Please Help Me

[Craig]

Dear Sir, I have been on a personal journey these past two years into total truth. I thank God for leading me to your web site! I am still having
trouble understanding the love of God. Amongst other things in the OT:

LE 26:29, DT 28:53, JE 19:9, EZ 5:8-10 As a punishment, the Lord will cause people to eat the flesh of their own sons and daughters and fathers and friends.

JG 21:10-12 "... Go and smite the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead with the
edge of the sword and; also the women and little ones.... every male and
every woman that has lain with a male you shall utterly destroy."

How does this fit in with a loving God? Sorry for my ignorance on this
subject. God bless your wonderful work!!

Kim


Dear Kim:
First let me say that it is not possible for me to explain in any detail why God created evil, how its used in His plan, why people do evil things, etc., in an email. That is why we have 3000 pages of material on our site. Those who really want to know and learn, will read it.
Until we come to realize that we are all just as evil as John Calvin or Adolph Hitler, we will never ever understand evil in the world.  I thank God that I have never slowly burned another man or woman at the stake over a low heat fire, but I also know that under the same circumstances, I could have done such a thing. It is within the carnal mind to do ALL the evils of the universe, and that is why carnal-minded people do such things.
Ask yourself what kinda of a God would allow YOU to be led to these same crimes of eating your own children?  PEOPLE rape little girls, not God!  Some people WANT to rape little girls. Others just want to DECEIVE their fellow brothers and sisters into thinking that they are powerful, or great, or spiritual, or wise, or loving, etc., but are just as evil inside as Adolph Hitler. Given the opportunity we would have all been Calvin and Hitler.  But is it necessary? Yes, it is necessary. Do we think that God is playing a game?
I once placed a board across a little stream that I crossed going to school in the first grade. However, laying a board accross San Francisco Bay is a bit more involved.  Creating a cat that will sit and purr on your lap is one thing, but creating creatures into the very IMAGE OF GOD HIMSELF, is quite another. Even the miracle of the Golden Gate Bridge compared to a wooden board cannot compare to what we see now and what we will be when God is through with us.
It takes incredible powers of good and evil to accomplish this. Christians cannot justify God's use of evil, and hence attribute it to what they preceive to be a greater force than God--SATAN.  Supposedly God doesn't want evil, but He just can't stop Satan. Nonsense. Read my site. I told you it is a large subject.
Ray

[sunset_drama_king]

Great reply from Ray....how darkened our understanding of so many things remain....hence FAITH.

- Brett

[Gill]

It was a great reply, and i loved this bit ~

(Ray) Creating a cat that will sit and purr on your lap is one thing, but creating creatures into the very IMAGE OF GOD HIMSELF, is quite another ...

It takes incredible powers of good and evil to accomplish this.

Before i understood that God created evil for His (and our) good purpose, much of the old testament bothered me.  I still don't understand and couldn't explain why God commanded some of the things He did (as Kim listed), if the Lord wills it then one day i will.  Picked out some text from one of Ray's email answers on the front page.  This makes so much sense to me, as well as Ray's sound use of scripture, i love the way he thinks...        

Evil serves many noble purposes. One of which is a back drop for good. Good cannot be understood or certainly not appreciated without a backdrop of evil. Evil makes good appear even better and is certainly much more appreciated.

Evil is necessary for the production or development of good.  You cannot name one virtue that is not in some way produced by the resistance to some form of evil.

All knowledge is matter of contrast and relativity. One cannot know what light is unless he has been acquainted with darkness.  One has no conception of large unless he also knows of things that are small. Up is only up in relation to down. Life is the opposite of death, etc. To understand and fully appreciate all of these things, there are many necessary experiences to go through. God creates and puts us through these many things in the development of godly character.

All of these evils can be likened to the creation of a beautiful building. Ugly scaffolding is necessary in the construction of this building. It is ugly and serves no purpose other than in the actual construction of the building. When the building is completed, the scaffolding is torn down and discarded. It serves no further purpose. All evil will be discarded one day. And the last enemy, DEATH, will likewise be ABOLISHED FOR EVER (I Cor. 15:26) and God will "ALL in All"!!!