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By James Quansah
THE EARTH is the domain of human beings. God, told Adam and Eve to dwell on it, work and keep the garden where He put them (Genesis 2:15). This suggests that humans were given a responsibility to manage the earth for their own survival and comfort.
And God blessed both man and woman (Genesis 1:28-29). According to the Bible, God saw that everything He had created was good. This means that God did not initially wish that humanity suffer unending problems.
But humans have since Adam been facing various problems on the earth. Thus, Job says emphatically that, “…man is born to trouble…” (Job 5:7).
Clearly, all humans whether believers or unbelievers suffer different afflictions disguised differently. Now, what is the cause of all the troubles in the world?
We can talk about earthquake, flooding, volcanic eruption, heat wave, wildfires, poverty, unemployment, miscarriage, barrenness, disease, imprisonment, oppression, slavery, rejection, stagnation, setback or homelessness.
These may be natural disasters and problems most of which are caused by humans themselves either by individuals or groups.
A question is asked as to whether problems such as these existed on the earth before or after the creation of man. In other words, is man responsible or not for the occurrences of these problems?
Evidence shows that man is blamable for most of the difficult situations he suffers. Job was not wrong in pointing out that man is born to trouble. Explaining the words of Job, Benson agrees that man through sin causes his own problems.
“He is so commonly exposed to various troubles, as if he were born to no other end: affliction is become natural to man, and is transmitted from parents to children, as their constant inheritance; God having allotted this portion to mankind for their sins” he writes.
The fall of man through sin is the beginning of most of his troubles. Thus, Matthew Henry says that man is born in sin, and therefore born to trouble. This means sin is the thing that causes most if not all problems in the world.
