The evil and tragedies in the world lead many to question the existence of God. Julian Huxley, one of the 20th century’s leading proponents of evolution, commented that the existence of evil “is a challenge to God’s moral character” (Religion Without Revelation, 1957, p. 109). Huxley therefore concluded God and divine revelation do not exist. Physicist Paul Davies also wondered: “Is God free to prevent evil?….If he is omnipotent…Why then does He fail to do so?” (God and the New Physics, 1983, p. 143).
Understanding why God allows evil and suffering requires an understanding of one of God’s greatest gifts and how man has continually abused that gift. God granted the gift of free will or freedom of choice to Adam and Eve, but human beings have been woefully inept stewards of this precious gift and its far-reaching responsibilities. Choosing to obey God when we have the freedom to do otherwise is vital for the much higher purpose God has planned for us.
God designed human beings to make choices. We can contemplate our future and plan our lives in advance. We also have a sense of history, and can learn from our experiences and the experiences of others. But we frequently exercise our freedom of choice in wrong ways, and reap the consequences. This occurred in the Garden of Eden where God had placed the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:9). As the book of Revelation explains, the tree of life symbolized obedience to God that would ultimately lead to eternal life (Revelation 2:7), and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil represented rejection of God’s direction by determining good and evil for oneself, which would eventually lead to death.
Eve, tempted by the serpent, exercised her free will unwisely and was deceived (2 Corinthians 11:3). Adam, although he was not deceived (1 Timothy 2:14), allowed his wife to persuade him to join her in disobeying God (Genesis 3:17). As a result they were expelled from the garden of Eden and cut off from the tree of life. They then had to make their own way (Genesis 3:23-24), relying on their own judgment and flawed wisdom. Since that time “all have sinned” (Romans 3:23 and 5:12) and reaped the penalties Adam and Eve incurred.
About 2,500 years after Adam and Eve, God offered relief from suffering to the Israelites. He promised not only to free them from slavery, but to give them the opportunity to be a model nation others would want to emulate (Deuteronomy 4:5-8). He instructed them in the 10 cardinal points of His eternal, spiritual law—the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1-17), and gave them additional laws and statutes.
He told them they had the freedom to choose between the two ways of living: “I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; that you may love the LORD your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days….” (Deuteronomy 30:19-20). If they obeyed they would reap many blessings (Deuteronomy 28:2), but if they disobeyed they would be accursed (Deuteronomy 28:15). He told them that the law would be their “wisdom” and “understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear all these statutes, and say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people'” (Deuteronomy 4:6).
Many who believe God exists assume He punishes us when we step out of line. However God generally allows us to suffer the consequences of our own selfish, shortsighted behaviour (Jeremiah 2:19). The spiritual laws He set in motion are self-enforcing, resulting in consequences when we break them. Actions yield consequences. Many people recognize the saying “You reap what you sow,” (Galatians 6:7) and Proverbs 22:3 warns us to consider the long-term consequences of our actions: “A prudent man foresees evil and hides himself, but the simple pass on and are punished.”
We cannot live substantially free from suffering until we are reconciled to God and His commandments: “My son, do not forget my law, but let your heart keep my commands; for length of days and long life and peace they will add to you” (Proverbs 3:1-2). God’s law is not harsh or onerously restrictive. It is a law of liberty (James 1:25) that would eliminate most of the world’s pain if it were universally obeyed. The spiritual laws God has revealed to us, when obeyed, enable us to live free of a lot of the pain and suffering brought on by bad decisions and behavior.
