If God is so loving why is there Evil and Suffering in the World
Why don’t we make the question more compelling, “since God is so loving why is there so much evil in the world?”
There are varying reasons why people ask this question. Some ask the question with an unthankful, irreverent, angry attitude toward God. They think they can demand an answer from God as if the Lord is obligated to answer them. I believe others ask the question out of sheer fear of God. They are genuinely disenchanted and confused about what the Lord is apparently not doing – why He allows all this suffering to continue.
Then there are others, those that are Christians who want to trust God but have no idea why He is delaying His judgment with all the wickedness going on everyday; and the Lord sees it all, at one time!
Most of the world see the ongoing wars, the poverty of people and especially young children, the disease, senseless murders, the rape of women and children, dope dealing, drug abuse, gangs, the rich getting richer, the poor getting poorer, the good dying young, the evil living the good life and dying old, corrupt government and wonder, “what in the world is going on? Why doesn’t God put an end to it – like right away, right now?!”
Does God care about what is going on? Where is the justice in all of this?
The question is valid. Does the Bible provide the answer regarding evil? I believe it does.
Where does evil come from?
Skeptics and critics of God have said since we as Christians believe the Bible, and God created all things according to Genesis 1, then He MUST have created evil for evil is a created thing right?
Let’s think about that for a moment. In Genesis 1:31a it says, “and God saw everything He made and behold it was very good (italics mine).
Verse 31 gives us an insight into what God thought about His creation. God said it was very good. Since evil is never good, God CAN NOT be the creator of it.
At this point the skeptic is going to object and say, “then the Bible can not be true if God created all things and evil is not a thing. What about Isaiah 45:7 where God says, “ I form the light and create darkness. I make peace and create evil. I the Lord do all these things.”
As an aside, a message I recently heard said that it is amazing how critics who DO NOT believe the Bible will search the Bible (they do not trust) for scriptures to discredit its veracity and prove their case.
Interesting.
The word evil in the Hebrew is the word Ra. It appears 663 times in the KJV. 431 it is translated as evil. The other 232 times It has a variety of meanings which some are: "wicked," "bad," "hurt," "harm," "ill," "sorrow," "mischief," "displeased," "adversity," "affliction," "calamity," "grievous," "misery," and "trouble”. Contextually the writer/prophet Isaiah is not talking about moral evil, but physical evil, disaster, or calamity upon man for the wickedness he has committed on the earth. Isaiah is contrasting ideas of natural phenomena in verse 7; light-darkness, well being-calamity. The Lord is the one that makes these things happen.
Isaiah in chapter 45 is also predicting the coming of Cyrus, a Persian king who God will use to release the Hebrews from captivity to return to the destroyed land of Jerusalem to rebuild it. Cyrus released the captives to go to their homeland in the year 538 B.C. (Ezra 1:1-10).
The only version that uses the word evil in this passage is the King James Version which originated in 1611. The translators did not use the best word in verse seven. Once again understanding the context is the key to arriving to the correct meaning of the verse. Poor hermeneutics by the critics and skeptics has caused many to believe that God created evil when He could not have. Moral evil is antithetical to God’s very nature. God does however cause physical disaster and calamity to befall man as a judgment due to his wickedness (e.g. the Flood of Noah, Genesis 7:1-24).
So since God is not the creator of evil for evil is not a thing, but a wicked disposition and rebellion towards God. Evil is the absence of good just like dark is the absence of light and as blindness is the absence of sight. Where does evil come from? As I mentioned in my article “Is God a fatalist and where does evil come from?” Some scholars would say evil originated with man when Adam and Eve disobeyed God in the garden. What I can say is that when evil invaded man’s soul, that evil nature passed down to every human being born afterward up until now. In other words, that is where human evil originated. We find in Ezekiel 28:15 and Isaiah 14 that evil was found in Lucifer (now the devil and Satan). So we see here that evil was cosmic-celestial before it was earthly. I believe we can be confident that evil existed before man because Satan rebelled before man was created. All the angels were created before the creation of the heavens and the earth (Job 38:7). This would include Satan who was a cherub (Ezekiel 28:14).
Since God created man and knew man would become evil does not that make God responsible for the evil men do?
This is another common question but the answer is no. Although God knew man would choose evil over good that does not mean we can lay the blame for man’s wickedness at God’s doorstep. For instance, if someone buys a knife and stabs and kills people who are you going to blame the knife company or the knife owner? You have to blame the knife owner because he misused the knife and did evil things with it. The knife company cannot be held responsible for how the killer used the knife. The knife is neither good or bad; its neutral. Just like he used the knife for evil, he can also choose to use it for good like cutting fruit or opening boxes.
Another example is when someone gets behind the wheel drunk and kills a family and smashes his car into a pole ruining the vehicle. Is this the manufacturer and dealership’s fault the car is destroyed or the driver’s? We all know it’s the driver’s fault the car is destroyed and the family is dead due to his drunkenness. Another case of someone misusing an item for evil reasons. The offender has to be held responsible for his actions.
In like manner God cannot be blamed or held responsible for man’s evil just because He created Him. Man chooses to do evil strictly of his own volition. God does not make man sin. God loves man and gives him the opportunity to choose good or evil just like in the garden of Eden (Genesis 2:17).
Moses in Deuteronomy said these words, “See I have set before you today life and good, death and evil[1], in that I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, His statues, and His judgments, that you may live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land which you go to possess. But if your heart turns away so that you do not hear, and are drawn away, and worship other gods and serve them, I announce to you today that you shall surely perish; you shall not prolong your days in the land which you cross over the Jordan to go in and possess. I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live” (Deuteronomy 30:15-19).
Every human being on earth are faced with choosing either good or evil all the days of their lives. That is just the way it is.
Will God ever rid the world of evil?
The answer to the question is yes. God will one day destroy evil. Most of the world is anxious and desire that evil be destroyed now. In response to that statement in getting rid of evil now would be cataclysmic. Here are a few reasons.
1. If God got rid of evil now we would no longer be human; for we would no longer have the ability to choose between good and evil. We would only do good by default and not by a willing choice. We would be robots, and not free moral agents. Since when do we desire to have our freedom of choice taken away? Hear anyone march on capitol hill lately saying, “DOWN WITH FREEDOM!! WE DON’T WANT CHOICES ANYMORE!! No, the opposite is true. We fight for our freedoms, through demonstrations, the voting booths, and writing to our congressional leaders demanding the choices we desire.
So, removing evil now actually removes our ability to choose which takes away our freedom. Without the ability to choose, we can no longer love anyone willingly. A world devoid of love is a planet with six billion artificial intelligences. A very cold and dark place.
2. A second and more somber reason God does not eradicate evil now is His love for mankind. Although man has long ago turned its back on God, God desires that man repents and comes to the knowledge of the truth (Ezekiel 18:32; 2 Tim 2:1-4). God actually believe it or not is showing extraordinary mercy by allowing evil to continue so that more people can repent of their sins and be saved. Evil in this sense is working according to God’s plan for all things (including evil) is working out for good (Rom 8:28).
2a. If God destroyed evil, this world be empty of all humanity. It would just be a world of trees, plants, water and land mammals, and insects. Why? It is our fault that evil exists in the world. Since Adam sinned evil has now persisted for over 6,000 years. If God destroyed evil now, He would have to wipe out every human being on the planet. Why? Because moral evil resides in every human being. We are the cause of evil, disease, poverty, wars and ultimately death are the effects.
Fortunately there is a happy ending to this morbid drama. I said in the beginning of this section of the article that evil will be destroyed. Listen to Revelation 21:4-5, “And God shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain for the former things have passed away.” Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.”
The period in which the apostle John is speaking is the eternal state . This is after the seven year tribulation, the second coming of Jesus Christ, the Millennium (i.e. 1,000 years of peace on earth), and the Great White Throne Judgment (Rev 20). At this point all the unsaved have been cast into the Lake of Fire with the Devil, the beast, and the false prophet, and the unholy angels. At this point in history time is no more.
Concluding when we sin, we are reminded we are evil by nature. And each time we are not wiped out by God, we should praise Him for once again He is extending mercy toward us when we deserve punishment.
Next time either you reading this article or someone you know asks the question if God is loving or real why does evil exists? Remember 1: evil and suffering is man’s fault not God’s. Number 2: If God decided to get rid of evil now, countless people would not have the opportunity to respond positively to the gospel message, repent of their sins, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved. God in His holy righteous justice (without any mercy), would send millions of soul straight to hell which they deserve.
In this sense evil for now has to exist for it when it is manifest in us and God withholds His judgment, it displays His transcendent mercy. Something we undeservedly receive everyday.
[1] Here we see once again God giving the children of Israel a choice. In order for a choice to be present, there has to be an opposing option(s). If only good existed, we would not have the ability to choose which means we would not have free will. To love God or hate him or anyone we encounter has to involve freewill choice.
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