A Second Look At Evil

Having been in discussion recently with others about this subject matter, I feel it would be good to revisit this topic for a second look.  In my original post, I asked the question ... where did evil come from?  I also tried to explain the difference between spiritual evil and the evils of nature.

So ... for those who perhaps haven't studied this subject, I hope this review will be of interest to you and bring a better understanding of good and evil as part of life.

As I stated above, there are two types of evil.  And in fact, both types of evil abounds in the world.  Both are mentioned often in the Word of God.  In general, evil is described and defined as ... "profound immorality, wickedness, and depravity.  In the spiritual realm it is associated with the forces of the devil." 

This describes the most common perception of evil ... the evil of sin.  But some types of evil are described as ... "only something that is harmful or undesirable" ... which I will call ... the evil of nature. 

Most people instinctively know and recognize evil when they see it.  But what does God's Word say about evil? 

Isaiah 45:7 ... "I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things."

Now remember, this is God making a statement about Himself through His servant Isaiah.  What's He saying?  I believe it is this ... He is declaring that as the creator of the universe, He is the author of all things of every kind, which also includes this word, "evil" as used in this scripture. 

But let me clarify one thing ... God is not the author of sin, so the word "evil" as used here ... is not speaking of the evil of sin.

The evil of sin is always either of men or Satan.  Man's sin is allowed (or if you prefer) permitted by the Lord because of man's free will.  When I say that sin is allowed or permitted, I am in no way saying that God wants or desires man to sin.  He does not.  God hates all sin.  This scripture does not prove that God is the author of moral evil or sin, and such a sentiment is abhorrent to the general strain of the Bible and to all just views of the character of God.  He is simply honor bound to let man choose the evil of sin because He gave man free will.

The Hebrew meaning of the word "evil" in the above scripture is simply ... something bad ... which may allude to the following: adversity, affliction, calamity and distress.

God can bring punishment for sin.  He did all the time in the Old Testament.  Does He yet today?  What about famine, pestilence, natural disasters or even war, which is usually brought on by the effects of sin ... all of which are permitted by God.  All afflictions, adversities, and dare I say, diseases, come under the same name ... "evil" ... and can be of God.  These are some of the things that the word evil in Isaiah 45:7 is speaking of.

Augustine said ... "Evil, which is sin, the Lord hath not done.  Evil, which is punishment for sin, the Lord bringeth."

"I the Lord do all these things."  Does God direct judgments, disappointments, trials, and calamities?  Does He have power to afflict nations with war?  Does He preside over adverse, as well as prosperous events?

Amos 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?"

I think Amos is saying basically this ... "If it happens, God has done it."

Amos evidently believed that the "so called evil," the things that life in general brings our way were directed from the hand of God.  And personally ... I have no problem with that belief.

"Shall there be evil in a city, and the Lord hath not done it" ... which is not to be understood as the evil of sin, of which God is not the author, (because it's contrary to His nature and will) and though He permits it to be done by others ... He never does it Himself.

Evidently the Apostle Paul also believed this because he said ... "God works all things ..."

Ephesians 1:11 ... "In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of Him who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will."

The word worketh in Greek is "energo" (pronounced en-erg-eh' -o) and means ... "to be active, involved in all things."

The word for "all" is really all things; it's the Greek "pas" and means ... "all, any, every, the whole thing, with nothing left out."

The affirmation here is not merely that God accomplishes the designs of salvation according to the counsel of His own will, but that He does everything.  God's work is not confined to only  people and their salvation.  Every object and event ... is under His control ... and is in accordance with His eternal plan.

God is the author of all things but sin; of the works of creation and providence, of grace and salvation; and who works all these things according to His will, as He pleases.  Am I repeating myself?  Yes I am ... I intend too.  God is good, but God is also Holy.  We tend to forget that sometimes.

In the Providence of God, (governing and controlling all things) man is allowed to do that which he wills, but suffers evil because of his actions.  It has been said ... "Natural evil is the punishment of moral evil.  God sends the former when the latter is persisted in."  So by this we see the difference between sinful evil and some of the things in nature that we think of as evil.

Job once said to his wife ... "What, shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?"  And the Scripture adds ... "In all this did not Job sin with his lips."

Let me say that the source of all these dealings with Job is not related to Satan's accusations, but rather came from God Himself.  God sets all things in motion.  When God demands of Satan the question ... "Have you considered my servant Job" ... it was because He Himself had.  Satan was but an instrument to bring about God's purposes with Job, and he still is today.

Albert Barnes, the old theologian from the mid 1800's made this comment ...

"It is to be observed, that Satan, no less than the other fallen spirits, is subject to the government of God, and uses the ministry of this demon to execute punishment, or when from any other cause it seemed good to Him to send evil upon men.  But he, although incensed against the race of mortals, and desirous of injuring, is yet described as bound with a chain, and never dares to touch the pious unless God relaxes the reins.  Satan, in walking round the earth, could certainly attentively
consider Job, but to injure him he could not, unless permission had been given him."

And it was.  Job's afflictions began with the Lord's permission.   In Job 1:11, Satan asks God to ... "put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face."

But God did not want to put His hand on Job because ... "God afflicts not willingly, but if it must be done, let Satan do it."

A lot of people do not like the Book of Job ... but God placed it in the Bible for a reason.  Could that reason be to show how evil is allowed, or permitted and quite possibly even directed by God as He brings about His will to man?

Solomon was a wise man who said this in Lamentations 3:38 ... "Out of the mouth of the most High proceedeth not evil and good?"

The Amplified says it this way ...

"Is it not out of the mouth of the Most High that evil and good both proceed [adversity and prosperity, physical evil or misfortune and physical good or happiness]?"

Does not evil or trouble come out of God's mouth from His direction, thru providence ... as well as good?  Certainly they do; they both come to pass as God and His will have determined, either immediately by His own hand, or by the hands of those He employs.  Whoever are the instruments, God is the principal agent.  Out of His mouth both good and evil proceed.

According to the Word, these things are all by His appointment.  He determines what kind and nature they shall be; how far they shall go, and their duration ... how long they shall last.

And so all things come from God, even all temporal things.  Everything in God's providence have their purpose and being ... even nature's evil ... meant to be for our good.  These are all according to the appointment of God, and the determination of His will.

John Wesley says ... "God by his wise and holy providence governs all the actions of men and devils, and the affairs of earth are much the subject of the counsels of the unseen world.  That world is dark to us, but we lie open to it."

I know this isn't a popular teaching anymore, but it's Scriptural ... and at least for me ... it makes me learn to trust God in all things.



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By Him All Things Consist

The Apostle Paul, thinking of Jesus wrote this in Colossians 1:14-17 ...

"In whom we have redemption through His blood, [even] the forgiveness of sins: who is the image of the invisible God ... for by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible ... all things were created by Him, and for Him: and He is before all things ..."  (edited from the KJV)

And then, continuing in the same sentence Paul adds this ... "and by Him all things consist."

Before I speak about the word "consist" ... let me lay a foundation on which to build upon.  When John first started to write about Jesus, he could have started anywhere he wanted.  But where did he choose to start?  At the beginning of everything.  Follow John's approach ...

John 1:1-3, & 14 ... "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  The same was in the beginning with God.  All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made.  And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us ..." 

John asserts that Jesus was ... the Word of God ... before anything was created.  He is relating that in the beginning ... Jesus was.  If we go back as far as is possible, far beyond all that ever had a beginning ... Jesus is.  A personal existence is ascribed to Him from John ... as the Word of God.

And I would add if I may, that He was the spoken Word of God.  Unless a thought is spoken, it remains just a thought.  Genesis records over and over during the creation process that God said something like ... "Let there be" ... and it happened.
 
So the foundation of His personal existence before anything was created gives proof and credence, or plausibility if you like, that Jesus because of His pre-existence, would have been able to create the universe before He was born of Mary as the Son of God.  

He was begotten, or born in the heart and mind of God before any part of creation was spoken into being.  Paul, adds to what John said with the declaration that not only were all things created by Him ... but for Him.

Now, let's consider the word ... consist ... as it is used in the last part of verse 17 ... "and by Him all things consist."

As far as one can tell from the original Greek Paul wrote with, the word he penned was ... "sunistao" ... pronounced (soon-is-tah'-o) and was translated into English as "consist."
  
Honestly ... the intended meaning of consist in scripture isn't all that clear ... but I believe it alludes to this one design: "to stand or continue, to have it's being."

So what does it mean to stand and have it's being?

Adam Clarke (1762-1832) the old British Methodist biblical scholar and theologian spoke to the phrase ... "and by Him all things consist."  He wrote ...

"As every effect depends upon its cause, and cannot exist without it; so creation, which is an effect of the power and skill of the Creator, can only exist and be preserved by a continuance of that energy that first gave it being.  Hence, God, as the Preserver, is as necessary to the continuance of all things, as God the Creator was to their original production.  But this preserving or continuing power is here ascribed to Christ, for the apostle says, 'And by Him do all things consist' ... for as all being was derived from Him as its cause, so all being must subsist by Him, as the effect subsists by and through its cause."

To me, this is proof that the Apostle Paul considered Jesus Christ to be truly and properly God, as he attributes to Him the preservation and consistent care and keeping of the universe and all created things in that universe.

I prefer the rendering that the Amplified Bible gives to Colossians 1:17 ... "And He Himself existed before all things, and in Him all things consist (cohere, are held together)."

To cohere means to ... "be united, form a whole, to stick together."

This scripture in the New Living Translation reads ... "He existed before anything else, and He holds all creation together."

By him all things consist ... He upholds all things, and by His constant and continuing power, the heavens have their stability and continuance from Him.  If this was not so, the universe and the earth with it's inhabitants would be dissolved and they would perish. 

In Acts 17:28, Paul states ... "For in Him we live, and move, and have our being ..."

This denotes that our continued existence is owing to Him.  That we live at all is His gift.  That we have the power to move is His gift.  That our continued and prolonged being is also His gift.  All of mankind live and move, and have their being in Him.  And not just mankind, but whole universe as well. 

The whole frame of nature would fly apart, separate and break in pieces, if it was not continually held together by Him.  The key word here is ... continually.  Every created being has its support from Him, and its consistency in Him.
 
All creatures and things are governed, directed, and managed by Him ... including how the galaxies and solar systems in the universe are held in their places, rotating in concert to God's heartbeat and rhythm ... even the tiny, little blue dot in space that we call earth. 

Scientific knowledge is wonderful as it has made life better and easier.  But there are a couple of places that I cannot agree with accepted scientific theory.  The first is that God does not exist, simply because He cannot be proven.  The second disagreement I have with science concerns the earth and our solar system.

Take how science explains gravity for instance.  My explanation may be over simplistic, but hopefully you will understand.  The earth has mass.  It's a big piece of rock that God hung on nothing ... meaning out in space.  Job 26:7  has stated that fact for 4,000 years or so.  That is one thing science got right ... except they leave God out of the equation. 

If I understand gravity right ... it is created from the movement and rotation of all the various planets, solar systems and galaxies and their relationships with each other.  The rotation of the earth's mass causes anything on the surface to be drawn to the center core.  Weight, size, distance and speed will cause variations in the force created. 

Jupiter's gravity is said to be greater than the earth's because of it's size.  It's a giant, but it's rotation time is less than the earth's, it's under 10 hours.  Our smaller planet earth, takes 24 hours for each rotation.  It's barely moving.  Our earth is rotating so slowly it could not create gravity on it's own.  It has to be God doing it all. 

Maybe I'm too simplistic ... perhaps science is right ... but science can not say what made the planets start rotating in the first place.  What made them float on nothing in space until they started rotating?  Science also can't say what causes a babies tiny little heart to start beating in a mothers womb after conception.  It's God.  It's simply God.  But they won't go there.  Not if it leads to God.

Science is great.  But I say ... it's the continued power of God that keeps the planets rotating as they orbit the sun.  God causes gravity.  God watches over His universe.  God is in control of all things.  Ephesians 1:11 states that God, "... worketh all things after the counsel of His own will."

I believe God did more than just speak all these natural laws into being at creation, so that now He just sits back and watches them operate automatically.  No.  He continually works His will and purpose over His creation personally.

Colossians 1:17, " ... in Him all things consist ... and are held together."
 
I'm going to believe the Word of God over man's opinion every time.



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The Week Of Passover

This is a study of the chronological timing of events leading up to the Last Supper and the crucifixion of Jesus during the week of Passover.

Luke 22:1 … "Now the feast of unleavened bread drew nigh, which is called the Passover."

The name "Passover" was given to the feast because the Lord "passed over" the houses of the Israelites with the blood of the Lamb on them without slaying their first-born, while all Egyptians first-born were slain.  Because of this, Pharaoh allowed Moses to lead God's people out of Egyptian bondage.   

During this feast the Jews eat their bread without leaven, in commemoration of the haste in which they left Egypt; so quickly in fact, that they didn't have time to leaven their dough, so they took it and their kneading troughs as they left Egypt.

Exodus 12:34 … "And the people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneading troughs being bound up in their clothes upon their shoulders."

On the tenth day of the month Nisan, the head of a family separates a lamb or a goat of a year old from the flock, (Exodus 12:1-6) puts it in his house and watches it for 4 days to make sure it was without a blemish, which he then killed on the 14th day. The lamb was commonly believed to have been slain at about 3 p.m. or the ninth hour of daylight.

The slain lamb was roasted whole, with two spits thrust through it - one lengthwise and one transversely - crossing each other near the forelegs, so that the animal was in a manner … crucified.  Not a bone of the lamb was to be broken; making this prescribed ritual a type and shadow representing Jesus, the Passover Lamb slain for us, fulfilling (Psalm 34:20) according to John 19:36 … "For these things were done, that the Scripture should be fulfilled, A bone of him shall not be broken."

When the Roman soldier took a spear and stuck it into the side of Jesus while He was still hanging on the cross ... was that a representation of the spits that were run through the Passover lamb?  Could it also be said that after His death, the act of Jesus going down into Hell itself represent the fire that roasted the lamb in preparation for the Passover meal?

From the 14th to the 21st of the month Nisan, the people ate unleavened bread; hence the celebration was also called "the feast of unleavened bread."  On the evening of the fourteenth day, (Passover) all the leaven or yeast (which represents sin) was removed from the home.  This was a type and shadow to come, representing what Jesus was going to do as our Sacrificial Lamb when He, by taking in His own body all our sin or leaven, removed  past, present and future sin when He died during … "the feast of unleavened bread."

And now the time line …
 
John 12:1-3 … "Jesus, six days before the Passover came to Bethany, where Lazarus was which had been dead, whom he raised from the dead.  There they made him a supper; and Martha served: but Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with him.  Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair …"

Once again Martha served; but sister Mary is always seen at the feet of Jesus, listening to His words, or weeping at the graveside of her brother, and here anointing His feet.  John confirms this act of love took place in Martha's home when he says … "It was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick."  (John 11:2)

Next Jesus leaves Bethany and goes to Jerusalem.  Is it just a remarkable coincidence, that on this very day, the tenth of Nisan, four days before the Passover, Jesus made His entry into Jerusalem?  Could this act represent Israel bringing their lamb, into their house for the four day inspection?  Just as the Passover lamb was inspected for four days … so was Jesus.  No blemishes were found on this lamb, He was perfect.  Even Pilate said, "I find no fault in Him." 

John 12:12-13 … "On the next day much people that were come to the feast, (for Passover) when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet him …"

Matthew confirms in Chapters 24 & 25 that Jesus was in Jerusalem teaching after leaving Bethany a few days before Passover.

Matthew 26:1-2 … "And it came to pass, when Jesus had finished all these sayings, (His teachings) he said unto his disciples, Ye know that after two days is the feast of the Passover, and the Son of man is betrayed to be crucified."

After coming to Jerusalem, Jesus continued His normal teaching and also cleansed the leaven (sin) from the Temple, (His House) by driving the money changers away, and then two days before Passover, goes back to Bethany.  Matthew 21:17 … "And he left them, and went out of the city into Bethany; and he lodged there."  Here Jesus is anointed a second time, but not in Mary and Martha's house. 

Matthew 26:6-7 … "Now when Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, there came unto him a woman having an alabaster box of very precious ointment, and poured it on his head, as he sat at meat."  The first anointing by Mary was on His feet six days before Passover; the second anointing was on His head by an unknown woman two days before Passover.

In looking at the time line, (the Last Supper, His arrest, trial and crucifixion) we have one of the most difficult questions of Scriptural chronology … whether the Lord ate the Passover meal one day before the regular Jewish Passover, or at the usual time.
 
Many great authorities hold that He ate it the day preceding, and died on the day of Passover itself, at the same time all the Jewish Passover lambs were slain, the ninth hour, 3:00 p.m., the normal time of the blowing of the Shophar. 

So let's look at this problem …

Mark 14:12 … "And the first day of unleavened bread, when they killed the passover, (Wednesday the 14th) his disciples said unto him, Where wilt thou that we go and prepare that thou mayest eat the passover?"

Both Mark and Matthew say that it was the day of the Passover, (Wednesday the 14th) when His disciples first enquired about preparing for the Passover meal.

Matthew 26:17-20 … "Now the first day of the feast of unleavened bread (Passover) the disciples came to Jesus, saying unto him, Where wilt thou that we prepare for thee to eat the Passover?
And he said, Go into the city (Jerusalem, for as yet, they were in Bethany) to such a man, and say unto him, The Master saith, My time is at hand; I will keep the Passover at thy house with my disciples.
And the disciples did as Jesus had appointed them; and they made ready the Passover.
Now when the even was come, he sat down with the twelve."

Here's the problem.  This could not be … the Last Supper could not have been on the first day of the feast … because Jesus having already eaten His Passover meal with His Disciples, was betrayed, arrested, tried and beaten late on Tuesday night thru early Wednesday morning.  He was then crucified around noon (the sixth hour) and died at 3 p.m. (the ninth hour) and was placed in the tomb on Wednesday evening, the 14th … the day of Passover itself.

With the clarification of the time of the trial in John 19:14 stating … "it was the preparation of the Passover, and about the sixth hour" … meaning around noon, the time in which most Jews were in the process of preparing to kill the paschal lamb later during the ninth hour, as well as Pilate's statement proclaiming to the Jews during the trial of Jesus, "Behold your King!" … we have positive proof that the Lord's Last Supper had to have been eaten the night before the Passover.  

The Scriptural time line would be ... Jesus eats the Passover meal on Tuesday evening … goes to the Garden of Gethsemane and is betrayed, arrested, tried, crucified late Wednesday morning and is quickly placed in the tomb on Wednesday evening, the 14th … Passover itself.  The opinion that the Lord was already betrayed, tried, condemned and crucified before the evening of the Passover itself seems positively accurate.
 
Jesus would had to have died on Passover Wednesday in order to lay three days in the grave, Thursday, Friday and Saturday (the Jewish Sabbath) and then to rise and … leave an empty tomb by Sunday morning … the first day of the week.

I find it interesting that the Jews celebrated the bread that didn't rise ... when Jesus, "The Bread of Life" was going to rise three days later.

So, each Easter we can say ... He is risen.


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