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If
God is our heavenly father, why doesn't he punish evildoers must
like a good, loving father punishes a child for misbehavior or misdeeds?
Laura
Our Answer:
Hello Laura:
Thank you for
writing. I'm happy to answer your question.
Please read
the 73rd Psalm. It asks a related question, Why do the wicked prosper?
Your analogy
of thinking of God like a father is an excellent analogy. However,
we are no longer His little children. With the birth, death and
resurrection of Christ, you could say that we have "turned
18" and are now adults who are somewhat out on our own.
If you look
at history you can see that in the beginning God did directly and
immediately punish some people for their sins. For example in Numbers
16:31 Korah, Dathan and Abiram were immediately punished by God
for turning their backs on the Lord by starting a rebellion. Just
like a parent, God was teaching His children (the Hebrews) how they
should live. As
we do with our children -- once they become old enough to understand
-- God laid down some strict "house" rules (the laws given
through Moses) he expected His children to follow. As his children
grew older, we can see in the Bible how the Hebrews had more independence,
and as a result more opportunities to make mistakes and learn from
their mistakes. The Hebrews were still punished when they went seriously
wrong, for example, the 70 years of exile in Babylon. But, God gave
them many years to straighten themselves out before He punished
them.
Just like we
all individually become adults and become responsible for ourselves,
humanity has matured and has become (to some extent) responsible
for itself.
We have the
free will to decide how we will behave; to decide whether we will
make a better world; to decide how we will treat other people; and
to decide whether we will do good or evil. God still cares about
us, and just like a parent who has grown-up children, there are
times when He offers advice or help. Sometimes, He helps us and
sometimes He knows that it is better for us if He does not, but
instead lets us learn from our mistakes.
Like good
parents, God allows us the freedom to live with the consequences
of our decisions.
Sometimes the
consequences of evil result in riches for the evil-doer -- for example
someone become rich by stealing money from elderly people. My question
isn't why hasn't God done something about this evil? My question
is, what have you done about this evil? As Christians we should
be stepping in and helping those who have been hurt. We have been
provided with an opportunity to show our compassion and love. We
have been provided with an opportunity to grow in our love for others;
to teach others how to do the same; and to show the glory of God
through our actions.
I'm not saying
God has abandoned us. He is still very active in our lives; in society;
and in blessing (or not blessing) nations. But He has given us a
lot of responsibility for ourselves and others. A responsibility
we can choose to live up to, or turn our backs on.
And we can be
at peace knowing that justice will be done. We are here just for
a short time. As we face eternity we will be judged by the Son of
God and we will know that, in the end, justice has been done.
Yours in the
love of Christ,
Steve
Move To Assurance
web site: http://www.evangelical.us
P.S. We should be very aware that God still does
punish nations. He does this not by making bad things happen to
that country, but by withdrawing His blessing. If we as a nation
move away from God, then God moves away from us--opening the door
for evil, wickedness and all sorts of bad things to happen to the
nation.
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