Seeing God's Gracious Hand in the Hurts Others Do to Us
Notes on John Piper's Book - Suffering and the Sovereignty of God, Chapter 2. Chapter 2 is written by Mark Talbot.
Elie Weisel
The author tells the story of Elie Weisel, as told in Weisel's book "Night".... Weisel was a holocaust survivor and the book tells of his absolutely horrific experiences - - - and the author's conclusion was that human brutality to other humans shattered Weisel's faith in God.
Open Theists
Open theists say - God is not responsible for this evil because he gave us freedom and he can't interfere with that freedom - - so, blame the people but you can't blame God.....
But - - God can't be sovereign and not responsible for everything that happens - - evil evil....
And - - God doesn't want to be let off the hook - - He put himself on the hook at the Cross...
The God of the Bible
God never does evil.
Yet - - God can and does create, send, permit or even move others to evil, for Scripture is clear that nothing arises, exists or endures independently of God's will.
Ephesians 1:11 - 11In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will,
God can manage to turn the evil aspects of our world for His glory:
Exodus 9:13-16 - 13 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Get up early in the morning, confront Pharaoh and say to him, 'This is what the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me, 14 or this time I will send the full force of my plagues against you and against your officials and your people, so you may know that there is no one like me in all the earth. 15 For by now I could have stretched out my hand and struck you and your people with a plague that would have wiped you off the earth. 16 But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.
John 9:3 - 3"Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.
God can manage to turn the evil aspects of our world for His people's good:
Hebrews 12:3-11 - 3Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. 4In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 5And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons: "My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, 6because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son." 7Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? 8If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. 9Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! 10Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. 11No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.
James 1:2-4 -Trials and Temptations - 2Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
Nothing that exists or occurs falls outside God's ordaining will.....Nothing - including no evil person or thing or event or deed
Isaiah 45:7 - 7 I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the LORD, do all these things.
God can send evil
I Samuel 16:14-23 - David in Saul's Service - -14 Now the Spirit of the LORD had departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD tormented him. 15 Saul's attendants said to him, "See, an evil spirit from God is tormenting you. 16 Let our lord command his servants here to search for someone who can play the harp. He will play when the evil spirit from God comes upon you, and you will feel better." 17 So Saul said to his attendants, "Find someone who plays well and bring him to me." 18 One of the servants answered, "I have seen a son of Jesse of Bethlehem who knows how to play the harp. He is a brave man and a warrior. He speaks well and is a fine-looking man. And the LORD is with him." 19 Then Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, "Send me your son David, who is with the sheep." 20 So Jesse took a donkey loaded with bread, a skin of wine and a young goat and sent them with his son David to Saul. 21 David came to Saul and entered his service. Saul liked him very much, and David became one of his armor-bearers. 22 Then Saul sent word to Jesse, saying, "Allow David to remain in my service, for I am pleased with him." 23 Whenever the spirit from God came upon Saul, David would take his harp and play. Then relief would come to Saul; he would feel better, and the evil spirit would leave him.
God sent angels to destroy Sodom & Gomorrah (Genesis 19)
God sent 10 Plagues (Exodus 7-12)
He sent poisonous snakes to grumbling Israelites (Numbers 21:6)
He sent a pestilence on Israel that killed 70,000 men (2 Samuel 24)
God sent foreign peoples against Judah to destroy it because of Manasseh's sin (2 Kings 24)
God sends Assyria against godless Judah (Isaiah 10)
God sent a plague to Assyrians soldiers - 185,000 died
God can send delusions
2 Thessalonians 2:11 - 11For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie
God permits others to do evil
like satan - Job 1:12 - 12 The LORD said to Satan, "Very well, then, everything he has is in your hands, but on the man himself do not lay a finger."
other nations - Acts 14:16 - 16In the past, he let all nations go their own way.
like those who killed Jesus - Acts 4:24-28 - 24When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. "Sovereign Lord," they said, "you made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and everything in them. 25You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David: " 'Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? 26The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against his Anointed One.' 27Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. 28They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen.
God moves others to do evil
Isaiah 19:2 - 2 "I will stir up Egyptian against Egyptian— brother will fight against brother, neighbor against neighbor, city against city, kingdom against kingdom.
2 Samuel 24:1 1 Again the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, "Go and take a census of Israel and Judah."
Nothing - no evil thing or person or event or deed - falls outside God's ordaining will......Nothing arises, exists or endures independently of God's will. So when even the worst of evils befall us, they do not ultimately come from anywhere other than God's hand...
So, if all happens within the will of God - - are humans responsible for their actions?
Yes!
Romans 1:18 - 18The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness
Romans 2:5-12 - 5But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God's wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed. 6God "will give to each person according to what he has done." 7To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. 8But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. 9There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; 10but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. 11For God does not show favoritism.
Romans 3:11-18 - "There is no one righteous, not even one; 11there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. 12All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one." 13"Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit." "The poison of vipers is on their lips." 14"Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness." 15"Their feet are swift to shed blood; 16ruin and misery mark their ways, 17and the way of peace they do not know." 18"There is no fear of God before their eyes."
Neither God's foreknowledge or foreordaining of all things, including all human choices and acts, preclude human responsibility:
Acts 2:22-23 - 22"Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. 23This man was handed over to you by God's set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross.
The response? an overwhelming sense of responsibility - - Acts 2:37-38 - 37When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?" 38Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Choosing and Willing
Scripture clearly states we have "freedom of choice" as evidenced by the following verses where our choices and their consequences are stressed:
Deuteronomy 30:19 - 19 This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live.
Proverbs 1:29 - 29 Since they hated knowledge and did not choose to fear the LORD.......
Proverbs 3:31 -31 Do not envy a violent man or choose any of his ways,
Isaiah 56:4 - 4 For this is what the LORD says: "To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who choose what pleases me and hold fast to my covenant-
Luke 10:41-43 - 41"Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, 42but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."
Other Scripture presupposes our freedom of choice but doesnt explicitly state we have freedom of choice:
Leviticus 19:4 - 4 " 'Do not turn to idols or make gods of cast metal for yourselves. I am the LORD your God.
Psalm 85:8 - 8 I will listen to what God the LORD will say; he promises peace to his people, his saints— but let them not return to folly.
Proverbs 4:20-26 - 20 My son, pay attention to what I say; listen closely to my words. 21 Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart; 22 for they are life to those who find them and health to a man's whole body. 23 Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life. 24 Put away perversity from your mouth; keep corrupt talk far from your lips. 25 Let your eyes look straight ahead, fix your gaze directly before you. 26 Make level paths for your feet and take only ways that are firm.
John 12:35 - 35Then Jesus told them, "You are going to have the light just a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you. The man who walks in the dark does not know where he is going.
1 John 1:5-7 -Walking in the light- 5This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. 7But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
Galatians 5:16-25 - 16So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. 17For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. 18But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law. 19The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. 25Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.
Proverbs 3:7 - 7 Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil. Proverbs 4:14-16 Listen to this passage 14 Do not set foot on the path of the wicked or walk in the way of evil men. 15 Avoid it, do not travel on it; turn from it and go on your way. 16 For they cannot sleep till they do evil; they are robbed of slumber till they make someone fall.
So - - our freedom to choose, along with our responsibility, is affirmed throughout Scripture. However, Scripture emphatically denies that we possess the ability to remain slaves to sin or become bondservants of righteousness. Scripture - and especially the New Testament - drives home the fact that each and every one of us is either still dominated by sin or has been set free by God to live a life of righteousness:
Romans 6:16-19 - 16Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. 18You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. 19I put this in human terms because you are weak in your natural selves. Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness.
2 Peter 2:19 - 19They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity—for a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him.
Ephesians 2:1-3 - Made Alive in Christ- 1As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath.
Colossians 2:13 - 13When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins,
John 8:34 - 34Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.
John 8:36 - 36So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
Romans 6:17 - 17But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted.
And, therefore, - - it is neither "up to us" nor is it "in us" to choose whether we will remain slaves to sin or become bondservamts to righteousness.
John 6:44 -44"No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day.
So - it is only after God has regenerated us that we possess true freedom of will, for it is only after our spiritual rebirth that we are able through the power of God's Spirit living within us to choose anything other than sin.
Joseph's Story
Genesis 45:4-11 - 4 Then Joseph said to his brothers, "Come close to me." When they had done so, he said, "I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt! 5 And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. 6 For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will not be plowing and reaping. 7 But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. 8 "So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God. He made me father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household and ruler of all Egypt. 9 Now hurry back to my father and say to him, 'This is what your son Joseph says: God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me; don't delay. 10 You shall live in the region of Goshen and be near me—you, your children and grandchildren, your flocks and herds, and all you have. 11 I will provide for you there, because five years of famine are still to come. Otherwise you and your household and all who belong to you will become destitute.'
Genesis 50:20 - 20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.
It is clear - - Scripture considers compatible with the claim that God ordained their choosing to do what they did. God ordained Joseph's brothers evil willings, but as part of a greater good!
Job's Story
Job claimed God had a sovereign, ordaining hand in the evils that Job encountered. God did not do these evils; satan did... But the evils that satan did, he did with God's permission. satan did these things to harm Job, but Go ordained them for his own glory and ultimately for Job's good.
Concluding
God foreordains what humans choose. God is never absent or inactive when humans beings hurt each other or themselves. Jesus holds each and every aspect of creation, including all evil, in his hands so that He may carry it to where it accomplishes exactly what he wants. The Lord's crucifixion is the supreme instance of how God ordains real evil for His own glory and His children's good.
God's will and our wills
The fact that God has ordained everything, including our free choices, does not remove or lessen our responsibility, our guilt, or our liability to be punished for our sins.
Galatians 6:7 - 7Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.
The biblical view is: God has ordained or willed or planned everything that happens in our world from before creation, from before time began. God is the primary agent - the primary cause, the final and ultimate explanation - of everything that happens, yet the casual relationship between God and his creatures is that his having foreordained everything is compatible with - - and takes nothing away from - our responsibility.
How can this be? The author states we cannot understand how these things can be....
No one suffers anything at anyone else's hand without God having ordained that suffering.
Psalm 139:4-6 - 4 Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD. 5 You hem me in—behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.
We can be sure that when we hurt each other, the God who has made us in His image is watching and will call us into account. Even though He ordains all of our sinful choices, those sinful choices still coount, and we are held responsible for them. Take Joseph Mengele, who pointed his baton to direct Jewish prisoners to immediate death in thegas chambers or to forced labor camps - - but God will not allow the blood of Mengel's victims to cryout forever- God will bring Mengele to justice - - God will avenge innocent blood by punishing Mengele.....for eternity...
In Romans 8:28 - we can be assured that even the worst of our suffering will someday be revealed to be an integral part of all the good that is ours in Christ!
So would anyone in their right mind say the following- - No!:
Would I tell someone who has been sexually abused as a child, how God means that evil for her good? May it never be...But, the author says "I know some men and womenwho have found their ownabuse to be God's gift...."
The mystery of why God has ordained the evils he has is as deep as the mysteries of the evil in our own hearts."
It is not always our place to attempt to give an answer to those who are questioning God's goodness because the evils that others have done to them or that they have done to themselves; sometimes we should just stand silently by their sides. Moreover, we will not always,rightnow,have these answers for ourselves. But, in glory the answers will be clear.....
Psalm 30:5 - 5 For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.
