ONE-YEAR JOURNEY OF THE BIBLE
Day 20 - Exodus 5-7 (Why Does God Allow Suffering?)
“Then the officers of the children of Israel came and cried out to Pharaoh, saying, "Why are you dealing thus with your servants? There is no straw given to your servants, and they say to us, 'Make brick!' And indeed your servants are beaten, but the fault is in your own people." But he said, "You are idle! Idle! Therefore you say, 'Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord.' Therefore go now and work; for no straw shall be given you, yet you shall deliver the quota of bricks." And the officers of the children of Israel saw that they were in trouble after it was said, "You shall not reduce any bricks from your daily quota." (Exodus 5:15-19)
There is no one right answer to the question that is the title of this post because God does not always reveal the reason why He allows suffering in this world. In the case of the Israelites in our text, however, we can deduce at least one or two reasons why He allowed them to suffer even more after they were given hope of deliverance through the introduction of Moses and Aaron whom God called to bring them out of Egypt.
In all appearances, Moses’ mission to deliver the Israelites was an utter failure. Not only did Pharoah not give in to Moses’ request to let the Jews go on a three-day journey to the wilderness, He maintained their production quota of bricks without providing them the fuel. As recorded above, the Jews knew that they were in serious trouble.
We shall see in the succeeding chapters the How of God’s deliverance of Israel from their slavery in Egypt; but God gives us the Why in the following chapter: “Then the Lord said to Moses, "Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh. For with a strong hand he will let them go, and with a strong hand he will drive them out of his land." (Exodus 6:1)
The Why of the suffering of Israel after they were given hope is this: God wanted to glorify Himself before them in even more than He would have been if He had not allowed them to experience their greater suffering. Oftentimes, God does the same thing to His children in order for Him to receive greater glory. Do we not give God higher praise and thanks when He answers our prayer for a serious problem compared to a trivial need? Therefore, one reason God allows suffering is so that He can receive greater glory to Himself.
One may say, “Is it not selfish of God to want to receive more glory to Himself?” Absolutely not! It is consistent with God’s nature to want to receive the uttermost glory to Himself - He would not be God if He did not act accordingly. To put it in terms we can better understand, would it be selfish of us as humans to not want to get the best medical treatment possible even if we can’t afford it? Why? Because God has put it in the heart of every person to want to live forever. That is human nature.
Are you struggling with why God allows suffering in your life or in the life of others you care for? I pray that you would be content to accept that God is in control of all things and that He has His reasons for everything, including suffering in this world and one of that is to gain glory for Himself.
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