Divine Justice Issues (VII)

In this chapter we will give more examples where God brought good out of evil, whether it be moral evil or natural evils (calamities and tragedies). In this and the next chapter we will conclude our apologetic in showing that God is not unjust because he created a world with evil. We gave our answer to Epicurus and those who falsely reason in regard to "the problem of evil." We showed that there is really no problem at all, and that most people simply jump to conclusions about the problem and make hasty generalizations, which is a logical fallacy. One or more of their propositions are not fact. The idea that a good God would prevent all evil is a presupposition without any warrant from either reason or scripture. The idea that God could have had good reason and a greater good from his having created evil or allowed for its existence seems not to enter into the minds of many. Some do agree that God is just in his allowing evil to exist because of a greater good, that being "free will." That it is a good thing, in the sense in which it is described in scripture, we do not deny. But we insist that a far greater good was how evil brings great glory to God and reveals to angels and men something about himself that could not be known another way.

Pharaoh and Evil Men

"For the Scripture says to the Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth.” (Rom. 9: 17 nkjv)

Pharaoh was a wicked tyrant. He used his political power to enslave others and he committed any sin he wanted to do. Why did God not destroy Pharaoh before he had done all his evil deeds? Would it have been a good thing to have killed Hitler or Stalin before they had murdered so many millions? Many would quickly say "yes." But, God thought differently, or else he would have killed Stalin and Hitler before their murderous enterprises. That God does kill people is seen throughout the old testament. God at one point even "sought to kill" Moses. (See Exo. 4: 24) He even intended to kill the whole Israelite nation in Exodus chapter 32 but Moses mediated and God relented of his intention. We are also told by Samuel the prophet that God "kills and makes alive." (I Sam. 2: 6)

Not only did God not kill Pharaoh (to keep him from killing people and doing his evil deeds), but the text says that God raised him up, and despite foreseeing the evil he would do, raised him up any way, in order that a greater good might come to pass, that greater good being the demonstration to angels and men of his omnipotence and sovereignty. That greater good was 1) show forth God's great power, and 2) God's name would be declared in all the earth. We may well say of evil men like Pharaoh, Hitler, Stalin, Nero, or any other wicked man of power, what Peter says of such when he wrote these words:

"But these people blaspheme in matters they do not understand. They are like unreasoning animals, creatures of instinct, born only to be caught and destroyed, and like animals they too will perish." (II Peter 2: 12 niv)

Kenneth Wuest gives us this translation:

"But these, as irrational creatures, having been born as creatures of instinct, [destined] for capture and destruction, uttering blasphemies in the sphere of those things concerning which they are ignorant, shall in their [acts of] destroying surely be destroyed." 

Born and existing for no other reason than to be destroyed. So it may be said of every evil person, and everyone who fails to believe in God and to love and serve him. Think about it. God foreknows who will believe and who will not (just as Jesus did - John 6: 64). So, if he suffers such evil ones to be born or to exist, then we may well say of them that they are born for destruction, or "made (or born) to be taken and destroyed." Such was Satan and Pharaoh. Both were made to be taken and destroyed. So, is that just? Did God do wrong to suffer to be made or born those who he foreknows will reject him and do great evil and harm to others? Yes, it is just. A greater good comes from suffering such evil men to exist. God is able to use that evil to demonstrate his omnipotence. God will be glorified by destroying them. God can do such things to his creatures and no creature has any justification for accusing God of being unjust. Notice the words of the prophet Isaiah:

“Woe to him who strives with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth! Shall the clay say to him who forms it, ‘What are you making?’ Or shall your handiwork say, ‘He has no hands’? (Isa. 45: 9 nkjv)

No creature has any just complaint to make to God nor to accuse God of being unjust or unfair. For not only has God created them knowing their end but those who are like Pharaoh have made themselves that way by their rebellion against God. Just as the Exodus record says that Pharaoh hardened his heart as well as saying that God hardened his heart, so we may likewise say that God made some, like animals, for no other purpose than to be destroyed, and also that they made themselves animals for destruction. Recall that Jesus said of Judas (and by implication many others also) that "It was better had he never been born." (Matt. 26: 24) So it may be said of Lucifer, Pharaoh, Hitler, etc. For many, this is a hard fact to swallow. Are there really some people who are born for destruction? Is that not unjust for God to bring into existence such people, or to not kill them before they have done all their wicked and destructive deeds? No, first because he is the sovereign creator and sole decider of the destiny of his creatures and second, he brings about a greater good from the evil and therefore he is just.

In many ways Pharaoh's storied life mirrors that of Lucifer who fell from heaven and became Satan or the Devil, much like the king of Tyre in Ezekiel 28: 11-19 or the king of Babylon in Isaiah 14: 12-14. In other words, we may say of Lucifer that God raised him up in order that God might show forth his almightiness and his sovereignty. Think about it. If God wanted to demonstrate his omnipotence, would he not want an opponent to defeat? A boxer might be great in boxing, but no one would know it unless he faced another good boxer. 

Wrote one writer on Milton's Paradise Lost (See here - emphasis mine):

"Here Milton offers his answer to the Problem of Evil, explaining how evil can exist in a universe ruled by an omnipotent and benevolent God. It's one of those pesky theological questions that one one has ever answered to everyone's satisfaction. Personally, I think the best answer appears in the Book of Job, in which God's purpose remains necessarily beyond human comprehension. Milton, however, has promised to "justifie the wayes of God to men" and therefore cannot take refuge in a plea of ignorance (I. 26). So here we see his answer: God allows Satan to do evil because He knows Satan will only succeed in heaping damnation upon himself and bring forth even more good in the long run. (This is the theological doctrine of felix culpa or "the fortunate fall.")"

This is correct. Wrote the same author:

"Although Milton avoids appealing to the Job argument, his treatment of Satan's evil here resembles another Old Testament story: that of Moses and Pharaoh. In Exodus, Moses repeatedly insists that Pharaoh release the Israelites and Pharaoh keeps agreeing, but then changing his mind. The Bible is quite consistent in describing Pharaoh's repeated failures to live up to his agreements: "he hardened his heart." But by the time we get to the plague of boils, Pharaoh seems to have had enough. This time he does not harden his own heart. Instead, God does it for him..."

Wrote another author on Milton's Paradise Lost:

"In Book 1 Milton has Beelzebub (who is, in the poem, Satan's chief lieutenant) say of the recent war they waged in heaven: 

 

"O Prince, O Chief of many Throned Powers, That led the embattl’d Seraphim to War 

Under thy conduct, and in dreadful deeds Fearless, endanger’d Heav’n’s perpetual King; 

And put to proof his high Supremacy, Whether upheld by strength, or Chance, or Fate" (128-33) 

(As cited here)

"He frankly admits that the outcome of the war is the answer to the question: "But what if he our Conqueror (whom I now Of force believe Almighty, since no less Than such could have o’rpowered such a force as ours)" (lines 143-45)" (Ibid)

In the same speech by Beelzebub he says: 

"...into what Pit thou seest From what highth fall'n, 

so much the stronger prov'd He with his Thunder: 

and till then who knew The force of those dire Arms?"

The overthrow of Satan and his cohorts proved that God was supreme, omnipotent, and just. God made use of these wicked creatures to display his attributes.

The Crucifixion

"Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it." (Acts 2: 23-24 nkjv)

“For truly against Your holy Servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose determined before to be done." (Acts 4: 27-28 nkjv)

Did God want Christ to be crucified? Why would any father want his only son to be put to death in such a horrible manner? Looking at it from one perspective, it shows God to be most evil. But, from another and more informed perspective, it is a most righteous and just thing. Yes, God was not the immediate or direct cause of the murder, for God cannot be such per the words of James: "Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone." (James 1: 13 nkjv) Yet, the above texts tell us that God had willed the death of his incarnate Son and actually delivered Christ to those murderers, knowing what they were going to do. Again, it is because a far greater good was going to be accomplished by his death. That is why the prophet said about the murder of Christ - "it pleased the Lord to bruise him," to "put him to grief," and "to make his soul an offering for sin." (Isa. 53: 10) As a thing in itself, or as an end in itself, the Father had no pleasure in the murder of his Son. That indeed would make him an evil deity. But, he took pleasure in it, knowing the infinite good that would ensue from it.

Most of the examples of evil we have already called attention to are in fact moral evils or sins. So, when we read where God caused or created evil, we must realize that he did not do so because he took any delight in sin or moral evil, but because he determined to permit it for his own good ends. The murder of Christ is the greatest of all evils and yet out of it came the greatest of all good.

Salvation Through Israel's Fall

"I say then, have they stumbled that they should fall? Certainly not! But through their fall, to provoke them to jealousy, salvation has come to the Gentiles." (Rom. 11: 11 nkjv)

"You will say then, "Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in." Well said. Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear." (vss. 19-20) 

By the "fall" of Israel is meant their rejection of Christ through unbelief, all which is a moral evil or sin. Here then is another example where a greater good came from a moral evil. That greater good is in two ways. First, it brings salvation to the Gentiles in a far great way than ever before. Second, it was only temporary for in the future it will bring the masses of Israel to salvation through jealousy of the Gentiles. They were cast away by God (a bad thing) in order to ensure the salvation of Gentiles and of latter day Israel.

We have a few more examples to put on record and will do that in the next chapter.