Wednesday: The Irrationality of Evil
All four of these men, believers in God, believers in a God of justice, found themselves in a dilemma: how to explain Job’s situation in a rational and logical manner that was consistent with their understanding of the character of God. Unfortunately, they ended up taking a position that turned out basically wrong in their attempt to understand evil, or at least the evil that befell Job.
Image © Mark Lawrence from GoodSalt.com
Ellen G. White offers a powerful comment in this regard. “It is impossible to explain the origin of sin so as to give a reason for its existence. . . . Sin is an intruder, for whose presence no reason can be given. It is mysterious, unaccountable; to excuse it is to defend it. Could excuse for it be found, or cause be shown for its existence, it would cease to be sin.” — The Great Controversy, pp. 492,493.
Though she uses the word sin, suppose we replaced that word with another word, one that has a similar meaning: evil. Then the quote could read: It is impossible to explain the origin of evil so as to give a reason for its existence. . . . Evil is an intruder, for whose presence no reason can be given. It is mysterious, unaccountable; to excuse it is to defend it. Could excuse for it be found, or cause be shown for its existence, it would cease to be evil.
So often when tragedy strikes, people will say or think: “I don’t understand this.” Or “This doesn’t make sense.” This is precisely what Job’s complaint had been about all along.
There is a good reason that Job and his friends can’t make sense of it: evil itself doesn’t make sense. If we could understand it, if it made sense, if it fit into some logical and rational plan, then it wouldn’t be that evil, it wouldn’t be that tragic, because it would serve a rational purpose.
Look at these verses about the fall of Satan and the origin of evil. How much sense does his fall make? (Ezek. 28:12–17).
Here’s a perfect being, created by a perfect God, in a perfect environment. He’s exalted, full of wisdom, perfect in beauty, covered in precious stones, an “anointed cherub” who was in the “holy mountain of God.” And yet, even with all that and having been given so much, this being corrupted himself and allowed evil to take over. What could have been more irrational and illogical than the evil that came to infect the devil?
| What is your own experience with how irrational and inexplicable evil is? |
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The fact that evil is irrational and inexplicable is evidence that we do not belong to this world. Our hearts yearn for peace and love and a happiness of a divine similitude which this world cannot provide with all its evil. Like an unborn child in a mother's womb existing in a lonely, confined, dark and wet place; the fact that the child has hands to touch, legs to walk and eyes to see is evidence of an existence of a world outside the womb where these organs would find expression. Likewise the world is the womb of the universe where the children of heaven are conceived. Many things will not make sense in this world and this is because we are being molded and perfected for an existence outside this world where our deepest spiritual yearnings will find full expression. Hebrews 2:10.
Jackson you have made a very profound statement that clarifies the purpose of our existence
As the baby is born to live outside the womb so will we be reborn in God's timeless spaceless realm
Praise the Lord
On the topic of Satan i don't understand why he in all that splendor wanted more
It's ridiculous how pride greed and envy could destroy him
Instead of precious jewels he had coals
Exactly! I agree with you! Today, there are so many children that are just like that; their parents give them almost everything they want, but they still want more. They are ungrateful for what they already have, and they are unholy (the way that they speak to their parents is an embarrassment). We need to pray for our Youth everywhere, that they will wake up and see that the world doesn't revolve around them, but that God have given them a purpose to fulfill in their lives and in their communities.
Right now, most of our children, at least here in America, are thinking about what they want for Christmas (I want this, I want that, more, more, more). I recently heard of an idea that one family had: they told their children to write down what they wanted for Christmas. When the children had finished writing down all the items they wanted, the parents told them that those items would be given away to charity this year, so that someone less fortunate would have a good Christmas season. To the parents surprise, the children didn't have a temper tantrum. The children agreed with their parent's idea, and now the children embrace that idea every Christmas. The story didn't say whether or not the children receive gifts on Christmas; I'd like to think that the parents give them a few gifts for their humility. Also, this idea allowed the children to see that there are other children less fortunate, or suffering, than they are, and it got the children in the habit of giving or doing community service for the rest of their lives. But the most important thing it teaches is for children to think about others, and less about themselves (to not be so selfish). Be blessed.
Jackson, you bring out a very interesting observation and development of thought in this statement. It occurs to me that our condition that prevents us from being born into the infinite Love of God with all of the peace and joy etc., is our own SELFISHNESS.
True Love is something that comes from God and we can only experience it when we allow His Holy Spirit to motivate us with This infinite Love. With this Love we can be born into a realm of existence that we were made for but have not experienced until we are "born" of it by the Holy Spirit as Jesus spoke of to Nicodemus.
Or as Jesus also taught it, only the pure in heart "shall 'see' God". (Matt 5:8)
I agree to what Mr. Jackson has said and in addition to that, my opinion the fact that we are living in this world, every person knows that the devil is here. Also the problem is that we people want to fufill our needs in this world. Yes it's possible but not to the fullest level that one might want.
And I think that for a person to sin there is a process the same when a person wants salvation.
B4 a person sins and then wants salvation there must be a temptation. Once fail to defend/defeat the temptation, it is a sin but when defended its success leads to salvation
God created us for a purpose. Every thing of this world is vanity. The sinful nature of this world makes believers in Christ to be unhappy,but as children of God like Job our target and hope is to inherit the kingdom of God.
Just as no explanation is rich enough to rationalize evil, so also is there any logics to some of human sufferings.
The Brazilian team traveling to Colombia thought they were chasing a lifelong dream until fate met them in the most cruel manner.
The tears of joy they shed after the COPA SubAmericana semi-final victory suddenly changed to tears of pain and agony.
The only meaning evil offers is the certainty of the existence of that "monarch of Tyre". It is testament that Satan is real and fuels our hope of seeing that great day, when the day comes that the master of deceit, the accuser of God's saints.....the tempter of man and architect of suffering will be chained and destroyed. That is my hope, our hope and the hope of all believers.
Jackson, great illustration! Well articulated! Well thought out! I never would have thought about it in that way.
May God continue to bless you,
God wanted us to live a holy life when he created our parents Adam and Eve, he made them holy and made them rulers of everything in the earth, Psalm 8:4-6
My own experience with how irrational and inexplicable evil is, is that evil/sin appears when our minds are weak, when in doubt and Uncertainty. We question why! We cannot explain it. It is mysterious, unaccountable, it is an intruder. God's love have given us enough reasons to fulfill that love. He said, if you love me, keep my commandments, if you don't, then you are in transgression of the law which is sin and sin is evil.
God is not responsible for evil, All good things come from God, James 2:17. Ezekiel 28:12-27. But in obedience of God's law, we have the opportunity to be with our Saviour. Thank God for the provisions he had made for uou and I. God bless you.
I like this point of Karin which says that giving in to evil/sin comes when the mind is weak.
This is true because when the mind is weak a person cannot be able to stand in any way.
If temptation comes you can concur since you are weak in mind.
If we keep strong in the Word, then temptation is not as strong. We have to keep focused on the Word so, we won't be tempted to fail.
Job was perplexed because it seemed out of character for God to allow such an obvious, direct judgment to fall on the righteous. It would also be out of character for God to bring any judgment against sinners without any warning or entreaty and promise of forgiveness.
Job's friends jumped to wrong conclusions by basing their judgment on circumstances and not truth. They had not one shred of evidence to convict Job of any sin, yet assumed guilt because of the circumstances only. They knew ABOUT God, but didn't have a true knowledge of His purposes and manner of dealing justly.
Our background knowledge of what was going on and why helps us to realize the truth of God's word(Ps 119:165), and that Job indeed had an unshakable faith. Even the most perplexing circumstances did not lead him to forsake his perfect trust and hope in God his redeemer. This story has encouraged many throughout the succeeding generations.
The quote from Ellen is not the same when replacing "sin" with "evil" as I understand it. SIN is an irrational, selfish choice made against the Law of the LORD, which is “perfect” (sound, complete), sure, right, etc(Ps 19), and thus sin makes no sense to the soul not blinded by sin himself. However, EVIL is easy to explain as the sure result of sin. The two, while inseparable are not the same thing. SIN brings EVIL, which is why SIN is a transgression, and EVIL will always be the sure result of sin. If we see evil, we know sin is the cause. One is the seed(by choice), the other the fruit(result). Sure, evil cannot be excused, and is an intruder, but we can explain it's cause and reason for it's existence; someone chose to sin.
If you decide to ignore the law of gravity and take the shortcut back to camp from Half Dome in Yosemite by jumping off the north face, others would wonder WHY you did that, but they would not be wondering why you died from the impact at the bottom. The choice is a mystery, but the inevitable results would be expected.
I love the analogy given with the baby in mothers womb. Wonderful.
This is what came to my mind after reading this lesson.
As we visit with God every day so that we may know Him; and as we choose His ways when tempted by our own sinful natures, our minds are being transformed to the point where we see only good and dismiss the evil around us. Then the evil cannot touch us or cause us to sin in response or judge when it is not our place to do so. We are set free to love not only those who love us, but also those who are our enemies.
I am now finding this true when I offer the advice I see from heaven to bring healing to someone who is struggling against the sin surrounding them.
Loving the differentiation made by Robert, But in the case of Job, evil befell Job not as a consequence of SIN but as a result of righteousness. In a way you saying the terrible results of sin, woe and desolation (things that befell Job) are a direct consequence of sin, if you fall of a building you surely die. Now how then did a righteous man suffer the consequences of sin is perplexing, it therefore gives me a conclusion that evil is directly proportional and inverse to sin thereof. Also since Job was blameless Satan employed evil to tempt Job to sin, therefore sin can also be a consequence of evil.
Mandlenkosi, Job's friends did "sin" in their false accusations (displeasing God in the process) because of the evil, yet that evil that afflicted Job was the result of sin wasn't it? Not Job's sin, but the men who came and stole Job's property by yielding to Satan's control, and the sin of evil angels that did the rest. God saw this would work for good in exposing to the universe the true character of Satan and show his accusations against God's government as false, and even more so due to the fact that a man fully innocent of any wrong doing was so woefully afflicted when Satan was free to work his will. What an important lesson for all who would be part of God's eternal kingdom! One sin cherished will lead any to eventually exhibit the same evil character as Satan's.
Yes, Job's righteousness made him a target of Satan's evil, but was not the cause of that evil. Satan's madness (what else can we call it?!) was the cause.
To ask the questions regarding the reason for sin, also explains why you a finite being, would also ask questions like, what is beyond the universe? If the answer is not found in Isiah 55:8,9, then get some sleep. God had a rather satisfactory method and reason in Ezekiel 28, and Revelation 20. Any questions that are seen as unexplainable will find answers in the New Earth and curiosity may have disappeared.