God is Good but he isn't always nice
So, I have been busy reading a lot of books lately. Some Christian fiction, some theology, some philosophy, and some teachings. While reading the other night, I had a strange epiphany: God is Good but God is not nice.
Let's talk about that. If we read the Old Testament carefully, at times, it can be quite shocking with examples of God commanding the killing of people; or in the case of the flood - causing the killing of people Himself. One of the most prolific was when God told the Israelites to eliminate ALL of the Cainites. A particular point of struggle for some Bible readers is the commands that seem to be about annihilating entire groups of people. When we read about God commanding the Israelite soldiers to kill men, women, and children, we may start to wonder if God is good.
However, you must not let any living thing survive among the cities of these people the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance. You must completely destroy them – the Hethite, Amorite, Canaanite, Perizzite, Hivite, and Jebusite …. (Deut. 20:16-18)
Now go and attack the Amalekites and completely destroy everything they have. Do not spare them. Kill men and women, infants and nursing babies, oxen and sheep, camels and donkeys. (1 Sam 15:3)
Ok, the Canaanite people - they worshiped and sacrificed to idols, engaged in temple prostitution, depraved acts of bestiality, corruption, and even murder was acceptable. Now the questions everyone asks.... If God is a good God, why is there evil in the world. Well, lets go back to this story - the Canaanite people were evil in the eyes of the Lord and he commanded them eliminated. Let me also clarify, God gave them opportunity to know Him and repent, they rejected God.
Wow, Ok. So the good God removed the evil but he was not nice and not good because he eliminated a people. That feels like a very struggling argument. If He doesn't eliminate evil he is not good, if he eliminates evil people he is not good. Both of those arguments are actually wrong in my opinion. I believe God is good because he doesn't control us like robots - we have free will. Free will to even make bad, and in some cases evil, decisions. This means that there will be evil and God may choose to eliminate that evil; however, He would rather continue to try and get through to His children and save them.
That is where we come in, Christians. Hate the sin, not the person. Keep trying to reach them and tell them the Good News. Keep working through God to turn them away from their evil ways.
That is my 2-cents....
I completely agree with this sentiment.