Where Did Evil Come From? Why Is Evil Permitted on Earth?

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Have you ever wondered where evil came from? Did Jehovah God Almighty create evil?

No, of course not; Jehovah did not create evil itself; evil results only when His principles are not followed. Evil is simply the absence of goodness, just as darkness is the absence of light.

Long before Jehovah created Earth and humankind, He created spirit beings known as angels who lived with Him in the spiritual realm where He calls home. He gave angels the freedom to make their own decisions, the same kind of free will He has given to us. One of the angels, who is known as Satan the opposer, abused His gift and chose to rebel against Him. Subsequently, other angels and some humans followed in Satan's footsteps. This is where evil came from.

How, you may wonder next, could loving Jehovah permit wickedness to inflict us? The prophet Habakkuk once asked Jehovah the same thing: "You who have purer eyes than to see evil, and who cannot look on perversity, why do you tolerate those who deal treacherously, and keep silent when the wicked swallows up the man who is more righteous than he, and make men like the fish of the sea, like the creeping things, that have no ruler over them?" (Habakkuk 1:13-14, World English Bible)

In reply to Habakkuk's question, Jehovah said, "Write the vision, and make it plain upon tablets, that he may run that readeth it. For the vision is yet for the appointed time, and it hasteth toward the end, and shall not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not delay." (Habakkuk 2:2-3, American Standard Version)

What includes in the vision God referred to? "Woe to him that buildeth a town with blood, and establisheth a city by iniquity!" is the judgment Jehovah will sentence upon the evildoers, and "the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of Jehovah, as the waters cover the sea" is the peaceful everlasting life under Jehovah's loving rulership for the righteous. (Habakkuk 2:12, 14, ASV)

Jehovah by no means enjoys seeing His creations suffer; far from it. Even though He is permitting darkness now, He will not tolerate it for too long. Instead, He has long ago appointed the time when He will destroy all fruits of evil, leaving no root or seed for evil to sprout ever again. Then pure good will rule for eternity.

God allows wickedness for the time being for a few reasons:

1) He wants to give the bad the chance to change their ways. He does not want to wipe everyone off the Earth without giving them enough chances to realize what they are doing is wrong. He does not enjoy killing anyone. Rather, He constantly hopes for people to turn to Him; His deepest desire is for every person to embrace a good way of living, so He can save them all.

2) Jehovah allows some time for us to exercise our free will to show us that our independence from His rule is costing us, which...

3) Helps prove Satan wrong. The devil cajoled the first woman to disobey God by telling her to partake in the only fruit God prohibited, saying that when she ate it, she would know right from wrong just like God, meaning that she would no longer need God's guidance; instead, she would be able to live successfully on her own. Since then, we have lived in chaos and misery, doing whatever we wish without seeking divine guidance. Moreover, from that time onward, every human being grows old and die, for God had stressed that death would be the penalty for not obeying that simple, one and only command.

Satan also, in front of other angels in the heaven, indicated that a righteous person named Job would no longer be God-fearing if God took Job's good health away: "But put forth thy hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will renounce thee to thy face." (Job 2:5, ASV) Did Job denounce God after Satan made him ill? Absolutely not! True worshippers of God will endure Satan's testing to the end, thus proving him wrong and giving glory to Jehovah.

4) Finally, Jehovah lets some time pass in order to fill the 144,000 seats in the heavens. These seats are reserved for 144,000 highly righteous people who will co-govern the rest of the human population alongside Jehovah and Jesus during the forthcoming everlasting life of sheer bliss. "These are they that follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were purchased from among men, to be the firstfruits unto God and unto the Lamb." (Revelation 14:4, ASV) Such immense privilege these people will have!

Hence, all evil acts and thoughts will be things of the past when Jehovah unsuspectingly carries out His mission in His due time, known as the Day of Jehovah. This God of love will explode with righteous anger, consuming all evildoers in an instant, not burning them forever in a torturous hell but ending their existence once and for all. Good riddance, and hooray for those who will be resurrected to inherit the new Earth paradise!

Would you like to be a part of the saved? Then pick up a copy of the Bible, read and study it, and regularly apply its teachings to your daily living!

Author's Bio:

Shirley Cheng (b. 1983), a blind and physically disabled award-winning author (with twenty book awards, including nine Parent to Parent Adding Wisdom Awards), motivational speaker, self-empowerment expert, poet, author of nine books (including "Do You Love Jehovah? God Almighty's Infinite Love & Wisdom to Propel You to Greatness"), contributor to eighteen, and a parental rights advocate, has had severe juvenile rheumatoid arthritis since infancy. Owing to years of hospitalization, she received no education until age eleven. Back then, she knew only her ABCs and very simple English; other than that, her book knowledge was non-existent. However, after only about 180 days of special education in elementary school, she mastered grade level in all areas and entered a regular sixth grade class in middle school. Unfortunately, Shirley lost her eyesight at the age of seventeen. After a successful eye surgery, she hopes to earn multiple science doctorates from Harvard University. Visit http://www.shirleycheng.com for more inspiration.

Debra G lenn

Dr. Shirley Cheng, I loved your article. You are such a beautiful lady to share the thoughts from God's word and to post the scriptures too. I love God's name and I think it's wonderful that our loving Father Jehovah has provided such a beautiful hope for the future. Mankind is in such need of hearing the vital messages and learning to acquire the knowledge to make changes but, most importantly to learn to come to know and love the wonderful God we worship. Numbers 6:24-26 Your Sister, Debra

sam wong

when the fall of an angle... is that mean God fail in His creation?

Dr. Shirley Cheng, Blind Author with Vision (Motivation)

Thanks for your comment, Sam! No, God did not fail in His creation. We must remember that God granted all angels and all humans free will. "Free will" means that we all have the freedom, power, and ability to make decisions for ourselves on our own. In other words, we are not like robots. So we can choose to either do good or bad. If God programmed everyone to do good all the time, He would in effect create robots, not people with free will. This is how Satan and other angels and humans became evil--they have deliberately chosen to do evil. They have abused their "free will" power. In conclusion, God did not fail in His creation; we have failed Him. If you have further questions, please don't hesitate to ask!

when the fall of an angle.... is that mean God fail in His creation??

Anonymous

"This God of love will explode with righteous anger, consuming all evildoers in an instant, not burning them forever in a torturous hell but ending their existence once and for all. " You say this. The Bible does not say this.

Thank you for your comment. Please study what the Bible says below about the condition we know as "hell:" 1) Jesus said, "…fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." (Matthew 10:28, American Standard Version) The soul will be *destroyed* in hell, not being burned for eternity. 2) "For, behold, the day cometh, it burneth as a furnace; and all the proud, and all that work wickedness, shall be stubble; and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith Jehovah of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch." (Malachi 4:1, ASV) Note that God will "burn up" the wicked, leaving them no root.

Continuation: 3) The Bible describes hell, or "lake of fire," as the "second death." Please take special notice of Revelation 20:14: "And death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death, even the lake of fire." Note that Hades, which is also a term used for hell, is said to be cast into the "lake of fire." Here, we must ask ourselves a few questions: • Are death and hell objects that can be cast away? • How could death burn in a never-ending fire? • How could hell be cast into hell, the lake of fire? This verse shows us that the lake of fire is simply eternal destruction. Death will be eternally destroyed--it is the last enemy God will destroy.

4) "Eternal fire" refers to eternal destruction. "Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about them, having in like manner with these given themselves over to fornication and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the punishment of eternal fire." (Jude 1:7, ASV) Are Sodom and Gomorrah still burning? No, they were destroyed for good a long time ago. Likewise, the wicked will be thrown into an eternal fire when they are judged on Judgment Day. 5) Same goes for "unquenchable fire." "But if ye will not hearken unto me to hallow the sabbath day, and not to bear a burden and enter in at the gates of Jerusalem on the sabbath day; then will I kindle a fire in the gates thereof, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched." (Jeremiah 17:27, ASV)

Guest

Revelation 20:10 And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever. Jude 1:6 And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day. Is. 33:14 The sinners in Zion are terrified; trembling grips the godless: "Who of us can dwell with the consuming fire? Who of us can dwell with everlasting burning?" Rev. 14:11 And the smoke of their torment rises for ever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and his image, or for anyone who receives the mark of his name.

Mark 9:48 where " 'their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched." The worm is the conscience, which feeds the soul. The worm and the soul are one and are together.

Looking at these verses literally without circumventing the obvious meaning and giving it a more indirect meaning, these verses clearly state that torment/suffering is forever. Don't define torment as the smoke of their destroyed bodies/souls that keeps on burning. This eternity of suffering cannot be stated any clearer. Redefining it to mean what you want it to does not affect what God will do. You may question why a loving God will allow this, but what is, is what is. Even I do not understand why.

In Mark 9:48, Jesus was quoting from Isaiah 66:24, where it indicates that the dead bodies of the rebellious people against God will lie exposed on the ground for all flesh to see, and "the worms that eat them will not die, the fire that burns them will not be quenched." (NIV) Is this speaking of a literal burning hell where all flesh will see these rebels? No. Also remember that in Mark 9:48, Jesus was using "gehenna," the term for the garbage dump--he was giving a natural description of the ancient garbage dump where the fire was kept burning and where there were always maggots present. Can we use this description of a natural garbage dump to prove the existence of a literal hell?

The Bible repeatedly indicates that the wicked will be destroyed, such as Psalm 145:20: "The LORD watches over all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy." (NIV) God's consuming fire will *consume* all evildoers. While it's described that those who enter hell will be "tormented," we must remember that both hades and death will be cast into hell. Can death be tormented in any sense of the word? There are explanations of what "torment" in revelation actually means (that it refers to a feeling of utter anguish and hopelessness due to the prospect of eternal destruction). While they may explain the case with wicked people, it can't explain the case concerning hades and death, as death cannot experience any kind of feeling. You may believe in a literal hell, but the verses I supplied in my last reply more than enough show that hell is not a literal burning place.