Blame
And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” John 9:2 ESV
Who sinned – “Blaming others for our suffering is the world’s most tragic mistake. One who blames another – no matter who – not only blemishes emuna, but forfeits the Divine intervention that he or she would have received had they appealed to Hashem. Once a victim forfeits Divine intervention, he or she will fall into the hands of the tormentor.”[1]
The disciples’ presupposition about handicaps, illness and other human tragedies is this: Whenever we see something that does not conform with our idea of perfect and holy, it must be the result of sin. God would never allow such tragedy if it were not for sin. Because of this assumption, the disciples naturally conclude that being born blind (a terrible tragedy in their minds) must be the result of sin. Therefore, someone must have sinned; someone must be to blame! The focus of their attention is not on the victim nor on the purpose of God in the life of the victim. The focus is on the cause!
These men were good Jews. They grew up in a Jewish culture. They were educated by rabbis. They held a Hebraic worldview – sort of! The truth is that they had all this background and still made the usual human mistake of looking for causes rather than purposes. Yeshua corrects their perspective. But He does not correct their assumptions. He points them to purpose rather than cause but He does not say that there is no cause. He just directs them toward the realization that cause does not matter! Does sin cause illness? Probably. Is illness always caused by sin? Who knows? Yeshua’s point is that this question looks in the wrong direction. Whatever the present circumstances, the real question is, “What will God make of this?”
The redirection from cause to purpose applies to all of our circumstances. It helps us realize that life is not what we make of it. Life is what God desires to make of it. Once we shift our point of view from “How did this happen to me?” to “What is God going to accomplish through this?” everything about life changes. Now the circumstances of our lives become the vehicle of righteousness – no matter what they are! Now we look for God’s handiwork in our situation because we are attuned to how He will use our condition to further His Kingdom. Now it’s not about us. And if it’s not about us, how it happened doesn’t matter at all.
Today you and I can redirect our lives by shifting from cause to purpose. What is now the case is the clay that God will use to shape what He wishes. What is now the case is the substance of His restoration and righteousness. There is no purpose in complaint or blame. All of that is merely what brings about the Potter’s design. Get on the wheel and let Him go to work.
Topical Index: blame, sin, cause, purpose, John 9:2, sin
Is illness always caused by sin? Who knows?
Hmmm
Infants are ill all the time and I don’t think they have sinned
Actually i know of many cases of babies/children being gravely ill and their parents were led to repent of specific sins and the child recovered.
There is a ministry that teaches a direct correlation between sin and sickness, and they have years of carefully documented cases to back this up. They use Deuteronomy’s blessing/curses as a cornerstone of their teaching and they have thousands of ‘dead men walking’ to substantiated their stance.
I am sure you do know of cases and I am sure there are many genuine examples, BUT what do you do with John 9 and Job. As I have written before, the relationship is not bi-directional.
Re: John 9
This is what I believe: Everything in life is to reveal the sovereignty of YH. Everything. It is up to the individual paddling the canoe to adjust their life strokes so as to maintain their focus on that one thing; his sovereignty.
That being said, I also believe we have a sworn enemy who rules this world. While it is true that YHVH created the world, the only parts of it he rules are the parts of it where one of his creations actively appropriates his presence. In every other venue, the enemy has precedence. Read: sin wins. This is as true today as it was when this conversation took place.
I note that the people asking the question never questioned as to whether or not sin had a place in the resulting of the man’s blindness, their statement pretty much leaves open the assumption that THEY believed that sin was the reason he was blind. They wanted the comfort of knowing exactly who/where that sin entered in this man’s life.
Messiah’s response, the deflecting of sin, the re-alignment of the focus…encompassed everything you and I believe and teach, that ALL things are for the revealing of YHVH’s glory.
Messiah’s response, as was his common response, reached beyond what those asking believed they were asking, had a right a right to ask and perhaps even a duty to ask….he stepped over their petty testing questions and nailed them with the Truth. They were seeking to accuse, in righteousness, of course. He was seeking to heal. Righteously.
Side note: as you know, what Messiah did here was, according to the Mishnah, wrong on so many levels it defies description, and yet it was done, seamlessly and compassionately, for the right reasons.
For further conversation I recommend John and Paula’s Sandford’s John 9 study in their Closer Look series.
Re: Job
I have a response for Job, but not the time right now.
I’ll. Be.. Back.
Just one comment. I find no place in Scripture that suggests that the enemy has FULL and UNMITIGATED control over the world. I realize he CLAIMS this, but if we believe in a sovereign God, then we reject this claim. Ha-Satan does what he does with the PERMISSION of YHWH. He is not empowered in his own right. He is a created being. The idea that we battle a super-powerful divine figure representing evil is straight from Greek mythology. We give the devil way too much credit.
We agree, he DOES act w/permission from YHWH, remember Job?
My point is that WE give him permission as well, either by directly countering what WE KNOW to be Truth and acting discordantly OR because we don’t KNOW our authority trumps, and act accordingly.
My people are destroyed because of lack of knowledge: because thou has REJECTED knowledge….(Hosea).
Torah is written only to those who accept it. And even those who accept it have to learn to appropriate it.
In the interim the battle rages.
Re: Mythology…Genesis 6
Go read what I wrote about the verse you quoted from Hosea. Not quite the same in Hebrew.
Matthew 4:8
Luke 4:6
Interesting that the number four represents created material in Scripture, most of the time directly referencing the earth.
Eight is the number of change, actually. Occultism it is more of an abrupt, harsh ‘transformation’, and in Scripture it reference the ‘renewing’ of the old, be it wineskins or canoe direction.
Six is the number of rebellion in occultism and man in Scripture. Self explanatory.
And how did you determine the meaning of the numbers? Isn’t that just another form of mysticism?
Dang it. See? i KNEW i should have documented my source!
E. W. Bullinger has a book on the numbers in Scripture, he uses the rule of first mention and then catalogued the instances where the number was used in accordance to the first time it was referred to.
It’s rather like finding the root of a word, or hebraic letter, and then watching the building of the other words/concepts around it.
No more or less mystical.
I have the book, proper, but it’s in some box (i haven’t fully unpacked yet from my last life tsunami) so i utilized his Companion Bible, which has a great, albeit brief, synopsis of a lot of his findings.
The occultic perspective are things i’ve picked up interacting w/former occultists. You have to ask the questions directly to get answers, they are not much into discussing things. I was on a kick for a while and they indulged me, i have the notes, but they also are packed. dang it.
It is NOT astrology or numerology. (but we can talk about how the creation story is written in the stars, as he did a book on that topic as well. I have it…in a box…but i repeat myself).
Thanks for asking.
Gematria (using the Hebrew aleph-bet as numbers) has been around for a long time. In my humble opinion, it is a form of numerology and tends toward mysticism.
Re: Hosea
k.
But my stance on the concept will remain.
I am glad that you are “comfortable with what you believe.” Of course, that doesn’t make it true, does it? 🙂
Re: Hosea
Sorry, i can’t go in and append my comments; Hosea has to wait on the 60 page (i got it down to 40, actually) print out on love.
I’m really enjoying it and am loath to rush it.
I’ll get to it tho.
re: Gematria
You haven’t read Bullinger yet, have you.
Re: My beliefs
I’ve dropped so many things i believed in, what is one more?
Other then that, people who know Truth and choose to walk in error, perish, people who don’t know Truth and by default perish (ignorance of the laws in another country will serve as no excuse, ask any military person). THAT is the concept i think i’ll stand bye. 🙂
Actually i know of many cases of babies/children being gravely ill and their parents were led to repent of specific sins and the child recovered.
Hmmm
I think God’s will is a simpler explanation
It does: Obedience .
wait. i think i don’t understand what you are saying, Michael.
Are you saying that it is YHVH’s will for babies and children to be sick? and if so, what is your response to their getting better after the parents repented for their sin?
Repeatedly, different babies/children/families.
I can agree with it being ‘god’s’ will, as in the god of this earth’s will, certainly.
What happens is God’s will or it wouldn’t happen IMO
Our job is to accept God’s will with loving kindness
Our model is the Son of Man
I tend to think in terms of trying to “do the right thing”
And taking responsibility for my actions
My behavior is not always responsible
Michael,
Even the Son of Man healed, and more often then not he did so by addressing some undisclosed ‘sin’ in the person’s life.
Yes, you can site where that didn’t happen, but i can counter w/when it did, just as easily.
Healing IS his will. But it is on HIS terms. and HIS terms = obedience and when that is lacking, repentance.
Simple.
Does this apply to “if then”, if you walk in my commands then blessings, if you walk in your own ways then curses? At times I have the sense to look at circumstances and ask ans look for His purpose being the utmost others, not so much.
if you walk in my commands then blessings, if you walk in your own ways then curses?
Hi Babs
I don’t think it works that way, in light of the stories of Jesus and Job
And I don’t know that they felt cursed, but they were certainly forced to endure
A great deal of undeserved pain
It is all in Deuteronomy the blessings and the curses. I understand the ways we are called to walk in obedience just wonder about how much Yaweh is an if, then, lay it out all the rules. If sickness isn’t something that is received by some of our own disobedience then why is it one of the causes from our own lifestyle choices. Such as most bladder cancer is a result of cigarette smoking, as well as disc problems and vascular disease. Does this make sense what I am saying. If we walk out of the protective covering we open ourselves up to the wages of sin or rather our own choices. I work in an operating room and am amazed at the things we repair because of choices.
“Does this make sense what I am saying.”
Hi Babs,
What you are saying makes sense to me
But Deuteronomy does not always make sense to me
For example, if two men are fighting and a wife intervenes to protect her husband
And tries to gain advantage by seizing the private parts of the opponent
In the name of modesty in brawls, Deuteronomy 25:12 dictates
That her hand be cut off without any display of pity
I need this reminder about once a week. Thank you for expressing it so eloquently, Skip.
Muck, Mire and Mud
And His disciples asked Him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
(John 9:2 ESV)
Blame: the law of cause and effect. If you place your hand on a hot stove, -you get burned. No matter your race, ethnicity, politics or sex. Or, “if you do this- God will do that!” Similarly, but on a much smaller scale, “if you put a nickel (just how old are you?) in a candy machine, and punch the right button, a candy bar will be yours.
A pig has no problem wallowing in muck, mire and mud. This is what pigs do, they live and eat slop. This is the life of a pig. He (or she) knows nothing different and knows no other way to live, other than to be a pig. It just comes “naturally.” Pigs do what pigs do. So do sinners. They only “do” what comes “naturally” to them.
And now to “name” some sins. (do we really have to do this?) Lying, cheating, stealing, bullying.. – just to name (is this trip down memory lane necessary?) a few. Are there more? (oy!!) Murder, lust, envy, drunkenness, adultery, fornication -yes, this list could certainly be added to, but is this really necessary?
Now, in all honesty, can anyone “blame” a sinner, for being a sinner? Where may we (sinners) place the blame? Is it really all George Bush’s fault? (poor fella!)- Is He “the responsible party” for the mess we now find ourselves in?
Just what does the Bible, (our only “authority”) have to say about sin? Yes, the question “du jour” is not only what is a sinner, but “who” is a sinner? How many people in this society (the one we now live in) do not have a clue concerning sin? We all have lost all “sin-sensitivity.” The conscience, both in the individual and in the collective, in the life of one and in the lives of many has become “seared with a hot iron” and we have “forgotten how to blush..”- there is now, today,- NO shame in sin. Perverted people now are strutting.
May I? What is our (only) standard of right and wrong? Ask the head-hunters and cannibals of New Guinea. Is it so very “wrong” to eat human flesh? Is treachery so very wrong to befriend someone and then to betray and to kill him and then celebrate about it? How did this society “devolve” into such a condition?
What is man apart from God? Have you seen the results? Leave God out of government. Please do. The communists have been doing it for years. Just take a good look at (behold) the “prosperity” of North Korea. God, or any mention of God has been “outlawed.” Yes, through the “law of the land” – THAT government has said “No” to God.. ~ The fool (the morally deficient person) has said the very same thing: “no” to God. (Psalm 14.1) No to God the Father, No to God the Son and no to God the holy Ruach, God has been refused and rejected, denied, “dissed” and dismissed. Who is to “blame” for all this? George Bush? – No, not all all..
It is “we the people.” We are the ones who have allowed this “devolution” of society to occur.
Remember Lot. And we would like to welcome you today to this utopian society, We welcome you today to Sodom. Here, (happily?) what’s wrong is right and what is right is wrong. We are an “iniquitous” (twisted) people who are habitual liars and thieves. We kill and stab and backbite and “devour one another..” – (May God have mercy) Please, don’t ask me how this is even possible.. – This is far beyond my pay-grade.
Now, once again, – who is to blame for this? What sin is this? It is the sin of silence. Adam has failed to remember and adam has failed to speak the Torah (instructions) of YHWH: “don’t eat the fruit”. Why? because dear adamah,- it is poisonous. ~ and in the day that you eat of it, – you will die ~ Adam, did you not believe God? Did you not believe His words were true?
Who lied? And who is the “father of all liars?”- What did the serpent say? ~ you shall NOT surely die? ~ Adam, -what is wrong with you? Why do you not remember the instructions of your Creator, and intimate Friend? Or did you remember, but just fail to speak? Either way, the end result was epic failure.
Christian, are you remembering? And are you speaking? Now is NOT the time for silence!! Who is to “blame” for this mess we find ourselves in? Adam, – are you listening?
O, “if only!..” (today) – I will “HEAR” what God the LORD will speak,- for He will speak peace unto His people and to His saints, but do not let them turn again unto folly..
And Adam, (with 20/20 hindsight) please, always remember this:
~There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the LORD ~ (Proverbs 21.30)
Hi Carl. I am still here (smiles)
May the LORD keep blessing HIS OWN in what they find their hand doing in the Father¨s business.
TIme is so short and we are caught up with so many things.
May we learn to be caught up with JESUS:
He is coming soon !
“Get on the wheel and let Him go to work.”
That’s what real living is all about.
the wheel
Hi Daria;
Are you referring to Boethius and the Wheel of Fortune?
“Get on the POTTER’S wheel and let Him go to work.”
“on the POTTER’S wheel”
Okay… to be formed like a pot
For a minute, I thought you meant Harry Potter
“Harry Potter” et el is demonic. That sort of “entertainment” has no place in my life.
I liked the first one when Harry and his girlfriend were kids
After the second one, it just seemed like what Walter Benjamin called long ago the
Mechanical Reproduction of Art Under Capitalism
And nothing more
You wrote: “The redirection from cause to purpose applies to all of our circumstances. It helps us realize that life is not what we make of it. Life is what God desires to make of it. Once we shift our point of view from “How did this happen to me?” to “What is God going to accomplish through this?” everything about life changes. Now the circumstances of our lives become the vehicle of righteousness – no matter what they are! Now we look for God’s handiwork in our situation because we are attuned to how He will use our condition to further His Kingdom. Now it’s not about us. And if it’s not about us, how it happened doesn’t matter at all.”
This is a journey of maturity and understanding for the life of a disciple of Yeshua. Excellent word!
Shalom and safe travels to you.
I love when shift happens, and this is a terrific shift! Thanks Doc!
Mrs. P
Skip uses the word “shift”.
I’ve always been impacted by Paul’s similiar choice of words:
“transformed by the renewing of your mind . . .”
To this day, my transformation is still underway. I am remarkably
humbled by all that I still don’t know. Yet I am grateful beyond
measure for how my mind has been “made over”, yes transformed,
by God’s renewing grace and His powerful, merciful Word!
Most of all, I am eternally grateful for having been given the desire
to “want to know Him” in the first place. To think how many years
I was “bad to the bone!”
ABBA Father, thank you for placing a new heart within me and
filling me with your precious Holy Spirit.
The “shift” has been nothing less than amazing!!!
“Yet I am grateful beyond measure for how my mind has been “made over”, yes transformed,
by God’s renewing grace and His powerful, merciful Word!” Rich, this is so beautiful and it is our son’s story, too. He has been miraculously transformed from a lost, wondering, depraved, confused MethHead to a glowing example of the Power of YHVH Who waited for the boy/man to turn to Him. In an INSTANT, our son knew exactly what to do: surrender to his Maker!!! He walks with God hour by hour, minute by minute.
Praise YHVH forever and ever.
Very interesting. I assume we all know that anotation was added at a later point in time, and not when it was written.
KJV – my notes in brackets And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? [question]
Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents. [answer, end of that story]
[then Jesus elaborates]
But that the works of God should be made manifest in him, I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day:the night cometh, when no man can work.
To me Jesus says; wrong question, but I must do the work that I am sent to do in order for the works of God to be manifest.
What do you say to someone who is a victim of horrific crime? They so often feel so guilty anyway. If you tell them it happened because it was G-d’s will, they just blame Him, too. Further, if His will is the only thing happening on earth, then why oh why did Messiah teach us to pray for it? And if you say that prayer does not change Him, but us, which is true, then how could we be any less in His will no matter what we do? And how do you resolve guilt in people who are left holding the bag for others? If everything is already perfect, how dare we think we should change a thing?
When C. S. Lewis addressed this question, he gave the example of someone who is tutoring small children. They get instructed in how to keep their room clean, but they leave it dirty instead. Now, the perfect will of the parent is a clean room. The dirty room is their will insofar as they allowed the children the choice to leave it messy, but he points out that to allow something is not the same ting as to approve of it. To say the words “it is just His will” to a victim, say, of satanic abuse, is to say a terrible thing to them about them and Him. I think perhaps we can be careless with our words, and end up with people who hear the exact opposite of what we thought we were communicating. Please come up with some more clarity for the suffering among us: I work with them every day, and they use the phrase “it is just G-d’s will” as their excuse to remain stuck and tormented and angry. I hear it as accusation against Him, and as an excuse for them. Not useful, certainly, and the accusation is a serious sin of separation. Please help me come up with a better explanation for them!