Well-being and Calamity

“That people may know, from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is none besides me; I am the Lord, and there is no other. I form light and create darkness; I make well-being and create calamity; I am the Lord, who does all these things.” (Isaiah 45:6-7 ESV)

In the King James Version, of this verse, God says, “I create peace and evil.” This verse is often used to try to dispute the goodness and righteousness of God. However, I believe the ESV and ASV both provide a more accurate translation of this verse.

God cannot create evil. When we examine scripture in the details of creation, God said, “And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.” Evil is not a tangible item. You cannot hold evil in your hand or see it with your eyes unless it is manifested in a created object. Evil in itself is not sentient. In reality, evil could not have been “created.” It is a byproduct of creation.

God created angels, and one of those angels, Lucifer, led a rebellion against God using a will God had given this creature. This was an act of evil. As for humans, God created Adam and Eve. Adam and Eve were given limited free will, a limited independence. It was here that humans chose to initiate evil in the garden. Did God know this would happen? Yes. Did God allow this to happen? Yes. Did God ordain evil? Yes. Is God evil because of this? No.

Some try to “protect” or “rescue” God from this fact. Liberal theologians cannot accept that God is sovereign over evil. God states this in the scriptures. Paul says God is the only “potentate”, such a great word (1 Tim 6:15 KJV). God is the only one with actual power. The Armenians panic at the idea that God wills evil. Armenians believe in every attribute of God, including His total sovereignty, except when it comes to evil. There, they feel the need to perform some rescue operation. They would hold that God is not sovereign over natural evil, moral evil, supernatural evil, or eternal evil. They want God to be recognized for saving people but shun the fact that God does not save everyone.

There are natural evils, calamities, rogue waves, earthquakes, and tornadoes. There is moral evil, murderers, rapists, and child abusers. There is supernatural evil, the Angelos" (ἄγγελος), the messenger, one who is sent. Paul’s thorn, the Angelos that attacked the church in Corinth. The Angelos he asked God to take away but was told the Lord’s grace was enough. It was meant to keep Paul humble—lastly, eternal evil. Yes, in the second coming, Jesus will crush all evil, but evil will remain trapped in hell for eternity.

No matter how the Armenians try to limit God’s power or allege His unwillingness to us it; or the Pelagians who try to limit God’s knowledge thereby limit His responsibility for evil, God is sovereign over it. Both try to create a new God who is not responsible for what the Bible says He is responsible.

In the great flood, God destroyed all but eight people. In Sodom and Gomorrah, God destroyed two cities. God destroyed a multitude of armies. God eliminated those who rebelled against Him, including Achan, Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, as well as the two hundred and fifty men who followed them, to name a few. God demonstrates that evil exists in His creation, and He is sovereign over it. God will use evil for His divine purposes. He is God; He has the power and the will to use it.

Given that we are inherently sinful, and the wrath of God against sin has been displayed over and over for our edification, will you, who do not know the Lord, turn to Him in repentance now? Ask Him into your heart so that you, too, might receive His grace, find faith in Him, and receive salvation through His finished work on the cross. Please do not wait; God has counted our every breath, and only He knows our last.

Grace and Peace.