Was , (or IS ) , God "Evil" ?

By: Pastor Mike Stahl

January 6 , 2010

Brothers and Sisters , it seems many a non-believer is asking that question . They cite mainly episodes in the Old Testament , specifically when the righteous were destroyed with the wicked in Sodom , as well as when all the firstborn were killed in Exodus chapter 12 .

First , let's look at Genesis 18:25 ; "That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right ? "

Was God being unfair to the people of Sodom ? Did He really plan to destroy the good with the wicked ? On the contrary , God's fairness stood out . (1 ) He agreed to spare the entire city if ONLY TEN godly people lived there . (2 ) He showed great mercy toward Lot , apparently the only man in the city who had any kind of relationship with Him (and even that was questionable ) . (3) He showed great patience toward Lot almost forcing him to leave Sodom before it was destroyed . Remember God's patience when youare tempted to think He is unfair . Even the most godly people deserve His justice . We should be glad God doesn't direct His justice toward us as He did toward Sodom .

Now , let's look at what it tells us in Exodus 12:29-33 ; "And it came to pass, that at midnight the LORD smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne unto the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon; and all the firstborn of cattle. And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he, and all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt; for there was not a house where there was not one dead. And he called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, Rise up, and get you forth from among my people, both ye and the children of Israel; and go, serve the LORD, as ye have said. Also take your flocks and your herds, as ye have said, and be gone; and bless me also. And the Egyptians were urgent upon the people, that they might send them out of the land in haste; for they said, We be all dead men. "

The smiting of "all the first-born in the land of Egypt" was universal . ALL were affected ; no home or stable was immune . It must have created one of the largest mass funerals in the history of the earth . The so-called "moral objections" to this judgment are illegitimate in the face of a Holy God . The Egyptians had deliberately rejected His mighty signs and thus , were under His wrath . If Amenhotep II was the Pharaoh of the Exodus , his eldest son who died would have been the brother of his successor , Thutmose IV . The primary result was that Pharaoh now readily acceded to all of Moses' previously stated conditions ; all Israelites were to leave , including "flocks" and "herds , as ye have said." All Egypt joined to help the Israelites to leave quickly before , as the Egyptians expressed it , "We be all dead men."

So you see , verses 29 and 30 tell us that every firstborn child of the Egyptians died , but the Israelite children were spared because the blood of the lamb had been placed on their doorposts . So begins the story of redemption , the central theme of the Bible .

REDEMPTION means "to buy back" or "to save from captivity by paying a ransom." One way to buy back a slave is to offer an equivalent or superior slave in exchange . That is the way God chose to buy US back - He offered His Son in exchange for us .

In Old Testament times , God accepted symbolic offerings . Jesus had not yet been sacrificed , so God accepted the life of an animal in place of the life of the sinner . When Jesus came , He substituted His perfect life for our sinful lives , accepting the penalty for the sin that we deserve . Thus He redeemed us from the power of sin and restored is to God . Jesus' sacrifice made animal sacrifice no longer necessary .

We must recognize that if we want to be free from the deadly consequences of our sins , a tremendous price must be paid . But we don't have to pay it . Jesus Christ , our substitute , has ALREADY redeemed us by His death on the cross . Our part is to trust Him and accept His gift of eternal life . Our sins have been paid for , and the way has been cleared for us to begin a relationship with God (Titus 2:14 ; Hebrews 9:13-15 , 23-26 ) .

Some people have also asked me about Genesis 19:8 ; "Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes: only unto these men do nothing; for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof."

How could any father give his daughters to be ravished by a mob of perverts ? Possibly Lot was scheming to save both the girls and the visitors , hoping the girls' fiances' would rescue them or that the homosexual men would be uninterested in the girls and simply go away . Although it was the custom of the day to protect guests at any cost , this terrible suggestion reveals how deeply sin had been absorbed into Lot's life . He had become hardened to evil acts in an evil city . Whatever Lot's motives were , we see here an illustration of Sodom's terrible wickedness - a wickedness so great that God HAD TO destroy the ENTIRE CITY !

Many also cite Judges 19:29-30 ; "And when he was come into his house, he took a knife, and laid hold on his concubine, and divided her, together with her bones, into twelve pieces, and sent her into all the coasts of Israel. And it was so, that all that saw it said, There was no such deed done nor seen from the day that the children of Israel came up out of the land of Egypt unto this day: consider of it, take advice, and speak your minds."

Although this was a terrible way to communicate the news , it effectively communicated the horror of the crime and called the people to action . Saul used a similar method in 1 Samuel 11:7 . Ironically , the man who alerted Israel to the murder of his concubine was just as guilty for her death as the men who actually killed her .

The horrible crime described in this chapter wasn't Israel's WORST offense ! Even WORSE , was the nation's failure to establish a government based on GOD'S moral principles , where the Law of God was the law of the land . As a result , laws were usually not enforced and crime was ignored . Sexual perversion and lawlessness were by-products of Israel's disobedience to God .  The Israelites weren't willing to speak up until events had gone too far .

Whenever we get away from God and His Word , all sorts of evil can follow . Our drifting away from God may be slow and almost imperceptible , with the ultimate results affecting a future generation . We must continually call our nation back to God and work toward the establishment of God's moral and spiritual reign in the heart of every person .

Now what about Judges 20:5 ? "And the men of Gibeah rose against me, and beset the house round about upon me by night, and thought to have slain me: and my concubine have they forced, that she is dead."

In reporting the events in Gibeah , the man conveniently left out the fact that he had handed over his concubine to satisfy the mob's demands . He wanted justice for the threats made against himself rather than placing any value on the life of the woman or holding himself partly responsible for her death . How easy it is to give only partial facts or twist events to remove our own culpability when we are seeking to shift blame to someone else (Like GOD!) This incident reveals the depths of perversion and violence that develop when a culture abandons God's ways .

Let's now look to Judges 20:46-48 , "So that all which fell that day of Benjamin were twenty and five thousand men that drew the sword; all these were men of valour. But six hundred men turned and fled to the wilderness unto the rock Rimmon, and abode in the rock Rimmon four months. And the men of Israel turned again upon the children of Benjamin, and smote them with the edge of the sword, as well the men of every city, as the beast, and all that came to hand: also they set on fire all the cities that they came to."

The effects of this horrible rape and murder should never have been felt outside the community where the crime happened . The local people should have brought the criminals to justice and corrected the laxness that originally permitted the crime . Instead , first the town and then the entire tribe defended this wickedness , even going to war over it .

To prevent unresolved problems from turning into major conflicts , firm action must be taken quickly , wisely , and forcefully BEFORE the situation gets out of hand !

Lastly , my friends , in 2 Peter 2:7-9 , "And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked: (For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;) The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished."

So , you see here , just as God rescued Lot from Sodom , so He is able to rescue us from the temptations and trials we face in a wicked world. Let's not even think about playing the "blame game" with God ! Lot was not sinless , but he put his trust in God and was spared when Sodom was destroyed . Also , God WILL judge those who cause the temptations and trials , so we need never worry if justice will be done .

The evil in the world is a result of man's sin - PERIOD ! And for those of us who have given our lives to The LORD ,and have accepted Him as our LORD and Savior , we need not worry , because ,  " God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away." ( Revelation 21:4 ) .

Until next time , may God continue to bless and keep you all -

Your brother in Christ ; Pastor Mike