God is a GIVER

There is a song,  "Blessed Be the Name of the Lord".

The line in the chorus, "The Lord giveth, He taketh away, Blessed be the name of the Lord..."
Some people do not agree with the term ‘He taketh away’ (I am one of these myself).  The principle is the Lord gives, gives and gives some more freely and does not take or require payments from people for anything. “God is no man's debtor, but a very good provider!”  God is not mean but kind He does not give us good things and then take them away for any reason.  Romans 11:29 states, “For God's gifts and his call can never be withdrawn.” Also, James 1:17, “All generous giving and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or the slightest hint of change.” God is not human and does not cruelly take back anything that HE has given.

It is important to consider the context of this verse from scripture, Job 1:21; And he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.”  In context, the scripture is talking about life; not things or our stuff. Job was mourning the loss of his children, like the parents of the children in Newtown, CT. Job was not talking about the loss of his stuff as this song suggests.

Satan is the thief and robber.  Another point about the context is, it was the chief robber that did the taking. It was not the Lord at all that took from Job.  It was Satan (Job 1:6-12). The Lord does not take BUT accepts our offerings and accepts our pains and exchanges these for His benefits (Rev 3:17 and Is 61:1-7). It is the Lord that is the Provider. In fact he calls Himself Provider. A provider cannot be a taker.
I find it interesting that in the end of Satan's troubling Job, and his discussions with his friends, Job had changed his mind about ALL that he said.

In Job 42 Job Responds to the Lord:

1Then Job replied to the Lord: 2 “I know that you can do anything, and no one can stop you. 3 You asked, ‘Who is this that questions my wisdom with such ignorance?’ It is I—and I was talking about things I knew nothing about, things far too wonderful for me. 4 You said, ‘Listen and I will speak! I have some questions for you, and you must answer them.’ 5  I had only heard about you before, but now I have seen you with my own eyes. 6 I take back everything I said, and I sit in dust and ashes to show my repentance.”

At the end Job is saying two things: first, he didn't know GOD based on what he had heard from his friends (or even from himself).  And second, he repented for / from what he said. In reading and using verses from the book of Job, we must always remember that which is written before God spoke  in Job 38 was mere human understanding / ideas (including Job 1:21).  (Job 38:1 Then the Lord answered Job out of the storm. He said: 2“Who is this that darkens my counsel with words without knowledge?)
Taking way is not pruning either.  An examination of pruning as laid out in John 15:2 " He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful."

I decided to lookup what the meaning of ‘prunes’ is: to cleanse, of filth impurity, etc; to prune trees and vines from useless shoots; metaph. from guilt, to expiate

This verse could (should?) read, "He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he beautifies so that it will be even more fruitful."

The concept suggested that God takes away impurity is like the concept that he takes away what is missing. You cannot take something from nothing.  I was wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked. And the LORD gave me comfort, peace, provision for all my need, opened my eyes to see him and clothed me.  You don’t take away darkness with a vacuum or a broom you add LIGHT. As Albert Einstein said, “Darkness does not exist. Darkness is merely the absence of LIGHT.”  More goodness is the answer to everything missing, lacking in our experience. 

 Also: http://escapetoreality.org/2010/08/02/does-god-give-and-take-away/#comment-51614

 

AS ALWAYS COMMENTS ENCOURAGED