Why Trials of Many Kinds?

The sermon focuses on answering the question: Why do trials of many kinds come upon the twelve tribes of Jewish people scattered throughout the world? The preacher carefully distinguishes between two different questions: the specific causes of the trials (the subject of this sermon) and the reason why God allows these trials to happen (to be answered in later sermons). A business example is used to illustrate this distinction: if a shop fails, one can discover economic causes such as lack of employees or lost customers, but the spiritual reason is that God might use it to teach humility or strengthen faith.

The immediate specific causes include three important historical events. First, the apostle James was beheaded by King Herod around 44 BCE, while the apostle Peter was imprisoned but miraculously rescued by God. Second, a great famine occurred in Egypt around 45-46 BCE and particularly in the region of Judea around 46-47 BCE, causing poor believers to suffer financial hardship. Third and most importantly, Jewish believers confessed Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord of life, which directly contradicted traditional Jewish theology that affirmed Yahweh God as the only One. This confession resulted in Jewish believers being cast out of synagogues, losing their livelihoods, and being rejected by family and society.

The dispersion of the Jewish people began nearly 760 years before James wrote this letter. Around 12-13 years earlier (33-34 CE), the deacon Stephen was stoned to death, leading to severe persecution by Saul. Believers were scattered throughout Judea, Samaria, the island of Cyprus, Phoenicia, and Antioch. This dispersion resulted from a warning given by God through Moses: if the people abandoned Him to follow false gods, He would scatter them throughout the world. Jewish history demonstrates this: after the kingdom divided in 931 BCE, the Northern Kingdom fell in 722 BCE and the Southern Kingdom in 586 BCE, leaving the Jewish people dispersed for nearly 2500 years until 1948.

Yet God also made a wonderful promise: He will gather the people from the four corners of the earth and bring them back to the land promised to Abraham to re-establish the nation of Israel. This hope was fulfilled in 1948 when the state of Israel was re-established after over 2500 years, an event that has never occurred for any nation or people in history. Throughout these trials, people like the prophet Jeremiah maintained hope in the loving kindness of Yahweh God.