📖 Wahusika wa Biblia — Sehemu ya 2: Ayubu — Imani Inayodumu Wakati Kila Kitu Kimeondolewa📖 Bible Characters — Unit 2: Job — Faith That Holds When Everything Is Stripped Away

Hakuna swali gumu zaidi maishani kuliko mateso ya watu wema, na hakuna kitabu kinacholikabili kwa uaminifu zaidi kuliko kitabu cha Ayubu. Ayubu alikuwa mtu aliyefanya kila jambo sawasawa na bado akapoteza kila kitu — mali yake, watoto wake, afya yake, na faraja ya wale waliokuwa karibu naye zaidi. Kutoka katika majivu yake kitabu hiki kinajibu maswali mawili kati ya yale mazito zaidi ambayo moyo wa mwanadamu huuliza: kwa nini watu wema huteseka, na kwa nini waovu hufanikiwa? Na kinatufundisha kwamba Mungu anaporuhusu wenye haki kuteseka, yeye hayuko mbali wala si dhalimu.There is no harder question in all of life than the suffering of good people, and no book faces it more honestly than the book of Job. Job was a man who did everything right and lost everything anyway — his wealth, his children, his health, and the comfort of those closest to him. Out of his ashes the book answers two of the deepest questions the human heart ever asks: why do good men suffer, and why do the wicked prosper? And it teaches us that when God permits the righteous to suffer, He is neither absent nor unjust.

Somo: Ayubu — imani inayodumu wakati kila kitu kimeondolewa.Subject: Job — faith that holds when everything is stripped away.

Kiini cha Ujumbe: Mungu anaporuhusu wenye haki kuteseka, anaisafisha imani, na kwa wakati wake mwenyewe atayaweka sawa mahesabu yote — ili tuweze kusema pamoja na Ayubu, "Ijapokuwa ataniua, hata hivyo nitamtumaini."Proposition: When God permits the righteous to suffer, He is refining faith and will, in His own time, set every account right — so we can say with Job, "Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him."

Kisa ChenyeweThe Story

Katika nchi ya Usi aliishi mtu aitwaye Ayubu, ambaye Maandiko yanasema juu yake kwamba "alikuwa mkamilifu, mwelekevu, mcha Mungu, mwenye kuepukana na uovu" (Ayubu 1:1). Alibarikiwa kwa familia nzuri na mali nyingi. Kisha Shetani akaja mbele za Mungu ili amshtaki: Ayubu, alisema kwa dharau, anamtumikia Mungu kwa ajili ya baraka tu — ziondoe, naye atakukufuru mbele ya uso wako. Mungu aliruhusu jaribu hilo; hayo yalikuwa mapenzi yake ya kuruhusu, kwa maana Shetani hangeweza kufanya lolote bila ruhusa ya Mungu. Na mawimbi manne yakamwangukia Ayubu, moja baada ya jingine. Kwanza, mali zake zilifagiliwa mbali, naye akatoka katika ufanisi hadi umaskini. Pili, watoto wake wote kumi waliuawa siku moja upepo mkuu ulipoipiga nyumba — huzuni isiyowazika ya mzazi kupoteza kila mtoto kwa mara moja. Tatu, afya yake iliondolewa, naye akafunikwa na majipu mabaya tangu utosi wa kichwa chake hata nyayo za miguu yake. Nne, hata wenzake walimgeuka: mkewe alisema, "Umkufuru Mungu, ukafe," na rafiki zake watatu wakasisitiza kwamba lazima alikuwa akificha dhambi fulani ya siri, la sivyo Mungu asingemwacha ateseke hivyo. Katika hayo yote, Ayubu alitoa jibu ambalo limewaimarisha watakatifu wanaoteseka tangu wakati huo:In the land of Uz lived a man named Job, of whom Scripture says he "was blameless and upright, and one who feared God and shunned evil" (Job 1:1). He was blessed with a fine family and great wealth. Then Satan came before God to accuse him: Job, he sneered, only serves God for the blessings — strip them away, and he will curse You to Your face. God permitted the testing; this was His permissive will, for Satan could do nothing without God's leave. And four waves fell on Job, one after another. First his material goods were swept away, and he went from prosperity to poverty. Second, all ten of his children were killed in a single day when a great wind struck the house — the unimaginable heartache of a parent losing every child at once. Third, his health was taken, and he was covered with painful boils from the top of his head to the soles of his feet. Fourth, even his companions turned: his wife said, "Curse God and die," and his three friends insisted he must be hiding some secret sin, or God would never have let him suffer so. Through it all, Job gave the answer that has steadied suffering saints ever since:

Na mapema aliabudu, akisema, "BWANA alitoa, na BWANA ametwaa; jina la BWANA na lihimidiwe" (Ayubu 1:21).And early on he worshiped, saying, "The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD" (Job 1:21).

I. Kwa Nini Watu Wema Huteseka?I. Why Do Good Men Suffer?

Kwanza, taabu haitoki kwa Mungu kila mara. Mungu hakuipiga familia ya Ayubu, hakusababisha majipu yake, hakumgeuza mkewe na rafiki zake dhidi yake. Mtanziko wa zamani wa mwenye shaka — kwamba ama Mungu si mwema kabisa ama si mwenye uweza wote — unashindwa, kwa sababu Mungu si yeye peke yake mwenye nguvu ya kutenda ulimwenguni. Haya ndiyo mapenzi ya Mungu ya kuruhusu: anaruhusu yale asiyoyaanzisha. Na Mungu anapowaadibisha watu wake, ni kwa sababu anawapenda. Ni watoto wa nani unaowachapa — wako mwenyewe, au wa jirani? Bwana huwarudi walio wake kwa sababu ni wake.First, trouble does not always come from God. God did not strike Job's family, did not cause his sores, did not turn his wife and friends against him. The old dilemma of the skeptic — that God must be either not all-good or not all-powerful — fails, because God is not the only agent of power in the world. This is the permissive will of God: He allows what He does not author. And when God does discipline His people, it is because He loves them. Whose children do you spank — your own, or the neighbor's? The Lord corrects His own because they are His.

Pili, si kila taabu ni matokeo ya dhambi. Hili lilikuwa kosa kubwa la rafiki zake Ayubu, walioketi wakitikisa vichwa kana kwamba wanasema, "Mwishowe imekupata." Lakini wanafunzi walipomwona mtu aliyezaliwa kipofu na kuuliza ni dhambi ya nani iliyosababisha hali hiyo, Yesu alijibu, "Huyu hakutenda dhambi, wala wazazi wake; bali kazi za Mungu zidhihirishwe ndani yake" (Yohana 9:3). Mateso mengine hayatoki kwa Mungu wala kwa dhambi ya mtu binafsi, na kumshtaki mwenye kuteseka kuwa na uovu wa siri, kama rafiki zake Ayubu walivyofanya, ni ukatili na pia ni uongo.Second, not every trouble is the result of sin. This was the great error of Job's friends, who sat wagging their heads as if to say, "It finally caught up with you." But when the disciples saw a man born blind and asked whose sin had caused it, Jesus answered, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him" (John 9:3). Some suffering comes from neither God nor personal sin, and to accuse a sufferer of secret wickedness, as Job's friends did, is both cruel and false.

Tatu, taabu nyingine husababishwa na Shetani, mkuu wa ulimwengu huu. Alikuwa Shetani, wala si Mungu, aliyesimama nyuma ya misiba ya Ayubu. Lakini hapa ndipo ajabu yake: kupitia yote ambayo adui alikusudia kwa ubaya, Mungu alileta mema, sawasawa kabisa na anavyoahidi — "katika mambo yote Mungu hufanya kazi pamoja na wale wampendao katika kuwapatia mema" (Warumi 8:28), na "hesabuni ya kuwa ni furaha tupu mkiangukia katika majaribu mbalimbali" (Yakobo 1:2). Mambo matatu mema yalichipuka kutoka katika huzuni ya Ayubu. Kiburi chake kilivunjwa: katika kitabu chote Ayubu alijihesabia haki yeye mwenyewe badala ya Mungu, mpaka mwishowe alipomwona Bwana akatubu, akikiri kwamba yeye ni mwanadamu tu asiye na haki ya kumhoji Mwenyezi — "sasa jicho langu linakuona. Kwa hiyo najichukia nafsi yangu, na kutubu katika mavumbi na majivu" (Ayubu 42:5-6). Alijifunza subira: Ayubu aliishika imani yake lakini akapoteza subira yake, hata akailaani siku aliyozaliwa, kwa maana jambo gumu kuliko yote duniani ni kumngoja Mungu. Na alijifunza maongozi ya Mungu: ulimwengu wote ulimwangukia, lakini Mungu alikuwa bado anatawala. Kama mmoja wa rafiki zake hatimaye alivyosema kwa usahihi, "Basi sasa jitie kujuana naye, ili uwe na amani" (Ayubu 22:21). Charles Allen alichora picha ya mlima mkubwa uliopigwa usiku kucha na dhoruba na radi, lakini ukasimama kwa utulivu katika jua mawingu yalipotoweka alfajiri — na Mungu ni mkuu kuliko mlima. Mwishowe Mungu alimrudishia Ayubu zaidi ya yote aliyowahi kupoteza. Agano Jipya linamwambia kila mwamini vivyo hivyo: "imetupasa kuingia katika ufalme wa Mungu kwa njia ya dhiki nyingi" (Matendo 14:22). Njia ya kurudi nyumbani mara nyingi hupita katika magumu, na Baba hutumia hata sehemu ngumu zaidi za njia hiyo ili kuwaunda watoto wake na kuiimarisha imani ambayo ufanisi peke yake usingeweza kamwe kuizalisha.Third, some trouble is caused by Satan, the prince of this world. It was Satan, not God, who stood behind Job's calamities. Yet here is the wonder of it: through all that the enemy meant for evil, God brought good, exactly as He promises — "all things work together for good to those who love God" (Romans 8:28), and "count it all joy when you fall into various trials" (James 1:2). Three good things grew out of Job's grief. His pride was broken: all through the book Job justified himself rather than God, until at last he saw the Lord and repented, confessing himself a mere man with no right to question the Almighty — "now my eye sees You. Therefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes" (Job 42:5-6). He learned patience: Job kept his faith but lost his patience, even cursing the day he was born, for the hardest thing in the world is to wait on God. And he learned the providence of God: the whole world fell in around him, yet God was still in control. As one of his friends finally said rightly, "Now acquaint yourself with Him, and be at peace" (Job 22:21). Charles Allen pictured a great mountain battered all night by storm and lightning, yet standing calm in the sunshine when the clouds cleared at dawn — and God is greater than the mountain. In the end God restored to Job more than he had ever lost. The New Testament says the same to every believer: "We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God" (Acts 14:22). The road home often runs through hardship, and the Father uses even the hardest stretches of it to shape His children and to deepen a faith that prosperity alone could never produce.

II. Kwa Nini Waovu Hufanikiwa? (Ayubu 21:7-13)II. Why Do the Wicked Prosper? (Job 21:7-13)

Swali la pili ni kioo cha lile la kwanza, na Ayubu mwenyewe aliliuliza: kwa nini waovu wanaishi, wanazeeka, na kuwa hodari katika uwezo? Hapa kitabu kinatoa majibu matatu.The second question is the mirror of the first, and Job himself raised it: why do the wicked live on, grow old, and grow mighty in power? Here the book gives three answers.

Kwanza, mambo si kila mara kama yanavyoonekana. Tunapima kwa mali, mamlaka, na umaarufu, na tunadhani kwamba waovu lazima wana furaha — lakini hatuoni mshahara wa dhambi ukilipwa kimya kimya. Baadhi ya wale walioonekana kuwa na kila kitu, waliopendwa na kuonewa wivu na wote, walimaliza maisha yao wenyewe kwa kukata tamaa wakiwa juu kabisa. John D. Rockefeller alijipandisha kwa nguvu hadi akawa tajiri kuliko wote duniani, na alipofika miaka hamsini na mitatu alikuwa mgonjwa na amedhoofika kiasi kwamba madaktari wake walimpa mwaka mmoja tu wa kuishi. Kisha akaanza kuyatoa mali yake kwa makanisa na kwa maskini — naye akaishi hadi miaka tisini na minane. Mshahara wa dhambi na thawabu za neema hazionekani kila mara juu juu. Tunajaribiwa kuwaonea wivu waovu wanaofanikiwa, kama mtunga zaburi alivyokiri kwamba karibu ajikwae katika jambo hilo — mpaka alipoingia patakatifu pa Mungu ndipo hatimaye akatambua mwisho wao.First, things are not always as they appear. We judge by wealth, power, and fame, and we assume the wicked must be happy — but we do not see the wages of sin being quietly paid. Some who seemed to have everything, admired and envied by all, ended their own lives in despair at the very top. John D. Rockefeller clawed his way to become the richest man on earth, and by fifty-three he was so sick and shrunken that his doctors gave him a year to live. Then he began to give his fortune away to churches and to the poor — and he lived to ninety-eight. The wages of sin and the rewards of grace are not always visible on the surface. We are tempted to envy the prospering wicked, just as the psalmist confessed he nearly stumbled in doing — until he went into the sanctuary of God and at last understood their end.

Pili, waovu wanaishi ili kuonyesha uvumilivu na rehema ya Mungu. Fikiria malaika aliyesimama tayari juu ya dhambi fulani kubwa, akiuliza, "Nipige sasa?" na Mungu akijibu, "Hapana — si sasa." Uvumilivu huo ni rehema, ukiacha nafasi kwa neema. Sauli mtesaji, aliyeshika mavazi wakati Stefano alipopigwa mawe, akawa Paulo mtume, kumbukumbu hai ya neema ya Mungu iokoayo. Jerry McAuley alikuwa mfungwa ambaye watu walisema ulimwengu ungekuwa bora bila yeye, lakini aliokolewa usiku mmoja wa baridi katika kituo cha misheni, na baadaye akafungua kituo chake mwenyewe cha misheni ambapo mamia ya watu waliovunjika walimpata Kristo. Kuchelewa kwa Mungu kuleta hukumu ni mlango ulio wazi wa rehema yake.Second, the wicked live to show the patience and mercy of God. Imagine an angel poised over some great sin, asking, "Shall I strike now?" and God answering, "No — not now." That patience is mercy, leaving room for grace. Saul the persecutor, who held the coats while Stephen was stoned, became Paul the apostle, a monument of God's saving grace. Jerry McAuley was a convict whom men said the world would be better off without, yet he was saved one cold night in a mission and went on to open a mission of his own where hundreds of broken men found Christ. God's delay in judgment is the open door of His mercy.

Tatu, waovu wanaishi kwa sababu siku moja Mungu atayaweka mambo yote sawa. Si kila kosa linanyooshwa sasa. Kulikuwa na mtu aliyejisifu kwamba alilima na kuvuna siku za Jumapili na bado akapata mavuno bora kuliko majirani zake waliokwenda kanisani — naye mwamini mwenye hekima akamjibu, "Mungu hamalizi mahesabu yake kila mara mwezi wa Oktoba." Tapeli anaweza kupata mazishi ya fahari na jiwe zuri la kaburi wakati mjane mcha Mungu anazikwa katika kaburi la maskini lisilo na alama, lakini siku ya kurekebisha inakuja. Kijana mwanasheria Charles Finney alipoulizwa alikusudia kufanya nini na maisha yake, alijibu, "Kuwa tajiri." "Kisha nini?" "Kisha kufa." "Kisha nini?" "Kisha hukumu." Hakuweza kulikwepa swali hilo; alikimbilia msituni kuomba na akatoka akiwa na Mwokozi. Kila hesabu itamalizwa mwishoni.Third, the wicked live because one day God will make all things right. Not every wrong is righted now. There was a man who boasted that he plowed and harvested on Sundays and still got a better crop than his churchgoing neighbors — to which a wise believer replied, "God does not always settle His accounts in October." The swindler may have a grand funeral and a fine headstone while a godly widow is laid in an unmarked pauper's grave, but there is a day of adjustment coming. When the young lawyer Charles Finney was asked what he meant to do with his life, he answered, "Get rich." "Then what?" "Then die." "Then what?" "Then the judgment." He could not shake the question; he ran into the woods to pray and came out with a Savior. Every account will be settled at the last.

Ijapokuwa AtaniuaThough He Slay Me

Huu ndio ujumbe wa Ayubu: mapenzi ya Mungu ya kuruhusu si kutokuwepo kwa Mungu. Gizani, dhoruba inapokuwa imeondoa kila kitu tulichokitegemea, Mungu bado yupo — akiisafisha imani ya walio wake, akiwavumilia waovu kwa subira ili kuacha nafasi kwa neema, na akiiweka akiba siku ambayo atayaweka sawa mahesabu yote. Hatuelewi kila mara, wala hatujaahidiwa kwamba tutaelewa. Lakini tumepewa kitu kilicho bora kuliko maelezo: tumepewa Bwana mwenyewe, aliye mkuu kuliko mlima na bwana wa dhoruba. Mteseka asiye na hatia wa Usi hata anatuelekeza mbele kwa Mteseka Asiye na Hatia aliye mkuu zaidi, Bwana Yesu, aliyeingia katika giza letu na akatoka upande wa pili katika nuru ya ufufuo. Na hivyo, pamoja na Ayubu, mwamini anaweza kupumzika hata gizani juu ya Mwamba Imara na kusema, "Ijapokuwa ataniua, hata hivyo nitamtumaini."This is the message of Job: God's permissive will is not God's absence. In the dark, when the storm has stripped away everything we leaned on, God is still there — refining the faith of His own, bearing patiently with the wicked to leave room for grace, and storing up a day when He will set every account right. We do not always understand, and we are not promised that we will. But we are given something better than an explanation: we are given the Lord Himself, who is greater than the mountain and master of the storm. The innocent sufferer of Uz even points us forward to a greater Innocent Sufferer, the Lord Jesus, who entered our darkness and came out the other side in resurrection light. And so, with Job, the believer can rest even in the darkness on the Solid Rock and say, "Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him."