jacob] trials..." This got me thinking as I recently read through the book of James during January and I had a conversation with a friend about God's actions in I Samuel towards Saul. Here are the passages in question:
I Samuel 16:14 - "Now the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and a harmful spirit from the Lord tormented him."
James 1:13 - "Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one."
So I really don't enjoy proof-texting but for the sake of brevity that's what you get. You can go to the ESV's website (http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/) and look up the surrounding passages to get a better feel for the text, which I suggest you do. Regardless, we seem to have several opposing view points. First, God sends a "harmful spirit" to torment Saul. While it doesn't say the spirit tempted Saul, I can only imagine that it did in some way. Second, Hopkins states that Jacob was sent trials from God. Third, we have James telling us God tempts no one.
Is this a simple case of trying to create a disparity when none exists? If so, how the heck are we to make sense of a loving, good, perfect, and just God that sends a harmful spirit? Expound at length.
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2 comments:
Interesting quotes.
Don't these two passages reveal that God doesn't mind being thought of as a "tormentor" (at least indirectly), but does not want to be considered a "tempter"?
Perhaps God's tormenting is not a temptation to sin, but a rod driving us away from sin?
- Shad
Is this then along the lines of God testing us? The point is not for us to fail but for us turn to God, like Job when he was stricken with disease and loss.
However, why then would we turn to God if he is tormenting us? The Israelites were wrong for turning to Pharaoh for relief when he was the one enslaving them. Like the Israelites, we're to turn to God for deliverance. But when God is the one tormenting us, isn't that like God playing hard to get?
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