How Could God allow this?

[ZNP]

It is a good question and my best answer came from the Book of Job.
Satan came before God and He inquired what was he up to...Satan says like a roaring lion searching to and fro seeking whom I may devour.
God asked him...have considered my servant Job.
Satan Yes, but you have a hedge of protection around him and I can't touch him.
God took away that hedge and told him to do whatever he wanted but don't take his life.
So after Satan attacked Job....Job went into prayer and in the end Job never once cursed God and gave God Glory for He is a Sovereign God and for his good pleasure He created all things and it is His to give and to take away.
So what was the purpose of all this? His Word says our faith will tested by fire....Paul said we rejoice in trials and tribulations for they are the working of our patience (which I believe this to be connected with our faith).

I agree with you but think there is a little more to the story.

 

[Religiot]

So how do you reconcile this verse with "in Him is no darkness at all" and "God cannot lie". They also are in the Bible.

Brother, what one creates does not have to be a part of them...

An evil man can do good, even if it's just for a moment, it is still good, yet the man himself is still evil...

God, who is only good, can do evil, and does do evil, but not to those who are His; for what is evil to one is good to another:

--The death of a child is evil, but God takes that same evil, and turns it for good, to those who love Him.

For example:
Dr. Levatino, is a case in point, for this man was once a practicing abortionist, who performed many abortions daily, but when God allowed for his own young daughter to die a horrible death in his own arms, his mind became altered, and his eyes were opened, as he held his little girl's mangled body, he realized that what he was doing was against nature. Now, Dr. Levatino, is one of the greatest fighters against abortion the modern world has ever known. No matter how much the main stream media tries to suppress his testimony, and his medical advice, the passion God has put in his repentant-heart has him constantly on the front lines of this fight, even testifying before congress, and showing the truth behind the lies the mainstream puts out.

Brother, God has used this man to be, not only a recruiter for other doctors, but a leader among them who testify that abortion is never required, and that the only way to save the life of the mother during a difficult delivery, is by delivering the baby--he and other doctors like him say, that performing an abortion to save the life of the mother will always increase the chances of her death! --He proves this medically... ...I must digress.

Brother, look him up, and reconsider how you are thinking about God.

Godspeed.

 

[renniks]

That is a fair reading, but Romans says all things work together for good to those that love God and are called according to purpose.

The Bible also says that the believers are destined to rule with the Lord. So then although you might not feel responsible for the mess due to man's rebellion, the day will come when you are the one who is responsible. Seems like now is a very good time to prepare for that day.

I'm already responsible because I sin like every human does. And I'm already a believer.

 

[renniks]

God, who is only good, can do evil, and does do evil,

God never does evil. That's radically unbiblical. God is just and holy. He cannot do what is against his nature.

 

[ZNP]

I'm already responsible because I sin like every human does. And I'm already a believer.

So if you are responsible surely the Lord is because apart from Him you can do nothing.

 

[martymonster]

There have been many different threads which have asked this question about Corona virus. Many of the posters assert that God is the creator of all things (agreed) that He is omnipotent and omniscient (agreed) and that given these criteria coronavirus could not have taken place without His allowing it (agreed). He foresaw it would happen (omniscient), He created it (creator of all things) and He had the power to prevent it (omnipotent). I agree with all of this.

Others, also quoting scriptures point out that God is love (agreed), He is a merciful and good God (agreed), in Him is no darkness (agreed), His thoughts for us are good and not evil (agreed). How do you reconcile these two?

This is commonly known as the problem of evil and is a logical argument used by atheists to deny that God exists. Their argument is that the definition of God is that He is the creator of all things (agreed). Evil exists (agreed). Therefore God created evil (disagree and will explain). There are many ways that Christians try to squirm out of this and they are not scriptural. They make Satan (Lucifer was also created by God) into some kind of powerful being who has the ability to create evil and sin even though he is a created being by God (this does not change the fact that if evil exists, it was part of the creation that God created). For example the Bible says God cannot lie. How then could he create a universe in which there are lies and liars?

Therefore I wanted to open this thread up to Christians so that we could examine the scriptures and understand "How could God allow this to happen?"

Isa 45:5 I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me:
Isa 45:6 That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else.
Isa 45:7 I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.

Amo 3:5 Can a bird fall in a snare upon the earth, where no gin is for him? shall one take up a snare from the earth, and have taken nothing at all?
Amo 3:6 Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD hath not done it?

 

[Religiot]

God never does evil. That's radically unbiblical. God is just and holy. He cannot do what is against his nature.

Did you not read the rest of my postings?

I cite God's very words...

 

[ZNP]

Isa 45:5 I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me:
Isa 45:6 That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else.
Isa 45:7 I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.

Amo 3:5 Can a bird fall in a snare upon the earth, where no gin is for him? shall one take up a snare from the earth, and have taken nothing at all?
Amo 3:6 Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD hath not done it?

Thank you for quoting these, but if there is evil in the city, like this Covid 19 in NYC, yes, the Lord hath done it, but at the same time

3 This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; 4 who would have all men to be saved, and come to the knowledge of the truth.

Which Peter also echo's

9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

 

[renniks]

So if you are responsible surely the Lord is because apart from Him you can do nothing.

Are you saying God makes me sin? Not according to scripture.

 

[renniks]

Did you not read the rest of my postings?

I cite God's very words...

Then you are misunderstanding them if you think God does evil. God says he hates lying for example, do you think God causes what he hates?

 

[martymonster]

Thank you for quoting these, but if there is evil in the city, like this Covid 19 in NYC, yes, the Lord hath done it, but at the same time

3 This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; 4 who would have all men to be saved, and come to the knowledge of the truth.

Which Peter also echo's

9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

OK, but I don't see how those verses refute what I'm saying. Maybe I'm missing something?

 

[ZNP]

Are you saying God makes me sin? Not according to scripture.

You said you were responsible, I am saying if you are responsible then so is Jesus, who is Lord of all.

 

[ZNP]

OK, but I don't see how those verses refute what I'm saying. Maybe I'm missing something?

Not refuting anything, only trying to give a full picture. Yes, this Covid 19 came from God, but not that we would perish but that all might be saved.

 

[Jamesone5]

I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.

Yep he creates evil and good.

God did not CREATE evil---from your Isaiah verse.

Isaiah 45:7
7 I form the light and create darkness,
I make peace and create calamity;
I, the Lord, do all these things.’

It is without His Light that darkness naturally exists.

 

[ZNP]

Isaiah 45:7
7 I form the light and create darkness,
I make peace and create calamity;
I, the Lord, do all these things.’

It is without His Light that darkness naturally exists.

So what is the process by which calamity is created?

 

[Jamesone5]

So what is the process by which calamity is created?

Simple. man did not walk in His light--so man can be blamed by his decision at first of creating calamity. He created man who he called good--so man, not God, really created calamity.

Isaiah verses are hard to understand unless you look at the context of them.

Do you see anywhere in the Creation account [Genesis Chapters 1 and 2}where God created calamity or evil?

 

[renniks]

You said you were responsible, I am saying if you are responsible then so is Jesus, who is Lord of all.

God isn't responsible for sin, according to scripture.

God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone" (James 1:13). "God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all" (1 John 1:5). "God is not the author of confusion" (1 Corinthians 14:33)—and if that is true, He cannot in any way be the author of evil.

Sin is not itself a thing created. Sin is neither substance, being, spirit, nor matter. So it is technically not right to think of sin as something that was created.

Sin is simply a lack of moral perfection in a person. The sinners themselves bear full responsibility for their sin.

 

[PaulCyp1]

The causes of such epidemics - which have occurred ever since humans existed - are fully understood, and they are not supernatural. Why would anyone expect God to cancel the laws of nature every time humans are going to be hurt? Steer tornadoes and tsunamis away from human dwellings? Cancel gravity when a scaffold full of workers collapses? Kill microorganisms that are causing an epidemic? We live in a natural world, and are therefore subject to the laws of nature, just as Jesus was during His years on Earth.

 

[Chris35]

1The Spirit of God came on Azariah son of Oded. 2He went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Listen to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin. The Lord is with you when you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you. 3For a long time Israel was without the true God, without a priest to teach and without the law. 4But in their distress they turned to the Lord, the God of Israel, and sought him, and he was found by them. 5In those days it was not safe to travel about, for all the inhabitants of the lands were in great turmoil. 6One nation was being crushed by another and one city by another, because God was troubling them with every kind of distress.

Coronavirus Searches Lead Millions to Hear About Jesus

Tens of thousands have clicked to pray for salvation since the outbreak. Is the increase temporary or a harbinger of greater gospel witness online?

Millions of worried people who have turned to Google with their anxiety over COVID-19 have ended up connecting with Christian evangelists in their search results—leading to a spike in online conversions in March.

 

[Kermos]

"I am he that prepared light, and formed darkness; who make peace, and create evil; I am the Lord God, that does all these things." Isaiah 45:7 (Brenton LXX En)

Hello Dave L and @Sophrosyne

The word "evil" in Isaiah 45:7 is an accurate translation from the source words in the Hebrew and in the Greek (Septuagint).

Strongs Hebrew 7451 ra' -- evil, bad

Strong's Greek: 2556. kakos -- bad, evil