In any good mystery book, there are 3 main parts: 1) The beginning, where we are introduced to characters and settings;
2) The main body, where additional characters and settings are added and the author develops his story line;
3) The ending, where the author brings together seemingly unrelated characters and events throughout the book to reveal to the reader the previously hidden goal of the author’s mind. The same is true with The Book of books.
The Bible is the greatest mystery book ever written, and has as its author, the greatest Mind in the universe, Who desires to reveal His thoughts to His creation. It is from the mind of God only, through His Spirit, and not from religion’s dogmas and creeds that the reader can possibly hope to understand the book that He has given us.
“For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. 13 This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words.14 The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit.” {1 Cor. 2:11-14 }
The Bible opens with the words “In the beginning”. That this is not the beginning of any created thing, is evident from other passages in Scripture, such as {Job 38:3-7 }
“Now gird up your loins like a man, And I will ask you, and you instruct Me!4 “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding,5 Who set its measurements? since you know. Or who stretched the line on it? 6 “On what were its bases sunk? Or who laid its cornerstone,7 When the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
However, we see that “In the beginning”, dealt with the beginning of God’s revelation. A revelation of Himself to Adam and his progeny that He would create according to His own likeness in the parameters of time and space. It is in this “beginning”, in God’s newly planted Garden of Eden, that we are first introduced to the concept of evil.
However, it is not as most would assume, that the Serpent cunningly, through stealth and trickery, poisoned man by this knowledge of evil. No, it was The Creator Himself that purposely planted this living, fruit bearing tree in the very center of this perfect paradise. It was growing in the most prominent place of the garden by God’s design and purpose, where Adam would be exposed to its presence on a daily basis, possibly pruning it, fulfilling the charge of husbandry from his Father, God.
There was nothing sinful in the tree itself, for his Holy Father planted it. It was His centerpiece that adorned this home for His son that bore His image and likeness. The fruit of this tree was to give knowledge to the man, but again, not as most assume. Upon eating, it would impart knowledge not of Evil only, but also of Good, for man had no experiential knowledge of either. Man separates that which God has joined together.
Father God did not plant two trees, one with the knowledge of Good, and one with the knowledge of Evil, for both are dependent upon the other. One cannot be fully comprehended without the presence of the other. God has placed both together to form a stark contrast.
Light cannot be fully appreciated without the experience of the absence of any light, complete and utter darkness. In the same way, both good and evil must be experienced together to know the difference. Adam took in the beauty and excellence of his Father and His creation as a matter of course, not having known any other environment.
Like the son of a king raised in the protected court of his doting father, never knowing the poverty and squalor of the peasant’s world, Adam could not appreciate his exalted position in his sublime surroundings. There were no extremes in his environment; luscious fruit to eat, no toilsome labor, no temperature extremes, perfect health, peace of mind, no fear of dangerous beasts, and a loving Creator Who walked with him daily in complete harmony. All these were Adam’s gifts given freely from his loving Father to the son of His love.
And yet, there is no record of Adam having a thankful heart, or lips full of praise and adoration directed toward his Creator. We have no psalms of exultation recorded from Adam like that of King David. The perfection he experienced had no counterpart from which he could make comparison. Adam had no knowledge of good, just as he had no knowledge of evil. Both were placed together in the fruit in order that Adam would experience both together.
Does this draw an objection, or cries of blasphemy from the reader? Perish the thought that God’s plan involved Adam eating the fruit! I would only ask, Who planted the tree? Who was the fruit intended for? Why was Adam’s Father conspicuously absent when the serpent entered the garden. Did the Serpent enter the garden without God’s knowledge and approval? Why did God not station cherubim at this tree to guard it from Adam as He did afterward at The Tree of Life? The answers to these questions can bring us to only one conclusion. God foresaw the outcome and ordained it to happen exactly as it transpired.
God never has any contingency plans. The mysterious tree of knowledge is but the beginning of many contrasts whereby The Creator would unfold His master plan of wisdom and reveal Himself to His helpless creation. Do we have any evidence from Scripture that this was the case?
Let’s look at another law of prohibition from God. This time, given not to an individual only, but to a whole nation. Israel was chosen by God out of all the nations of the earth to receive His righteous Law, engraved by His finger upon tablets of stone.
“When the Lord finished speaking to Moses on Mount Sinai, he gave him the two tablets of the covenant law, the tablets of stone inscribed by the finger of God.” {Ex. 31:18 }
Did God give the Ten Commandments to His nation with the intention that they would obey? Certainly that was the nation’s understanding of God’s intent.
“Then Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain and said, “This is what you are to say to the descendants of Jacob and what you are to tell the people of Israel: 4 ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. 5 Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, 6 you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.7 So Moses went back and summoned the elders of the people and set before them all the words the Lord had commanded him to speak. 8 The people all responded together, “We will do everything the Lord has said.” So Moses brought their answer back to the Lord.” {Ex.19: 3-8}
But Israel did not understand God’s secret purpose for giving a prohibitive Law, a strict Law with dire consequences for disobedience. And because they accepted the terms of the heavenly contract, they were responsible for adherence to every command. Man’s limited perspective required obedience to the letter of the Law. Mature understanding on the part of the people would have recognized that they were hopelessly incapable of keeping God’s commandments. However, Paul gives God’s true purpose for giving Israel such a rigid, unbending Law:
“What shall we say, then? Is the law sinful? Certainly not! Nevertheless, I would not have known what sin was had it not been for the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” 8 But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of coveting. For apart from the law, sin was dead. 9 Once I was alive apart from the law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died. 10 I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death. 11 For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death. 12 So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.13 Did that which is good, then, become death to me? By no means! Nevertheless, in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it used what is good to bring about my death, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful.” {Rom. 7:7-13}
What was true for the Apostle, was true for every Jew living under the authority of the Law of God. God’s actual purpose for giving the Law to Israel was so that when they disobeyed it, as they would inevitably do, their sin would be magnified to them! God would open their eyes to recognize the good in the Law, and the bad in themselves!
God never intended for Israel to obey the Law, He knew they were incapable of doing so. They needed a contrast to reveal their true condition to them. A mirror was needed to see their true selves, and the Law provided that reality of their condition. Just as curses were the result of Adam’s failure, so curses were attached to the Law given to Israel. The curses magnified the failure to both. They revealed the ineptitude of the flesh.
“For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, as it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.” 11 Clearly no one who relies on the Law is justified before God, because “the righteous will live by faith.”12 The Law is not based on faith; on the contrary, it says, “The person who does these things will live by them. 19 Why, then, was the Law given at all? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come…” {Gal.3:10-12,19}
Perfection was the contrast to their imperfections. The Law was like the fruit of the knowledge of Good and Evil. It is only beneficial to those that partake of it from the hand of God when perfected by His Spirit. In the coming Kingdom of Messiah, God’s Law will be life giving to Israel when they are empowered by His Spirit to keep it perfectly.
“Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,” declares the Lord. 33 “But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the Lord, “I will put My Law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 34 They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the Lord, “for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.” {Jer. 31:31-34}
Adam was brought physically mature into his existence. However, he was not fully mature in the inner realm of his soul. Our Savior, the Last Adam similarly needed God’s hand of testing to bring Him to full experiential maturity. Where the first Adam failed, the Last Adam prevailed, and thereby secured redemption for all of our first father’s progeny.
“But we do see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.10 In bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect (mature) through what he suffered.” {Heb. 2:9,10}
“During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. 8 Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered 9 and, once made perfect (mature), he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him 10 and was designated by God to be high priest in the order of Melchizedek.” {Heb. 5:7-10}
Maturity is God’s goal for his children, just as it is for every parent. Even obedient sons benefit from a wise Father’s discipline, in order to increase their wisdom. Harsh punishment is needed to bring illumination to the consciousness of foolish sons. Sin came to Adam when he disobeyed the prohibition from his Father, not to partake of the fruit. God knew before He planted this tree that Adam would fail, and with that failure, ensure death to all his descendants. However, as with all of God’s chastisements of His children, the grave is not permanent. It is simply the passage to a greater, immortal, resurrected life, when death will be swallowed up forever!
Indeed, Adam’s death was necessary in order for him to realize fully what he is to be delivered from, and to rejoice in the life of God.
It is a fact of Scripture that God knew good and evil, He said so Himself.
“Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might stretch out his hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”— {Gen. 3:22}
This brings to our minds the question: How could a Holy, Righteous God know evil? It will not satisfy to say that God only knew about evil, because it was only after Adam had eaten of the fruit, and had his soul made aware experientially of the distinction between good and evil, that God declared that Adam had now become like Him. This seems to present an insurmountable dilemma concerning the holiness of God’s character.
But like many difficulties in God’s mysterious Book, the problem lies in our misunderstanding of the original Hebrew word. Many English words have changed in meaning since the 1600’s when the KJV came into existence. The word ‘Evil’ used to carry with it, the meaning of anything less than beneficial in varying degrees.
In the case of this Tree in the Garden of Eden, it is our association of the Hebrew word ‘Ra’ (Evil) with our concept of Sinful that misleads us. When we trace this word ‘Ra’ through a concordance, it becomes evident that it is used many times without having any moral connotation whatsoever attached to it. The following passages provide several examples of its use.
“He recognized it and said, “It is my son’s robe! Some evil [Heb. ‘ra’ (vicious)] animal has devoured him. Joseph has surely been torn to pieces.” {Gen. 37:33}
“Why should the Egyptians speak, and say, For misfortune he has brought them out, to slay them on the mountains, and to annihilate them from the face of the earth? Turn from the heat of thine anger, and repent of this evil [Heb. ‘ra’] against thy people!13 Remember Abraham, Isaac and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou sworest by thyself, and saidst to them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give to your seed, and they shall possess [it] for ever!14 And Jehovah repented of the evil [Heb. ‘ra’]that he had said he would do to his people.” {Ex. 32:12-14}
In this amazing passage, Moses implores God to “repent of evil”, and God does just that! Of course, Moses does not think that God has contemplated sinfulness against Israel, but rather he implored God not to carry out the destruction of the people.“And I will give peace in the land, and ye shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid; and I will put away the [evil (dangerous)Heb. ‘ra’] beasts out of the land; and the sword shall not go through your land.” {Lev. 26:6}
“And why have ye made us to go up out of Egypt, to bring us to this evil [Heb.’ra’ (undesirable) place? it is no place of seed, or of figs, or of vines, or of pomegranates, neither is there any water to drink.” {Num. 20:5}
“…and they shall fine him a hundred shekels of silver, and give them unto the father of the damsel, because he hath caused an evil [Heb. ‘ra’ (shameful)] name to be spread abroad against a virgin in Israel. And she shall remain his wife: he may not put her away all his days.” {Deut. 22:19}
“And the Lord shall separate him unto evil [Heb. ‘ra’ (calamity)] out of all the tribes of Israel, according to all the curses of the covenant that are written in this book of the law:” {Deut. 29:21}
“See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil [Heb. ‘ra’ (curses)]” {Deut. 30:15}
Moses was instructing Israel concerning obedience to the covenant which would result in blessings (good) and disobedience which would bring upon them curses (evil). This verse alone proves to us that the word does not have the connotation of “Sinful”, for Moses was conveying God’s “evil” words to Israel as well as the “good”.
The use of the word “Good” in conjunction with the word “Evil”, is found often throughout scripture. The careful study and comparison of these two words will give us greater insight as to how God would have us to understand their meaning and significance. The following verses are every occurrence of both used together from Genesis to Malachi.
And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
Genesis 2:17
But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:
And when they were gone out of the city, and not yet far off, Joseph said unto his steward, Up, follow after the men; and when thou dost overtake them, say unto them, Wherefore have ye rewarded evil for good?
Or if a soul swear, pronouncing with his lips to do
evil, or to do good, whatsoever it be that a man shall pronounce with an oath, and it be hid from him; when he knoweth of it, then he shall be guilty in one of these.
Moreover your little ones, which ye said should be a prey, and your children, which in that day had no knowledge between good and evil, they shall go in thither, and unto them will I give it, and they shall possess it.
Deuteronomy 30:15
See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil;
And he said to David, Thou art more righteous than I: for thou hast rewarded me good, whereas I have rewarded thee evil.
1 Samuel 25:3
Now the name of the man was Nabal;and the name of his wife Abigail: and she was a woman of good understanding, and of a beautiful countenance: but the man was churlish and evil in his doings; and he was of the house of Caleb.
Now David had said, Surely in vain have I kept all that this fellow hath in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that pertained unto him:
and he hath requited me evil for good.
Then Achish called David, and said unto him, Surely, as the LORD liveth, thou hast been upright, and thy going out and thy coming in with me in the host is good in my sight: for I have not found evil in thee since the day of thy coming unto me unto this day: nevertheless the lords favor thee not.
And Absalom and all the men of Israel said, The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel. For the LORD had appointed to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, to the intent that the LORD might bring evil upon Absalom.
2 Samuel 19:35
I am this day fourscore years old:
I am this day fourscore years old:
and can I discern between good and evil? can thy servant taste what I eat or what I drink? can I hear any more the voice of singing men and singing women? wherefore then should thy servant be yet a burden unto my lord the king?
And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, There is yet one man, Micaiah the son of Imlah, by whom we may enquire of the LORD: but I hate him; for he doth not prophesy good concerning me, but evil. And Jehoshaphat said, Let not the king say so.
1 Kings 22:18
And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, Did I not tell thee that he would prophesy no good concerning me, but evil?
And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, Did I not tell thee that he would prophesy no good concerning me, but evil?
2 Chronicles 18:7
And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, There is yet one man, by whom we may enquire of the LORD: but I hate him; for he never prophesied good unto me, but always evil: the same is Micaiah the son of Imlah. And Jehoshaphat said, Let not the king say so.
And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, There is yet one man, by whom we may enquire of the LORD: but I hate him; for he never prophesied good unto me, but always evil: the same is Micaiah the son of Imlah. And Jehoshaphat said, Let not the king say so.
2 Chronicles 18:17
And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, Did I not tell thee that he would not prophesy good unto me, but evil?
And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, Did I not tell thee that he would not prophesy good unto me, but evil?
Job 2:10
But he said unto her, Thou speaks as one of the foolish women speak. What? shall we receive
But he said unto her, Thou speaks as one of the foolish women speak. What? shall we receive
good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips.
He evil entreated the barren that bearest not: and doeth not good to the widow.
Job 30:26
When I looked for good, then evil came unto me: and when I waited for light, there came darkness.
When I looked for good, then evil came unto me: and when I waited for light, there came darkness.
Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.
Psalm 37:27
Depart from evil, and do good; and dwell for evermore.
Depart from evil, and do good; and dwell for evermore.
Thou lovest evil more than good; and lying rather than to speak righteousness. Selah.
Psalm 109:5
And they have rewarded me evil for good, and hatred for my love.
And they have rewarded me evil for good, and hatred for my love.
Proverbs 14:19
The evil bow before the good; and the wicked at the gates of the righteous.
The evil bow before the good; and the wicked at the gates of the righteous.
Do they not err that devise evil? but mercy and truth shall be to them that devise good.
Proverbs 15:3
The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.
The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.
Proverbs 31:12
She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life.
She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life.
Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
Isaiah 7:15
Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good.
Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good.
For before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land that thou abhorrent shall be forsaken of both her kings.
Isaiah 41:23
Show the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods: yea, do good, or do evil, that we may be dismayed, and behold it together.
Show the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods: yea, do good, or do evil, that we may be dismayed, and behold it together.
For my people is foolish, they have not known me; they are sottish children, and they have none understanding: they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.
Jeremiah 13:10
This evil people, which refuse to hear my words, which walk in the imagination of their heart, and walk after other gods, to serve them, and to worship them, shall even be as this girdle, which is good for nothing.
This evil people, which refuse to hear my words, which walk in the imagination of their heart, and walk after other gods, to serve them, and to worship them, shall even be as this girdle, which is good for nothing.
Jeremiah 18:11
Now therefore go to, speak to the men of Judah,
Now therefore go to, speak to the men of Judah,
and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I frame evil against you, and devise a device against you: return ye now every one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good.
Jeremiah 18:20
Shall evil be recompensed for good? for they have digged a pit for my soul. Remember that I stood before thee to speak good for them, and to turn away thy wrath from them.
Shall evil be recompensed for good? for they have digged a pit for my soul. Remember that I stood before thee to speak good for them, and to turn away thy wrath from them.
Jeremiah 21:10
For I have set my face against this city for
For I have set my face against this city for
evil, and not for good, saith the LORD: it shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire.
Jeremiah 24:3
Then said the LORD unto me, What seest thou, Jeremiah? And I said, Figs; the good figs, very good; and the evil, very evil, that cannot be eaten, they are so evil.
Then said the LORD unto me, What seest thou, Jeremiah? And I said, Figs; the good figs, very good; and the evil, very evil, that cannot be eaten, they are so evil.
Jeremiah 39:16
Go and speak to Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring my words upon this city for evil, and not for good; and they shall be accomplished in that day before thee.
Go and speak to Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring my words upon this city for evil, and not for good; and they shall be accomplished in that day before thee.
Jeremiah 44:27
Behold, I will watch over them for evil, and not for good: and all the men of Judah that are in the land of Egypt shall be consumed by the sword and by the famine, until there be an end of them.
Behold, I will watch over them for evil, and not for good: and all the men of Judah that are in the land of Egypt shall be consumed by the sword and by the famine, until there be an end of them.
Lamentations 3:38
Out of the mouth of the most High proceedeth not
Out of the mouth of the most High proceedeth not
evil and good?
Ezekiel 36:31
Then shall ye remember your own evil ways, and your doings that were not good, and shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations.
Then shall ye remember your own evil ways, and your doings that were not good, and shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations.
Amos 5:14
Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live: and so the LORD, the God of hosts, shall be with you, as ye have spoken.
Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live: and so the LORD, the God of hosts, shall be with you, as ye have spoken.
Amos 5:15
Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish judgment in the gate: it may be that the LORD God of hosts will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph.
Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish judgment in the gate: it may be that the LORD God of hosts will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph.
Amos 9:4
And though they go into captivity before their enemies, thence will I command the sword, and it shall slay them: and I will set mine eyes upon them for evil, and not for good.
And though they go into captivity before their enemies, thence will I command the sword, and it shall slay them: and I will set mine eyes upon them for evil, and not for good.
Micah 3:2
Who hate the good, and love the evil; who pluck off their skin from off them, and their flesh from off their bones;
Who hate the good, and love the evil; who pluck off their skin from off them, and their flesh from off their bones;
And it shall come to pass at that time, that I will search Jerusalem with candles, and punish the men that are settled on their lees: that say in their heart, The LORD will not do good, neither will he do evil.
Malachi 2:17
Ye have wearied the LORD with your words. Yet ye say, Wherein have we wearied him? When ye say, Every one that doeth evil is good in the sight of the LORD, and he delighteth in them; or, Where is the God of judgment?
If we knew that all our tomorrows were filled only with good things, we would grow more and more self-confident, and our minds would have less and less room for the Provider of the goodness. Arrogance would replace any humility, and we would fail to praise and thank our Creator.
God is producing maturity through all the evil of our lives. Evil is simply a necessary tool, the lack of which, would find all of us strutting through life without any pause, to consider God’s goodness and grace. Solomon gives us his wisdom on the subject;
“Consider the work of God,
For who is able to straighten what He has bent?
14 In the day of prosperity [Heb. ‘Towb’(Good)] be happy,
But in the day of adversity [Heb. ‘Ra’(Evil)] consider—
God has made the one as well as the other
So that man will not discover anything that will be after him.” {Eccl. 7:13,14}
These two Hebrew words are the same ones used for the Tree in the Garden of Genesis 3. This passage states clearly that God has made evil as well as good. Evil is sent from His hand to mankind as surely as the good comes from Him. We can see from these verses, the reason for this enigma. It is to remind us that we do not control our future. All of our days on earth are ordered by our Creator.
The evil in life produces a conflict in our minds. As we face the unknown, fear and trepidation grips our hearts. It is to this that our Father has driven us, it comes from His loving hand. It is His desire that we cling to Him in our hour of need, even as Jacob clung to Him, seeking His blessing, after he wrestled in fear of his brother Esau’s approach. (Gen. 32:22-32)
So rather than teaching us that Father God is separate from “evil”, the Scriptures show us that He is actively involved in distributing “evil” when it is in accord with the purpose of His mysterious divine plan for the eventual good of all. Consider the following verse:
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” {Philip. 4:6,7}
It is our lack of understanding concerning the evil happenings in our lives, that impel us to Him who has ordered them all for our good. His goal is to conform us to the image of His Son.
The very fact that The Father did not exclude evil from the life of His Son, Jesus Christ, should give us confidence that all the evil entering our lives, is there for our betterment. It is especially through the evil that we face in life, that we share in the sufferings of our blessed Savior.
It was this understanding that Paul had to come to, in order that he could then say:
“Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” {2 Cor. 12:9,10}
“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” {Rom. 8:28}
One of the best examples of God bringing evil into an individual’s life experience, is that of Job. An objection may be made that it was not God that caused the evil, but Satan. But a review of the story will prove that Satan was merely an instrument of God’s hand to accomplish His purpose in Job’s life. God was the One who initiated the subject with Satan concerning Job:
Satan must obey the limits that God has imposed on him. God imparts that which is evil (harmful) as a reference point, that the creature can make a comparison with all that is good (beneficial), found only in the Creator.
“Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. And he still maintains his integrity, though you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason.” {Job 2:3}
God takes responsibility for bringing Job to ruin financially, and now He will continue Job’s grief by removing his health.
If we return for a moment to the scene in the Garden of Eden, we gain a new and valuable perspective. Although we are not given the behind the scene view there, it is plain that Satan could not have approached Eve through the serpent unless God had ordained it to be so. The fire of God’s judgment would have fallen immediately upon Satan if he had dared to cross the line of God’s parameters. Satan cannot scheme in the lives of God’s created sons without God’s allowance and approval, indeed His initiation!
If God was not able to produce good out of all of Satan’s and man’s evil, then God would be less than Good. We would be forced to admit that God gets some sort of satisfaction from producing pain and grief in men’s lives.
But the blackness of the night sky is essential to reveal the glory of the innumerable stars in the heavens. Even so, God’s glory is made manifest in the evil, in such a fashion that it could not have been otherwise. And after all the evil has done its work in these temporal ages, God will pull back the black curtains to reveal how it all produced good for His creatures.
This is the wisdom of God which can only be appreciated by the eye of faith. To look beyond the turmoil of life’s troubles and trust that God alone is able to work all things, good and evil, to the ultimate good of His creation, is to enter the sanctum of mature faith.
Job initially responded with great wisdom and faith to his fiery trial. This proved that he did not have his hope in the pleasant things of life, but in the Provider of them. Without the evil from God, that faith would never have been put on display for men and angels to witness.
“Behold, how happy is the man whom God reproves,
So do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.
18 “For He inflicts pain, and gives relief;
He wounds, and His hands also heal.9 From six troubles He will deliver you,
Even in seven evil [Heb. ‘ra’] will not touch you.” {Job 5:17-19}
We need only to turn to the close of the book to see the outcome of God’s hand of discipline. The evil that God sent into his life, illuminated Job to God’s wisdom in a way that he would never had understood otherwise. God knew that Job needed to experience the evil in order to appreciate the good.
Another example of God working His purpose in the life of His chosen ones using evil, is found in the life of Samson. Before Samson was conceived, God had preordained his life to deliver Israel from the control of the Philistines. He was to be a Nazarite, devoted to God’s calling and Will.
“A certain man of Zorah, named Manoah, from the clan of the Danites, had a wife who was childless, unable to give birth. 3 The angel of the Lord appeared to her and said, “You are barren and childless, but you are going to become pregnant and give birth to a son. 4 Now see to it that you drink no wine or other fermented drink and that you do not eat anything unclean. 5 You will become pregnant and have a son whose head is never to be touched by a razor because the boy is to be a Nazirite, dedicated to God from the womb. He will take the lead in delivering Israel from the hands of the Philistines.” {Judg. 13:2-5}
Now certainly if this child was to be used of God, we would expect his greatest exploits to be done while in complete obedience to God’s Law, for such was His revealed truth. Yet, in fact, we find just the opposite occurring time and again in Samson’s life. Any Israelite, let alone a Nazarite, was forbidden by The Law of God to intermarry with any of the Gentile nations around them.
“Do not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons, 4 for they will turn your children away from following me to serve other gods, and the Lord’s anger will burn against you and will quickly destroy you.” {Deut. 7:3,4}
This command is very clear. So it is astounding to see God ordaining this prohibited action for Samson!
“Then Samson went down to Timnah and saw a woman in Timnah, one of the daughters of the Philistines. 2 So he came back and told his father and mother, “I saw a woman in Timnah, one of the daughters of the Philistines; now therefore, get her for me as a wife.” 3 Then his father and his mother said to him, “Is there no woman among the daughters of your relatives, or among all our people, that you go to take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?” But Samson said to his father, “Get her for me, for she looks good to me.” 4 However, his father and mother did not know that it was of the Lord, for He was seeking an occasion against the Philistines. Now at that time the Philistines were ruling over Israel.” {Judg. 14:1-4}
It is the prerogative of God to use bad things, even forbidden things, to accomplish His purposes. The text is clear, Samson’s parents were appalled that Samson would desire to marry a heathen woman. But they were unaware that this desire was put there by God! How could this possibly be? Would God ordain disobedience to a commandment to fulfill His plan? Remember the prohibition to Adam. Yes, He would and He does. We know from the rest of this account that God used this unequal yoke with Delilah, to ultimately accomplish great deliverance for Israel from the Philistine hand of oppression.
Samson repeatedly broke his Nazarite vow to God. The eating of honey from a dead lion’s carcass, the use of a jawbone of a dead donkey as a weapon, and the shaving of his head, were all in direct opposition to God’s revealed commands. But the victories God worked through all these incidents, confirm the fact that God had ordered it all to fulfill His secret purpose.
Let us consider the reign of Pharaoh. God sent His prophet Moses to order the ruler of Egypt to release the Israelites immediately to worship Him in the desert. But again we ask, was this really God’s plan? Let’s read the passage to find out.
“The Lord said to Moses, “When you return to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders I have given you the power to do. But I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go. 22 Then say to Pharaoh, ‘This is what the Lord says: Israel is my firstborn son, 23 and I told you, “Let my son go, so he may worship me.” But you refused to let him go; so I will kill your firstborn son.’’ {Ex. 4:21-23}
Now let’s get this straight. God hardens Pharaoh’s heart so that he will not let the Israelites go. As a result, Pharaoh refuses to release them (no surprise here). Because Pharaoh refuses, God will kill Pharaoh’s firstborn son. Can we not deduce from these verses, that God’s Plan involved the killing of Pharaoh’s firstborn from the start? Why would God want to do that? The answer is found in v.22 of our passage.
‘This is what the Lord says: Israel is my firstborn son, 23 and I told you, “Let my son go, so he may worship me.”
God wanted to make clear, not only to Pharaoh and all of Egypt, but to all the Gentile nations that would hear of Israel’s astounding deliverance by Jehovah’s hand, that He had chosen Israel as His Firstborn Son, the son that would inherit His greatest earthly blessings.
Whenever this story of deliverance was recounted, the deaths of all the firstborn Egyptian families, as well as those of their animals, would magnify this privileged status of Israel to the Gentiles and cause them to inquire further about God’s Law to His chosen nation.
But doesn’t that mean that God caused Pharaoh to rebel against Him? Paul answers this question:
If the grave constitutes the end of The Potter’s work on His created vessels, then Pharaoh as well as all rebels, are simply pawns, hopelessly flawed vessels of clay, being used callously by a Power vastly superior to their weak wills. If God’s goal is to simply discard these “common vessels” that He has created into eternal fire, then He will have failed in His stated purpose for all mankind;
“Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, 2 for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. 3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time. {1 Tim. 2:1-6}
Ye have wearied the LORD with your words. Yet ye say, Wherein have we wearied him? When ye say, Every one that doeth evil is good in the sight of the LORD, and he delighteth in them; or, Where is the God of judgment?
When we take all of these passages together, it becomes clear that “good” and “evil” are comparative terms. We see Good & Evil likened unto: Light & Darkness; Sweet & Bitter; Life & Death; Love & Hatred; Wise & Foolish, Ripe & Rotten; all these are opposites.
These antonyms represent the extreme poles of all that is applicable to the human experience, and all that lies between those boundaries. To “know” one without the other is not possible. Man cannot recognize the good until he experiences the evil.
God distributes “evil” to His sons in order to keep them dependant upon His goodness. If we were only to receive “good” from the hand of our Father, we would soon forget what goodness is. Without the stark comparison of good and evil in everyday life, our love and appreciation would quickly grow cold. If we knew that all our tomorrows were filled only with good things, we would grow more and more self-confident, and our minds would have less and less room for the Provider of the goodness. Arrogance would replace any humility, and we would fail to praise and thank our Creator.
God is producing maturity through all the evil of our lives. Evil is simply a necessary tool, the lack of which, would find all of us strutting through life without any pause, to consider God’s goodness and grace. Solomon gives us his wisdom on the subject;
“Consider the work of God,
For who is able to straighten what He has bent?
14 In the day of prosperity [Heb. ‘Towb’(Good)] be happy,
But in the day of adversity [Heb. ‘Ra’(Evil)] consider—
God has made the one as well as the other
So that man will not discover anything that will be after him.” {Eccl. 7:13,14}
These two Hebrew words are the same ones used for the Tree in the Garden of Genesis 3. This passage states clearly that God has made evil as well as good. Evil is sent from His hand to mankind as surely as the good comes from Him. We can see from these verses, the reason for this enigma. It is to remind us that we do not control our future. All of our days on earth are ordered by our Creator.
The evil in life produces a conflict in our minds. As we face the unknown, fear and trepidation grips our hearts. It is to this that our Father has driven us, it comes from His loving hand. It is His desire that we cling to Him in our hour of need, even as Jacob clung to Him, seeking His blessing, after he wrestled in fear of his brother Esau’s approach. (Gen. 32:22-32)
So rather than teaching us that Father God is separate from “evil”, the Scriptures show us that He is actively involved in distributing “evil” when it is in accord with the purpose of His mysterious divine plan for the eventual good of all. Consider the following verse:
“That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the going down, that there is none beside me. I [am] Jehovah, and there is none else; forming the light and creating darkness, making peace and creating evil [Heb. ‘ra’]: I, Jehovah, do all these things.” {Isa. 45:6,7}
So according to this verse, Jehovah is The Creator of all things, including “evil”. Notice that there is a comparison of “Light” with “Darkness”, and “Peace”(Heb. ‘Shalom’) with “Evil”(Heb. ‘Ra’). Even as the light dispels the darkness and removes its fearful unknown, so the peace that also comes only from our heavenly Father, will give us comfort, guard our thinking, and produce maturity in the very midst His trials of evil.“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” {Philip. 4:6,7}
It is our lack of understanding concerning the evil happenings in our lives, that impel us to Him who has ordered them all for our good. His goal is to conform us to the image of His Son.
The very fact that The Father did not exclude evil from the life of His Son, Jesus Christ, should give us confidence that all the evil entering our lives, is there for our betterment. It is especially through the evil that we face in life, that we share in the sufferings of our blessed Savior.
It was this understanding that Paul had to come to, in order that he could then say:
“Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” {2 Cor. 12:9,10}
“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” {Rom. 8:28}
One of the best examples of God bringing evil into an individual’s life experience, is that of Job. An objection may be made that it was not God that caused the evil, but Satan. But a review of the story will prove that Satan was merely an instrument of God’s hand to accomplish His purpose in Job’s life. God was the One who initiated the subject with Satan concerning Job:
“And there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before Jehovah; and Satan came also among them.7 And Jehovah said to Satan, Whence comest thou? And Satan answered Jehovah and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.8 And Jehovah said to Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God and abstaineth from evil?” {Job 1:6-8}
God is always in control of everything in His creation. He is never striving to counter or outwit Satan for the outcome of any situation. No, God uses Satan to realize His goal even when evil is involved. It is God’s hand at work. Satan must obey the limits that God has imposed on him. God imparts that which is evil (harmful) as a reference point, that the creature can make a comparison with all that is good (beneficial), found only in the Creator.
“And Satan answered Jehovah and said, Doth Job fear God for nought?10 Hast not thou made a hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? Thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is spread abroad in the land.11 But put forth thy hand now and touch all that he hath, [and see] if he will not curse thee to thy face!12 And Jehovah said to Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy hand; only upon himself put not forth thy hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of Jehovah.” {Job 1:9-12}
Notice that it is God’s hand that is against Job by using Satan’s hand as an intermediate. God confirms this fact when Satan presents himself to Him on the next occasion.“Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. And he still maintains his integrity, though you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason.” {Job 2:3}
God takes responsibility for bringing Job to ruin financially, and now He will continue Job’s grief by removing his health.
“Skin for skin!” Satan replied. “A man will give all he has for his own life. 5 But now stretch out your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse you to your face.”6 The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, then, he is in your hands; but you must spare his life.”7 So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and afflicted Job with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head.” {Job 2:4-7}
Notice again, it is God’s hand behind Satan’s hand working in Job’s life, bringing pain and grief to this devoted man of God. If we return for a moment to the scene in the Garden of Eden, we gain a new and valuable perspective. Although we are not given the behind the scene view there, it is plain that Satan could not have approached Eve through the serpent unless God had ordained it to be so. The fire of God’s judgment would have fallen immediately upon Satan if he had dared to cross the line of God’s parameters. Satan cannot scheme in the lives of God’s created sons without God’s allowance and approval, indeed His initiation!
If God was not able to produce good out of all of Satan’s and man’s evil, then God would be less than Good. We would be forced to admit that God gets some sort of satisfaction from producing pain and grief in men’s lives.
But the blackness of the night sky is essential to reveal the glory of the innumerable stars in the heavens. Even so, God’s glory is made manifest in the evil, in such a fashion that it could not have been otherwise. And after all the evil has done its work in these temporal ages, God will pull back the black curtains to reveal how it all produced good for His creatures.
This is the wisdom of God which can only be appreciated by the eye of faith. To look beyond the turmoil of life’s troubles and trust that God alone is able to work all things, good and evil, to the ultimate good of His creation, is to enter the sanctum of mature faith.
Job initially responded with great wisdom and faith to his fiery trial. This proved that he did not have his hope in the pleasant things of life, but in the Provider of them. Without the evil from God, that faith would never have been put on display for men and angels to witness.
“Then Job took a piece of broken pottery and scraped himself with it as he sat among the ashes.9 His wife said to him, “Are you still maintaining your integrity? Curse God and die!”10 He replied, “You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not evil [Heb. ‘ra’ (trouble)?”In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.” {Job 2:8-10}
Eliphaz was one of Job’s “comforters”. Although he misdiagnosed Job’s calamities as due to secret sin in Job, he did utter some wisdom when he said:“Behold, how happy is the man whom God reproves,
So do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.
18 “For He inflicts pain, and gives relief;
He wounds, and His hands also heal.9 From six troubles He will deliver you,
Even in seven evil [Heb. ‘ra’] will not touch you.” {Job 5:17-19}
“Then Job replied to the Lord:2 “I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted.3 You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?’ Surely I spoke of things I did not understand,things too wonderful for me to know.4 “You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak; I will question you, and you shall answer me.’5 My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you.6 Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.” 10 After Job had prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before. 11 All his brothers and sisters and everyone who had known him before came and ate with him in his house. They comforted and consoled him over all the evil [Heb.’ra’ (trouble)] the Lord had brought on him, and each one gave him a piece of silver and a gold ring. {Job 42:1-6, 10-11}
Job is a beautiful type of our wonderful Savior and The Father’s mysterious working in the life of the Son of His love. Like Job, Jesus Christ was blameless and upright. Satan was given free access to test our Savior as he did with Job.
Both were forsaken by those closest to them in their hour of testing. Both maintained their integrity in the face of severe suffering. Both prayed for those that had done wrong to them. Both received an exalted place at the conclusion of their trial. Another example of God working His purpose in the life of His chosen ones using evil, is found in the life of Samson. Before Samson was conceived, God had preordained his life to deliver Israel from the control of the Philistines. He was to be a Nazarite, devoted to God’s calling and Will.
“A certain man of Zorah, named Manoah, from the clan of the Danites, had a wife who was childless, unable to give birth. 3 The angel of the Lord appeared to her and said, “You are barren and childless, but you are going to become pregnant and give birth to a son. 4 Now see to it that you drink no wine or other fermented drink and that you do not eat anything unclean. 5 You will become pregnant and have a son whose head is never to be touched by a razor because the boy is to be a Nazirite, dedicated to God from the womb. He will take the lead in delivering Israel from the hands of the Philistines.” {Judg. 13:2-5}
Now certainly if this child was to be used of God, we would expect his greatest exploits to be done while in complete obedience to God’s Law, for such was His revealed truth. Yet, in fact, we find just the opposite occurring time and again in Samson’s life. Any Israelite, let alone a Nazarite, was forbidden by The Law of God to intermarry with any of the Gentile nations around them.
“Do not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons, 4 for they will turn your children away from following me to serve other gods, and the Lord’s anger will burn against you and will quickly destroy you.” {Deut. 7:3,4}
This command is very clear. So it is astounding to see God ordaining this prohibited action for Samson!
“Then Samson went down to Timnah and saw a woman in Timnah, one of the daughters of the Philistines. 2 So he came back and told his father and mother, “I saw a woman in Timnah, one of the daughters of the Philistines; now therefore, get her for me as a wife.” 3 Then his father and his mother said to him, “Is there no woman among the daughters of your relatives, or among all our people, that you go to take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?” But Samson said to his father, “Get her for me, for she looks good to me.” 4 However, his father and mother did not know that it was of the Lord, for He was seeking an occasion against the Philistines. Now at that time the Philistines were ruling over Israel.” {Judg. 14:1-4}
It is the prerogative of God to use bad things, even forbidden things, to accomplish His purposes. The text is clear, Samson’s parents were appalled that Samson would desire to marry a heathen woman. But they were unaware that this desire was put there by God! How could this possibly be? Would God ordain disobedience to a commandment to fulfill His plan? Remember the prohibition to Adam. Yes, He would and He does. We know from the rest of this account that God used this unequal yoke with Delilah, to ultimately accomplish great deliverance for Israel from the Philistine hand of oppression.
Samson repeatedly broke his Nazarite vow to God. The eating of honey from a dead lion’s carcass, the use of a jawbone of a dead donkey as a weapon, and the shaving of his head, were all in direct opposition to God’s revealed commands. But the victories God worked through all these incidents, confirm the fact that God had ordered it all to fulfill His secret purpose.
Let us consider the reign of Pharaoh. God sent His prophet Moses to order the ruler of Egypt to release the Israelites immediately to worship Him in the desert. But again we ask, was this really God’s plan? Let’s read the passage to find out.
“The Lord said to Moses, “When you return to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders I have given you the power to do. But I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go. 22 Then say to Pharaoh, ‘This is what the Lord says: Israel is my firstborn son, 23 and I told you, “Let my son go, so he may worship me.” But you refused to let him go; so I will kill your firstborn son.’’ {Ex. 4:21-23}
Now let’s get this straight. God hardens Pharaoh’s heart so that he will not let the Israelites go. As a result, Pharaoh refuses to release them (no surprise here). Because Pharaoh refuses, God will kill Pharaoh’s firstborn son. Can we not deduce from these verses, that God’s Plan involved the killing of Pharaoh’s firstborn from the start? Why would God want to do that? The answer is found in v.22 of our passage.
‘This is what the Lord says: Israel is my firstborn son, 23 and I told you, “Let my son go, so he may worship me.”
God wanted to make clear, not only to Pharaoh and all of Egypt, but to all the Gentile nations that would hear of Israel’s astounding deliverance by Jehovah’s hand, that He had chosen Israel as His Firstborn Son, the son that would inherit His greatest earthly blessings.
Whenever this story of deliverance was recounted, the deaths of all the firstborn Egyptian families, as well as those of their animals, would magnify this privileged status of Israel to the Gentiles and cause them to inquire further about God’s Law to His chosen nation.
But doesn’t that mean that God caused Pharaoh to rebel against Him? Paul answers this question:
“For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I raised you up, to demonstrate My power in you, and that My name might be proclaimed throughout the whole earth.” 18 So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires.
19 You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who resists His will?” 20 On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, “Why did you make me like this,” will it? 21 Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use?” {Rom. 9:17-21}
Man’s assessment of God’s seemingly arbitrary hardening of Pharaoh’s heart is, “That’s not fair!” But mankind has only myopic vision. God sees the big picture clearly, so He alone is qualified to use evil things to accomplish His perfect plan of eventual good for all. He alone has the right of wielding evil instruments to form His clay into vessels that suit His good purpose. If the grave constitutes the end of The Potter’s work on His created vessels, then Pharaoh as well as all rebels, are simply pawns, hopelessly flawed vessels of clay, being used callously by a Power vastly superior to their weak wills. If God’s goal is to simply discard these “common vessels” that He has created into eternal fire, then He will have failed in His stated purpose for all mankind;
“Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, 2 for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. 3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time. {1 Tim. 2:1-6}
“This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance. 10 That is why we labor and strive, because we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all people, and especially of those who believe.11 Command and teach these things.” {1 Tim. 4:9-11}
Notice the passage does not say “only of those that believe”. It is true that only believers in Christ are now made partakers of the blessings of the Cross, but only as Firstborn and Firstfruits of the whole harvest of the sons of mankind! May the blinding scales of religious dogmas be removed from our eyes to see clearly God’s purpose in the sacrifice of His Son. God will never fail in His goal to save all mankind. The Cross of Christ was not a failure, or a partial success. God chose the excruciating suffering of His Son to deal a death blow to all of sin’s consequences. May God be true and every man a liar!
Religion has confused God’s ongoing molding of His vessels with the finished product. Our myopic view can only see as far as the grave, but death is not an obstacle to the Creator. He is the Author of life, and as Such, He will bring life to the dead! Death indeed precedes life!
Adam lay before his Creator fully formed. All of his organs perfectly crafted, intact, and capable of sustaining life. His blood, waiting to pulse throughout his body which was made in the image of his Creator, lay dormant in his arteries. Yes, he was perfectly formed, but he was dead, lifeless. Dead, until the Spirit of the living God breathed life into his lungs. Death gave way to God-imparted life.
That which seems hopeless and impossible is but the beginning of the ways of God. He is the omnipotent Father and Lover of all the sons He created. He it is that fashions each one in the womb, and brings them forth from that watery grave to see the light of life.
He alone is able to use the evil circumstances of each one, to humble the hardest heart either in this life, or when they stand before His brilliantly glorious Presence after death! It is evil that produces humbling and reconciliation, and this is His goal, not eternal torture!
Pharaoh will at that time understand how his rebellion was used for God’s glory. The Potter will receive heartfelt praise from every vessel of wrath. It will be there that each one will finally realize what the blood of The Savior accomplished at Calvary, when all of The Father’s wrath fell upon Christ. Each will fall before Him with worship and adoration on his lips. “Amazing Grace! How sweet the sound! That saved a wretch like me! I once was lost, but now I’m found, was blind, but now I see!” Will this not be the magnifying of the Cross that God planned for all His creation?
“And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. 9 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” {Philip. 2:8-11}
This is God’s secret goal for all His creation, revealed by the pen of the Apostle Paul, in which gospel he reveled! How could a forced confession of the Lordship of Jesus possibly bring glory to God? Here are all the other passages where the same Greek word “confess”, found in v.11, is used.
“…and that the Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy, as it is written:“For this reason I will confess to You among the Gentiles, and sing to Your name.” {Rom. 15:9}
“Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” {James 5:16}
“He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.” {Rev. 3:5}
“And many who had believed came confessing and telling their deeds. 19 Also, many of those who had practiced magic brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all.” {Acts 19:18,19}
“Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him 6 and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins.” {Matt. 3:5,6}
“At that time Jesus answered and said, “I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes.” {Matt. 11:25}
“Then all the land of Judea, and those from Jerusalem, went out to him and were all baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins.” {Mark 1:5}
“In that hour Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit and said, “I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight.” {Luke 10:21}
“And they were glad, and agreed to give him money. 6 So he promised and sought opportunity to betray Him to them in the absence of the multitude.” {Luke 22:5,6}
“For it is written: “As I live, says the Lord, Every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall confess to God.” {Rom. 14:11}
Now, all of these passages where the Greek word ‘Exomologeomai’ is used, there is no question of the willing participation of the parties involved. But when it comes to the worship of The Son of God by all created beings, in heaven and earth, we are supposed to believe that this is a contrived confession because the ‘Savior’ has forced them to their knees, and with His boot of authority upon their necks, has drawn from their lips the praise that they involuntarily speak, after which, they will be thrown into the yawning chasm of the Lake of Fire, to suffer eternal torture from the hand of the ‘Savior’. Jesus our Lord suffered at the hand of His Father. God brought evil to bear upon His beloved Son. This is the greatest of all mysteries, that God chose to subject the innocent One to suffer untold evil for the undeserving, unthankful, and guilty.
To be sure, we see the hand of Judas receiving silver for his betrayal of his Master, as well as the hands of the chief priests paying out the blood money to him. Pilate tried to wash the blood guilt from his hands as he passed the sentence of death to our Savior. The sons of Israel cried out in unison, “May His blood be upon us and our children!”
The hands of Roman soldiers drove cruel nails into the hands and feet of Lamb of God. Satan’s hand was in evidence behind the whole frenzied scene of hatred and jealousy.
And yet, our eyes are turned upward to the heavens, half in disbelief, as the words of the prophet sink in to our souls;
But the evil sent from The Father’s hand was just the dark side of the scene. The white light of glory to be revealed just needed a black backdrop to see it in all its brilliance. The prophet Isaiah continues:
“After he has suffered,
he will see the light of life and be satisfied;
by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many,
and he will bear their iniquities.” {Isa. 53:11}
God has attained His goal through the evil imparted to His Beloved Son. The good that He brought forth from the evil, is the highest good that the universe will ever see. The intense suffering of our Lord gave birth to our greatest ecstasy!
The rejection of Christ by His creation, made possible our acceptance by our Creator! The alienation from God, brought about by Adam’s disobedience, succumbed to the reconciliation of all, brought about by the Last Adam’s obedience.
“Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people. 19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.” {Rom. 5:18,19}
“Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!” {Rom. 12:33}
God’s evil is not sin. God never errs with His introduction of evil into lives and circumstances. To sin, is essentially to “miss”. To miss the target is to be in error. To err is to forfeit any possibility of perfection. The Hebrew word that expresses this thought is ‘Chata’(Khaw-Taw). We have a verse that expresses its meaning precisely:
“Among all these soldiers there were seven hundred select troops who were left-handed, each of whom could sling a stone at a hair and not miss [Heb.’ Chata’.”] {Judges 20:16}
These Benjamites were very skilled with their slings. To express this, we are informed that they were pinpoint in their accuracy, they did not miss their target, they did not ‘sin’ with their slings.
With this truth in hand, we return to the Garden scene. Adam “missed” when he chose to disobey God, he erred, he sinned. Here we are faced with a dilemma. If God did not intend for Adam to miss the mark, and instead created Adam with the purposeful goal of Adam’s endless perfection, then God missed His mark, God erred, God sinned.
There is no way around this, either God intended for Adam to fail in his test, or He did not. If He did not, then God’s plans were thwarted by Satan, and if His first dealings with His creation could be thwarted, what confidence can we possibly have that His future plans will not be overcome by the Enemy?
If Satan is able to alter the outcome of God’s plan through his deception, then he is stronger than God. If God is reacting to Satan’s devices, then Satan is truly the one in control, and God is furiously working to counteract Satan’s disruption of His plans.
Were we left with no other information, all this would be mere speculation. However, the Scriptures reveal in word and type, that “without the effusion of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins”. In fact, God provided for all of creation’s misses before He created them.
The cross was God’s provision for all error, deliberate or otherwise. Sin required a blood sacrifice. The blood of the innocent, righted the wrong done by the guilty one.
When was God’s remedy for sin given? Was God reacting to an unforeseen turn of events to head off man’s ruin? Was the Cross a hastily concocted plan by God to salvage a few of His ruined sons? No, our All-wise Father had already provided The Sacrifice before there was a need.
“And all those living on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb who was slain from the foundation of the world.” {Rev. 13:8}
The Father had already offered up His Son for the redemption of His whole creation before He called anything into existence. The scene at Calvary’s cross was for the creation to witness, that which was already accomplished in the Father’s mind. The full revelation of Himself to His creation as the embodiment of perfect Love, necessitated it. Before time began, He gave His All. In due time, The Father enacted it on Golgotha’s hill, for all His creation to gaze upon.
The Cross was the culmination of all evil, poured out on the sacrificial Son, whereby our Father could unveil His apex of Divine goodness toward us. Is there another mystery in the universe that surpasses this? Is there any better example of God’s wisdom that proves that He is able to gather back all the evil sent from His hand, enacted by men and demons on earth’s stage, and transform it into the pinnacle of all that is good?
This was the greatest of all contrasts drawn by the All-Wise Creator. A contrast so stark and a chasm so great between Good and Evil, that none of His creatures would fail to wonder at its immensity. A mystery that can only be comprehended and appreciated by those to whom the Author reveals it by His Spirit.
Christendom revolts against God’s use of evil. Televangelists peddle their heresy on the airwaves daily. They proclaim to their deceived listeners that God is the dispenser of good only, that evil is the hellish invention of the Enemy, sent to counteract God’s plan for His vulnerable children.
They insist that sickness, disease, and poverty all have their origin from Satan. They say that God desires only rainbows and lollipops for His own, and He is helpless to provide these good things due to their lack of faith and/or faithfulness.
Prayer cloths and trinkets “blessed” by the proclaimers of such error, is available to everyone for a “gift” to their “ministry”. The solicitation of money by the preachers of this “prosperity gospel” should give pause to all.
In order to secure these “Good” things from God, and the removal of the “Evil” things from Satan, a simple “Faith Seed” must be planted in God’s garden of goodies, which is guaranteed to sprout and produce pleasantries innumerable, with no “evil” weeds anywhere! Naturally, God has appointed these peddlers of deceit as His treasurers, in charge of collecting God’s funds from the faithless, stingy listeners of their false gospel.
Truly, the “foolishness of God is wiser than all of man’s wisdom”. The Cross will stand for all ages and forever, as the centerpiece of The Father’s wisdom and goodness to His creation. There will never come a time when the sheer wonder of The Son’s sacrifice of Himself for all, will fade or grow dim. The Scripture is very clear concerning this ultimate Mystery.
The hands of Roman soldiers drove cruel nails into the hands and feet of Lamb of God. Satan’s hand was in evidence behind the whole frenzied scene of hatred and jealousy.
And yet, our eyes are turned upward to the heavens, half in disbelief, as the words of the prophet sink in to our souls;
“Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer…” {Isa. 53:10}
The Father was behind it all. The Son was forsaken of His God and Father. But not just forsaken, He was crushed by His Father’s hand. Oh mystery of all mysteries!, the arrows that pierced His soul as he was suspended between a brazen heaven above, and a cold earth below, were from His Father’s bow.But the evil sent from The Father’s hand was just the dark side of the scene. The white light of glory to be revealed just needed a black backdrop to see it in all its brilliance. The prophet Isaiah continues:
“After he has suffered,
he will see the light of life and be satisfied;
by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many,
and he will bear their iniquities.” {Isa. 53:11}
The rejection of Christ by His creation, made possible our acceptance by our Creator! The alienation from God, brought about by Adam’s disobedience, succumbed to the reconciliation of all, brought about by the Last Adam’s obedience.
“Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people. 19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.” {Rom. 5:18,19}
“Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!” {Rom. 12:33}
God’s evil is not sin. God never errs with His introduction of evil into lives and circumstances. To sin, is essentially to “miss”. To miss the target is to be in error. To err is to forfeit any possibility of perfection. The Hebrew word that expresses this thought is ‘Chata’(Khaw-Taw). We have a verse that expresses its meaning precisely:
“Among all these soldiers there were seven hundred select troops who were left-handed, each of whom could sling a stone at a hair and not miss [Heb.’ Chata’.”] {Judges 20:16}
These Benjamites were very skilled with their slings. To express this, we are informed that they were pinpoint in their accuracy, they did not miss their target, they did not ‘sin’ with their slings.
With this truth in hand, we return to the Garden scene. Adam “missed” when he chose to disobey God, he erred, he sinned. Here we are faced with a dilemma. If God did not intend for Adam to miss the mark, and instead created Adam with the purposeful goal of Adam’s endless perfection, then God missed His mark, God erred, God sinned.
There is no way around this, either God intended for Adam to fail in his test, or He did not. If He did not, then God’s plans were thwarted by Satan, and if His first dealings with His creation could be thwarted, what confidence can we possibly have that His future plans will not be overcome by the Enemy?
If Satan is able to alter the outcome of God’s plan through his deception, then he is stronger than God. If God is reacting to Satan’s devices, then Satan is truly the one in control, and God is furiously working to counteract Satan’s disruption of His plans.
Were we left with no other information, all this would be mere speculation. However, the Scriptures reveal in word and type, that “without the effusion of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins”. In fact, God provided for all of creation’s misses before He created them.
The cross was God’s provision for all error, deliberate or otherwise. Sin required a blood sacrifice. The blood of the innocent, righted the wrong done by the guilty one.
When was God’s remedy for sin given? Was God reacting to an unforeseen turn of events to head off man’s ruin? Was the Cross a hastily concocted plan by God to salvage a few of His ruined sons? No, our All-wise Father had already provided The Sacrifice before there was a need.
“And all those living on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb who was slain from the foundation of the world.” {Rev. 13:8}
The Father had already offered up His Son for the redemption of His whole creation before He called anything into existence. The scene at Calvary’s cross was for the creation to witness, that which was already accomplished in the Father’s mind. The full revelation of Himself to His creation as the embodiment of perfect Love, necessitated it. Before time began, He gave His All. In due time, The Father enacted it on Golgotha’s hill, for all His creation to gaze upon.
The Cross was the culmination of all evil, poured out on the sacrificial Son, whereby our Father could unveil His apex of Divine goodness toward us. Is there another mystery in the universe that surpasses this? Is there any better example of God’s wisdom that proves that He is able to gather back all the evil sent from His hand, enacted by men and demons on earth’s stage, and transform it into the pinnacle of all that is good?
This was the greatest of all contrasts drawn by the All-Wise Creator. A contrast so stark and a chasm so great between Good and Evil, that none of His creatures would fail to wonder at its immensity. A mystery that can only be comprehended and appreciated by those to whom the Author reveals it by His Spirit.
Christendom revolts against God’s use of evil. Televangelists peddle their heresy on the airwaves daily. They proclaim to their deceived listeners that God is the dispenser of good only, that evil is the hellish invention of the Enemy, sent to counteract God’s plan for His vulnerable children.
They insist that sickness, disease, and poverty all have their origin from Satan. They say that God desires only rainbows and lollipops for His own, and He is helpless to provide these good things due to their lack of faith and/or faithfulness.
Prayer cloths and trinkets “blessed” by the proclaimers of such error, is available to everyone for a “gift” to their “ministry”. The solicitation of money by the preachers of this “prosperity gospel” should give pause to all.
In order to secure these “Good” things from God, and the removal of the “Evil” things from Satan, a simple “Faith Seed” must be planted in God’s garden of goodies, which is guaranteed to sprout and produce pleasantries innumerable, with no “evil” weeds anywhere! Naturally, God has appointed these peddlers of deceit as His treasurers, in charge of collecting God’s funds from the faithless, stingy listeners of their false gospel.
Truly, the “foolishness of God is wiser than all of man’s wisdom”. The Cross will stand for all ages and forever, as the centerpiece of The Father’s wisdom and goodness to His creation. There will never come a time when the sheer wonder of The Son’s sacrifice of Himself for all, will fade or grow dim. The Scripture is very clear concerning this ultimate Mystery.
“And being found in appearance as a man,he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name,10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” { Phil. 2:8-11}
It is from the understanding of what the Cross actually accomplished, that all of God’s creation will finally fall before Him in worship and praise. The Mystery of the Cross is known now by just the First fruits of God’s ultimate full Harvest.
“The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.” {Col. 1:15-20}
Yes, The Cross is God’s answer to the enigma of Good and Evil. Without The Cross, all of life’s good as well as evil would be meaningless. The soul satisfying answer of God’s Mystery of the ages, is only found in the Crucified One. All of life’s good, as well as evil, find their full meaning in the suffering of The Lamb of God. Because He experienced the evil from His Father’s hand, all creation will partake of the good that resulted.
The evil that we encounter as believers in Him, is but sharing in His suffering, and ultimately, His glory. The good that the Cross produced will overwhelm all evil in the universe in due time.
The Cross was God’s means of reconciling all creation to Himself, not just some, but all. When the ages have all reached their fulfillment, and sin is but a distant memory, God will have concluded His masterful Plan and His eternal lesson to His creation of the need for Good and Evil, that all may know Him fully, and that God may take up residence in all His created sons.
“For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. 22 For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. The last enemy to be destroyed is death... 27 For He has put everything under His feet.” Now when it says that “everything” has been put under Him, it is clear that this does not include God Himself, who put everything under Christ. 28 When He has done this, then the Son Himself will be made subject to Him who put everything under Him, so that God may be All in all.” {1Cor. 15:21-22,26-28}
I want to thank my father, Bradley Truitt, for the title of this study, “The Good in Evil”. It is to him that I owe my love for The Book of books, and our hours together discussing this topic and many others, has contributed greatly to the final product. I love you, Dad.
“For I do not wish you to be ignorant, brethren, of this mystery, that ye may not be wise in your own conceits, that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the nations be come in;26 and so all Israel shall be saved. According as it is written, The deliverer shall come out of Zion; he shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob.” {Rom. 11:25,26}
Just as Israel’s blindness will one day be cured, so will that of every creature in heaven and earth.“The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.” {Col. 1:15-20}
Yes, The Cross is God’s answer to the enigma of Good and Evil. Without The Cross, all of life’s good as well as evil would be meaningless. The soul satisfying answer of God’s Mystery of the ages, is only found in the Crucified One. All of life’s good, as well as evil, find their full meaning in the suffering of The Lamb of God. Because He experienced the evil from His Father’s hand, all creation will partake of the good that resulted.
The evil that we encounter as believers in Him, is but sharing in His suffering, and ultimately, His glory. The good that the Cross produced will overwhelm all evil in the universe in due time.
The Cross was God’s means of reconciling all creation to Himself, not just some, but all. When the ages have all reached their fulfillment, and sin is but a distant memory, God will have concluded His masterful Plan and His eternal lesson to His creation of the need for Good and Evil, that all may know Him fully, and that God may take up residence in all His created sons.
“For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. 22 For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. The last enemy to be destroyed is death... 27 For He has put everything under His feet.” Now when it says that “everything” has been put under Him, it is clear that this does not include God Himself, who put everything under Christ. 28 When He has done this, then the Son Himself will be made subject to Him who put everything under Him, so that God may be All in all.” {1Cor. 15:21-22,26-28}
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I am deeply indebted to the late A.E. Knoch for the understanding that God imparted to him concerning this subject of Good and Evil. His book entitled “ The Problem of Evil” was of great value to me as I researched this topic. I thank God for his deep devotion to God’s Truth and his tireless efforts to impart it to Christ’s Body.I want to thank my father, Bradley Truitt, for the title of this study, “The Good in Evil”. It is to him that I owe my love for The Book of books, and our hours together discussing this topic and many others, has contributed greatly to the final product. I love you, Dad.
Posts
0 Add Comment Here: :
Post a Comment