Why does God allow suffering if He is with us, as in Judges 6:13? I. The Question Framed: Gideon’s Cry and the Human Condition “‘Pardon me, my lord,’ Gideon replied, ‘but if the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us? And where are all His wonders of which our fathers told us, saying, “The LORD brought us up out of Egypt”? But now the LORD has forsaken us and delivered us into the hand of Midian.’ ” (Judges 6:13) Gideon voices the archetypal protest of every sufferer: “If God is present, why pain?” His lament combines bewilderment, historical memory, and perceived abandonment—questions still raised today. II. The Covenant Context of Judges 6 Israel’s oppression by Midian arose immediately after national apostasy (Judges 6:1). Moses had warned, “If you do not obey the LORD your God…all these curses will come upon you” (Deuteronomy 28:15). Suffering here is covenant discipline, not divine absence. God remains active, using hardship to call His people back (Psalm 119:67). III. Biblical Patterns of Suffering: Consequence, Discipline, Redemption 1. Consequence of fallen humanity (Genesis 3:17-19; Romans 5:12). 2. Fatherly discipline that refines faith (Hebrews 12:5-11; Proverbs 3:11-12). 3. Redemptive stage for God’s acts (Genesis 50:20; John 11:4). Across Scripture, affliction never nullifies presence; it becomes the medium of divine purpose. IV. Divine Sovereignty and Human Freedom Scripture presents God as absolutely sovereign (Isaiah 46:9-10) while holding humans accountable for evil choices (James 1:13-15). The Midianite crisis illustrates this duality: Israel sowed idolatry, reaped oppression, yet God remained Lord of the outcome, preparing deliverance through Gideon. V. The Nearness of God in Pain “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me” (Psalm 23:4). Presence does not preclude valleys; it guarantees guidance within them (Isaiah 43:2). Gideon’s story begins with an unseen Angel of the LORD sitting under an oak (Judges 6:11)—God already among the afflicted before the deliverer understands. VI. Purposes God Achieves Through Suffering • Spiritual maturity: “The testing of your faith produces perseverance” (James 1:3-4). • Display of power: The blind man’s infirmity existed “that the works of God might be displayed in him” (John 9:3). • Purification of the church: “Judgment begins with the household of God” (1 Peter 4:17). • Evangelistic witness: Paul’s chains advanced the gospel (Philippians 1:12-14). • Conformity to Christ: “That I may know…the fellowship of His sufferings” (Philippians 3:10). VII. Gideon’s Narrative: Strength Perfected in Weakness God answers Gideon not with an explanation but a commission: “Go in the strength you have…and I will be with you” (Judges 6:14,16). Deliverance arises through improbable means—a timid farmer, a reduced army of 300, and shattered jars—highlighting divine sufficiency (2 Corinthians 4:7). VIII. Christological Fulfillment: The Cross as the Ultimate Answer God does not remain distant from suffering; He enters it. “He was pierced for our transgressions” (Isaiah 53:5). The historic resurrection—established by multiple early creedal sources (1 Corinthians 15:3-7) and attested by enemy witnesses (Matthew 28:11-15)—verifies that evil, sin, and death are decisively overcome. Any theodicy without Calvary remains incomplete; with the risen Christ, hope is grounded in objective history. IX. Eschatological Hope: Future Eradication of Suffering “I saw a new heaven and a new earth…He will wipe away every tear” (Revelation 21:1-4). Present groaning is labor pain for a restored cosmos (Romans 8:18-23). Gideon’s local deliverance prefigures global renewal. X. Practical Responses for Today 1. Honest lament (Psalm 13). 2. Repentance where sin contributes (Acts 3:19). 3. Persistent prayer (Luke 18:1-8). 4. Mutual bearing of burdens (Galatians 6:2). 5. Acts of mercy that manifest God’s compassion (Matthew 25:35-40). XI. Evidential Assurance amid Suffering • Resurrection minimal-facts data (Habermas): empty tomb, post-mortem appearances, transformation of skeptics confirm God’s redemptive plan is real, not wishful thinking. • Manuscript reliability (over 5,800 Greek NT witnesses, earliest fragments within a generation) grounds the promises we cling to. • Modern healings, such as medically documented recovery of Sister Marie-Simone Pierre from Parkinson’s after prayer to Christ in 2005 (validated by Vatican medical board), echo biblical miracles (Acts 3:6-8). XII. Intelligent Design and Natural Evil The finely tuned constants of physics, irreducible complexity of cellular machinery, and information-bearing DNA point to a mind behind the cosmos. Young-earth catastrophism explains much so-called “natural evil” (fossil graveyards, geological upheaval) as results of the Flood judgment (Genesis 7), not original design. Creation “was subjected to futility” (Romans 8:20), yet still declares glory (Psalm 19:1). XIII. Behavioral and Philosophical Insights Empirical studies (e.g., Viktor Frankl’s logotherapy findings on meaning in suffering) affirm Scripture’s claim that purpose, not painlessness, sustains humans. The universal moral outcry against suffering presupposes an objective standard of good, best explained by a transcendent Lawgiver (Romans 2:15). XIV. Conclusion: Gideon’s Cry Answered God allows suffering neither from indifference nor impotence. He employs it to confront sin, cultivate character, display glory, advance the gospel, and draw creation toward consummation. As with Gideon, He meets us in our threshing floors of fear, calls us to trust, and proves His presence by deliverance—ultimately through the risen Christ and finally in the coming renewal of all things. |
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