 |
| The Tip Of The Iceberg |
I have often wondered why that
serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan was permitted to come to the Garden
of Eden to cunningly deceive. Or, one may also wonder why the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil was put in the garden in the first place.Adam and Eve lived in the age of
innocence and knew nothing of evil until Adam ate the forbidden fruit and both
their eyes were opened.
At the beginning of Job’s trials,
Satan came before the Lord and the Lord asked him. “Where have you come from?”
Satan replied, “From going back and forth on the earth, and walking up and down
in it.” In the same way that he deceived Eve in the garden, he does this around
the world. The apostle Peter warned us to be careful of our adversary the devil
who walks about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. The thief does
not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.
But God had made a hedge around
Job, and his household, and all he owned so that Satan was not able to touch
him. Job was surrounded by God’s protection until He lifted the hedge and
permitted Satan to attack Job, with the restriction that Satan could not take
Job’s life.
The accuser of the brethren said
that if God permitted this attack on Job, that he would curse God to His face.
But Job did not, proving that his love for God was genuine. At the end of Job’s
trials, God restored the hedge and Job’s losses, giving him twice as much as he
had before, and a long life to enjoy them.
God has given all of mankind
freedom to choose good or to choose evil. We all have a conscience and the
ability to choose which path we are going to take. God is not interested in
robots and prisoners. He wants genuine love in His relationship with mankind, therefore, we're given the ability to make choices.
We humans are free moral agents
with our own choice to be in a relationship with God, or not. Even the angels
had a choice. This is why a third of heaven’s angels were cast out because
they chose rebellion.
We experience wickedness in this
world because of the choices people make. The deceiver beguiles, and people
fall into temptation to commit sexual immorality, murder, selfish ambition, idolatry,
drunkenness, lying, stealing, oppression, and all kinds of other human atrocities,
indignities, and tragedies.
In the movie, The Shack, Heavenly
Father (whom they called PaPa) is having a conversation with Mack Phillips who
lost his little girl to sexual molestation and a cruel murder. Mack is angry
with God because He permitted this horrible thing. God said to Mack that He
does not plan these tragedies but He does use them to bring good out of them,
if and when they occur.
Mack asked PaPa where He was while
his little girl endured this murderous tragedy. PaPa replied, “Mack when all
you can see is your pain then you lose sight of Me.”
Mack reminded PaPa that even Jesus
cried out from the cross, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” PaPa
replied, “Mack, you misunderstand the mystery.” PaPa showed Mack His hands that
also bore the nail prints from the cross, and said, “Don’t ever think that what
My Son chose to do, didn’t cost us both dearly. We were there together. I never
left Him. I never left you, and I never left your little girl.”
So, this brings me full circle back
to my original question of why God permitted that old serpent to come into
the Garden of Eden and deceive Eve in the first place. Why was he given autonomy to screw this thing up? Or why will God permit
him to be released from the bottomless pit after the thousand-year millennial
reign of Christ? Satan will be permitted to go north, south, east, and west to
deceive the nations once again. The Lord’s response to me was…
“What you know of the evil world you inhabit is only the
tip of the iceberg. Submerged 90% beneath the surface of the visible world, are
mysteries too vast for you to comprehend. If you could only see how close I am
to you and how constantly I work on your behalf, you would never again doubt
that I am wonderfully caring for you. This is why you must live by faith, not
merely by sight, touch, taste, hear, and smell… trusting in My mysterious,
majestic presence, trusting in My goodness, trusting in My mercy, grace, and
lovingkindness.”
God cannot completely restrain evil without violating our free
will to choose, and eliminating the possibility of a real relationship with Him
anchored in genuine love, not robotic obedience. Therefore, evil remains in our world, for now. However, He does give His angels charge over us to safely
keep us from hurt, harm, and danger.
To prove the love of those that survive the millennial reign,
God will permit Satan to be released back into the world to test the hearts of
mankind, like gold is tested. As Job declared, “When He has tested me, I shall
come forth as gold.” Also, in the same way that Abraham was tested when he was
told to sacrifice his son Isaac, as a burnt offering. Before Abraham could slay
Isaac, God said, "Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him;
for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your
only son, from Me." Abraham’s love for God was proven to be genuine, even
to himself.
Evil runs rampant in this world because the heart of mankind
is inherently evil. In the days of Noah, the Bible says that the wickedness of
man was great on the earth and that everything they thought or imagined was
consistently and totally evil. It got so bad that it grieved the Lord that He
had made man so He destroyed everything and everyone, except Noah and his
family and started over.
The psalmist David said that we are born in sin and shaped
in iniquity. The apostle Paul in the sixth chapter of Romans labeled us as
slaves of sin, until we come to Christ and are freed from this captivity. He
cried out, “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of
death? I thank God — through Jesus Christ our Lord!” That was the whole reason
for the cross of Calvary… to turn our captivity to sin around and free us from
its grip. Therefore, if the Son of God makes you free, you are free indeed.
The bottom line is, our knowledge right now is partial and
incomplete, and even gifts of prophecy reveal only part of the whole picture
(not the complete submerged iceberg). But when the time of perfection comes at
the end of this age, these partial things will be completely known. Right now,
we see only the tip of the iceberg, but on that day, we will see everything
with perfect clarity.
Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture! But when the time of perfection comes (Jesus' return), these partial things will become useless. Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely. (1 Corinthians 13:9-10, 12 NLT)
Whatever tragedies you have faced or may be
facing at this time, please know that God loves you and He is with you even in
your darkest hour. In that movie, The Shack, God said to Mack, “I want to heal
that wound that’s growing in your heart and creating a gulf between you and
Me.” Sometimes our misunderstanding can create a separation in our relationship
with the Lord, but He is here to heal the wounds in our souls and restore us
completely. Go in peace.
To God be the glory.
Dee Richardson, Voice of the Dove
