Is misfortune a sign God hates you?
Or is it God testing you, because he loves you?
What do you think?
God gives punishment to the enemies of the Jews (Egyptians for example), but we also have analogies throughout the bible of testing. And by testing, we don't mean the modern term like a written exam where "You passed the SATs! Well done good and faithful servant. Enter into the best college!" or " You failed! Dooooomed... " Testing as the Jews and early Christians mentioned refers to metallurgy. Specifically, the act of purifying metal.
The song How Firm a Foundation mentions this:
Quote:When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie,
My grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply;
The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design
Thy dross to consume, and thy gold to refine
The question being how do you know, punishment and testing?
Or are they the same thing?
That is, was God also testing the Egyptians with the ten plagues?
I currently have painful sores on my body. Sun blisters, I think. Mom thinks it's an allergy to some plant outdoors. The Bible mentions everything from laws about leprosy, to boils encountered by the Egyptians, to Job's testing (which I could use as evidence of the other side of this theory), to Revelation (which I rejected) where it says that the damned are given boils.
Does bad things happen to good people because they are not good people? Or because they are good people?