ACCEPTING THE CREATOR AS HE IS

 

 

A Christian had stated that it is hard to believe in a God who causes pillaging armies to rape and destroy. I do not think that these “why” questions can be completely answered. It would require us to discount every other possibility like, “Why didn’t God just relocate the Canaanites rather than destroying them,” or “Why didn’t God just convert the Canaanites,” or “Why did God have to send Jesus to the cross…Wasn’t there a better way to forgive our sins for an omnipotent God,” OR “Couldn’t such a God have created a better world?”

 

These questions are endless. I therefore warned that my answer might not be satisfying. Instead, I think that there are some things that we have to simply accept about our Triune God, as Paul had:

·       Romans 11:33–34 the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! “For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?”

 

Well, here is my partial answer:

 

This brings us to the question of, “How does God work? Does He merely allow evil to happen or does He cause it?” In many ways, I tend to lean towards the former. God allows the unbelievers to go their own way and to reap the consequences of their choices:

 

·       Romans 1:24–28 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.

 

Also:

·       Proverbs 1:29–33 Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the LORD, would have none of my counsel and despised all my reproof, therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way, and have their fill of their own devices. For the simple are killed by their turning away, and the complacency of fools destroys them; but whoever listens to me will dwell secure and will be at ease, without dread of disaster.”

 

Now, let’s apply this principle to your verse about the invaders killing and raping the Israelites. I think that God does have a hand in bringing Israel’s enemies against the rebellious Israel, but I think He does this by guiding their freewill choices. He does not place the desire to kill and rape in the hearts of the attackers. These evils are already there, but He probably directs their free choices as they pursue their own desires. He does not implant evil desires:

·       James 1:13–14 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. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his OWN DESIRE.

 

Consequently, He doesn’t give humanity the desire to rape and kill. Joseph’s brothers had sold Joseph as a slave. Many years later, he explained to them:

·       Genesis 50:19–20 …“Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.

 

Joseph’s brothers were guilty. Joseph did not comfort them by saying, “God made you do it.” He did not; they did it, but God meant it for good. He allowed it to happen according to His sovereign plan.

 

There are many other examples of this same phenomenon - In prayer, the Apostles acknowledged:

·       Acts 4:27–28 “for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.”

 

Yes, Jesus died on the Cross according to the plan of God, but God did not force evil people to do this. No verse indicates that they were coerced from above. No one said, “I am being forced to do this.” They crucified Jesus freely. Was the Father guilty of their sin? No verse indicates this. Instead, He allowed them to do what was in their heart, according to His timeless plan.

 

Admittedly, we do not understand the workings of God, but I would venture to say that we already believe that God is sovereign over our free choices. We believe that the Scriptures are all God-breathed. However, they also bear the style, vocabulary, and personal experiences of the men who wrote them. How does this happen? We do not understand, but we accept it. And why should we expect to understand everything about the Creator of this universe! We shouldn’t!

 

Besides, it would be like saying, “I will not believe in science until it answers the basic questions like, “What is time, space, light, and matter? Why does the activity of subatomic particles depend upon our observation of them?”

 

If we cannot answer these questions, we cannot demand that we understand the Creator comprehensively before we would accept Him.