Text: "Behold, I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace and create evil. I the Lord do all these things." –(Isaiah 45:7)

The Lord has made all things. Whatsoever is, God is the Maker of it. The Apostle John tells us, "All things were made by Him: and without Him was not anything made that was made." (John 1:3)

Solomon said, "The rich and poor meet together: the Lord is Maker of them all." And Job states, "The deceived and the deceiver are His." So the Lord asked Moses, "Who hath made man’s mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the Lord?" (Proverbs 22:2; Job 12:16; Exodus 4:11)

The Epistle John answers that the Lord has created all things for His pleasure. And, Solomon said of old, "The Lord hath made all things for Himself." (Proverbs 16:4a)

In the verse just introduced, Solomon adds, "The Lord hath made all things for Himself; yea, even the wicked." (Proverbs 16:4a)

According to the conclusion of the verse, the Lord made them "for the day of evil," i.e. for the Day of Judgment. (Proverbs 16:4c)

In like manner, the Lord said to Isaiah, "I form the light and create darkness: I make peace and CREATE EVIL: I the lord do all these things." (Isaiah 45:7) Evil is therefore as much a part of the creation as good.

The prophet Amos confessed, "Shall a trumpet be blown in the city and the people not be afraid? Shall there be evil in a city and the Lord hath not done it?" (Amos 3:6)

The word here translated "evil" can mean "moral evil" as easily as it can mean, "war," as the context indicates. War, although it is justifiable, is nevertheless termed "evil"; so "the men of Benjamin were amazed: for they saw that evil was come upon them." (Judges 20:41)

There are two kinds of evil. Natural evil involves disasters brought about by natural means such as by storms, fire and death. Moral evil concerns sin: original sin, which is the polluted nature which men inherit from their sinful parents, as well as the actual commission of sin.

Indeed they do. Consider first natural evil, and how that Nahum declares, "The Lord hath His way in the whirlwind and in the storm" (Nahum 1:3); and the Psalmist agrees saying that the stormy wind fulfils His Word." (Psalm 148:8)

Next, consider moral evil. It is God’s own testimony that He "created the waster to destroy." (Isaiah 54:16) So, then God would destroy King Ahab, the prophet Micaiah tells how a lying spirit is sent by God into the mouths of Ahab’s prophets and says to the king, "Now therefore, behold the Lord hath put a lying spirit in the mouths of all these thy prophets." (I Kings 22:23)

The Apostle Paul concurs saying of them who received not the love of the truth that they might be saved: "for this cause God shall send them strong delusion that they should believe a lie: that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness." (II Thessalonians 2:11,12)

When He would punish David, God moved the king to number Israel which thing was sin for the king, and his heart smote him. Then God punished him for doing it. (II Samuel 24:1-4; 10-14)

Scripture also tells us that the evil spirit that tormented Saul came from God. (I Samuel 16:23)

This is the reason Isaiah prayed, "0 Lord, why hast Thou made us to err from Thy ways and hardened our heart from Thy fear?" (Isaiah 63:17)

If by the term "Author" of evil is meant that God is the Creator of evil, the answer is "Yes." (Isaiah 45:7) There is only one Creator, and that is God. But if the term is meant that men are without blame when they sin, the answer is "No!" Go is the Creator of evil as He is the Creator of good, but SINFULNESS proceeds from the creature. The fact that men not yet hardened in their sin are conscious of guilt and shame is evidence they are aware that they are responsible for their sinfulness, and are therefore accountable to God.

This is true nevertheless, the teaching of the text must not be ignored first, that God created the waster; and second that the reason why He did it was that the waster should destroy.

No! "Let no man say when he is tempted, ‘I am tempted of God:’ for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth He any man: but every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed." (James 1:13,14) For this reason man will be judged.

No! When God created man, He endowed him with passions which He knew that if man was confronted by certain temptations, he would fall. God could have prevented such temptations from assailing man. He could have prohibited the Tempter from entering Eden. Having perfect knowledge He knew that man could sin, and could have chosen not to make man at all. Yet, the creation of God was "very good."

No! Note first that if Scripture did not explicitly tell us that the Lord creates darkness and that He creates evil (Isaiah 45:7) we might have a right to speculate, but in light of the affirmation of Scripture our speculations would fly in the face of the Lord.

Second, do not take your theology from a heathen. If a heathen underscores the revealed truth of God there may be an occasion to refer to him, but do not confer with an unbeliever as to what the Scriptures teach.

Isaiah faithfully records the Word of the Lord when he says,

"I form the light and create darkness." Darkness is as much a part of the creation as light. God is the Creator of the material world as well as of the immaterial world. He is the Author not only of the concrete, but of the abstract as well.

No! Neither does good originate in the heart of men.

"What saith the Scripture?" (See: Exodus 4:11)

No! It does not, and for this reason: the Law is not sovereign --God is. If a man takes another’s wealth, he may be charged with stealing; but if God takes a man’s wealth who can charge Him with stealing? So, too, if a man takes the life of another, he may be guilty of murder; but if God takes a man’s life is the Almighty guilty of murder?

Plato taught that Law is sovereign, and that even God must obey the Law. The writer of Hebrews answers the problem this way: "He who hath builded the house hath more honor than the house...(and) He that built all things is God." (Hebrews 3:3b, 4) Since God has authored the Law, He, and He alone, is above the Law. Only with God is the adage true that "Might makes right."

No, they do not! II Peter 3:9 is probably the most misquoted verse in the Bible. The verse reads, "The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to USWARD, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance."

Every one of the 21 epistles in the New Testament is addressed to Christians. This epistle is no different. Peter speaks to the "beloved." (Vs. 8) God is not willing that any of His "beloved" should perish seeing it is them upon whom He has set His affections. (Jeremiah 31:3) It is God’s will that all of them in the process of time should "come to repentance" and be converted.

God forbade Paul and Silas to preach the Gospel in Asia, and then in Bithynia. (Acts 16:6,7) So, the Lord did not give Israel "a heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear." (Deuteronomy 29:4) Sometimes God exercises His right to withhold such graces that are effective in the conversion of others. So, Jesus spoke in parables "that seeing they may see and not perceive; and hearing they may hear and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted and their sins should be forgiven them." (Mark 4:12)

"Now I can see what the Lord Jesus means when He said ‘Many are called, but few are chosen.’ (Matthew 22:14) Many hear a general call when the Gospel is preached, but only those people who are chosen will hear a specific, a personal call, of God as the Holy Spirit convicts them of sin, of righteousness and of judgment.

"Blessed be the name of the Lord; for ‘of Him, and through Him, and to Him are all things: to whom be glory forever. Amen." (Romans 11:36)

Editor Augusta Chronicle-Herald:

It is a welcomed sight to again see the difference between laws that make things "legal", and those that maintain things "lawful." I refer to the legalization of abortion and the present hue and cry for the legalization of drugs. Things can be legalized that neither men nor angels can make lawful.

Laws that protect and preserve what is lawful and laws that are based upon expediency are as different as latitude and longitude. The former is based upon the will of God while the latter has no other authority than the will of man. The former is founded upon the eternal decrees of the Creator, while the latter is as changeable as Supreme Court Justices.

Chrysostom declared that when civil authorities take what belongs to God, namely the definition of right and wrong, and legislate what is sinful, to pay such tribute is not being obedient to Caesar, but is doing the work of the Devil. For this reason, it is a rule in the common law of England upon which our law is based, that any statute that in contrary to the law of God is null and void.

Lawful laws are laws written according to the Moral Law which God, the sole lawmaker, has given to mankind everywhere. For this reason, God as Creator and Lawgiver is also the Judge who "shall bring every work into judgment with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil." (Ecclesiastes 12:14)

Sincerely,

(signed)

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