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!
(Partially excerpted from Do You Love Jehovah? God Almighty's Infinite Love & Wisdom to Propel You to Greatness by Shirley Cheng. © by Shirley Cheng. All rights reserved.)
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.