The Lord Creating Evil
S. Conway Jeremiah 52:3 For through the anger of the LORD it came to pass in Jerusalem and Judah, till he had cast them out from his presence… This is one of the passages of Scripture the meaning of which does not lie on the surface. It seems to represent God as instigating sin. For "through the anger of the Lord" it is said "that Zedekiah rebelled." But it was for that very rebellion he was so sorely punished, and yet it is said it was "through the Lord." Note - I. THERE ARE OTHER PASSAGES LIKE THIS. Cf. "the Lord hardening Pharaoh's heart." The history of Judas. "None of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the Scripture might, be fulfilled" (John 17:12). Again," Is there evil in the city and I have not done it?" (Amos 3:6; Isaiah 45:7). And St. Peter's word to the Jews on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:23). They wickedly did what nevertheless God had determined before to be done. And there are yet other Scriptures besides these. II. THEY GIVE ELSE TO GREAT DIFFICULTY. It is not difficult to understand that men should do wrong, or even the particular wrong which is charged against them and for which they are punished; but the difficulty is that the sin should be seemingly ascribed to God. And the Jews seem to have believed that God did prompt men to sin; cf. John 9:1, "Who did sin, this man or his parents in order that (ἱνα) he should be born blind?" The effect, the man's blindness, they looked on as designed and intended by God, and hence the cause producing that effect must have been designed also. As we read over Scriptures like these, the question of Abram starts immediately to our lips, "Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" (cf. Romans 3:5-8). God "may and must transcend our understanding. He will by the very nature of the case dazzle and confound our imagination by the unsuspected riches and glory of his many mansions; but he must not trouble our sense of right if he would retain our homage and our love." But it is this sense of right that is troubled by what seems to be the teaching of Scriptures like these. They seem to teach that God prompts men to sin and then punishes them for it. Some who reasoned with St. Paul appear to have suggested (cf. Romans 3) that in such cases God was "unrighteous'" who took "vengeance." The apostle does not attempt to argue the matter, but treats the suggestion with a sort of "Get thee behind me, Satan," which is what his μὴ γένοιτο really amounts to. And where the suggestion is made from mere captious motives, or with the intent only to support a foregone conclusion and determination to disregard God, then such a reply is the proper one to make. But it can never be other than right to endeavour to meet the honest difficulties which some of the utterances of God's Word and some of the actings of his providence do unquestionably give rise to. If the suggestion were true that God made men to sin and then damned them for it, nothing could be more horrible, and no possible force could make men trust, love, or sincerely worship a God who would act so. But the suggestion is not true; for - III. THE DIFFICULTY IS APPARENT, NOT REAL. God is never the author of sin. "The Lord is holy in all his ways, and righteous in all his works." "Let no man say when he is tempted," etc. (cf. James 1:13). But when sin has been Begotten in a man's soul by his own evil desires, then the special form in which that sin shall manifest itself is very often ordered by God. This is how we understand all these passages. That very Babylon in connection with which this ver. 3 is written may supply an apt illustration. Isaiah calls Babylon "the desert of the sea," for when, by reason of the melting of the snows which fed the Euphrates and her many tributaries, the great river overflowed its hanks, the great plain on which Babylon stood became like a vast sea. But the great Assyrian lords cut their canals and constructed their massive dams and reservoirs so that the superabundant and otherwise destructive waters were directed into safe channels, and could do no further harm. Those monarchs were not the authors of the floods, but by their skill and wisdom they directed which way those floods should flow. On one of our great railways a little while ago, a signalman saw to his horror that an engine had somehow got away without its driver, and was rushing on with ever-increasing speed to its own destruction and that of the first unhappy passenger train - and one was nearly due - that it should meet. Quick as thought the signalman seized his levers and turned the runaway into a siding where it could harm no one but itself. In every large fire the firemen act in a similar way. And so God. When sin has broken out by no will of his, but altogether contrary to his will, he does not let it run riot, as it might, but he orders the way it shall take. Thence it came to pass "through the Lord" that "Zedekiah rebelled against the King of Babylon" (ver. 3). IV. THIS ORDERING OF SIN'S WAY ON THE PART OF GOD IS A THING MUCH TO BE REMEMBERED. 1. For our consolation and comfort. Mad and monstrous as sin is, it is yet under God's control. Like as to the raging sea, he can say and does say to it, "Thus far shalt thou go, and no further," etc., and cf. Jeremiah 5:22. 2. For the warning of the sinner. The flames of the eternal fire are lit within our own soul. Sin is ever twisting and knotting its own scourge. What a man soweth that shall he also reap. The seed of all our punishments was sown by our own hand, though we never intended the harvest. The way sin shall take is utterly out of our power. If it does somewhat that we did intend, it does for men that we never dreamt of nor desired. 3. For instruction to all thoughtful readers of God's Word and beholders of his providence. God "does" the evil that is in the city (Isaiah 45.), but he does not originate it, and that which he does is but the ordering of its way. - C. Parallel Verses KJV: For through the anger of the LORD it came to pass in Jerusalem and Judah, till he had cast them out from his presence, that Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon. WEB: For through the anger of Yahweh did it happen in Jerusalem and Judah, until he had cast them out from his presence. Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.