Listen, all the earth! I will bring disaster on my people. It is the fruit of their own schemes, because they refuse to listen to me. They have rejected my word. [Jeremiah 6.19]
Notice that in the verse above God says, "I will bring disaster on my people" but He also says, "It is the fruit of their own schemes..."
"Disaster" is justice served. Bad things do not happen to good people. NEVER. Bad things are the fruit of people's own schemes. ALWAYS. Otherwise, there is simply no way to determine what is "God" executing justice and what is not. Otherwise, man is left to chance and chance alone. Otherwise, there are no clear lines between justice and chance.
Only one ignorant of God and His Word would say God sanctions bad things to happen to good people. That person simply does not understand the nature and character of Almighty God. And, while that person may diligently isolate one scripture reference to support his folly, he will never change the overriding person of God presented in the Bible as the One Who is good, and Whose mercy endures forever. He will never change what the Psalmist presented:
You are good and do only good... [Psalm 119.68a]
The ONLY reason bad things are even present in life is sin. Curses are the result of sin and only sin. There is no curse that is not tied eternally to sin:
Like a fluttering sparrow or a darting swallow, an undeserved curse will not land on its intended victim. [Proverbs 26.2]
It is the glory of God and His Son Jesus Christ to overcome the curse and curses of sin. While Jesus' disciples (who often did not understand their own motivation) questioned why a man was born blind, Jesus' answer is telling to say the least:
As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man who had been blind from birth. “Rabbi,” his disciples asked him, “why was this man born blind? Was it because of his own sins or his parents’ sins?” “It was not because of his sins or his parents’ sins,” Jesus answered. “This happened so the power of God could be seen in him. We must quickly carry out the tasks assigned us by the one who sent us. The night is coming, and then no one can work. But while I am here in the world, I am the light of the world.” [John 9.1-5]
Among many other "bad things," Deuteronomy 28 is CLEAR that blindness is a curse. Jesus did NOT refute this FACT here as some would think. However, He did indicate that Adam's sin unleashed a torrent of not only direct but random curses upon mankind. So, why did God allow Adam to sin in the first place? So He might receive glory in His powerful provision of Jesus to redeem mankind from what mankind could not redeem itself! So, we must be diligent to understand that Jesus did not say in the passage above that blindness was not the result of sin. Jesus' focus was the Kingdom of God evidenced in everything He did - the Kingdom of God AND ITS POWER! The blindness, which is eternally tied to sin, is representative of the condition of man's soul which only the POWER of God can redeem.
Jesus was making it very clear here that just because this fellow was good enough that no particular sin could be attributed to his blindness, he was still a sinner in need of the power of God to redeem him!
It is worth pointing out here also that Jesus was in the world in His physical body, but is also present in this world today through His spiritual Body - the Church! He remains in the world today - bringing the Kingdom of God and His Light through the Church! The "night" has not yet come because Christ remains in the world - so there is WORK to be done!
Unless, of course, if we are found as those who "...refuse to listen to me [God]. They have rejected my word."
Father, I want to listen to You. I do not want to reject Your Word!
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