May 26, 2026 Show with Dr. David A. Harrell on “God, Evil, & Suffering: Understanding God’s Role in Tragedies & Atrocities”

Live from historic downtown Carlisle, Pennsylvania, home of founding father James Wilson, 19th century hymn writer George Duffield, 19th century gospel minister George Norcross, and sports legend Jim Thorpe.

It's Iron Sharpens Iron. This is a radio platform in which pastors, Christian scholars, and theologians address the burning issues facing the church and the world today. Proverbs, chapter 27, verse 17, tells us iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.

Matthew Henry said that in this passage, we are cautioned to take heed with whom we converse and directed to have in view in conversation to make one another wiser and better. It is our hope that this goal will be accomplished over the next two hours, and we hope to hear from you, the listener, with your own questions.

And now, here's your host, Chris Arnson.

Good afternoon, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, and the rest of humanity living on the planet Earth who are listening via live streaming at ironsharpensironradio .com. This is Chris Arnson, your host of Iron Sharpens Iron Radio, wishing you all a happy Tuesday on this 26th day of May, 2026.

God, Evil, and Suffering and the Theodicy Question

I am so absolutely thrilled to have a returning guest today. His name is Dr. David A. Harrell. He's an author and senior pastor and teacher at Calvary Bible Church in Jolton, Tennessee, and we are going to be addressing today the theme of one of his books, God, Evil, and suffering, understanding God's role in tragedies and atrocities.

We're also going to be announcing Dr. David A. Harrell's speaking engagement at the next biannual free Iron Sharpens Iron Radio Pastors Luncheon in Loisville, Pennsylvania, on October.

1st.

And it's my honor and privilege to welcome you back to Iron Sharpens Iron Radio, Dr. David A. Harrell.

Well, thank you, Chris. It's my honor to be with you once again.

And if you could please, once again, describe the church where you are serving as an undershepherd, as senior pastor and teacher, Calvary Bible Church of Jolton, Tennessee.

Yes, we are an independent Bible church with a robust Reformed soteriology. We actually exist about 20 miles or so outside of downtown Nashville, and we're basically a commuter church rather than a community church, because so many of our people commute to the church rather than live in kind of the rural area where we are.

But it's a wonderful group of people that dearly love Christ. And it's been my honor and my privilege to be their pastor from the beginning. I've been there going on 32 years now. And so it's a real joy to serve Christ.

And what's amazing is when you're an older pastor and you've been there a long time, I'm now marrying young people that I saw come into the world. Wow. And that's an exciting thing. Amen.

And that's a rare thing for a pastor to be in one church that many years. And it's always a joy to hear that there are men of God such as yourself that have stuck it out for decades in one congregation.

Well, we certainly give God the glory, and He's taught me much while I've been there. And God has just blessed our church, and we rejoice in that. And we're very committed to expository preaching. John MacArthur was my friend and mentor, and I was on the Bible faculty out there for a while to help them get their biblical counseling program up back in the mid -90s.

And so that's kind of my roots. And in fact, we still have a lot of people moving from California. We call them refugees, you know, moving from California to Tennessee. And we have a number of people from Grace Community Church that are part of our church now.

So it's just fun to see God's providence work in ways that you never expect.

Amen. If anybody would like to find out more about Calvary Bible Church of Jolton, Tennessee, you can visit their website, cbctn .org, cbctn .org. Well, what we are discussing today is really one of the most important topics that exists within the Christian faith.

It is a topic that's known as the theodicy, a defense or vindication of a good God who rules over a world filled with evil and tragedy. And there are many people who claim that they don't believe that that kind of a God could exist.

They will use this as an excuse for remaining an atheist or an agnostic, or at least they'll use that as an excuse of their refusal to bow to Jesus Christ and follow him and become his disciple. And it is even an issue, the answer to the question, why is there so much evil and suffering in the world if God is good?

The answer to that question has even divided Bible-believing Christians. Those who are Reformed will typically answer that question in a very different way than those who are not Reformed. But first of all, why don't you tell us what led you to first write this book?

Because there are a number of books that have been in print, some of them for centuries, some of them more recent in the 20th and 21st century, even by wonderful and solid authors. I can think of two books, for instance, that I have given away many, many, many times over the years to people going through suffering in their life, some kind of a painful trial.

I have given them Surprised by Suffering by R .C. Sproul, and I have also given away very often Trusting God Even When Life Hurts. And I don't know why the author's name is escaping me right now. I interviewed him at least twice on my show.

He's in heaven now with the Lord, Jerry Bridges. Jerry Bridges, right. Yeah, and they've updated the book to just having the title Trusting God. I prefer the original title, Trusting God Even When Life Hurts.

But what made you come to the point where, you know, there are books out there, but I've got something to say that is not quite addressed in those existing books. And I think that there needs to be another one on the shelves of Christian libraries.

Well, brother, it's not so much that I thought the others left things out. And you're right, there are great works that are out there. But quite frankly, what I wanted to do with this book is write it in a very succinct way in a small book that I could give to people that wouldn't be intimidating to them, that would essentially summarize some of the great truths that I believe are essential to answering issues pertaining to theodicy.

I mean, most people don't know what that word means, and that's fine. But in fact, this book is only, I don't know, 85 pages. It's a small book. I've written eight small ones. I kind of call them mini books.

They're in a series, a compact expository pulpit commentary series. And they're on various issues that I've run across on a regular basis with people that I've counseled. For 10 years prior to coming into the pastorate, I was in biblical counseling and was working especially with highly visible Christian leaders, and I was doing seminars and all those things.

And I found that there are certain topics that people don't understand, and rather than giving them a large book and having them read it, I've come up with some smaller ones that kind of summarize these things.

And I really think you could probably take this book and put it in your back pocket of your blue jeans, you know, so it's about that size.

Sounds like the ideal book for churches to stock up in their lobbies, or as some churches call them, their narthex, where they have tract racks and other things that they give away. This sounds like the ideal kind of a book.

Yeah, and that's what a lot of people are doing, and they're also great for home fellowship groups, Sunday school classes, you know, that type of thing. And so I would humbly say that there are others who have treated this much more eloquently and much more exhaustively.

And so I really stand on their shoulders. But the purpose in writing this book was to essentially give a brief overview and understanding with people or to people that might be overwhelmed. I mean, the very topic itself can be overwhelming to a lot of people, and I certainly don't want to be divisive in it.

And I know there are people that would differ with me. There are many brothers and sisters who will tend to disagree. But anyway, so that's why I wrote the book.

And when someone approaches you, as I'm sure in your decades of pastoral ministry and perhaps even before you became a pastor, just living life as a ordinary born-again believer in Christ, I'm sure you have encountered many folks, as I have, even though I am not a pastor, I have encountered many folks who immediately will throw that in your face, very often not as a humble inquirer who is truly seeking truth about God in a world filled with evil and suffering.

And sometimes that may be the case. But more than not, it's typically people with anger and disgust and even mockery in their voice. How could you believe in a good God when we see everywhere around us evil and suffering?

Every day on the news, we see it. Everybody that I know has some kind of tragedy in their life with a loved one, at least, who is suffering, if they are not themselves suffering. So what are the basic truths that you will walk someone through and challenge with that?

Yeah, and you're absolutely right, I've run across this countless times, and you tend to see people either attack or try to rescue the character of God for allowing evil to enter into his perfect creation for reasons, frankly, he never discloses.

In fact, God makes no attempt to justify his actions, nor is he subject to any human court, although man tends to put him on trial by using principles of justice based on his own fallen desires and wisdom rather than the principles that God has laid out in his Word.

And so, you know, when people attack God like that, I always want to respond very graciously and say that I can understand your frustration because it is a difficult thing to understand. But I believe God has revealed to us in his Word the answer to that question.

But in order for you to understand what he has to say, there has to be a humbling of your heart to hear him. And if you're beginning with, you know, shaking your fist in his face, you're probably not going to respond well.

Of course, in the back of my mind, I know and you know that, you know, to the natural man, the things of the spirit are foolishness and he cannot understand them because he's spiritually discerned and he can't grasp these things until he's born again.

But I always want to tell them in a very kind way that I believe God has revealed in his Word that he has, because he is sovereign over all things and because he is omniscient, meaning he knows all things, and because he is all-powerful as well, then therefore, God has ordained to allow evil to enter into his perfect universe in order to dramatically display his glory.

And that kind of shocks people. But, well, how does he do that? Well, he does that by demonstrating in a very dramatic way his wrath, his justice, his love, his mercy, his redemption. All of those things that we see in his character are put on display because of the fact that he ordained evil to enter into his perfect universe.

And, of course, I always point out the most dramatic example of that is the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ. The greatest evil of all was perpetrated upon him. And yet we see that, you know, as Peter said, that this man delivered up, he was delivered up by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God.

And Peter and John even say in Acts 4, in verse 27, "...for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel.".

And then he says this, "...to your hand and your purpose predestined to occur.". Now, while I won't go into all of the details of those things, I would at least like to offer that as an example. And, of course, there are many others in Scripture.

And so to answer your question, it is something along that line that I typically use to engage them, but I always want to use that as a springboard to the bigger issue, and that is the gospel. Do you know and do you love Christ?

And do you submit to His lordship, to His Word, et cetera, et cetera? And of course, typically with the angry person shaking their fist in God's face, the answer is no. Amen.

And one of the significant things that separates even Christians, the Reformed from the non-Reformed, the anti-Calvinist, is the belief among the non-Reformed that there is purposeless evil that continues to rage in this world.

And for some reason that I don't understand and perhaps never will understand this side of glory, they seem to find more comfort, or at least they say they do, find more comfort in believing that the person that they know and love who either is ravaged with cancer or hit by a car and killed or the little child who develops leukemia and dies or perhaps is even aborted in the womb of a loved one after days and perhaps up to the final hours of pleading with the person not to murder that unborn baby and they go through with.

It.

They seem to hold on to an idea that God is completely separate from these things, and therefore, it is purposeless, really. And in fact, I can remember how upset I was. I was the only Calvinist that worked for a major radio station in New York City.

And right after 9 -11 occurred, one of the worst tragedies on American soil in our history as a nation, the station began airing vignettes, if you will, brief messages by pastors all over the tri-state area of New York who were seeking to give comfort and hope to the listeners.

And there were actually some pastors saying on the air, don't you believe the lie of the devil that God had anything to do with this? And I remember being utterly dismayed and shocked hearing this, and even more disappointed that the radio station would air those messages.

But if you could, isn't this such an unbiblical worldview that in no way could truly give the heart of a Christian peace and joy, even if they claim it does?

God's Sovereignty, Human Responsibility, and the Crucifixion of Christ

Right. I don't find that to be helpful, primarily because it's at loggerheads with what Scripture teaches, and a lot of times people don't really want to look at the many passages that would refute that.

I mean, at a most fundamental level, they are denying not only the sovereignty of God, but the omniscience of God and the omnipotence of God, that somehow there are things that are random in the universe, when in fact, as you look at the various passages of Scripture, you see just the opposite.

I mean, there are so many passages that describe God's absolute and total rule over everything. There is not a random rogue molecule that exists, and if there was, then He wouldn't be the God that He is, the God of the Bible.

And so to say that all of these things are purposeless or without purpose is contrary to what Scripture teaches. But also, I personally and many others do not find comfort in that, because what else is random out there?

What else is outside of God's control? What else in this evil world is beyond hope, beyond rescue, beyond redemption? I mean, do we really have a God that is just responding to things? Because essentially, I've got some Armenian brothers and sisters who hold that position that basically God merely allows the possibility for evil to exist, because He's got to give His creatures freedom of choice and thereby guarantee that man's choices are always meaningful.

So they would argue that God doesn't ordain or in any way cause sin to come into existence, and He's not responsible for evil or for suffering. He just responds to these things. Rather than understanding that while God never directly acts wickedly, nor does He take pleasure in evil, we see in Scripture that He indirectly brings it about through individuals who voluntarily exercise their own will and are thereby held accountable for their actions.

And we see that He has once again ordained to allow these things to happen, and they happen through the voluntary choices of moral creatures, in order, as I say, to display His glory through His holiness, His wrath, mercy, grace, love, power, etc.

And when you look at evil out there, I mean, there are so many different types of evil. Typically, if I can remember some of my theology here, there is natural evil, which is just, you know, decay and death and sickness and viruses and volcanoes, right?

I mean, there's calamity. This world is filled with natural evil. Well, why is that? Is that outside of God's sovereign control? Is that just happening? And then, of course, there's moral evil that is personal.

Shall we say it's internal? It's spiritual evil, just the wickedness in man's heart. I think of Romans 3 .12, it says that there is none who does good, there is not even one. And then beyond that, there is supernatural evil.

I mean, John tells us that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. And then finally, we would say that there's eternal evil in hell. And so the question is, since evil exists and since God exists, you know, is he not sovereign over those things?

Are all of those things just happening outside of the realm of his decree and the realm of his superintendence, out of the realm of his divine providence? And if so, my goodness, what kind of God is that?

And so I personally do not find comfort in that other argument that you just mentioned for that reason, but also because Scripture just refutes that, I humbly believe, in many places.

And we have to go to our first commercial break right now. And if you have a question of your own for Dr. David A. Harrell, our email address is chrisarnsen at gmail .com, C-H-R-I-S-A-R-N-Z-E-N at gmail .com.

As always, give us your first name at least, your city and state of residence, and your country of residence. If you live outside of the USA, please only remain anonymous if your question involves a personal and private matter.

And a topic like this, it's a no-brainer that we may be evoking people to send in very personal and private questions whenever you're talking about suffering and tragedy. There may be very well people listening who are going through a painful trial or they have a very close loved one or friend or family member that is suffering in some way and they don't want to identify themselves.

We understand that those kinds of personal issues, you'd like to remain anonymous. But if it's just a general question, please give us your first name at least, city and state and country of residence.

Don't go away. We are going to be right back right after these messages from our sponsors. Hello, this is Brian Nye, president of Hearts for the Lost Ministry. Our sole mission is to serve the local church and work directly with and alongside pastors and elders with their efforts to equip, excite, and educate their flock in biblical evangelism.

We also provide practical experience opportunities in sharing the gospel directly within your immediate community. We accomplish this mission with training and Christ-centered outreach events designed to equip the church and proclaim the good news of the gospel.

Our services are always 100 free. If you're looking to equip and mobilize your church for faithful gospel witness, please partner with us. Hearts for the Lost Ministry, serving the church, proclaiming the gospel.

Contact us today at heartsforthelost .com. That's heartsforthelost .com. Now have a heart and go share your faith.

I'm Simon O'Mahony, pastor of Trinity Reformed Baptist Church in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Originally from Cork, Ireland, the Lord in his sovereign providence has called me to shepherd this new and growing congregation here in Cumberland County.

At TRBC, we joyfully uphold the Second London Baptist Confession. We embrace congregational church government, and we are committed to preaching the full counsel of God's word for the edification of believers, the salvation of the lost, and the glory of our triune God.

We are also devoted to living out the one another commands of scripture, loving, encouraging, and serving each other as the body of Christ. In our worship, we sing psalms and the great hymns of the faith, and we gather around the Lord's table every Sunday.

We would love for you to visit and worship with us. You can find our details at trbccarlisle .org. That's trbccarlisle .org. God willing, we'll see you soon.

I'm Phil Johnson, Executive Director of Grace to You with John MacArthur. I've been a frequent guest on Iron Sharpens Iron Radio, and I highly recommend this show. But today I want to tell you about one of its advertisers, Rare Document Traders, far and away my favorite source for quality Charles Spurgeon memorabilia.

Are you looking for that special, unique gift for your pastor or missionary friend or a.

Loved one?

Why not purchase a piece of church history that any believer would cherish? Rare Document Traders is your one-step source for Spurgeon's handwritten manuscripts and letters as well as other rare books and collectible items from church history.

In 15 years that they've been in business, they've earned a stellar reputation in the Reformed community with thousands of satisfied customers all around the world, including me. Visit raredoctraders .com today.

That's raredoctraders .com. Don't forget to mention you heard about them on Iron Sharpens Iron Radio. That's raredoctraders .com.

James White of Alpha and Omega Ministries and the Dividing Line webcast here. Although God has brought me all over the globe for many years to teach, preach, and debate at numerous venues, some of my very fondest memories are from those precious times of fellowship with Pastor Rich Jensen and the brethren at Hope Reform Baptist Church, now located at their new, beautiful facilities in Corham, Long Island, New York.

I've had the privilege of opening God's Word from their pulpit on many occasions, have led youth retreats for them, and have always been thrilled to see their members filling many seats at my New York debates.

I do not hesitate to highly recommend Hope Reform Baptist Church of Corham, Long Island to anyone who wants to be accurately taught, discipled, and edified by the Holy Scriptures, and to be surrounded by truly loving and caring brothers and sisters in Christ.

For more information on Hope Reform Baptist Church, go to hopereformedli .net. That's hopereformedli .net. Or call 631 -696 -5711. That's 631 -696 -5711. Tell the folks at Hope Reform Baptist Church of Corham, Long Island that you heard about them from James White on Iron Sharpens Iron Radio.

I'm Dr. Bill Sousa, Grace Church at Franklin, here in the beautiful state of Tennessee. Our congregation is one of a growing number of churches who love and support Iron Sharpens Iron Radio financially.

Grace Church at Franklin is an independent, autonomous body of believers which strives to clearly declare the whole counsel of God as revealed in Scripture through the person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ.

And of course, the end for which we strive is the glory of God. If you live near Franklin, Tennessee, and Franklin is just south of Nashville, maybe ten minutes, or you are visiting this area, or you have friends and loved ones nearby, we hope you will join us some Lord's Day in worshiping our God and Savior.

Please feel free to contact me if you have more questions about Grace Church at Franklin. Our website is gracechurchatfranklin .org. That's gracechurchatfranklin .org. This is Pastor Bill Sousa wishing you all the richest blessings of our Sovereign Lord, God, Savior, and King, Jesus Christ, today and always.

Welcome back.

If you just tuned us in, our guest today is Dr. David A. Harrell. He's an author and senior pastor and teacher at Calvary Bible Church of Jolton, Tennessee, and we are addressing the theme of one of his books, God, Evil, and Suffering, Understanding God's Role in Tragedies and Atrocities.

If you have a question, our email address is chrisarnson at gmail .com. Chrisarnson at gmail .com. Give us your first name at least, city and state, and country of residence. Only remain anonymous if your question is personal and private.

Before I go to a listener question, I would like you to describe the book you have written. We've already had you on the show to do a full two-hour interview with you on it, but it's been a while. And it's also going to be the theme of your keynote address at my next Iron Sharpens Iron radio pastor's luncheon on Thursday, October 1st, and that is Why America Hates Biblical Christianity.

If you could describe that theme to whet the appetites of our listeners who may want to attend that pastor's luncheon.

Okay, yeah. The subtitle of that book is Pursuing Christlikeness in Times of Mounting Hostility and Apathy. And essentially, what I do there is I cover the Christian's allegiance, the Christian's affection, the Christian's authority, the Christian's assembly, the Christian's adversary, the Christian's assurance, the Christian's ambition, and the Christian's aspiration.

Essentially, what I'm trying to do in that book is explain what's really going on in the world, the greatest of all conspiracy theories, so to speak, and that is the battle between Satan's kingdom and our Lord's kingdom.

And we have two enemies, essentially. We have Satan and his minions along with our own flesh, and we have to see how those things play out together, and they especially play out in the context of culture and politics.

And I just explain, look, here's what's going on politically and therefore theologically, and here's how I believe God would have us respond to those things.

And if anybody who is a man in ministry leadership, whether you're a pastor, an elder, a deacon, power of church, ministry leader, even a businessman making a firm stand for Christ in the business and corporate world, if you'd like to attend this event, it's free, and the next one is on Thursday, October 1st, 11 a .m. to 2 p .m. at Church of the Living Christ in Loisville, Pennsylvania.

And not only is your admission free and your lunch for free and your opportunity to share fellowship with men of God, some of whom will be new acquaintances, and some of them may be old friends whose friendship you will be able to rekindle, your opportunity to hear David A. Harrell speak for free.

It's all free. On top of all of that, every man will leave that place with one and possibly two heavy sacks of free brand-new books personally selected by me and donated by generous Christian publishers all over the United States and United Kingdom.

It's all free, and these luncheons are held in loving memory and tribute to my precious late wife, Julie, whose brainchild these pastors' luncheons are. We began them back in the 1990s on Long Island, New York.

It was all her idea, and she designed them carefully to make sure that pastors would know that they never had to reach for their wallets or they never had to fear that these luncheons were being conducted with an ulterior hidden motive.

They were to know that this was nothing more than a treat to them in honor of their service to Christ and His people serving in the ministry, and I have conducted them in that way ever since she went home to be with the Lord for eternity.

I continue to conduct them exactly the way she designed them, and nobody can ever sell anything at these events. So I hope that you, if you're listening, if you'd like to attend this free event, send me an email to chrisarnson at gmail dot com, chrisarnson at gmail dot com, and put pastors' luncheon in the subject line.

Give me your full name, the full name of your church or parachurch ministry, its location, and the number of men who will be joining you. We do have a listener named Jimmy in Gallatin, Tennessee, and Jimmy is asking a question that comes up nearly every single time on my show whenever we are addressing the issue of God's sovereignty over all things.

Jimmy says, how do you respond to the person that you cannot believe that God has ultimate control over everything unless you also believe that He is the author of evil?

And the answer to that is because he says that He is not the one that causes evil, He is the one that has allowed it to enter the world through the voluntary choices of other people, and there's a big difference there.

However, I will say that this whole thing is an inscrutable mystery to us. God does not justify His actions. In fact, there is no Scripture passage where God provides a clear explanation of the origin of evil and His purposes in it.

You won't find it anywhere, and yet He affirms His goodness and His love on virtually every page of Scripture. And I believe the absence of such a defense speaks to His unwillingness, frankly, to stand before the biased bar of fallen human reason and justice.

And I would also humbly add that, for me, it serves as a rebuke to all who would dare shake their fists in God's face and demand that He defend Himself. He just doesn't do that. I mean, who is the pot?

Why would the pot ask the potter, you know, why did you make me this way? And so there are no good answers other than what we see in Scripture, that He is in control of all things, and that for His own purposes and for His own glory, He ordained to allow evil to come into the world.

And we see passages where He takes full responsibility of that. You know, for example, we see that in the crucifixion of Christ, as I said a little bit earlier. In Isaiah 45, verses 6 and 7, He speaks of that.

At the end, it says, He is the one forming light and creating darkness, causing well-being and creating calamity. I, the Lord, who does all these things. And Jeremiah, the prophet, lamented in Lamentations 3 .38, is it not from the mouth of the Most High that both good and ill go forth?

The prophet Amos says, if a calamity occurs in a city, has not the Lord done it? And you just see examples of this, and you know, in the life of Joseph, you will recall, as for you, you meant it for evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive, and so forth.

And of course, Romans 9 especially addresses that issue, and I cover that in the book. So you know, again, there are no easy answers. And frankly, I've got, even right now, family members fighting cancer.

I lost my dear sister to breast cancer back about 10 years ago, and I've got a number of people in the church with horrible things happening to them. But I can tell you that I hear from these people saying, look, I want this to go away, I hate this, this is a horrible thing, but I trust God.

I know that He's in it, He's always up to something. I trust His sovereign care for me. I know that even by allowing this to happen, it's ultimately for my good and His glory. I can't explain it, I just trust Him.

And they find great comfort in that, and I find great comfort in that. Rather than trying to deny His sovereignty, which would therefore assume that there are things that just happen randomly, and now all of a sudden, we really don't have a God.

We certainly don't have the God of the Bible. Yeah.

In fact, I know that some of my listeners may roll their eyes right now because I'm going to read a text of Scripture that I frequently cite on the show in opposition to those who refuse to believe that God has anything to do with atrocities and evil events that occur in history.

I will remind them of 2 Samuel 12, where we have Nathan the prophet challenging and rebuking King David, who had not only committed adultery with Sheba, but also arranged to have her husband murdered on the battlefield in order to cover up the pregnancy of Bathsheba that David was responsible for.

He was the biological father of this child, and he had Uriah the Hittite murdered. And God, speaking through Nathan the prophet, says, let's see, in 2 Samuel 12, if you start at verse 10, Now then, the sword shall never leave your house, because you have despised me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.

This is what the Lord says, Behold, I am going to raise up evil against you from your own household. I will even take your wives before your eyes and give them to your companion, and he will sleep with your wives in broad daylight.

Indeed, you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel in an open daylight. And even though God does not have to make men evil, all those who have been born after Adam and Eve have inherited his sin, and God doesn't have to make them evil, but nonetheless in his sovereignty, when he decrees evil acts to occur, he uses evil men to bring about his purpose.

Am I making sense? Am I reaching too far?

Yeah, that's the biblical, that's what I believe Scripture teaches. You know, it's his permissive providence that operates through second causes, we often say. And if I could give another example, this would include not only the evil propensity in Satan and the angelic beings, but also the actual decree that they would eventually rebel.

I mean, that didn't catch God by surprise, he decreed it. And it's interesting, I mean, although all the angelic beings were created originally as very good, as we read in what Genesis 1, the New Testament makes it clear that Satan was a murderer from the beginning, he's the father of lies, right?

And this means that at some time subsequent to his creation, he along with the other angels chose to sin and rebel against God. Now, while in the permissive providence of God, he allowed the ancient serpent to enter his original paradise, we know that from Revelation 12, he also makes it clear that that same serpent and his minions will not be allowed in the final paradise in Revelation 21.

So none of that caught God by surprise. He retained his ultimate control to accomplish his eternal purposes. And for this reason, he says of himself in Isaiah 46, 9, I am God, and there is none like me declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient pines, things not yet done.

And then John also tells us, if I can finish my argument here, as I try to put it together in my mind, he tells us that the devil has sinned from the beginning, referring to the first time that he rebelled against God.