God's Control & Evil in the World 3/19/2017

Summary: Genesis 50:20 NLT 20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people. Exodus 3:19 NLT 19 "But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand forces him. Piel Exodus 4:21 NLT 21 And the LORD told Moses, "When you arrive back in Egypt, go to Pharaoh and perform all the miracles I have empowered you to do. But I will harden his heart so he will refuse to let the people go. Exodus 7:3 NLT 3 But I will make Pharaoh's heart stubborn so I can multiply my miraculous signs and wonders in the land of Egypt. Exodus 8:15 NLT But when Pharaoh saw that relief had come, he became stubborn. He refused to listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the LORD had predicted. Exodus 8:32 NLT 32 But Pharaoh again became stubborn and refused to let the people go. Piel Exodus 9:12 NLT 12 But the LORD hardened Pharaoh's heart, and just as the LORD had predicted to Moses, Pharaoh refused to listen. Exodus 9:34-35 NLT But when Pharaoh saw that the rain, hail, and thunder had stopped, he and his officials sinned again, and Pharaoh again became stubborn. 35 Because his heart was hard, Pharaoh refused to let the people leave, just as the LORD had predicted through Moses. Piel Exodus 10:20 NLT But the LORD hardened Pharaoh's heart again, so he refused to let the people go. Piel Exodus 10:27 NLT 27 But the LORD hardened Pharaoh's heart once more, and he would not let them go. Piel Exodus 11:10 NLT 10 Moses and Aaron performed these miracles in Pharaoh's presence, but the LORD hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he wouldn't let the Israelites leave the country. Piel Exodus 14:4 NLT 4 And once again I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and he will chase after you. I have planned this in order to display my glory through Pharaoh and his whole army. After this the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD!" So the Israelites camped there as they were told. Piel Exodus 14:8 NLT The LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, so he chased after the people of Israel, who had left with fists raised in defiance. Piel Exodus 14:17 NLT 17 And I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they will charge in after the Israelites. My great glory will be displayed through Pharaoh and his troops, his chariots, and his charioteers. Romans 9:17-18 NLT 17 For the Scriptures say that God told Pharaoh, "I have appointed you for the very purpose of displaying my power in you and to spread my fame throughout the earth." 18 So you see, God chooses to show mercy to some, and he chooses to harden the hearts of others so they refuse to listen. Joshua 11:20 NLT For the LORD hardened their hearts and caused them to fight the Israelites. So they were completely destroyed without mercy, as the LORD had commanded Moses. Judges 14:1-4 NLT One day when Samson was in Timnah, one of the Philistine women caught his eye. 2 When he returned home, he told his father and mother, "A young Philistine woman in Timnah caught my eye. I want to marry her. Get her for me." 3 His father and mother objected. "Isn't there even one woman in our tribe or among all the Israelites you could marry?" they asked. "Why must you go to the pagan Philistines to find a wife?" But Samson told his father, "Get her for me! She looks good to me." 4 His father and mother didn't realize the LORD was at work in this, creating an opportunity to work against the Philistines, who ruled over Israel at that time. 1 Samuel 2:25 NLT But Eli's sons wouldn't listen to their father, for the LORD was already planning to put them to death. 1 Samuel 16:14 NLT Now the Spirit of the LORD had left Saul, and the LORD sent a tormenting spirit that filled him with depression and fear. 2 Samuel 12:11-12 NLT 11 "This is what the LORD says: Because of what you have done, I will cause your own household to rebel against you. I will give your wives to another man before your very eyes, and he will go to bed with them in public view. 12 You did it secretly, but I will make this happen to you openly in the sight of all Israel.” 2 Samuel 12:15 NLT 15 After Nathan returned to his home, the LORD sent a deadly illness to the child of David and Uriah's wife. 2 Samuel 24:1 NLT Once again the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and he caused David to harm them by taking a census. "Go and count the people of Israel and Judah," the LORD told him. 2 Samuel 24:10 NLT 10 But after he had taken the census, David's conscience began to bother him. And he said to the LORD, "I have sinned greatly by taking this census. Please forgive my guilt, LORD, for doing this foolish thing." 2 Samuel 24:12-17 NLT 12 "Go and say to David, 'This is what the LORD says: I will give you three choices. Choose one of these punishments, and I will inflict it on you.'" 13 So Gad came to David and asked him, "Will you choose three years of famine throughout your land, three months of fleeing from your enemies, or three days of severe plague throughout your land? Think this over and decide what answer I should give the LORD who sent me." 14 "I'm in a desperate situation!" David replied to Gad. "But let us fall into the hands of the LORD, for his mercy is great. Do not let me fall into human hands." 15 So the LORD sent a plague upon Israel that morning, and it lasted for three days. A total of 70,000 people died throughout the nation, from Dan in the north to Beersheba in the south. 16 But as the angel was preparing to destroy Jerusalem, the LORD relented and said to the death angel, "Stop! That is enough!" At that moment the angel of the LORD was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. 17 When David saw the angel, he said to the LORD, "I am the one who has sinned and done wrong! But these people are as innocent as sheep-- what have they done? Let your anger fall against me and my family." 1 Chronicles 21:1 NLT Satan rose up against Israel and caused David to take a census of the people of Israel. In this one incident the Bible gives us a remarkable insight into the three influences that contributed in different ways to one action: God, in order to bring about his purposes, worked through Satan to incite David to sin, but Scripture regards David as being responsible for that sin. 1 Kings 22:20-23 NLT 20 And the LORD said, 'Who can entice Ahab to go into battle against Ramoth-gilead so he can be killed?' "There were many suggestions, 21 and finally a spirit approached the LORD and said, 'I can do it!' 22 "'How will you do this?' the LORD asked. "And the spirit replied, 'I will go out and inspire all of Ahab's prophets to speak lies.' "'You will succeed,' said the LORD. 'Go ahead and do it.' 23 "So you see, the LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouths of all your prophets. For the LORD has pronounced your doom." Ezekiel 14:9 NLT 9 "'And if a prophet is deceived into giving a message, it is because I, the LORD, have deceived that prophet. I will lift my fist against such prophets and cut them off from the community of Israel. Amos 3:6 NLT 6 When the ram's horn blows a warning, shouldn't the people be alarmed? Does disaster come to a city unless the LORD has planned it? Amos 4:6-13 NLT 6 "I brought hunger to every city and famine to every town. But still you would not return to me," says the LORD. 7 "I kept the rain from falling when your crops needed it the most. I sent rain on one town but withheld it from another. Rain fell on one field, while another field withered away. 8 People staggered from town to town looking for water, but there was never enough. But still you would not return to me," says the LORD. 9 "I struck your farms and vineyards with blight and mildew. Locusts devoured all your fig and olive trees. But still you would not return to me," says the LORD. 10 "I sent plagues on you like the plagues I sent on Egypt long ago. I killed your young men in war and led all your horses away. The stench of death filled the air! But still you would not return to me," says the LORD. 11 "I destroyed some of your cities, as I destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. Those of you who survived were like charred sticks pulled from a fire. But still you would not return to me," says the LORD. 12 "Therefore, I will bring upon you all the disasters I have announced. Prepare to meet your God in judgment, you people of Israel!" 13 For the LORD is the one who shaped the mountains, stirs up the winds, and reveals his thoughts to mankind. He turns the light of dawn into darkness and treads on the heights of the earth. The LORD God of Heaven's Armies is his name! Therefore, God brings evil on human beings, to discipline his children, to lead unbelievers to repentance, and to bring a judgment of condemnation and destruction upon hardened sinners. Yet, none of us can charge God with doing wrong. Ultimately all will work in God’s good purposes to bring glory to him and good to his people. Yet we must realize that in punishing evil in those who are not redeemed, God is also glorified through the demonstration of his justice, holiness, and power. Isaiah 45:7 NLT 7 I create (Genesis 1:1) the light and make the darkness. I send good times and bad times. I, the LORD, am the one who does these things. Verses that Reflect the True Source of Calamity along with a Right Response: Lamentations 3:38-40 NLT 38 Does not the Most High send both calamity and good? 39 Then why should we, mere humans, complain when we are punished for our sins? 40 Instead, let us test and examine our ways. Let us turn back to the LORD. Isaiah 63:17 NLT 17 LORD, why have you allowed us to turn from your path? Why have you given us stubborn hearts so we no longer fear you? Return and help us, for we are your servants, the tribes that are your special possession. Jonah 1:14-15 NLT 14 Then they cried out to the LORD, Jonah's God. "O LORD," they pleaded, "don't make us die for this man's sin. And don't hold us responsible for his death. O LORD, you have sent this storm upon him for your own good reasons." 15 Then the sailors picked Jonah up and threw him into the raging sea, and the storm stopped at once! Jonah 2:3 NLT 3 You threw me into the ocean depths, and I sank down to the heart of the sea. The mighty waters engulfed me; I was buried beneath your wild and stormy waves. God was bringing about his plan through the willing choices of real human beings who were morally accountable for their actions. In a way not understood by us and not revealed to us, God caused them to make a willing choice to do what they did THE CRUCIFIXION Acts 4:27-28 NLT 27 "In fact, this has happened here in this very city! For Herod Antipas, Pontius Pilate the governor, the Gentiles, and the people of Israel were all united against Jesus, your holy servant, whom you anointed. 28 But everything they did was determined beforehand according to your will. Acts 2:23 NLT 23 But God knew what would happen, and his prearranged plan was carried out when Jesus was betrayed. With the help of lawless Gentiles, you nailed him to a cross and killed him. In one sentence Peter links God’s plan and foreknowledge with the moral blame that attaches to the actions of “lawless men.” They were not forced by God to act against their wills; rather, God brought about his plan through their willing choices for which they were nevertheless responsible. Luke 22:22 NLT 22 For it has been determined that the Son of Man must die. But what sorrow awaits the one who betrays him." So God is more than able to accomplish His purposes, but man is still responsible for his willing choices. ANTICHRIST 2 Thessalonians 2:11-12 NLT 11 So God will cause them to be greatly deceived, and they will believe these lies. 12 Then they will be condemned for enjoying evil rather than believing the truth. JOB- Our Example for the Right Response to Evil In the story of Job, though the Lord gave Satan permission to bring harm to Job’s possessions and children, and though this harm came through the evil actions of the Sabeans and the Chaldeans, as well as a windstorm (Job 1:12, 15, 17, 19), yet Job looks beyond those secondary causes and, with the eyes of faith, sees it all as from the hand of the Lord: “the Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21). The Old Testament author follows Job’s statement immediately with the sentence, “In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong” (Job 1:22). Job has just been told that evil marauding bands had destroyed his flocks and herds, yet with great faith and patience in adversity, he says, “The Lord has taken away.” Though he says that the Lord had done this, yet he does not blame God for the evil or say that God had done wrong: he says, “Blessed be the name of the Lord.” To blame God for evil that he had brought about through secondary agents would have been to sin. Job does not do this, Scripture never does this, and neither should we. CONCLUSION: Psalm 76:10 NLT 10 Human defiance (or the wrath of man) only enhances your glory, for you use it as a weapon. CAUTION: Luke 13:1-5 NLT About this time Jesus was informed that Pilate had murdered some people from Galilee as they were offering sacrifices at the Temple. 2 "Do you think those Galileans were worse sinners than all the other people from Galilee?" Jesus asked. "Is that why they suffered? 3 Not at all! And you will perish, too, unless you repent of your sins and turn to God. 4 And what about the eighteen people who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them? Were they the worst sinners in Jerusalem? 5 No, and I tell you again that unless you repent, you will perish, too.” So its not that some people experience natural disasters because of God’s wrath, but rather that God is restraining the evil that man deserves everywhere else. We must resist making judgement calls on why evil happens or declaring specifically what God’s purposes are or were in particular instances of evil in the world. Acts 28:4-9 NLT 4 The people of the island saw it hanging from his hand and said to each other, "A murderer, no doubt! Though he escaped the sea, justice will not permit him to live." 5 But Paul shook off the snake into the fire and was unharmed. 6 The people waited for him to swell up or suddenly drop dead. But when they had waited a long time and saw that he wasn't harmed, they changed their minds and decided he was a god. 7 Near the shore where we landed was an estate belonging to Publius, the chief official of the island. He welcomed us and treated us kindly for three days. 8 As it happened, Publius's father was ill with fever and dysentery. Paul went in and prayed for him, and laying his hands on him, he healed him. 9 Then all the other sick people on the island came and were healed. If God is able to use evil for good then should we be praying for that? There is a great difference between what is fitting for man to will and what is fitting for God If evil came into the world in spite of the fact that God did not intend it and did not want it to be there, then what guarantee do we have that there will not be more and more evil that he does not intend and that he does not want? And what guarantee do we have that he will be able to use it for his purposes, or even that he can triumph over it?

God's Control &amp; Evil in the World 3/19/2017

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God's Control & Evil in the World 3/19/2017