One of the main questions I get hit with all the time is “why does God let bad things happen? If he is a God of love & mercy, why does he let children in Africa starve to death?” I have an answer, but what would you say?
Discussion
51 comments
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satan is called the “god of this world” for a reason. We are behind enemy lines in a world controlled by satan. If God was in control of everything that happens, why should we bother praying about anything? If God is already in control, why would Jesus need to come back? John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. I heard a very clear word from God about 20 years ago. One simple statement- “It grieves me when I get blamed for acts of satan”
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God is not the author of Bad things. Its mans choice to do bad things as a result there is a consequences..
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God created a perfect world. But due to our sins, we are in a fallen world today. Everything will be new again one day.
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This is a big question. When answering this please use the up most Christ like kindness. People have been through rough things and don’t need a finger wagging in there face.
I would answer by explaining original sin and what that means for us. A free will theodicy, and mostly implement that God came in flesh and suffered with us, giving us a way out of sufferings.
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“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the LORD. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.”
Isaiah 55:8 -
You may find this helpful.
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Mike Winger and Trinity Radio on YouTube have great videos on this question! ?. I highly recommend checking them out
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For one thing the Lord God does not cause this, the evil one walks among us, Unfortunately some of mankind follow his direction, and try to destroy anything good or loving and kindness that Jesus Christ, has brought us on this ?.mark 7 / -33 through 37.God bless you all
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God is sovereign. He does what pleases Him with His creation.
Isa 45:6 — Isa 45:8
That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the Lord, and there is none else.
I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things.
Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness: let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together; I the Lord have created it. -
Perhaps it is not God who is doing this, but humanity
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In other words … Why does God give man choices ?
All these things are the result of man’s sinful choices … Its not God’s fault -
The sad fact of human nature is that we don’t look for God in our good times. We basically ignore the giver and enjoy the gifts.
True contentment and joy comes when we enjoy the giver in spite of the gifts.
We are not defined by our circumstances because, as Christians, those circumstances are only temporary and the God of Glory is permanent.
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God obey his word, he’s not like man. Ponder on that.
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God has given us free will. For example, God says to His creation, us, I have set before you life and death, but choose life that you might live. God wants us to choose Him freely. It is like a romantic relationship. Do you want a woman to marry you because someone put a shotgun to her head? No. You want her to marry you because she like your body, because she loves your personality, because she loves you, meaning your spirit. Well, God is the same way. In fact, this whole thing we call life is really about God finding a wife for His Son Jesus. He allows us to choose Him or reject Him just like in any other romantic relationship because it is a romantic relationship. Those who choose to marry Jesus, meaning get saved and obey Him. Will marry Him on earth, which is salvation. Then we will be taken to His home like other brides are taken to their husband’s home after they get married. And we will live with Him in His home, heaven, which He is preparing for us. And we will reign with Him as His Queen in His Kingdom Paradise. God wants Jesus wife, us, to freely choose or reject Him. When I was looking for a wife, some women rejected me. A few wanted to be my wife. I choose a woman from the women that wanted to be my wife. This is why God allows us free choice. Also, it, free choice, also proves you really love someone. The women who knew they had a free choice to reject me. But the women who had the free choice to rejectme, but accepted me instead prove she loved me. I am still married to one of the women that accept me. This year marks our 25th year of marriage. We had fights, but she stayed with me all these years because she really loved me. If one of the women who didn’t love me were forced to marry me we would have divorced a long time ago because she really didn’t love me. Check out a great comedy by Eddie Murphy that proves this point in a funny way. The movie is called Coming to America. Keep in mind some of what I said to you as you laugh at this comic genius.
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Agree
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At what age would it be appropriate for God to allow choices and consequences? 1 year old, 3 years old, 10 years old? Any age you pick that God could hypothetically not allow anything bad to happen to children would be arbitrarily chosen.
Then what?
Let’s say nothing bad can happen to a kid until they turn 10.
So a kid turns 10, and then blam. Can die. Kid know no consequence, because the kid was immortal and impervious to injury or starvation or sickness. Because the kid is used to being protected they put their finger into an electrical outlet and die. Seems if God protected kids until an arbitrary age, once they were not protected they wouldn’t know consequence, and would die violent horrible deaths.
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Because it brings him glory.
Keller writes that if we knew everything God knew we would choose whatever God chose.
But we cannot. God is infinitely wiser than we are.
Look at the story of Joseph. He was sold into slavery by his brothers, then falsely accused by his master’s wife, then imprisoned, and because all of that happened he was able to rise to the second most powerful position on Earth are that time to save an innumerable people from starving I’m famine. When he met his brothers again he told them, “You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good.”
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Lack of Knowledge –
Hosea 4:6 King James Version (KJV)
6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children. -
The reason that anything bad happens at all is not because God caused it, but rather because of the fall of man. When sin entered the world when Adam and Eve fell in the garden of Eden.
This is the reason evil and bad things happen.
As far as why doesn’t God just stop bad things or whatever from happening. I dont know and there is no shame in saying that. What I can say though is that God loves us and He never causes any of these horrible things to happen. It also doesn’t mean that God doesn’t care and we also don’t know all the reasons and purposes of why things happen. We can know why bad things happen because of a fallen world, but ultimately of why it happened to them or to me is harder sometimes to answer.
Sometimes things could be rationally explained like why did someone’s home get flooded on the coast of Florida? Well hurricanes are common there and flooding is a high probability. So natural causes can help explain a lot of this and sometimes political things also can help explain suffering.
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Some say that without utterly horrific things happening, we would have no freedom of choice. It makes no sense to me.
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There is ample food and resources on this planet for every single person to have all they need. The reason they don’t is because msn us selfish and greedy. This is not God’s doing.
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Follow Ravi Zacharias on YouTube for this one. He is very good apologist. Strongly recommend. As well as on other topics.
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Wrong question. If God is just why does he allow ONLY the children of Africa to starve when there and not all the children of the whole world? In fact why should God do anything at all? As sinners we are deserving of judgement and hell, so why does He put up with any of us in the whole world at all?
By the way, God is loving and merciful but He is also just. He is also long suffering enduring our rebellion for thousands of years, slow to act against us so that we may respond to His call and repent, turn from our wicked ways and be saved. The problem with the sop “children in Africa starving” scenario is what stops God acting decisively against everyone in Africa with His justice because of their continued and unrepentant sinfulness?
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Mans sinful choices and heart. Why do we expect God to intervene. We must accept Him for who He is, not what we think He should be doing for us.
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Part of human fall of sin.. N man choices in the consequences of those choices they make using there freedom or freewill, to do more evil than good.. But if people will obey and Follow God God gonna bless them n their land.. But as you see the heart of man dont humble n repent before God but keep sinning thinking God dont see them. Or thinking there is no God…
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A few thoughts I have are …
– “Why do good things happen to bad people?”
– God sends the rain on both the just, and the unjust – and similarly, God does not exempt His own from suffering on this earth.
– God permits suffering, to remind us that this is NOT paradise!
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The Question should be “why does good things happen?”
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I can refute that question with a question. God is the creator and the God of Justice. So why didn’t he just destroy humanity after Adam and eve sinned? Answer; because He is also a loving God
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I might ask why do you ask these questions instead of doing something about it. That is what a loving God expects. Who are we to say He does not suffer along with us. I might also mention that death is the beginning and comes to all of us. It does not have the same meaning to God as it does us.
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Well if God didn’t let bad things happen, we’d already be living in heaven, wouldn’t we? Atheists seem to want heaven, but they just don’t want God. Tell them they can have that heaven one day, they just need to want God first.
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The fall of man has invoked a curse upon our world, and that is why bad things happen to good people. Jesus said it this way, “..it rains on the just and unjust alike…” Eccl. says “time and chance happeneth to them all”. God allows man the agency of free will. It is man’s bad choices that invoke suffering, tragedy and crisis. There is coming a day when the Lord will return and REMOVE the curse once and for all.
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Simple answer. But not very PC. Bad things happen because we deserve it! We are sinners. By all rights God could decide to wipe out the whole planet and that would be perfectly justified. In his mercy, he doesn’t do that. But he does still allow calamity. But no calamity that hits us on Earth is equal to what we actually deserve.
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You shouldn’t ask that question if you’re not doing all you can to alleviate the suffering in this world — you think you’re more compassionate than God? And even then it’s the wrong question. But, you get my point.
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“That’s a great question, and I don’t know the answer to it.”
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Your question is simple & straight. This is because Africa leaders were full of courteous & self-centered. When they ‘re appointed as a president or head of state, they dont resign at due time rather, they pass on the office to their children or relatives.
God is merciful & doesn’t do things to harm His children. “All things work for good to those that love God.”
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Why does anything good happen in a world that hates God?
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Satan is the prince of the earth until the time that Christ returns to claim His prize that he won at the crucifixion.
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Regarding the righteous man Job, the Devil said to God; “9 ‘Does Job fear God for nothing? 10 Have You not made a hedge around him, around his household, and around all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. 11 But now, stretch out Your hand and touch all that he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face!” (Job 1)
We learn of Satan being in a similar position as an accuser, at Rev.12: “10 Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for **the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night**, has been cast down.”
Since the day that Adam and Eve chose Satan as their god and father; we are under the curse of sin and death. As merciless as it may sound; the God of Justice does not violate free will and the choice Adam and Eve, made. It would actually be wrong of Him, to enable sin to result in blessing and His protection. That would make God, an unrighteous participant and supporter of evil.
What God chose to do, was to make a way out for those who do not love wickedness. We are told that the Lamb of God has a book of life, within which the names of the righteous are written.
But Satan does not want any to be written in that book.
That is why he accuses before God, the integrity of each righteous person. Satan challenges the authenticity of their godly devotion. Satan demands permission to test each of them.
Just as Jesus said to Peter…
“31 And the Lord said, “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has demanded he have you, that he may sift you as wheat. 32 But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.” (Luke22)
Grains of wheat, are “sons of the kingdom” (Matt.13:37-38).
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matt.13%3A37-38&version=NKJV
Being “sifted as wheat” is an unnerving prospect, when one considers that wheat is first cut down, then beaten, then sifted, then crushed under a sledge, then ground under a millstone. That sifting included a death for the sake of the gospel (Rom.6:5; Mark8:35; Rev.6:9-11).
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Rom.6%3A5%3B+Mark8%3A35%3B+Rev.6%3A9-11&version=NKJVBut of that death of the wheat (sons of the kingdom -Matt.13:38), Jesus said;
“24 Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.”Yes, when we do not back down in our testimony of Truth, we have the hope of bringing others sons of the kingdom, to eternal life (“producing much grain”). If we shrink back due to Satanic persecution and fear of death/loss; we manifest that we love our own skin, more than we love the Christ. That was exactly the subsequent challenge of Satan against Job (Job 2:3-5) (Rev.12:10-11).
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Job+2%3A3-5%3B+Rev.12%3A10-11&version=NKJV
Satan sees to it, that each grain of wheat is persecuted to the point of a death for truth. Any who do not back down in their testimony to others, will become his target. Each person granted glory, must earn it in this way.What does all this have to do with the world’s seeming injustices, even upon the innocent?
We are all under the original condemnation. But God has made provision, for those who defy selfish evil, and desire to live for the approval of God, despite Satanic persecution (John3:18).
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+3%3A18&version=NKJV
They desire to cultivate the word in their heart (Luke8:11-15)
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke8%3A11-15&version=NKJV
When the heart becomes filled with God’s Word, it speaks from the heart (Luke6:45).
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke6%3A45&version=NKJV
Like Christ, their love for others, moves them to be willing to die in order to offer others, the saving gospel (John15:13; 6:63; Rom.1:16).
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John15%3A13%3B+6%3A63%3B+Rom.1%3A16&version=NKJV
Such ones are forgiven for their sins, through the blood of Christ (Rev.5:9-10).
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Rev5%3A9-10&version=NKJV
While the world suffers under Satanic dominion; God is collecting an administration of saints… a “new heavens” made up of those with tested integrity. They comprise God’s Temple of His holy spirit (1Pet.2:5; Eph.2:20-22; 1Cor.3:16).
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1Pet.2%3A5%3B+Eph.2%3A20-22%3B+1Cor.3%3A16&version=NKJV
God has a solution in the works, which addresses every injustice suffered under the dominion of the wicked one (1John5:19; 3:8).
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+John+5%3A19%3B+3%3A8&version=NKJV
When completed, that Temple and abode of God, will “come down out of heaven”… to heal every malady and remove every cause for tears (Rev.21:1-5; 22:1-3).
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Rev.21%3A1-5%3B+22%3A1-3&version=NKJV -
I love all these answers! Give me strength to answer the atheists. I’m always struggling to answer them. Mainly because I feel them yelling at me even though I know that doesn’t add credibility to their argument but I still can’t seem to answer.
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It’s because God gave everyone a free will. Govt leaders could make sure everyone is fed but I have heard that they look after themselves lavishly and don’t necessarily worry about the people they say they are serving. Because of sinful natures greed , corruption , etc exists…. It’s too bad but God did not want us to be robots doing HIS bidding….
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Our pastor preached a great sermon on that. Check it out on firstplains.com or the you tube channel. I cannot remember if it was 2 or 3 weeks ago.
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To show mercy and longsuffering, 2 Peter 3:9,
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Much like a parent disciplining their child, our actions have consequences. Why would a loving God spare us from the consequences of our actions when there is a lesson to learn from it.
Also, that puts the onus on God, it is by our evil and sin to why bad things happen in the world.
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A great and complex question which mankind has pondered for thousands of years. Multiple volumes have been written on the “Problem Of Evil”, but since this is Facebook I will need to summarize some points. (Note this is not structured in logical sequence but should give some food for thought)
1.If God is love, it is plausible that human free will would exist.
2. If God wants us to be in His image (also as an act of love), then freedom can be truly consequential and can impact matters of love/hate, life/death, and more. We would also have freedom concerning the most consequential thing, which is whether to commune with and be dependent on our Creator.
3. If free will exists concerning consequential matters, then evil actions and consequences exist.
4. If evil actions and consequences exist, then God in His providence can still allow them (as we argued above that it is plausible that He must allow them), and can use them providentially for the ultimate good of His creation.
5. If evil actions and consequences exist, then God can use natural evil providentially (like earthquakes, tsunamis, and disease) to counteract and reduce willed evil, or to optimize the positive outcomes for all His creatures. God need not decree these evils, but He can allow them as natural consequences of the laws of physics, and can still providentially use them for the ultimate good of His creation.
6. If Christianity is true, then eternal life exists, and if the soul is eternal, then eternal consequences are more consequential than temporal consequences.
7. If God is love and loves every one of His creatures, then He would want their ultimate good, and He would want it for every single one of them. If some can choose to reject that good, then He wants to maximize their motivation to choose it and minimize their motivation to reject it, and He would want to minimize the evil that they do. Sometimes, allowing suffering can achieve this or at least it’s very plausible that it could.
8.Christ Himself (who is God) suffered: “for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” … —> This is a great example of ultimate good resulting from suffering.
9.God will ultimately reverse earthly inequality: “for many last will be first and the first will be last.” In other words, we can be sure that God is able to make things up for those who had a tougher or worse lot on earth, given that suffering is inevitable or plausibly to be expected as argued above.
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God always allows free will;. Anytime a choice is made, it’s possible to make a wrong choice, which results in evil. In order to eliminate evil, God would have to make us robots.
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We are agents of freewill. God created us as such, and because he loves us he had to gives freewill, if we were created with no freewill then no love. 2nd part, if god were to stop all evil from occurring he would, who would he start with, god would have to eliminate humanity
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In the Bible, we learn that men who had deep faith in God also asked such questions. For example, the prophet Habakkuk asked Jehovah: “Why do you make me witness wrongdoing? And why do you tolerate oppression? Why are destruction and violence before me? And why do quarreling and conflict abound?”—Habakkuk 1:3. 4 At Habakkuk 2:2, 3, we read God’s answer to Habakkuk’s questions and His promise to correct the situation. Jehovah has deep love for people. The Bible says: “He cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:7) In fact, God hates to see suffering much more than we do. (Isaiah 55:8, 9) So then, let’s discuss the question, Why is there so much suffering in the world?
Pastors, priests, and religious teachers often say that it is God’s will that people suffer. Some may say that everything that happens to a person, including tragedies, has already been decided by God and that we can never understand why. Others may even say that people, including little children, die so that they can be with God in heaven. But that isn’t true. Jehovah never causes bad things to happen. The Bible says: “It is unthinkable for the true God to act wickedly, for the Almighty to do wrong!”—Job 34:10. Many people blame God for all the suffering in the world because they think that God rules the world. But is that true? The Bible tells us that “the whole world is lying in the power of the wicked one.” (1 John 5:19) The ruler of this world, Satan, is vicious and cruel. He is “misleading the entire inhabited earth.” (Revelation 12:9) Many people imitate him. And that’s just one reason why the world is so full of lies, hatred, and cruelty. There are other reasons why there is so much suffering in the world. After Adam and Eve rebelled, they passed sin on to their children. And because of sin, humans cause other humans to suffer. They often want to be more important than others. They fight, they go to war, and they bully others. (Ecclesiastes 4:1; 8:9) Sometimes people suffer because of “time and unexpected events.” (Ecclesiastes 9:11) When they are in the wrong place at the wrong time, accidents and other bad things can happen to them.
Jehovah never causes suffering. He’s not to blame for war, crime, and mistreatment. God does not cause disasters such as earthquakes, hurricanes, and floods. But you may wonder, ‘If Jehovah is the most powerful person in the universe, why doesn’t he stop those terrible things from happening?’ We know that God cares deeply about us, so he must have a very good reason for allowing suffering to continue.—1 John 4:8.
In the garden of Eden, the Devil misled Adam and Eve. Satan accused God of being a bad Ruler. He claimed that God was keeping something good from Adam and Eve. Satan wanted them to believe that he would be a better ruler than Jehovah and that they did not need God.—Genesis 3:2-5.Adam and Eve disobeyed Jehovah and rebelled against him. They thought that they had the right to decide for themselves what was right and what was wrong. How could Jehovah prove that the rebels were wrong and that he knows what is best for us? Jehovah didn’t destroy Adam and Eve immediately. Instead, he allowed them to have children. Then Jehovah made it possible for the children of Adam and Eve to choose whom they wanted as their ruler. Jehovah’s purpose was to fill the earth with perfect people, and that was going to happen no matter what the Devil tried to do.—Genesis 1:28; Isaiah 55:10, 11.
Satan challenged Jehovah in front of millions of angels. (Job 38:7; Daniel 7:10) So Jehovah gave Satan time to prove whether his accusation was true. He also gave humans time to set up their own governments under Satan’s guidance to show whether they could be successful without God’s help.
For thousands of years, humans have tried to rule themselves, but they have failed. Satan has been proved a liar. Humans do need God’s help. The prophet Jeremiah was right when he said: “I well know, O Jehovah, that man’s way does not belong to him. It does not belong to man who is walking even to direct his step.”—Jeremiah 10:23.Why has Jehovah allowed suffering to continue for so long?
Why does he not stop bad things from happening?It has taken time to prove that Satan’s rule has failed. Humans have tried every kind of government, without success. Even though they have made advances in science and technology, there is more injustice, poverty, crime, and war than ever before. We cannot successfully rule ourselves without God. However, Jehovah has not fixed the problems caused by Satan. If he did, it would mean God supports Satan’s rulership, and He will never do that. Also, humans would believe that they are able to rule themselves successfully. But that is a lie, and Jehovah would not support that either. He never lies.—Hebrews 6:18.
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First off, we’re born spiritually dead and separated from God. Two, It’s the sin and evil from the leaders and groups of people that have power that cause starvation and death, not God. These people are greedy and selfish and not looking out for the interest of the people. They steal and hoard humanitarian aid. How is that God’s fault? Sin from people plays itself out. It’s the free will of the people there in power. God says “vengeance shall be mine saith the Lord”. I have no doubt in my mind that God will have mercy and compassion on the people that starve and suffer. But woe unto those who caused the suffering. We have to remember, that in contrast to eternity, our lives here are like a vapor, like a blink of an eye.
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We live in a sinful, fallen broken world ruled by the father of lies. Man has been left to his own devices
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unsatisfied
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