Answering the Question of Evil

One of the reasons I love living in NYC is meeting people with diverse backgrounds. Each person’s life could fill a library of stories, and all of these lives combine to form a tapestry of world history intersecting in one place and time. One part of that tapestry is dark. As we view many strands of life, we can connect with some of the worst parts of world history.

I remember speaking with a dear lady in Brooklyn several years ago. I approached her on the street and tried to begin a conversation about spiritual things. She was not interested in changing her opinion about God. She thought God was evil and did not even want to hear what I had to say about God’s goodness in conquering evil. In listening to her story I realized that she had faced more evil than I will ever even see. She was one of the few survivors of a Nazi prison camp. She showed me the number tattooed on her arm and with a snarling look stormed away in disgust. She was determined to remain bitter at God and the world for how humanity had treated her.

Although I realize her plight, I wish she would have given me ten more minutes of time not just to listen but also to share about a similar story from the Jewish Scripture. Another man suffered greatly in life but emerged on the other side a better person full of faith and contentment in Who God is. That person is Job.

One of my favorite parks to jog in here in NYC is just a block or two away from where our church has met. In that park is a statue of this same Bible character. This sculpture was donated by local residents and is made by Nathan Rapaport, a Polish born man who fled Nazi atrocity and eventually immigrated to NY. The statue was made as a memorial of the holocaust on the twentieth anniversary of the nation of Israel. It represents the great suffering that the Jewish people endured during the holocaust. Rapaport saw the correlation between the horrific sufferings of life and the biblical character of Job.

What does Job have to do with the problem of evil?

Why do bad things happen? Several answers are given in the book of Job, so we will use his story as a guide to help us answer this very difficult question. Just as Rapaport used the biblical figure of Job to epitomize sorrow, you can use this Biblical character to bring you out of your sorrow and pain of the past to look to your future in a positive way.

Before we do we must understand who Job was and what was so difficult about his story.

Job’s Success

Part of Job's sorrow comes from the fact that he started with so much! Look at the great pinnacle from which Job fell.

He was extremely wealthy. He owned great property and livestock.[1] This was the literal stock market of the ancient world. In fact he was one of the richest men of his day. He would have made it to the cover of Forbes magazine. And yet, his financial blessing did not come in expense of his physical health. He enjoyed a sharp mind and physical wellbeing.

His blessing went deeper than his wallet. Job was very well respected as a man of wisdom and power. He mentions that when he spoke in the gate (similar to our city hall), everyone was quiet to listen to his words. Job was one that they respected and wanted to hear.[2]

And yet Job’s fortunes went even deeper still. Job was a godly family man. What a beautiful picture is painted in the first chapter of a loving father and his grown children. He had ten children in all - 7 boys and 3 girls, a good round number. It seems that each year the family would get together on each of the children’s birthdays for a large celebration rejoicing with that individual in the family. What a wonderful home to be a part of! And yet after every birthday party, Job would offer special sacrifices for each member just in case they had said or done something even in their heart against God. He was preoccupied with pleasing God with all his heart!

Job’s integrity was unquestioned. The press could bring out nothing from his closet to impugn his character. He was a godly father, a godly husband, a godly neighbor. What a great example. What a great life!

Job’s Fall

But then everything went wrong. In a day, Job lost everything. “It’s a Wonderful Life,” is nothing compared to Job’s bad day.

Let's read this tragedy and let it sink in:

“Now on the day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house[3], a messenger came to Job and said, ‘The oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them, and the Sabeans attacked and took them. They also slew the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.’ While he was still speaking, another also came and said, ‘The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them, and I alone have escaped to tell you.’ While he was still speaking, another also came and said, ‘The Chaldeans formed three bands and made a raid on the camels and took them and slew the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.’ While he was still speaking, another also came and said, ‘Your sons and your daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house, and behold, a great wind came from across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young people and they died, and I alone have escaped to tell you.’ Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head, and he fell to the ground and worshiped. He said, ‘Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I shall return there. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD.’ Through all this Job did not sin nor did he blame God” (Job 1:13-22).

What a horrible day. If you ever feel like your day is the worst of world history, read Job chapter 1 and you will have to admit that your day was a picnic. And yet, what a great response by Job! He does not blame God, he blesses God. Soon he curses the day he is born, but he never curses God.

Things get even worse. To add insult to injury, the next day Satan plagues Job with oozing sores all over his body. There is nowhere that he can gain comfort – he can’t find rest sitting or lying or standing. What a test.

The one person left alive, Job’s wife, gives him horrible advice–“curse God and die.” You can see why this is such a practical book dealing with the issue of trouble in life. Job has not just one tragedy, but a tragedy in every area of life where we experience these tragedies. Tragedy in family, in health, in finance/possessions, with close relatives, with foreign invasion are all experienced by Job in one day.

The Rest of the Book

Now you know the story. How can we learn from this book then? If you look at the remainder of the book, you will find it is made up of several conversations. There are conversations between Satan and God, between Job and his friends, and between Job and God. In these conversations, God wrestles with His people and with the enemy of His people regarding the problem of evil. And it is in those conversations that we find some answers to our question of the problem of evil. Let’s look at five answers.

1. Satan is a possible cause of evil (The Author’s Perspective, Job 1-2).

2. Sin is a possible cause of evil (The Friends' Perspective, Job 2:11 - 31:40).

3. God uses evil for good (Job’s Perspective, Job 23:10)

4. God is Great (Job 32-41).

5. Evil is temporary (Job 42).

Answer 1 – Satan Is a Possible Cause (The Author’s Perspective, Job 1-2:10).

So, in answer to the question of evil, one answer is that Satan is evil and causes the evil in the world. Just as God is love, Satan is hate. He causes as much evil as he is able.

I neglected to share with you one important point in our story. Satan was the one who requested that this evil be done and he was the one who orchestrated and perpetrated the evil.

It is so interesting that when evil things happen or when tragedies occur, people get mad at God. There is no reference to the possibility of an evil being as the primary cause of these things. Yet on the other hand, when something goes well they make sure they get the credit (not God). In Job’s case, Satan asked God to allow him to perform evil. God is not the Author of the evil.

We have to realize in life and in death (for all of us will face death), there is no evil on earth of which God is the first or primary cause. He permits the agents of evil to do their bidding and limits their efforts, but even then He uses it for His good (as we will see soon). Read these verses:

“Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted by God,’ for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one” (James 1:13).

“Your eyes are too pure to approve evil, and You cannot look on wickedness with favor” (Habakkuk 1:13).

“For you are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil may not dwell with you” (Psalm 5:4).

When you see evil, God is not the author of it. That event is written by someone else. It is written by Satan. Last year, I was so disgusted with a response given by a local Rabbi to a horrible event when a young Orthodox Jewish boy was slaughtered by a neighbor. The Rabbi was being interviewed by the local news and said “We don’t know why God does these things.”

No! I can’t allow you to say that. A sick, twisted, depraved, man filled with sin and evil did that, filled with the motivation of Satan himself! That is the explanation. God did not; evil did.

And so first of all we have to put the blame where it lies. The blame lies at the feet of the men that perpetrated the crime, the organization that taught and enabled them . . . and the evil one - Satan who put it in their hearts. God did not perpetrate evil.

From here we do need to ask and answer more questions. For some of you this may be enough. But there is another issue. One of my professors in seminary described it as “watermelon theology.” With some truths in Scripture, you can believe any two of three truths, but the difficulty comes from trying to grasp all three. You can carry one under one arm, the other under another arm but it is difficult to carry that third one.

In this case, the first watermelon is the problem of evil. We all experience the effects of evil. The second truth is that God is good and does no evil. And the third truth (watermelon) is that God is all powerful. We believe all three. But it is difficult to hold all three of those watermelons at the same time; you have to drop one to pick up the other two. So, some deny the first fact – some streams of Buddhism deny that evil is a reality. Evil is a myth. I find that hard to swallow. Others deny God’s power. They say that there is evil in the world and God is working at eradicating it. This view is popularized by Rabbi Kushner in his book “When Bad Things Happen to Good People.” The seventh chapter is entitled “God can’t do everything but He can do some important things.” This is a very weak view of God. If we remove this leg of the three legged stool we will fall on our backs. A limited God is not the God of the Bible.

Others drop the third watermelon. They deny that God is good. All too often people take this view. Instead of thinking of other ways to get all three watermelons in their arms, they drop God’s goodness and refuse to believe. Let me suggest a few more answers from the book of Job to help you.

Answer 2 - Sin is a possible cause (The Friends’ Perspective, Job 2:11 - 31:40).

Job’s friends quickly attend his side and bring up this option through a huge chunk of the book. Actually from chapter 4-30 there is this back and forth and back and forth of Job's friends saying he is wicked and Job maintaining his integrity.

It eventually becomes a difficult read. They are not comforting him at all; they are just gloating over him and trying to belittle him. Listen to one “friend.”

"I have seen the foolish taking root, and I cursed his abode immediately. His sons are far from safety, they are even oppressed in the gate, and there is no deliverer. His harvest the hungry devour and take it to a place of thorns, and the schemer is eager for their wealth. For affliction does not come from the dust, nor does trouble sprout from the ground, for man is born for trouble, as sparks fly upward” (Job 5:3-7).

How insensitive! He refers to the children of the foolish and the crops of the foolish and how they will all fall. He is calling Job a fool to his face and maintaining that his foolishness is what has caused his calamity. But Job keeps searching his heart and stating, "I don’t think this is the problem, men. I really am trying to live before the Lord in the right way. I’m not perfect, but I’ve searched my heart, and there is nothing between me and my Creator" (See Job chapter 31).

This is a possible answer to the problem of evil in a situation, though not Job's situation. This was not the answer in Job’s case. These men were stepping on a friend when he was down. I like Job’s response to these friends - "I have heard many such things; miserable comforters are you all” (Job 16:2 ESV). They were wrong in this case. And at the end of the story, God confronts these men for their lack of help and “misdiagnosis” of the problem. He tells Job to pray for them.

Although they were wrong, this does point to a valuable answer with regard to the problem of evil. Let’s look at two principles from this answer that will help you understand, at times, why evil is evident in the world and in our own lives because of sin.

The principle of original sin

God made a perfect world. What a great thought that is! In His perfect world no one mistreated anyone. Imagine a business world where no one is mistreated. Imagine a nursery or a third grade class with no bickering. That was the original plan. There was no death or parting. There were no tears. There was joy and only joy. There was no cancer. If you read the end of the story (Revelation 21:1-7), God will make all things like this again. However, there is this big gap of time where sin is wreaking devastation. This is the principle of the original sin.

Adam and Eve were made without sin but with a choice to sin. They had the possibility for rebellion. You know the event where this happened in Biblical history. God made a perfect garden of harmony and peace – peace between all of humanity and God. But humanity chose to rebel against God’s original command in the garden (eat of the fruit); they fell. This fall had an impact on all of God’s creation.

Our first parents, Adam and Eve, declared war on God by disobeying His one command. After that time, we are all born at war with God and under the same effect of that sin. We all face death. The result is that the effects of this sin have spread to all of creation. The Bible teaches that all of creation is now groaning under this curse of sin like a woman in childbirth, longing for the end (Rom. 8:22).

The story of the Bible is the story of how God is erasing the effects of original sin by the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. God came in flesh to take upon Himself the punishment of that sin and every sin in order that humanity can enjoy fresh fellowship with God again–just like the Garden of Eden! Those of you who have gone through our “Summary of the Bible’s Message” will remember this principle. God is bringing everything back to His perfect order.

Much of the evil we see in the world–disease, natural disasters, etc.-are not caused because God is mad now. They are the distorted, broken world that God is redeeming. At the end of history all will be made new, and this principle will be revoked.

The principle of sowing and reaping

Consider also the principle of reaping the effects of sowing a sinful lifestyle. This is a definite possibility. Of course we have to realize that this is not always the problem. As in the case of Job, just because you or I are going through a difficulty, it does not mean that we are paying for the results of our sin. At times, God has other purposes for trials and tragedies just like we will see in the next lesson.

However, at times you are paying for the results of your personal sin. This is the principle of sowing and reaping. If you sow wickedness you will reap evil.

“Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life” (Galatians 6:7-8).

Reaping Pain in Love

Perhaps it would be good to consider that the sowing and reaping principle is actually a loving thing for God to orchestrate. As a loving Father, God allows pain to keep us from touching a fire in the future. Parents realize that the school of hard knocks is often the only way a child will learn a lesson. We don’t want them to fall. But when they fall, they realize they better not run full force in the house. If God never allowed us to feel the consequences of bad choices, then we would always do those bad things and destroy our lives. Painful consequences are one of the best gifts of God to humanity.

We have considered the first two answers to the question of evil. As we consider the problem of evil and its effects on our lives, it is never an easy issue to deal with. Usually this question brings up deep-seated pain or loss from our past and should be considered patiently. The Lord gives us several examples of suffering in Scripture that can come alongside us like a friend who has walked the same weary road. Because they have experienced suffering, they can give us a sympathetic shoulder or a supporting hand in our own suffering. Job is just such an individual. He has lost everything and is grappling with his new life as he discovers answers to these essential questions: Why does God allow bad things to happen? Why is there evil in the world? We have examined two answers to this question, let's continue to look at three more.

Answer 3 – God uses evil for good (Job's Perspective, Job 23:10).

Although not a primary theme in the book of Job, it is referenced there and also a prominent theme elsewhere in the Bible as an answer to the question of evil. Job tells us that God uses trials to test His servants. The first answer above came from the author of the book of Job, the second answer came from Job’s friends, and now we have a third answer suggested by Job.

Although he does not understand completely what is going on, and he prefers death to what he is experiencing, he can still testify from the midst of the valley: he will emerge a better person.

"But [God] knows the way I take; when He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold” (Job 23:10).

What an amazing perspective to have! Job is not looking back on the tragedy. He is patiently dealing with the arguments of his conceited, so-called friends who are accusing him of guilt.

And he concludes that this is just a furnace melting away any dross and validating his integrity. This may be just a fiery trial of testing through which he will be become a more pure, more valuable, more useful instrument.[4]

Try to think of the positive that the Lord is working in your life and, if you don’t see it immediately, trust that God is doing it in any case. In our church in Brooklyn we had a dear believer who was a beautiful testimony of this. While putting herself through nursing school, coming close to finalizing her degree, she looked in the mirror one day and noticed a black spot right in the middle of her vision. This black spot did not go away but continued to expand until she completely lost her vision.

Because of God-ordained change, she lost her occupation and shortly after, her husband. What a difficulty! Why would God allow such a tragedy? Sandra did not allow this to stop her. She secured a dog to help her and finished a degree in a different area – social work. What a brave lady, taking the subway from borough to borough with her somewhat disciplined companion dog. Anyone who knew her would agree that Sandra was such a joy to be around, never allowing her circumstances to ruin her. They actually made her a stronger and more respected testimony to the Lord. I am amazed and humbled by her faith.

A similar testimony is given by Ron Hamilton – a Christian minister who influenced me in a great way as a child. As a young man, he went through a trial of cancer in his eye – he did not lose his vision but lost his left eye and had to wear an eye patch. As he returned to church everyone called him Patch the Pirate. Soon he was making Christian character building stories and inspirational children’s music as “Patch the Pirate”. The Lord has used his ministry all across the world to instruct children, families, and churches. As he reflected on God using this trial for good, Ron wrote the words to the song “Rejoice in the Lord.”

God never moves without purpose or plan

When trying His servant and molding a man.

Give thanks to the Lord though your testing seems long;

In darkness He giveth a song.

I could not see through the shadows ahead;

So I looked at the cross of my Savior instead.

I bowed to the will of the Master that day;

Then peace came and tears fled away.

Now I can see testing comes from above;

God strengthens His children and purges in love.

My Father knows best, and I trust in His care;

Through purging more fruit I will bear.

Refrain:

Rejoice in the Lord, He makes no mistake.

He knoweth the end of each path that I take.

For when I am tried and purified,

I shall come forth as gold.

Job knew too that although his trial brought him low, God would make him grow through it. The phrase “no pain no gain” applies in every area of life.

Allow your trials to grow you. Keep from stumbling over them and instead use them as stepping stones in life. I trust you are able to trust in the Lord and His ability to triumph over tragedy.

“And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28).

The greatest example in world history is the example of Jesus. Here is God’s only Son–perfect in every way. And yet God the Father did not hold back evil from coming upon Him. Even though the Father could not have loved the Son more, He allowed Jesus to suffer the greatest evil ever suffered.

Why? Why did Jesus die under the wrath of the Father? Because Jesus was paying the penalty for your sin and for mine. Great good was coming out of the great evil of the cross. Here we see the greatest agony and the greatest good in one event. So we know that although we hate evil, if God does not hold it back from Himself in order to bring good, we too can endure evil to bring ultimate good to others.

God’s suffering allows Him to bear with us in suffering. “If we embrace the Christian teaching that Jesus is God and that he went to the Cross, then we have deep consolation and strength to face the brutal realities of life on earth. We can know that God is truly Immanuel – God with us – even in our worst sufferings.”[5]

Answer 4 – God is great (Elihu and God’s Perspective, Job 32-42).

There were a total of four friends who came to talk with Job; at least we have a record of the conversation of four of them. Three friends fixate on the idea that Job’s suffering was caused because of his sin. But one other friend, the youngest, had another view. His name was Elihu, and his view was the closest to correct.

However, the view is not too comforting unless you are a believer. If you are a believer, this reason will minister peace to your soul. And this is actually what God answers Job in His own discussion with him.

Elihu’s Message

As the youngest, Elihu could not speak until the other men were through–that was the way their culture respected age (our culture could learn much from that principle). In this case, the youngest knew what he was talking about. But he was very angry. Angry at the friends for not helping Job. Angry at Job for questioning God's plan and doubting God's justice.

You could summarize Elihu’s message (Chapters 30-37!) this way: because God is great, you can’t fault Him or His ways. His ways are not our ways, so although we cannot understand them we have to trust Him. The main emphasis is upon God’s greatness.

"Behold, let me tell you, you are not right in this, For God is greater than man” (Job 33:1-12).

You can see what Elihu is doing here. He is trying to get Job’s eyes off his problems and on to the greatness and majesty of God. And this is pretty much his only answer – “God is great!

Job, you are asking God ‘Why, Why, Why?’ . . . Let me answer you with a phrase. God is not a man. God is great. Get your eyes off of yourself and on to the greatness of God. Look at how great He is! You cannot find fault with Him. You cannot even conceive of Him or understand Him!” Elihu focuses not on Job's reasons for suffering but on his response to suffering.

God’s Message

If you read chapters 38-42, this is God's answer too. And I think you will see that this is something of a panacea, a cure-all, of all evils and problems that you will face in life. That is why this book is so profound.

God's response to Job’s questions about the evil in his life is His own (God’s) greatness. And God focuses on one primary aspect of His greatness: His creative control of all things. God speaks in a great poem about His creative activity and asks Job many questions about what He has created, showing how small Job is in comparison. If you take time to count them, in chapter 38 there are 28 question marks. Chapter 39 contains 13 question marks. In chapter 40 we find 6, and in chapter 41 there are 16 more question marks. That’s a total of 63 question marks . . . and even more questions within the question marks. God asks Job questions about geology (chapter 38), biology (chapter 39), and two interesting animals in chapter 40-41. Job what do you know about these things?

“Then the LORD answered Job out of the storm. He said: ‘Who is this that darkens my counsel with words without knowledge? Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me. Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation? Tell me, if you understand’” (Job 38:1-4).

Job's response to the greatness of God is exemplary. “God is so great he had no need of any answer to his suffering . . . I’ll just keep my mouth shut and glorify You for Your greatness.”

This is a wonderful lesson for us.

“Then Job answered the LORD and said, ‘Behold, I am insignificant; what can I reply to You? I lay my hand on my mouth. Once I have spoken, and I will not answer; Even twice, and I will add nothing more’” (Job 40:3-5).

And so Job's problems melt away before the glory of God. And so this describes a right response to tragedy and evil rather than a reason for it. This gives us a release. It tells us how to deal with the stress and pain of evil. Put your eyes on the greatness of God.

The greatness of the glory of God gives perspective on how small you are and therefore how small your problems are. And so Job repents of his demanding spirit and he sits in silence. This is the primary salve for a sorrowful soul. This is the answer for really every problem of life. Get a view of the glory of God.

God’s Botanical Gardens

I love to visit the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens; it is probably my favorite spot in NYC. Its immense, 52 acres are filled with different gardens-beautiful gardens like the rose garden with 5,000 rose bushes and 1,400 different kinds of roses. There are also fragrance garden, a children's garden, an herb garden, more than 200 cherry trees - which are brilliant when blossoming together. So in this garden there is nearly unlimited beauty that points to God's magnificence in creation.

What if I went there and shortly after coming in to take a nice stroll I stepped up to one of these brilliant double bloomed cherry blossoms and pick off a petal to smell it. I smell the petal and let it fall from my hands and begin to walk away. Then I stop and look back to find that someone has rushed over and picked up the petal from the flower. And the man that picked up the petal seems agitated.

The little angry man tries to put it back on the blossom only to see it fall again. So he goes off the deep end screaming in horror at what has happened! He takes pictures as he documents every little detail. He ignores me completely and storms off to the curator of the park to sling outlandish accusations.

He blames him for my actions. He starts belittling him and threatening him. “You people don't know what you are doing! You don't know how to run a garden! Why don't you get control of the people walking in here and avoid this tragedy? Why can't you stop this terrible mess?”

His tirade increases still as he threatens to sue the gardens for negligence. He documents his claims on his blog and sends out a press release – “Blossom of rare beauty plucked in full bloom!”

Would he get much of a hearing? The mad little man would not be taken seriously. In fact, we could put our arm around him and say, “Look, friend, there are hundreds of thousands of beautiful blooms, and they are all being maintained as well as possible - you can come back and enjoy them each year!
Here is another blossom over here – smell this one.” Or at least find fault with me. I’m the one that caused the evil, not the curator of the whole park.

That petal was small and almost insignificant in comparison to the beauty of the whole. So when you step back and view the whole garden, the petal is minor. And I think that is the perspective Job has. He looks at his life and realizes - he is just one petal on the blossom of a beautiful tree of God’s goodness. If he examines how huge, detailed, and well-maintained the garden is, the petal is not very significant.

At first, Job is up in arms at the petal of his life that has been snatched away by the whim of the devil. And he is tempted to find fault with God for allowing it. So, instead of God answering him as to the direct cause, God puts His arm around Job and guides him around the rest of creation, showing him all the different aspects of that garden.

Instead of addressing the specific issue, God turns Job's mind from himself and his immediate problem - because even though it was a great tragedy . . . in comparison with how great God is and how majestic He is, it was not that big of an issue.

And so Job is humbled; as God gives him a tour of the garden of creation Job concludes, “I am insignificant.”

We have looked at four reasons so far for the presence of evil in the world, but we still have to look at one of the most helpful ones given to us in the book of Job.

Answer 5 – Evil is temporary (God’s Perspective Job 42).

Job’s story ends well. The final chapter tells us that the Lord repays Job twice what he lost.

“The LORD restored the fortunes of Job when he prayed for his friends, and the LORD increased all that Job had twofold... The LORD blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning” (Job 42:10-12).

Of course, this does not always happen, but it does teach us a valuable principle. No matter what happens in this life, we know that suffering is temporary. God will eradicate all evil one day.

We should not take the presence of evil as God’s approval of evil in the world. We know the end of the story. He hates evil so much that He came in human flesh to bring us out of the evils of sin. It took His life – His suffering the greatest evil to bring us out of evil one day. And so His death is for our life. He came to suffer evil in order to put an end to evil forever.

I never like spoiler alerts, when someone tells me the end of a movie or book. Some people like to look at the final chapter to see how things work out. That normally bugs me. But not in this case! In this case, we read the end and see that God does away with all these trials, pains, all evil.

“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth… And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.’ He who was seated on the throne said, ‘I am making everything new’” (Revelation 21:1-5)!

This is God’s desire, His end goal. Don’t let His patience and forbearance with evil today be misinterpreted as acceptance.

[1] “His possessions also were 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 female donkeys, and very many servants; and that man was the greatest of all the men of the east” (Job 1:3).

[2] "When I went out to the gate of the city, when I took my seat in the square, the young men saw me and hid themselves, and the old men arose and stood. The princes stopped talking and put their hands on their mouths; the voice of the nobles was hushed, and their tongue stuck to their palate” (Job 29:7-10).

[3] Remember we mentioned the birthday bash for each child – this is what was going on most likely – horrible time for a tragedy!

[4] Other verses which clearly teach this idea are John 15:2 and 1 Peter 1:7.

[5] Timothy Keller, The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism (New York: Penguin Group, 2008), p. 31.

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