Why does a loving God need to settle moral issues with the Devil?

by RULES & REGULATIONS 2 Replies latest watchtower bible

• 

  RULES & REGULATIONS

  1. Bible Teachings
  2. Bible Questions Answered

  

  Why did God allow the Holocaust?

  God allowed the Holocaust for the same reason that he has permitted all human suffering: to settle moral issues that were raised long ago. The Bible clearly indicates that at present the Devil, not God, rules the world. (Luke 4:1, 2, 6; John 12:31) Two basic facts from the Bible can help explain why God allowed the Holocaust.

  1. God created humans with free will. God told the first humans, Adam and Eve, what he expected of them, but he did not force them to obey. They chose to decide for themselves what was good and bad, and their bad choice—and similar choices by people throughout history—has brought horrible consequences to mankind. (Genesis 2:17; 3:6; Romans 5:12) It is as the book Statement of Principles of Conservative Judaism says: “Much of the world’s suffering directly results from our misuse of the free will granted to us.” Rather than revoke our free will, God has given humans time to try to manage their affairs independent of him.

  2. God can and will undo all the damage of the Holocaust. God promises to bring back to life millions who have died, including Holocaust victims. He will also eliminate the pain that Holocaust survivors feel because of horrific memories. (Isaiah 65:17; Acts 24:15) God’s love for mankind guarantees that he will fulfill these promises.—John 3:16.

     The Bible characterizes Satan as a powerful spiritual being whose primary goal is to turn us away from God. The Bible says, “Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8).

     God ( in all his power and wisdom) somehow lets Satan cause disturbances in heaven, tempts Adam and Eve, Job, and Jesus. God allows Satan to rule the world so they can settle moral issues. Satan is even allowed to tempt humans after Armageddon. For some reason, he never goes away!

     My question ( I do not believe there is a Devil ) is: Why does God even allow ''free will'' and permits the Devil to ''rule the world,'' when ( with all his wisdom ) he knows both lead to human suffering? Why allow evil in the first place, and later ''guarantee'' the elimination of pain and death? What's the whole point?
• 

  TonusOH

  That's a thorny question for me. Can we survive if god allows us to have free will? In the Bible, we are told that god wishes for all to be saved, but we are also told that the path to salvation is long and narrow, and that few walk it. So god, who wishes for all to be saved, knows that very few will be saved. Isn't this a failure on his part?

  The track record of free will is not encouraging. Apparently, every human being has sinned against god and at least a third of the angels, Satan included. Over a long enough time frame, the odds that everyone will cross god at some point are pretty even. Heaven will be a very lonely place.
• 

  EasyPrompt

  The Devil is already as good as dead. It's not for the Devil's sake that God is allowing certain issues to play out. It's for our sake, for the sake of the living, for the sake of those who will live forever.

  
  

  The Devil has already been judged. God is not "settling moral issues" with the Devil.

  
  

  When a woman is pregnant, it's not time for the baby to come out into the world until the nine months is completed. The child in the womb doesn't understand all the details of the whys and the wherefores. Similarly, we don't understand everything about the timing of things today. We'll learn more of the details later.

  
  

  We do know enough. Jehovah God is trustworthy and His ways are always right.

  
  

  Negative five million is a very negative number. The absolute value, or modulus, of negative five million is positive five million. If a math student can change a huge negative to a huge positive, how much more so can the Creator of the Universe?

  
  

  "Is anything too extraordinary for Jehovah?"

  
  

  "Looking straight at them, Jesus said: “With men it is impossible but not so with God, for all things are possible with God.”"