Sermon Illustrations

Walter Kaiser’s article on “where Job’s friends went wrong about suffering” is very interesting. In the article, Kaiser identifies eight types of suffering mentioned in the Bible.

1. retributive suffering (caused by sin and disobedience to God)

2. educational or disciplinary suffering (as in Proverbs 3:11 or Hebrews 12:5-6)

3. vicarious suffering (as in the case of our Lord’s death on the cross)

4. empathetic suffering (where one person’s grief affects many others, as Isaiah 63:9 illustrates)

5. evidential or testimonial suffering (as in the first two chapters of Job)

6. doxological suffering for the glory of God (as in the man born blind in John 9)

7. revelational suffering (as in the case of the prophet Hosea’s wife abandoning him)

8. apocalyptic or eschatological suffering (that will come at the end of this age)

- Ray Fowler

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