God's strange act is Him letting his creatures have what they have chosen. It is not an imposed penalty.

Have you read the book of Job?????

Dedication, there are times when Jesus causes disease, death, and destruction. There are times when He commands holy angels and holy men to cause death. There are times when He permits evil men and evil angels to cause death. He is in control. There is nothing absurd about it.

APL, you are avoiding my point.

Sickness, suffering, and death are work of an antagonistic power. Satan is the destroyer; God is the restorer. {MH 113.1}

God NEVER causes sickness, disease or death. Never. If you do not agree, find, but you will have to agree to disagree.

MM - have you read the book of Job? You should.

I think most people believe that if God wants something to happen, it will. If bad things happen, then God must have let it happen for some good reason, for a divine purpose. The Bible teaches that not everything happens according to God's will. There are some events that happen that are not God's desire, not His will. I think most people believe that bad events fall into 2 categories:

1) God wants to prevent something and He does prevent it.
2) God wants to prevent something but chooses not to for a divine purpose.

In which category does rape, murder and child molestation fall into? #1 or #2? Does God ever choose to let evil happen? Is there ever a divine purpose for rape, murder and child molestation? No, never. Is there a third category?

Jesus teaches how to pray. Matthew 6:10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

Where is God's will happening today? Where is it not happening? Why do we pray for something to happen if it is already happening? The point is God's will is NOT happening on planet earth today. Matthew 6:10 is proof positive that it is not happening.

Luke 7:30 But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the will of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him.

Is it possible to reject God's will? Is it possible to prevent God's will from happening in some situation? Some theologians say that God will always happens.

Is it possible for prevent something from happening according to God's will for all eternity?

1 Timothy 2:4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

How many does God will to be saved? ALL. Are all saved? If not, then it is possible to prevent for all eternity something that is God's will.

2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

Does God will that all be saved? YES. This is God's will. Will it happen? NO.

The Bible teaches that not everything happens according to God's will. Not everything happens according to divine reason!

2 Corinthians 3:17 Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

Liberty = freedom.

Psalms 115:16 The heaven, even the heavens, are the LORD's; But the earth He has given to the children of men.

Whose will is ultimately being does on planet earth. HINT: it is NOT the devil. Human beings' will is being done. We can't say the devil MADE me do it. When a woman is raped or a child abused, is their will being violated? YES. Is this unfair? YES. We pray for God's will to happen on earth as it is in heaven. Free moral agents can violate the will of other free moral agents, and it is not always fair. This is again proof that God has nothing to do with it.

There are some things that by their very nature, even an omnipotent God cannot do.

Titus 1:2 In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;

Freedom, in order to be genuine, must also be irrevocable. Then when things happen that God does not want, He cannot always prevent them. Genuine freedom comes with the elements of chance and subsequent risk, chance that our will goes against God's will.

If someone has genuine freedom, and can choose option "A" or option "B", and you want them to choose "A", the good choice, but to be free, they can choose either "A" or "B". If they can't choose "B", the bad choice, they do not actually have freedom. There are things that God wants to prevent, but because of freedom, He can't. Can God do anything He wants? NO. To rephrase, are there things that God can not do? YES.

Can God MAKE you love Him? NO. Forced love is a not love.

Is God in control of everything? Is everything that happens God will? We answered that already, NO. It is better to know that God is love. Are there things that God IS in control of? YES. But those things that He is in control of, He has not granted freedom in, do you see difference? Why do we pray? Is it important to pray? Does prayer guarantee that something will happen? No, but it gives God permission to exercise His will.

Ecclesiastes 9:11 I returned and saw under the sun that- The race is not to the swift, Nor the battle to the strong, Nor bread to the wise, Nor riches to men of understanding, Nor favor to men of skill; But time and chance happen to them all.

Is God controlling everything if He has given us freedom? If He has granted freedom, is there not then a change that His will, will not happen? He can not control everything and preserve freedom. God has chosen to limit Himself in order to give us freedom.

So there are situations #1 where God can prevent something and He does, and #2 there are situations where God can prevent something but chooses not to for a good reason. But there is a third category according to the scriptures #3, there are things that God wants to prevent, but because of freedom, He can't.

We can never look into the eyes of someone who has been raped and tell them that God could have prevented this, but He choose to allowed this to happen for a good reason. The truth is that we have a God that wants to prevent these terrible things, but can not because He has given us freedom.

So, #3: there are many things happening on this planet that God does not want to happen. They do not happen because God has a reason for them, a purpose for them to happen. An enemy has done this!!!

Isaiah 5:20 Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

If we say that child molestation and rape happen because God choose not to intervene for some good reason, this is speaking evil and a lie and is sick and woe to those that say this. You can't say that God allowed these for a good reason. You can say that these happened because of freedom. We choose how to exercise that freedom, and that freedom can be used to hurt each other, and God hates it.

Prayer gives God more freedom to act, but does not guarentee the outcome. Read Daniel 10. Daniel prayed for how long? 3 full weeks. When did God answer Daniels prayer? Verse 12 tells us it was the first day. Why the delay? A free moral agent worked against God's messenger for 21 days, God's will was delayed! Prayer does not convince God to act. It enables God to act! God does not say that bad things will not ever happen to us.

God does promise us these things 4 things:

1) Some day He will wipe away every tear: Revelation 21:4 And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away." Evil will come to an end

2) Once evil is done, it will never happen again: Nahum 1:9 What do you conspire against the LORD? He will make an utter end of it. Affliction will not rise up a second time. Not because the universe is forced to not sin!

3) God goes through all the pain with us.

Matthew 25:40 And the King will answer and say to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.' Matthew 25:45 Then He will answer them, saying, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.'

What this tells us, that every child that is molested, every woman that is raped, God goes through it too. God has suffered though ever rape and murder. It is God's will that no woman be raped and that all murders prevented? Yes, but then you have violated freedom, and God can not force us to love Him. There is no love unless we are free. And if we choose not to love, WE will cause pain to all around us.

4) Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

God wants good to happen to everyone. But He can only do it for us if we will let Him.

Look at Joseph: Genesis 50:20 You plotted evil against me, but God turned it into good, in order to preserve the lives of many people who are alive today because of what happened.

It was NEVER God's will that Joseph go into slavery! But God brought good out of it. God did not orchestrate Joseph's slavery, but He did bring good out of it. God does promise He will bring good out of the bad.

APL, thank you sharing what you believe. The idea there are times when Jesus will not prevent evil because He values the freewill of evil doers more than He values the will of innocent victims is truly unsettling. I choose to believe Jesus is free to take sides when two wills collide. For example, when a thief wills to steal I believe Jesus is free to send help to prevent it. When a rapist wills to rape I believe Jesus is free to send help to prevent it. When a murderer wills to murder I believe Jesus is free to send help to prevent it. Jesus can do so without violating freewill.

Well said, and I agree.

Blessings,

Green Cochoa.

If God is free to intervene, the you need to explain why He does not. Unfortunately, that falls in to category #2 as I have outlined it and that is not a good answer. Does God ever let a rape happen for the good of it? Why in your estimation does God let rapes happen?