WHY DID GOD PERMIT EVIL?

      Origin of Evil [Part 4 – Why did God permit evil?]

God has power to do anything He likes. He surely has the power to eradicate evil. In this study we will be trying to find out why DID GOD NOT DESTROY THE DEVIL AT THE TIME HE REBELLED, AND WHY DOES HE PERMIT EVIL TO CONTINUE. In answering these questions, let’s study the following parable:

“Another parable put He [Jesus] forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed GOOD seed in His field: But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. So the servants of the householder came and said unto Him, Sir, didst not thou sow GOOD seed in Thy field? From whence then hath it tares? He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.” – Matthew 13:24-30.

1    In this parable, who does the “good sower” symbolize?

“...He that soweth the GOOD seed is the Son of Man...” – Matthew 13:37.

Note: You might recall that when we studied about creation, we find that 6 times, God said “it was good” and the seventh time He said, “it was very good.” And here we find that the Son of Man [Jesus] sows GOOD seed. Just as in creation, we find everything being very good, even here we find that Jesus sowed the GOOD seed.

2    What about the enemy, who does he symbolize?

“the enemy that sowed them [the tares] is the devil...” – Matthew 13:39.

Note: Remember that God didn’t create the Devil, but rather he created Lucifer [a perfect angel] who by his own choice became Satan. And so we find in this parable that Satan works against the will of his heavenly Father, hence he is called the enemy. This enemy does everything when everybody is sleeping, in other words he works in secrecy. “...he worked in the dark, concealing his purpose, that he might more effectively accomplish his object.” His ways are mysterious and strange; yet he presents himself as the angel of light. Read 2 Corinthians 11:14.

3    What do the “good seed” and “tares” symbolize?

“...the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one.” – Matthew 13:39.

Note: Do you still remember from our previous study [Did God create the Devil] how it came to being that Satan came to have angels on his side? “And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon [SATAN],...and his tail[LIE] drew the third part of the stars[ANGELS] of heaven, and did cast them to the earth...” – Revelation 12:3,4. In this parable, we see that the field initially had good seed planted by the Master [Jesus], in other words when the angels were created they were all perfect. Remember we discovered that also Lucifer [Satan] was “perfect in...[his] ways from the day...[he]...was created.” – Ezekiel 28:15. And because of his beauty, pride started developing in his heart. And then he started to circulate his lies around the kingdom of heaven, and these lies are symbolized by his tail in Revelation 12:4. Which means Satan won a number of angels to his side, poisoning them with his lies, and there were now in kingdom of heaven bad angels amongst the good ones; and this is symbolized by the good seed, and tares being found in the same field. “An enemy hath done this.” – Matthew 13:28.

4    Why was it necessary that the good seed and tares grow together till the harvest?

“...The servants said unto Him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But He said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest...” – Matthew 13:30.

Note: When plants begin to sprout, it can be a challenge to tell what plants they are. Even with Lucifer, when the spirit of discontent began to form in his heart, the other angels couldn’t discern. “God in His great mercy bore long with Lucifer. He was not immediately degraded from his exalted station when he first indulged the spirit of discontent, nor even when he began to present his false claims before the loyal angels.” Although God knew exactly what was going on in the heart of Lucifer, yet the angels didn’t know. “Even the loyal angels couldn’t fully discern his character or see what his work was leading [to].” This called forth the need for God to allow evil to develop. “God in His wisdom permitted Satan to carry forward his work, until the spirit of disaffection ripened into active revolt. It was necessary for his [Lucifer] plans to be fully developed, that their true nature and tendency might be seen by all...The true character of the usurper, and his object, must be understood by all. He must have time to manifest himself by his wicked works...His own work must condemn him.” Time was needed for the growth of the evil spirit that was now reigning in the heart of Lucifer. One time, the Saviour said this about those who are not faithful followers of God, “Wherefore by their FRUITS ye shall know them...A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.” – Matthew 7:20,18. Notice that Jesus does not say by their “roots” or “branches” but rather fruits, because fruits reveal exactly what the tree is. As Lucifer was given time to carry out his purpose, his true colours were manifested and seen by all of the heavenly host. If the servants in this parable were allowed to plug out the tares, they might have plugged out some wheat mistakenly or even hurt the wheat as they pulled off those tares and for this reason, they had to “let both grow together until the harvest.” “Until fully developed, sin would not appear the evil thing it was.”

5    Were the creatures of God endowed with spirit of fear?

“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear...” – 2 Timothy 1:7.

Note: The spirit of fear is not from God. You might recall that when Adam disconnected himself from God by sinning, he “was afraid” – Genesis 3:10. “Had he [Lucifer] been immediately blotted from existence, they [the angels] would have served God from FEAR rather than from love. The influence of the deceiver would not have been fully destroyed, nor would the spirit of rebellion have been utterly eradicated. Evil must be permitted to come to maturity. For the good of the entire universe through ceaseless ages Satan must more fully develop his principles, that his charges against the divine government might be seen in their true light by all created beings.”

6    Will the works of the enemy ever be brought to an end?

“Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.” – Matthew 13:30.

Note: “Even when it was decided that he [Lucifer] could no longer remain in heaven, Infinite Wisdom did not destroy Satan...The inhabitants of heaven...being unprepared to comprehend the nature or consequences of sin, could not then have seen the justice and mercy of God in the destruction of Satan.” After the war broke out in heaven, the heavenly host saw that Lucifer had now become the Devil, but then our world still needed time so that we could see as well. Because Satan had been given time to run his course for a period of time, today we know very well that he is not a companion one would want to associate with because his works had unmasked him. Nevertheless, Satan knows that his time is limited; “he knoweth that he hath but a short time.” – Revelation 12:12; so whatever he does, he must do it quickly.