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As others have already pointed out "evil" in this context is very different from the evil deeds that people physically do. It simply means calamity or challenges. God create everything in duality: day and night, heaven and earth, man and woman, etc. Everything originates from Him. Isaiah 45:7 simply points that out, nothing more and nothing less. It is not how you interpret it. God didn't create evil monster to kill everyone on earth.
God could of destroyed the devil after the cross of Christ but left him for the age of Grace to be the only challenge of God power .............. God said if people want sin then they can have it and live under it as curses cannot be broken but through repentance ...........God could of destroyed the devil after Adam disobedience , but instead cursed the earth and the devil was cursed by God to have power below the cattle which means God power would be absent for the devil ............ God created the demons spirits for His creation benefit , but they were given free will and they all rejected God the creator because they all believed that God did not care which came from the selfishness of the demons ............ The devil where also the Holy Angels of God which one third of the multitude rebelled as they were given free will , which became a corruption by selfishness and ought against man to reject that man would usurp their authority in the earth of God`s plan ...... God motives where to create for Goodness original creation , but as free will corrupted demons and fallen angels and man , all God can do is leave them lost to God , but for Man there is a promise of salvation
Where in the Scriptures does it indicate 1/3 of the Angels rebelled?
I never said that God DIRECTS evil. He created it. He also allows it within His parameters. He created everything. Yes, it's up to us to make the choice, but God ultimately can and will use all things to bring about His desired end result. And that end result is a universe full of love. But getting there is a process that includes a lot of ugliness, because human selfishness stands in the way, and evil is something that God uses to process this end result.
Love is another thing...in respect to evil, it can be looked at from different perspectives. I can love my boy by not giving him something that I know will harm him; but my boy may take this as an evil act.
But HaShem does direct it...Remember Joseph and his brothers?...
But HaShem does direct it...Remember Joseph and his brothers?...
With Joseph and his brothers, the Lord didn't direct the evil, but God knew what they would do because of the dream. SO He gave Joseph a prophetic dream, but the decision to do an evil act remained the choice of the brothers. It was the same with Pharaoh. God knew what was in Pharaoh's heart, and He knew hoe Pharaoh would react to the words of Moses, but the words of Moses were not evil. The evil act came out of Pharaoh.
Also, in reference to hljc, I don't believe that 1/3 of the angels fell with Satan. An absolute definition of the "1/3 of the stars" has not been understood by many to be angels. And there is no contest between Satan and God. God knows everything, and everything that Satan does, he only can do with God's permission. This "battle" in the heavens is not something that God can even begin to lose. It is not for that purpose; it is for our strengthening when we realize the part that we have in it.
When I say that God doesn't direct it, I am speaking of His direct intervention. God may intervene in the affairs of men on certain occasions, but He generally doesn't intervene. I can't recall anywhere that He directly intervenes with evil. Evil is not the absence of good, like darkness compared to light. It is of a measurable quality. In scripture, God often uses terms that say He created something, or He caused something. The reason it is stated in this way is, that God is the originator of everything, and He has the ultimate responsibility for everything. If He made everything, and He is all powerful, then if anything seems to have gone wrong, since He could have stopped it, He is responsible for NOT stopping it.
Adam's sin is like this. God knew what was going to happen. He allowed Satan to tempt Adam and Eve. Can we even begin to say that God could not have stopped it, if it happened because He gave permission? But redemption has a purpose beyond what we normally think, and when we allow ourselves to think that God "lost a battle" in the Garden, (or at anytime for that matter), we blind ourselves to the truth. He never lost any battles. He WANTED it to happen, because it was the only way to progress the human race from Adam's innocence to the point where we can become children of God. God created us as wonderful, magnificent beings in His likeness, but we were not born with perfect minds and bodies of the quality that Jesus displayed after He rose from the dead. Jesus' new body is something beyond our dreams, and we all are going to have one like His. And to top it all off, we are going to have direct, perfect communication with Him for eternity, along with the ability to travel through this dimension to the spiritual dimension, and back. Heaven is not our home. Our home is that new body and the perfect relationship that we will have with God. That's the meaning of the "mansion" that is used in the KJV. This new life is what Jesus meant when He said that it is stored in heaven for us. It is stored there because it CAN'T be stored here.
God is ultimately responsible for His creation, and HE will correct it in HIS time.
45:7 I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.
This does not describe a loving God at all.
How does this reconcile with the usual believe that God is only loving?
A couple of things here. First verse 7 should be read in the whole context of what Isaiah was saying. And Note the context of the verse is speaking of natural phenomena.
"I am the Lord, and there is no other; Besides Me there is no God. I will gird you, though you have not known Me; 6That men may know from the rising to the setting of the sun That there is no one besides Me. I am the Lord, and there is no other, 7The One forming light and creating darkness, Causing well-being and creating calamity; I am the Lord who does all these," (Isaiah 45:5-7).
Second the word evil in the Hebrew is rah and it occurs 663 times, 431 times of which it's translated as "evil." The other 232 times it is translated as "wicked," "bad," "hurt," "harm," "ill," "sorrow," "mischief," "displeased," "adversity," "affliction," "trouble," "calamity," "grievous," "misery," and "trouble."
So we see it doesn't translate as 'evil.
Similar passages are these:
"And the Lord said to him, "Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes him dumb or deaf, or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord?" (Exodus 4:11).
"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?" (Amos 3:6).
And finally we must look at other vv. which clearly show that God is pure and doesn't/cannot approve of evil.
“The Rock! His work is perfect, For all His ways are just; a God of faithfulness and without injustice, righteous and upright is He," (Deut. 32:4).
"Thine eyes are too pure to approve evil, and Thou canst not look on wickedness with favor," (Hab. 1:13).
Last edited by mshipmate; 05-16-2014 at 09:39 PM..
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