- It doesn't
take long to discover
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that life can be,
well, incredibly painful.
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Today on Authentic,
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we're going to explore
the possibility that you and I
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have been blaming the wrong
person for all our troubles.
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[upbeat music]
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Quite a few years ago now,
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I made this horrible discovery
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while using a payphone in a
hotel lobby in Canmore, Alberta.
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Now, the fact that
I was using a payphone
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should probably tell you
that this is an old story
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because I don't even
think those exist anymore.
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But back in the day, that
was the only option you had
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when you were traveling.
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You had to use a calling
card from the phone company
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or you had to
use your credit card
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to make a long distance call.
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So I plugged in my Visa
number and my card was denied,
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which seemed really
strange because Jean and I
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never ever had
problems with our credit card.
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So I called Visa and
they told me I was maxed out.
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Well, that's impossible I said
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because I knew that wasn't true.
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And that's when I discovered
that somebody somewhere
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had stolen my credit card number
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and they were
spending a lot of money.
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They purchased stereo equipment
in Alexandria, Virginia,
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a city I'd never been to,
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and what it made it
really interesting was the fact
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that they had been in the store
with a physical credit card.
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In other words, they
actually counterfeited my card.
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Now at the time, credit
card fraud was a problem,
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but today in the
online world, it's a plague.
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A Nielsen report from 2019
revealed that worldwide losses
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that year
approached $28 billion,
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and the trend is
moving upwards such
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that the cost
will top 40 billion
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by the time we get to
the end of this decade.
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Now, some people shrug this off
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as if it's a minor crime
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because most credit
cards insure you against fraud
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and you're probably
never going to have to pay it.
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But let's be real about this.
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Someone somewhere
has to pay those costs,
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and if the merchant
doesn't absorb the loss,
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then the credit
card company does
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and they pass it
on to their customers.
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This is not a victimless crime,
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but today it's actually
worse than credit card theft
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because we're dealing
now with identity theft
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where a perpetrator doesn't
just take your visa number,
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he actually pretends to be you,
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and that can have a
devastating impact on your life.
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By harvesting
your personal data,
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he or she can
assume your identity
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and they can
take out massive loans
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that you won't know about
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until the creditor
comes looking for you.
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Worse than that, these people
can commit horrendous crimes
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on the internet
and you get the blame.
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Take for example, the
horrendous case of Simon Buns,
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a UK man who was suddenly
arrested out of the blue
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and the police seized
all his computer equipment.
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To his horror, he was
accused of possessing child porn
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because somebody
overseas had managed
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to steal his credit
card and they used it
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to buy indecent
pictures of minors.
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When his boss found
out why he'd been arrested,
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he was immediately
fired and he lost his salary
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of 120,000 pounds a year.
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Members of his family, including
his father and siblings,
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cut him off when they found
out what he'd been charged with.
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And of course,
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he knew that he'd never
been to any of those websites,
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and so he had confidence
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that the police
would exonerate him,
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but it can take months for
investigators to do their work.
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So in the meantime,
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he was jobless and he had
to consider selling his house
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just to make ends meet.
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Not only was his
credit now in tatters,
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but his reputation
was absolutely destroyed.
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And honestly, when
somebody accuses you
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of something that horrible,
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it can be like cutting
open a pillow in a wind storm.
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The gossip mill will
spread the story far and wide
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and you will never
get all the feathers back.
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And unfortunately,
gossips are seldom as motivated
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to clear your name as
they were to destroy it,
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which is one of the
reasons that the Bible condemns
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the act of gossip so strongly.
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It does real damage to
people and often for life.
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So as Simon waited for
the police to do their work,
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he decided he would do a
little investigating of his own.
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The company that
cleared the charges
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was an American company,
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so he used the
Freedom of Information Act
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to get a copy
of the transaction,
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which gave him the IP address
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that the computer
used to commit the crime.
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It was located in
the city of Jakarta
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on the other side of the planet,
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so he was able to
prove that he had used
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that same credit
card on that same day
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in a restaurant in London
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so there was no way he
could be the perpetrator.
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By September, the
police informed him
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that the charges
were being dropped,
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but in many ways,
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it was too light because
his life was already ruined
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and to this day I understand
he never ever shops online.
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Now chances are you've
been notified at some point
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or rather that your personal
data has been compromised
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in a leak at some big company
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because well this
happens all the time now.
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In September of 2017,
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Equifax announced that they
had experienced a data breach
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involving 147 million people.
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And as of this moment right now,
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as I'm sitting
here in this studio,
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the FTC is still
processing claims
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against the company with a
deadline in January of 2024,
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and that's just
the tip of the iceberg.
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During the 12 year
period between 2008 and 2020,
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there were more than
12,000 reported data breaches
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in the United States
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with more than 11
billion records stolen.
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The thought that
somebody might be out there
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pretending to be you is
enough to keep you up at night.
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How much money are
these people borrowing?
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What kinds of crimes are
they committing in your name
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and how much
trouble will you be in
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when you finally discover
what they've been doing?
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According to the FTC,
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identity theft almost
doubled between 2019 and 2020,
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partly thanks to pandemic scams
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where the
criminals tried to pirate
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people's unemployment benefits.
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It's a serious
problem and it makes me think
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of perhaps the worst
case of identity theft
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the world has ever seen.
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It's a problem
every bit is serious
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is when your
identity gets stolen.
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I've been in
ministry long enough
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to know that when
bad things happen,
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most people have a
tendency to blame God
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or at least
barrage him with questions
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about how in the world
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he could let
something this bad happen.
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And to an extent, it's
completely understandable.
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The God of the Bible
claims to be all knowing
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and all powerful.
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And so our natural instinct
is to hold God accountable
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when bad things happen.
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But a careful study
of the ancient records
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indicates that
blaming God for evil
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might just be the biggest case
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of stolen
identity ever perpetrated.
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I mean, what if somebody
else is responsible for evil?
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What if God is truly innocent
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and yet everybody
thinks he's the one
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causing pain and suffering?
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Thousands of pages have
been written mocking the notion
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of a loving God
because of the evils
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that unfold every single
day all over this planet,
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producing untold suffering
for millions of people.
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Every day, the cries of
millions rise toward heaven,
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demanding that
God explain himself.
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But what if God
isn't really to blame?
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And what if God has
already explained himself?
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I'll be right back after this.
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- [Speaker] Dragons,
beasts, cryptic statues.
00:08:15.09\00:08:19.36
Bible prophecy can be
incredibly vivid and confusing.
00:08:19.36\00:08:23.93
If you've ever read
Daniel or Revelation
00:08:23.93\00:08:26.10
and come away scratching
your head, you are not alone.
00:08:26.10\00:08:29.14
Our free focus on
prophecy guides are designed
00:08:29.14\00:08:32.07
to help you unlock
the mysteries of the Bible
00:08:32.07\00:08:34.31
and deepen your understanding
of God's plan for you
00:08:34.31\00:08:37.31
and our world.
00:08:37.31\00:08:38.51
Study online or
request them by mail
00:08:38.51\00:08:40.85
and start bringing
prophecy into focus today.
00:08:40.85\00:08:43.75
- In his best
selling book Night,
00:08:44.85\00:08:47.06
Eli Wiesel vividly described
00:08:47.06\00:08:49.06
some of the unbelievable
horrors he witnessed
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at the hands of the Nazis.
00:08:51.83\00:08:53.80
One of the most
painful stories he tells
00:08:53.80\00:08:56.00
has to do with the
execution of a young boy.
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He'd been implicated
in an active sabotage
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against a power plant.
00:09:01.64\00:09:03.54
After a stint in
solitary confinement
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where the boy was tortured,
00:09:05.81\00:09:07.64
he was eventually
condemned to death.
00:09:07.64\00:09:10.05
Eli Wiesel writes the
SS seemed more preoccupied,
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more worried than usual.
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To hang a child in front
of thousands of onlookers
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was not a small matter.
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The head of the
camp read the verdict,
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all eyes were on the child.
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He was pale, almost calm,
but he was biting his lips
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as he stood in the
shadow of the gallows.
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The men who were usually charged
with performing executions
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refused to do it
because it was so horrible.
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And so three SS
officers took their place.
00:09:37.44\00:09:40.98
The boy and two other
prisoners were placed on chairs
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and nooses were
placed around their necks.
00:09:43.68\00:09:47.08
And it's at that
point that someone standing
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behind Mr. Wiesel suddenly
said, where is merciful God,
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where is he?
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The chairs were
tipped and the two men next
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to the boy died quickly,
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but the boy was too light
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and it took half
an hour for him to go.
00:10:01.83\00:10:04.47
And again, the man behind
Eli Wiesel asked for God's sake,
00:10:04.47\00:10:08.67
where is God?
00:10:08.67\00:10:10.11
Now, personally, I've never had
00:10:11.14\00:10:12.41
to witness anything
quite that horrible,
00:10:12.41\00:10:15.28
but I have seen some
pretty terrible things.
00:10:15.28\00:10:17.38
I've seen heaps of
human bodies lying in a crypt
00:10:17.38\00:10:20.55
behind a church in Rwanda.
00:10:20.55\00:10:22.68
I've seen good people linger
for months in the hospital,
00:10:22.68\00:10:25.52
enduring unimaginable pain
before the merciful hand of
00:10:25.52\00:10:29.39
death finally takes them.
00:10:29.39\00:10:31.16
I've sat with people who
have been horribly abused
00:10:31.16\00:10:34.10
by a trusted family
member or a spouse to the point
00:10:34.10\00:10:37.63
where most people would
experience a psychiatric
00:10:37.63\00:10:41.94
breakdown. And the same question
always naturally emerges,
00:10:41.94\00:10:44.84
where is God when
bad things happen?
00:10:44.84\00:10:49.14
Eli Wiesel shares the thought
00:10:49.14\00:10:50.65
that crossed his mind one day
00:10:50.65\00:10:52.81
as he joined a worship
service on Rosh Hashanah,
00:10:52.81\00:10:55.42
the Jewish New Year.
00:10:55.42\00:10:57.32
The officiating
prisoner following the liturgy
00:10:57.32\00:11:00.09
for the occasion
said blessed be God's name
00:11:00.09\00:11:04.09
and Eli Wiesel
describes his reaction.
00:11:04.09\00:11:06.93
He writes, why, but
why would I bless him?
00:11:06.93\00:11:10.77
Every fiber in me rebelled
00:11:10.77\00:11:12.80
because he caused
thousands of children
00:11:12.80\00:11:14.64
to burn in his mass graves,
00:11:14.64\00:11:16.81
because he kept six
crematoria working day and night
00:11:16.81\00:11:19.74
including
Sabbath in the holy days.
00:11:19.74\00:11:22.48
Because in his great might,
00:11:22.48\00:11:23.95
he had created
Auschwitz, Birkenau, Buna
00:11:23.95\00:11:26.48
and so many other
factories of death.
00:11:26.48\00:11:29.55
How could I say to him,
blessed be thou almighty,
00:11:29.55\00:11:33.05
master of the universe
who chose us among all nations
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to be tortured day and night,
00:11:36.12\00:11:38.39
to watch as our
fathers, our mothers,
00:11:38.39\00:11:40.40
our brothers end
up in the furnaces.
00:11:40.40\00:11:42.96
Praise be thy holy
name for having chosen us
00:11:42.96\00:11:46.27
to be
slaughtered on thine altar.
00:11:46.27\00:11:49.40
It's completely understandable,
00:11:49.40\00:11:50.97
and I'd be lying if I said
that those kinds of thoughts
00:11:50.97\00:11:53.54
have never ever crossed my mind.
00:11:53.54\00:11:56.58
I mean, I've suffered,
00:11:56.58\00:11:57.78
maybe not like the
victims of a death camp,
00:11:57.78\00:11:59.85
that's for sure,
but I have suffered.
00:11:59.85\00:12:02.15
And when the pain is sharp,
it can be hard to think clearly.
00:12:02.15\00:12:06.55
Some days it can be difficult
to find assurance in the Bible
00:12:06.55\00:12:09.52
because, well, the
stories in this book
00:12:09.52\00:12:12.26
suddenly seem so distant.
00:12:12.26\00:12:15.53
They're the stories
of other people who lived
00:12:15.53\00:12:17.50
a long time ago on the
other side of the planet.
00:12:17.50\00:12:20.50
And of course,
00:12:20.50\00:12:22.04
we think of those people
as spiritual heroes and giants
00:12:22.04\00:12:24.51
of the faith and I
know I'm not those things,
00:12:24.51\00:12:28.94
but what if all
these horrible atrocities
00:12:28.94\00:12:30.88
are not God's fault?
00:12:30.88\00:12:32.68
What if we're
dealing with a case
00:12:32.68\00:12:34.28
of mistaken
identity or worse than that,
00:12:34.28\00:12:36.79
what if we're dealing
with a case of stolen identity?
00:12:36.79\00:12:40.12
I mean, what if God
just is not to blame?
00:12:40.12\00:12:42.96
The problem of suffering
is one of the oldest questions
00:12:42.96\00:12:45.53
in the world,
00:12:45.53\00:12:46.73
and one of the
oldest books of the Bible
00:12:46.73\00:12:47.96
spends 42
chapters discussing it.
00:12:47.96\00:12:51.90
So let me take
you to the Book of Job
00:12:53.13\00:12:54.94
where a really good man suddenly
suffers unimaginable loss
00:12:54.94\00:12:59.91
and it's the kind of stuff
that populates our nightmares.
00:13:01.38\00:13:03.58
First of all,
00:13:03.58\00:13:05.08
a band of raiders suddenly
swept down from the hillside
00:13:05.08\00:13:07.05
and stole all his livestock
and killed all his servants,
00:13:07.05\00:13:11.05
which meant the
complete loss of his wealth.
00:13:11.05\00:13:13.39
He was financially ruined.
00:13:13.39\00:13:15.79
Then as if that
wasn't bad enough,
00:13:15.79\00:13:17.53
a natural disaster destroyed
the house where his children
00:13:17.53\00:13:20.90
were having a party and it
killed every last one of them.
00:13:20.90\00:13:24.17
It was unimaginable.
00:13:24.17\00:13:27.00
And the Bible says that
Job felt the pain acutely.
00:13:27.00\00:13:30.37
Here's what it says.
00:13:30.37\00:13:32.17
Then Job arose, tore his
robe and shaved his head.
00:13:32.17\00:13:35.91
Now those are the traditional
signs of emotional distress
00:13:35.91\00:13:39.28
and mourning back in those days.
00:13:39.28\00:13:41.32
And he fell to the ground
and worshiped and he said naked,
00:13:41.32\00:13:45.25
I came from my mother's womb
and naked shall I return there.
00:13:45.25\00:13:48.86
The Lord gave and
the Lord has taken away.
00:13:48.86\00:13:51.49
Blessed be the name of the Lord.
00:13:51.49\00:13:54.56
In all this, Job did not
sin nor charge God with wrong.
00:13:54.56\00:13:58.73
So up to this point,
Job isn't blaming God,
00:13:59.93\00:14:02.60
but then he loses his
health and he's covered
00:14:02.60\00:14:04.67
with painful boils
from the top of his head
00:14:04.67\00:14:06.74
to the soles of his feet
00:14:06.74\00:14:08.01
and it's at this
point that his wife cracks.
00:14:08.01\00:14:10.85
Here's what it
says in verse nine,
00:14:10.85\00:14:12.91
then his wife said to him,
00:14:12.91\00:14:14.88
do you still hold fast to your
integrity, curse God and die?
00:14:14.88\00:14:19.25
And for the next 40 chapters,
00:14:20.19\00:14:22.46
Job wrestles with
the question of why?
00:14:22.46\00:14:26.06
Why would God
permit this to happen?
00:14:26.06\00:14:27.76
Why do good
people have to suffer?
00:14:27.76\00:14:30.73
Now, Job has three friends
00:14:32.00\00:14:33.64
who probably meant well
when they came to visit,
00:14:33.64\00:14:36.64
but instead they managed
to make him more miserable
00:14:36.64\00:14:39.67
when they tried to explain
why God had allowed this.
00:14:39.67\00:14:43.65
A guy by the name
of Elephes for example
00:14:43.65\00:14:46.21
tells Job that
he must have sinned.
00:14:46.21\00:14:48.32
He must have done
something wrong to deserve this.
00:14:48.32\00:14:51.15
He asks whoever
perished being innocent?
00:14:51.15\00:14:54.46
Then his friend Billded
suggests the same thing,
00:14:54.46\00:14:56.99
suggesting that Job
should repent for his sins.
00:14:56.99\00:15:00.06
If you were pure
and upright, he says,
00:15:00.06\00:15:01.73
surely now he
would awake for you
00:15:01.73\00:15:04.10
and prosper your
rightful dwelling place.
00:15:04.10\00:15:06.70
These are the kinds of
things that many people think,
00:15:08.07\00:15:11.04
but the truth of the
matter is that bad things happen
00:15:11.04\00:15:13.84
to good people, and that's
the way it is in this world.
00:15:13.84\00:15:16.78
It's not a matter of fair,
it's not a matter of right,
00:15:16.78\00:15:20.62
it's just a
matter of the way it is.
00:15:20.62\00:15:22.78
Eventually the
suffering became so acute
00:15:22.78\00:15:24.89
that Job
actually longed for death.
00:15:24.89\00:15:26.96
I mean, just listen to this
passage from Job chapter three.
00:15:26.96\00:15:30.93
It says, after this,
00:15:30.93\00:15:32.63
Job opened his mouth and
cursed the day of his birth
00:15:32.63\00:15:35.60
and Job spoke and said,
00:15:35.60\00:15:36.83
may the day perish
on which I was born
00:15:36.83\00:15:39.47
and the night in
which it was said
00:15:39.47\00:15:41.00
a male child is conceived,
may that day be darkness.
00:15:41.00\00:15:45.01
May God above not seek it,
00:15:45.01\00:15:47.21
nor the light shine upon it,
00:15:47.21\00:15:49.11
may darkness in the
shadow of death claim it.
00:15:49.11\00:15:52.15
May a cloud settle on it.
00:15:52.15\00:15:53.52
May the blackness
of the day terrify it.
00:15:53.52\00:15:56.28
As for that night,
may darkness seize it,
00:15:56.28\00:15:58.45
may it not rejoice
among the days of the year,
00:15:58.45\00:16:01.49
may it not come into
the number of the months.
00:16:01.49\00:16:05.93
It goes on for
quite a bit after that,
00:16:05.93\00:16:07.83
but you get the point,
00:16:07.83\00:16:09.56
and chances are at some
point you've felt like this.
00:16:09.56\00:16:12.40
You've tried to
build a good life
00:16:12.40\00:16:14.60
and you've tried
to do what's right,
00:16:14.60\00:16:16.94
but the cruel arm of fate
seems to turn against you anyway
00:16:16.94\00:16:20.58
and you're tempted
to think that somehow,
00:16:20.58\00:16:22.58
God must have done this to you.
00:16:22.58\00:16:24.95
And that's where this
story really becomes very useful
00:16:24.95\00:16:27.58
in the 21st century.
00:16:27.58\00:16:29.62
Now, I know you
might be tempted to think
00:16:29.62\00:16:32.95
that the Bible is a
collection of mythology
00:16:32.95\00:16:36.22
comparable to the tales of
the ancient pagan Pantheon,
00:16:36.22\00:16:40.20
but maybe for a few moments,
00:16:40.20\00:16:41.53
willfully suspend your
skepticism and just hear me out.
00:16:41.53\00:16:45.80
After all, if
God does not exist,
00:16:45.80\00:16:47.87
then you don't really
have anybody to get mad at.
00:16:47.87\00:16:50.41
And yet somehow most of
us shake our fist at heaven
00:16:50.41\00:16:53.68
when life becomes
hard as if God is real.
00:16:53.68\00:16:57.41
And what that means is that
most of us choose to believe
00:16:57.41\00:17:00.45
in God when it hurts and we
want him to answer for our pain,
00:17:00.45\00:17:04.79
but we reject the
existence of that same God
00:17:04.79\00:17:08.29
when he's busy
explaining himself.
00:17:08.29\00:17:10.49
So for now, let's
just hear God out.
00:17:10.49\00:17:13.33
The Book of Job opens
with a sort of cosmic council
00:17:13.33\00:17:17.17
where the sons of God assemble
for a really big meeting.
00:17:17.17\00:17:21.20
You and I are not told what
the agenda of this meeting is,
00:17:21.20\00:17:24.94
but that becomes irrelevant
when a decidedly unwelcome guest
00:17:24.94\00:17:28.44
suddenly appears in their midst.
00:17:28.44\00:17:30.88
Let's pick up the story
in Job one in verse six.
00:17:30.88\00:17:34.48
It says, now there was a
day when the sons of God came
00:17:34.48\00:17:37.95
to present
themselves before the Lord
00:17:37.95\00:17:40.22
and Satan also came among them.
00:17:40.22\00:17:42.46
And the Lord said to
Satan, from where do you come?
00:17:42.46\00:17:46.16
So Satan answered
the Lord and said,
00:17:46.16\00:17:48.13
from going to
and fro on the earth
00:17:48.13\00:17:50.07
and from walking
back and forth on it.
00:17:50.07\00:17:52.97
Now when God asks
where the devil came from,
00:17:52.97\00:17:55.80
he says he was
walking on the earth
00:17:55.80\00:17:58.17
and that is a really important
detail and I'll be right back
00:17:58.17\00:18:02.04
after this to tell you why.
00:18:02.04\00:18:04.18
- [Speaker 2] Life
can throw a a lot at us.
00:18:07.85\00:18:10.29
Sometimes we don't
have all the answers,
00:18:10.29\00:18:13.66
but that's where
the Bible comes in.
00:18:13.66\00:18:16.09
It's our guide to a
more fulfilling life.
00:18:16.09\00:18:18.33
Here at the Voice of Prophecy,
00:18:19.19\00:18:20.73
we've created the Discover
Bible guides to be your guide
00:18:20.73\00:18:23.50
to the Bible.
00:18:23.50\00:18:24.73
They're designed to
be simple, easy to use,
00:18:24.73\00:18:26.94
and provide answers to many
of life's toughest questions,
00:18:26.94\00:18:29.97
and they're absolutely free.
00:18:29.97\00:18:32.01
So jump online
now or give us a call
00:18:32.01\00:18:34.31
and start your
journey of discovery.
00:18:34.31\00:18:36.58
- Now, I'm pretty sure I've
discussed this on other shows,
00:18:38.01\00:18:39.95
but in the
ancient biblical world,
00:18:39.95\00:18:41.98
the foot was a
symbol of ownership.
00:18:41.98\00:18:45.95
When God told Abraham he
was going to inherit the land
00:18:45.95\00:18:48.89
of Kane and he told
Abraham to go and take a walk,
00:18:48.89\00:18:51.46
he said arise,
00:18:51.46\00:18:53.33
walk in the land
through its length and its width
00:18:53.33\00:18:55.43
for I give it to you.
00:18:55.43\00:18:57.43
You see, in order
to step on something,
00:18:57.43\00:18:59.67
you probably need to own it.
00:18:59.67\00:19:01.64
So what the devil was
suggesting in the Book of Job
00:19:01.64\00:19:04.74
is that he now owns this planet.
00:19:04.74\00:19:07.18
The human race
abandoned God and gave the keys
00:19:07.18\00:19:09.91
to another master.
00:19:09.91\00:19:11.51
So in essence, when God
says, where have you been,
00:19:12.95\00:19:14.65
this incredibly wicked
character answers by saying, oh,
00:19:14.65\00:19:18.89
that planet you
think belongs to you, God,
00:19:18.89\00:19:21.89
that place where you made
the human race in your own image
00:19:21.89\00:19:24.86
and you thought they
would trust you forever,
00:19:24.86\00:19:27.40
that place belongs to me now,
00:19:27.40\00:19:30.53
which is why God replies as
he does down at verse eight.
00:19:30.53\00:19:34.17
It says, then the
Lord said to Satan,
00:19:34.17\00:19:36.24
have you
considered my servant Job
00:19:36.24\00:19:38.51
that there is none
like him on the earth?
00:19:38.51\00:19:40.91
A blameless, an upright man,
00:19:40.91\00:19:42.58
one who fears
God and shuns evil?
00:19:42.58\00:19:45.55
In other words, hey,
not so fast, Lucifer.
00:19:46.72\00:19:49.65
You might think the
human race has abandoned me,
00:19:49.65\00:19:52.25
but did you happen to
notice my servant, Job?
00:19:52.25\00:19:54.92
Turns out that not
everybody on the planet
00:19:54.92\00:19:57.29
has joined your rebellion,
00:19:57.29\00:19:58.53
and not everybody's
heart belongs to you.
00:19:58.53\00:20:01.46
And that's when the
accusations start to fly.
00:20:02.83\00:20:05.43
Well, of course, Job
loves you the devil counters
00:20:05.43\00:20:08.87
because you've made
him incredibly wealthy.
00:20:08.87\00:20:10.87
He's just in
this for the benefits.
00:20:10.87\00:20:13.07
And if you take that all away,
00:20:13.07\00:20:14.84
he's gonna turn on
you in a heartbeat.
00:20:14.84\00:20:17.88
So listen to what God says next
00:20:17.88\00:20:19.78
because this is
really important.
00:20:19.78\00:20:21.98
And the Lord said to Satan,
00:20:22.98\00:20:24.62
behold all that he
has is in your power,
00:20:24.62\00:20:27.62
only do not lay a
hand on his person.
00:20:27.62\00:20:30.29
So Satan went out from
the presence of the Lord.
00:20:30.29\00:20:33.03
It was true the human race
had rebelled against the creator
00:20:34.46\00:20:37.50
and they had changed the
face of this planet forever.
00:20:37.50\00:20:40.90
Instead of trusting God,
00:20:40.90\00:20:42.54
we decided to do
things our own way,
00:20:42.54\00:20:44.64
which has led to
incredible heartbreak, why?
00:20:44.64\00:20:48.38
Well, because
we're not smart enough
00:20:48.38\00:20:50.11
to run this planet well.
00:20:50.11\00:20:52.18
Every time we try
to improve our lot,
00:20:52.18\00:20:54.95
it almost always generates a
lot of unintended consequences
00:20:54.95\00:20:58.55
and we usually
make things worse.
00:20:58.55\00:21:01.12
I mean, just think of
the Soviet central planners
00:21:01.12\00:21:04.16
who were convinced
00:21:04.16\00:21:05.66
that human ingenuity
could plan an economy so well
00:21:05.66\00:21:09.56
that it would usher in an
era of peace and prosperity.
00:21:09.56\00:21:13.37
In the end was food
shortages, poverty, death.
00:21:13.37\00:21:18.01
You and I just don't have what
it takes to create paradise.
00:21:18.01\00:21:22.71
So in other words,
00:21:22.71\00:21:24.21
we really did seize control
of this planet to somebody else
00:21:24.21\00:21:26.98
and that's why God says all
that he has is in your power.
00:21:26.98\00:21:31.99
He's not giving the
devil power over the planet.
00:21:33.39\00:21:34.89
Rather, he's affirming
that the human race has chosen
00:21:34.89\00:21:37.76
to place itself in
this fallen angel's hands.
00:21:37.76\00:21:40.96
And the same thing
happens again in chapter two
00:21:40.96\00:21:43.47
where it says again,
00:21:43.47\00:21:46.00
there was a day
when the sons of God came
00:21:46.00\00:21:47.97
to present themselves
before the Lord and Satan
00:21:47.97\00:21:51.01
came also among them to
present himself before the Lord.
00:21:51.01\00:21:54.74
And the Lord said to Satan,
00:21:54.74\00:21:55.88
from where do you come?
00:21:55.88\00:21:57.51
Satan answered the Lord
and said from going to and fro
00:21:57.51\00:22:00.08
on the earth and from
walking back and forth on it.
00:22:00.08\00:22:03.35
So again, the devil is
still laying claim to the earth.
00:22:04.79\00:22:07.19
And again, God
points to the faithfulness
00:22:07.19\00:22:09.76
and devotion of Job,
00:22:09.76\00:22:11.23
a man who in
spite of being a sinner,
00:22:11.23\00:22:14.03
still loves God, it continues.
00:22:14.03\00:22:17.67
So Satan answered the
Lord and said, skin for skin.
00:22:17.67\00:22:20.97
Yes, all that a man has,
he will give for his life,
00:22:20.97\00:22:24.27
but stretch out your
hand now and touch his bone
00:22:24.27\00:22:27.38
and his flesh and he will
surely curse you to your face.
00:22:27.38\00:22:32.25
In other words, if you
let me take away his health,
00:22:32.25\00:22:34.72
Job will stop loving you.
00:22:34.72\00:22:37.42
And the Lord
said to Satan, behold,
00:22:37.42\00:22:39.55
he is in your hand
but spare his life.
00:22:39.55\00:22:43.56
Now, you can read this to
mean that God gives the devil
00:22:43.56\00:22:46.59
the right to
destroy our happiness,
00:22:46.59\00:22:48.70
but in the context of
the rest of the Bible,
00:22:48.70\00:22:50.70
that's not what it says.
00:22:50.70\00:22:52.63
We decided to give
the devil that right
00:22:52.63\00:22:55.14
and the devastating consequences
of that horrible choice
00:22:55.14\00:22:58.21
cannot be laid
at the feet of God.
00:22:58.21\00:23:00.81
Of course, we might
ask why God didn't stop us
00:23:01.98\00:23:04.81
from making
such a harmful choice
00:23:04.81\00:23:06.55
right away in the beginning,
00:23:06.55\00:23:08.38
but that would be
contrary to the very character
00:23:08.38\00:23:10.95
of who God is.
00:23:10.95\00:23:12.52
Hands down, the most frequent
descriptor of God in the Bible
00:23:12.52\00:23:16.26
is love and real
love is only possible
00:23:16.26\00:23:19.76
if you have the power of choice.
00:23:19.76\00:23:22.06
Real relationships
don't mean anything
00:23:22.06\00:23:24.83
unless you have the
choice to walk away from them.
00:23:24.83\00:23:28.10
And what God craves
most is the same thing
00:23:28.10\00:23:30.41
that every parent craves,
00:23:30.41\00:23:32.41
a child who
willingly loves them back.
00:23:32.41\00:23:35.98
The only way that God
can possibly bring us back
00:23:35.98\00:23:38.98
to a permanent
trusting relationship
00:23:38.98\00:23:41.58
is to allow us to
see that he was right
00:23:41.58\00:23:43.95
about the consequences
of turning against him.
00:23:43.95\00:23:47.19
If you eat from
that tree, he warned us,
00:23:47.19\00:23:49.56
it's going to cause death.
00:23:49.56\00:23:52.16
Of course, we chose
not to believe that,
00:23:52.16\00:23:54.66
and here we are
still learning firsthand
00:23:54.66\00:23:57.23
that God was absolutely right.
00:23:57.23\00:24:00.17
Discovering that a life
disconnected from our maker
00:24:00.17\00:24:02.80
is incredibly painful
00:24:02.80\00:24:04.91
is part of learning
to trust what God says,
00:24:04.91\00:24:08.34
and I'll be
right back after this.
00:24:08.34\00:24:10.91
- [Speaker 3] Here at
the Voice of Prophecy,
00:24:14.05\00:24:15.52
we're committed to
creating top quality programming
00:24:15.52\00:24:17.99
for the whole family
00:24:17.99\00:24:19.45
like our audio adventure
series, Discovery Mountain.
00:24:19.45\00:24:22.62
Discovery Mountain is
a buyable-based program
00:24:22.62\00:24:25.13
for kids of all
ages and backgrounds.
00:24:25.13\00:24:27.46
Your family will enjoy
the faith building stories
00:24:27.46\00:24:30.20
from this small
mountain summer camp and town
00:24:30.20\00:24:33.03
with 24 seasonal
episodes every year
00:24:33.03\00:24:35.54
and fresh content every week.
00:24:35.54\00:24:37.71
There's always a new
adventure just on the horizon.
00:24:37.71\00:24:40.88
- The Book of Job gives us a
dramatic behind the scenes look
00:24:43.88\00:24:46.88
at how the moral
universe actually works.
00:24:46.88\00:24:49.82
Job is not privy to
the heavenly council.
00:24:49.82\00:24:52.12
All he knows is that
his life is falling apart
00:24:52.12\00:24:54.82
and it seems really unjust.
00:24:54.82\00:24:57.49
Throughout the rest of the book,
00:24:57.49\00:24:58.69
the blame is placed
either on Job or on God,
00:24:58.69\00:25:02.60
but God is not the
cause of this suffering
00:25:02.60\00:25:04.60
and one of the core ideas
that emerges from this story
00:25:04.60\00:25:07.77
is that those who are
responsible for pain and
00:25:07.77\00:25:11.04
suffering are also the
perpetrators of the biggest case
00:25:11.04\00:25:13.58
of identity theft
in recorded history.
00:25:13.58\00:25:16.48
There are forces that
are quite glad to wreak havoc
00:25:16.48\00:25:19.58
and pretend that God did it.
00:25:19.58\00:25:22.62
You might think
about it like this,
00:25:22.62\00:25:24.55
and they've
stolen God's credit cards
00:25:24.55\00:25:26.62
and the running up a debt so
big that none of us can pay it,
00:25:26.62\00:25:30.56
which is why God
himself became a human being
00:25:30.56\00:25:33.16
and paid the debt for us.
00:25:33.16\00:25:35.33
He's the victim
of identity theft,
00:25:35.33\00:25:37.53
and yet he chooses unbelievably
to accept responsibility
00:25:37.53\00:25:41.84
for the crimes
committed in his name.
00:25:41.84\00:25:44.67
Here's how Paul describes it.
00:25:44.67\00:25:46.17
In his letter to
the Colossians, he says,
00:25:46.17\00:25:48.91
and you being
dead in your trespasses
00:25:48.91\00:25:51.55
and the
uncircumcision of your flesh,
00:25:51.55\00:25:53.82
he has made alive
together with him,
00:25:53.82\00:25:56.15
having forgiven
you all trespasses,
00:25:56.15\00:25:58.72
having wiped out the
handwriting of requirements
00:25:58.72\00:26:01.29
that was against us,
which was contrary to us.
00:26:01.29\00:26:05.26
In other words, even
though we ran up the debt,
00:26:05.26\00:26:07.83
God chose to pay the bill.
00:26:07.83\00:26:10.20
It continues and he has
taken it out of the way,
00:26:10.20\00:26:14.00
having nailed it to the cross,
00:26:14.00\00:26:16.17
having disarmed
principalities and powers,
00:26:16.17\00:26:19.01
he made a public
spectacle of them,
00:26:19.01\00:26:21.58
triumphing over them in it.
00:26:21.58\00:26:23.68
Today, the the
identity theft continues.
00:26:24.88\00:26:28.42
All kinds of
outrageous crimes are committed
00:26:28.42\00:26:31.39
by people who
claim to represent God.
00:26:31.39\00:26:34.39
I see it every time I turn
on religious TV where people
00:26:34.39\00:26:37.83
claiming the name of
Christ make an absolute mockery
00:26:37.83\00:26:41.00
of the life and teachings
00:26:41.00\00:26:42.66
of the the humble
carpenter from Nazareth.
00:26:42.66\00:26:45.37
They take your money
00:26:45.37\00:26:46.90
and they claim they
can heal you, they can't.
00:26:46.90\00:26:49.74
They paint mental pictures
of God that make him look like
00:26:49.74\00:26:52.37
some kind of moral
monster who promises
00:26:52.37\00:26:55.81
to torture us for all eternity.
00:26:55.81\00:26:58.48
These preachers
say they love Christ,
00:26:58.48\00:27:00.35
but their lives are dripping
00:27:00.35\00:27:01.62
with financial or sexual scandal
00:27:01.62\00:27:04.65
and every single
day, God gets the blame.
00:27:04.65\00:27:08.99
And meanwhile, God has told
us quite clearly how to tell
00:27:10.46\00:27:13.76
if you're talking
to the genuine article,
00:27:13.76\00:27:15.76
a real disciple of Christ.
00:27:15.76\00:27:18.87
Jesus said, by this, all will
know that you are my disciples
00:27:18.87\00:27:23.30
if you have
love for one another.
00:27:23.30\00:27:26.37
Now, I'll admit it,
00:27:26.37\00:27:28.28
I've been mad at God more
times than I can remember,
00:27:28.28\00:27:30.81
but right now I'm reminded
of the famous broadcaster,
00:27:30.81\00:27:33.75
Francis Cardinal Spellman,
who answered the question,
00:27:33.75\00:27:36.75
where was God when I hurt?
00:27:36.75\00:27:39.19
By leaning toward the
camera and saying the same place
00:27:39.19\00:27:42.59
he was when we
nailed his son to a tray.
00:27:42.59\00:27:46.33
God is no stranger to pain.
00:27:47.23\00:27:49.26
He's been here, he's lived it,
00:27:49.26\00:27:51.57
and he promises
that in due time,
00:27:51.57\00:27:53.90
he will personally
wipe away all of your tears.
00:27:53.90\00:27:58.24
Thanks for joining me.
00:27:58.24\00:27:59.51
I'm Shawn Boonstra, and
this has been Authentic.
00:27:59.51\00:28:03.14