By now I’m sure that we’ve all heard or read about the horrible act committed at a gay night club in Florida. We’ve also all heard of the religion of the perpetrator, and that he claimed allegiance with ISIS. However, what we may not be hearing, is what this event can actually teach us.
Though it seems a bit ironic, there are atheists out there, condemning Christians and God for this act. The call is “Where was your God Christians?!?! Why didn’t He stop this!?!?” As I said, ironic considering the man who committed this atrocity is Muslim. However, we’ve learned nothing if not that atheists tend to be inconsistent in most things.
Now, however, I want to focus on the response Christians (or at least those who are claiming the mantle of Christ) are giving. For most, it’s a blank stare, or to claim “God had nothing to do with this!” but if we travel down that road, it leads to a very dark place. Let’s explore that shall we?
Let us assume for a moment that someone gives the above response. What does that logically lead to? Either a) God had no clue it was going to happen, and therefore was incapable to stop it(open theism) or b) He saw what was going to happen, and simply allowed it to, not wanting to infringe on humanity's “libertarian” free will, and hopes He can make some good come from it.
How about I offer a different suggestion. How about God ordained the shooting to take place?
Ok, take a deep breath, hold it…hold it….and release. Feel a little better? Good, now let’s move on logically as opposed to emotionally. (Unfortunately too many discussions are driven by pure emotionalism as this one routinely is.)
We see throughout Scripture that God uses both natural means (earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, etc) and human means to His ends. Isaiah 10 springs to mind, where God used the ambitions of the king of Assyria to lay waste to Israel when they turned from Him. (I’ll post the Scriptures at the bottom of this article.) In this day and age of shallow Christianity, this is denied vehemently in an effort to make God only about love. In fact I’m reminded of the female pastor my former church voted in. Shortly before my departure, she and I had a discussion on sin and repentance (see my article here for repentance: What Is Repentance? http://etchedinsteel.blogspot.com/2016/05/what-is-repentance.html ) to which she responded, and I quote, “God is love, God is Love, God is Love, God is Love, you can make the Bible say anything, God is Love, God is Love, God is Love, God is Love.” It’s this kind of shallow thinking that denies the doctrines of Grace, and in this instance the doctrine of Total Depravity. We are all slaves to our sin, as Jesus Himself said in John 8:34. We are all sinful and horrible by nature due to the fall, and it’s only through God’s common grace that we don’t turn this planet into a smoldering ash heap. (2 Thessalonians 2:7) As I pointed out before, God’s wrath is currently being poured out (Romans 1:18),and this incident is another example. However, God’s righteous judgement still falls onto those who commit these acts. “How?” You may ask. “Didn’t God ordain the act?” Yes, but it was through the already wicked and sinful nature of man that He did so. He lifts His grace but a fraction, and this is the result of the depravity of man’s heart unleashed. (Jeremiah 17:9)
Now, does any of the above mean I or anyone else knows what good God has planned from this evil? No. It could be that this is the catalyst for many more Muslims to decry this type of violence. It could be that, like 9/11, future evil acts can be averted. It could be that the current media, which seems to avoid calling Islamic terrorism what it is, is forced to admit they’ve been complicit in hiding these acts. There are any number of things, including ones totally unknown and unimaginable to us. The point is, all things work to good for those that love Him!
So as we ponder this horrific act of terrorism, remember there are two ways to view it. One places God outside of control, and causes Him to be impotent and stunted. The other places the blame squarely where it belongs, man’s wicked sin, while leaving God on His throne and in control, sovereignty intact. Which do you choose?
Now, as promised, the relevant portion of Isaiah 10, God bless!
Isaiah 10New American Standard Bible (NASB)
Assyria Is God’s Instrument
10 Woe to those who enact evil statutes
And to those who constantly record[a]unjust decisions,
2 So as to [b]deprive the needy of justice
And rob the poor of My people of theirrights,
So that widows may be their spoil
And that they may plunder the[c]orphans.
3 Now what will you do in the day of punishment,
And in the devastation which will come from afar?
To whom will you flee for help?
And where will you leave your [d]wealth?
4 Nothing remains but to crouch [e]among the captives
Or fall [f]among theslain.
In spite of all this, His anger does not turn away
And His hand is still stretched out.
5 Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger
And the staff in whose hands is My indignation,
6 I send it against a godless nation
And commission it against the people of My fury
To capture booty and to seize plunder,
And to [g]trample them down like mud in the streets.
7 Yet it does not so intend,
Nor does [h]it plan so in its heart,
But rather it is [i]its purpose to destroy
And to cut off [j]many nations.
8 For it says, “Are not my princes [k]all kings?
9 “Is not Calno like Carchemish,
Or Hamath like Arpad,
Or Samaria like Damascus?
10 “As my hand has reached to the kingdoms of the idols,
Whose graven images were greater than those of Jerusalem and Samaria,
11 Shall I not [l]do to Jerusalem and her images
Just as I have done to Samaria and her idols?”
12 So it will be that when the Lord has completed all His work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, He will say, “I will[m]punish the fruit of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria and the pomp of [n]his haughtiness.”13 For he has said,
“By the power of my hand and by my wisdom I did this,
For I have understanding;
And I removed the boundaries of the peoples
And plundered their treasures,
And like a mighty man I brought down[o]their inhabitants,
14 And my hand reached to the riches of the peoples like a nest,
And as one gathers abandoned eggs, I gathered all the earth;
And there was not one that flapped its wing or opened its beak or chirped.”
15 Is the axe to boast itself over the one who chops with it?
Is the saw to exalt itself over the one who wields it?
That would be like a[p]club wielding those who lift it,
Or like a rod lifting him who is not wood.
16 Therefore the Lord, the [q]GOD of hosts, will send a wasting disease among his stout warriors;
And under his glory a fire will be kindled like a burning flame.
17 And the light of Israel will become a fire and his Holy One a flame,
And it will burn and devour his thorns and his briars in a single day.
18 And He will destroy the glory of his forest and of his fruitful garden, both soul and body,
And it will be as when a sick man wastes away.
19 And the rest of the trees of his forest will be so small in number
That a child could write them down.”
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah+10&version=NASB
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