Speculations on Good and Evil

Most of us have some negative feelings about laws, rules and regulations. The law of God (ten commandments) consists of two tables, the first God-directed and the second man-directed. They can respectively be summed up in the statements: (1) Love God and (2) Love your fellow man. Jesus said these were equal. John claimed that it was impossible for a person who hated a brother, to love God. It is equally impossible for someone who hates God to truly love another human being.

If we analyse the second table (laws relating to our behaviour towards humans) it is not hard to draw the conclusion that if all were to abide by them, the world would be a better place. They are there for OUR good.

What about the first table, loving God? This leads to another question, namely: How do angels commit evil deeds? The Bible seems to indicate that angels existed before human beings were ever created. The word most commonly used for sin means to miss one's aim. It can be likened to shooting at something but missing it. God created everything for a purpose. Some angels craved to be "like God", to become the centre of attention of the rest of creation. They missed their aim.

When God created Adam and Eve he wanted "the good life" for them. But they were infected by the poisonous desire to be "like gods, knowing good and evil". They were driven from Eden which had been "heaven on earth". The ultimate destination of man is the new heaven and new earth. (Hell was created for the devil and his angels.)

The nation and land of Israel serve, amongst others, as an experiment in creating something close to heaven on earth. God wanted to bless them with all the good things they could ever desire. He knew they would appreciate it more if they actually obtained those by hard work. Hence there were giants to conquer. By observing the nations who first lived in Canaan they could see where those who forgot God ended up: The Canaanites served idols to whom they made human sacrifices, and their communities were marked by oppression and cruelty.

God's purpose for his children has never changed: He wants us to be blessed. Probably the biggest lesson we can learn from the history of Israel is that if we love God we will experience "the good life". Probably the most prevailing lie of the devil is that God is not concerned in our well-being. This lie is backed up by the argument: "If he cared about human beings, why is there so much suffering in the world?"

Someone who believes this lie ends up doubting God's love and is tempted in two opposite directions: (1) Testing God by getting into trouble and arrogantly presuming to be saved by him; (2) Working hard at establishing heaven on earth without referring to him.