Can God Look Upon Evil?

[VictoryinJesus]

I have always heard God can not look upon evil and that is the reason for:

Matthew 27:46 KJV
[46] And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?

Jesus' words a result of the Father turning His head because He can not look upon evil. But is that the truth?

Deuteronomy 9:18 KJV
[18] And I fell down before the Lord , as at the first, forty days and forty nights: I did neither eat bread, nor drink water, because of all your sins which ye sinned, in doing wickedly in the sight of the Lord , to provoke him to anger.

Psalm 10:12-14 KJV
[12] Arise, O Lord ; O God, lift up thine hand: forget not the humble. [13] Wherefore doth the wicked contemn God? he hath said in his heart, Thou wilt not require it . [14] Thou hast seen it ; for thou beholdest mischief and spite, to requite it with thy hand: the poor committeth himself unto thee; thou art the helper of the fatherless.

Psalm 33:13-14 KJV
[13] The Lord looketh from heaven; he beholdeth all the sons of men. [14] From the place of his habitation he looketh upon all the inhabitants of the earth.

Genesis 38:7 KJV
[7] And Er, Judah's firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the Lord ; and the Lord slew him.

Proverbs 15:3 KJV
[3] The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.

There are countless scriptures that say "in the sight of the Lord" as in reference to evil done in His sight.

The only scripture I could find to support that God can not look upon evil is:

Habakkuk 1:13 KJV
[13] Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity: wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he?

Which is obviously Habakkuk venting and is a question, followed by more questions:

Habakkuk 1:14-17 KJV
[14] And makest men as the fishes of the sea, as the creeping things, that have no ruler over them? [15] They take up all of them with the angle, they catch them in their net, and gather them in their drag: therefore they rejoice and are glad. [16] Therefore they sacrifice unto their net, and burn incense unto their drag; because by them their portion is fat, and their meat plenteous. [17] Shall they therefore empty their net, and not spare continually to slay the nations?

So where does this notion that God can not look upon evil come from? Are there other scriptures supporting it? or is that the preference of evil men(and women) to deny their deeds are seen by God and one day, they will stand before Him on Judgement day? When they stand naked before Him, unable to cover themselves without the blood of the Lamb...will He see their evil then? OR will God look away?

 

[bbyrd009]

hmm. good Q! tag for later :)

 

[Helen]

Amos 3 " Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD hath not done it?"
We may not like it...but God brought it into play. ( the tree of the knowledge of good and evil)
Isaiah 45... " I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things."

Those verses were the ones that irritated me . I wished that they weren't there. :)
The silly people that say that God cannot look on sin or evil....have a tiny fragile God....God IS spirit. Not God is a spirit. But GOD IS...so how silly are their remarks!!
As an aside...I still have the satan-thing, still "on the shelf".
I've not settled it yet. ie was he really a beautiful angel that fell.....or was he created 'just as he is". Scriptures and arguments both ways.
But as for God and evil...like The Accuser , it has a purpose in the overall plan.
Diamonds are more beautiful on a dark background.
1 Cor 11.19 "For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you."

Sorry if I have rabbit trailed a bit. :)

 

[DPMartin]

I have always heard God can not look upon evil and that is the reason for:

Matthew 27:46 KJV
[46] And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?

Jesus' words a result of the Father turning His head because He can not look upon evil. But is that the truth?


So where does this notion that God can not look upon evil come from? Are there other scriptures supporting it? or is that the preference of evil men(and women) to deny their deeds are seen by God and one day, they will stand before Him on Judgement day? When they stand naked before Him, unable to cover themselves without the blood of the Lamb...will He see their evil then? OR will God look away?

well if my memory serves the thinking be hide the scripture you've sited here is based on an theological augment of was Jesus separated from the Father or not at that moment, it's a separate subject but its where such thinking probably came from. you know more theology based on theology.

here God continues His rebuke to Job and his friends, in what they haven't done and can't do, as apposed to what God has done and can do:

Job 38:17 Have the gates of death been opened unto thee? or hast thou seen the doors of the shadow of death? 18 Hast thou perceived the breadth of the earth? declare if thou knowest it all. 9 Where is the way where light dwelleth? and as for darkness, where is the place thereof, 20 That thou shouldest take it to the bound thereof, and that thou shouldest know the paths to the house thereof?

what can be more evil to Life but death, and to the source of Light but darkness? hence its not what God's looks upon, its what happens to it when He looks on it.

it seems such thinking you've mentioned comes from those who think God to be week, and they are always looking for the kink in the armor so to speak.

consider God is forever and always was correct? therefore what was it like for Him when there was no creation? there wasn't even darkness on the face of the deep, there is no weakness in the Almighty for sure.

 

[KBCid]

Amos 3 " Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD hath not done it?"
We may not like it...but God brought it into play. ( the tree of the knowledge of good and evil)
Isaiah 45... " I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things." Those verses were the ones that irritated me . I wished that they weren't there. :)

They aren't there.
What you are experiencing in these verses is translational meaning error. Let me help free you from your English bounded prison.
The word ra which is translated as “evil” in those verses is from a Hebrew word that has many diverse meanings. Here are some of the other possible ways ra can be rendered in those verses - “adversity, affliction, calamity, distress, misery
See here - Genesis 1:1 (KJV)

Let us give Isaiah it intended meaning;

" I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create adversity: I the Lord do all these things."

God is never the author of evil. God who has given life can take it away. To take away the life of an evil person who has freely chosen to be evil is not an evil act on the part of God.

 

[Helen]

They aren't there.
What you are experiencing in these verses is translational meaning error. Let me help free you from your English bounded prison.

God is never the author of evil. God who has given life can take it away. To take away the life of an evil person who has freely chosen to be evil is not an evil act on the part of God.

I am always open to learn. Never too old!!
BTW you didn't say if you thought that God could not look upon sin?

I believe God is God...and where sin abounds, He is there too....there is nowhere where He is not!! ( as said in the Psalms)
Bless you ....H

 

[VictoryinJesus]

They aren't there.
What you are experiencing in these verses is translational meaning error. Let me help free you from your English bounded prison.
The word ra which is translated as “evil” in those verses is from a Hebrew word that has many diverse meanings. Here are some of the other possible ways ra can be rendered in those verses - “adversity, affliction, calamity, distress, misery
See here - Genesis 1:1 (KJV)

Let us give Isaiah it intended meaning;

" I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create adversity: I the Lord do all these things."

God is never the author of evil. God who has given life can take it away. To take away the life of an evil person who has freely chosen to be evil is not an evil act on the part of God.

Did God create the devil? Is the devil evil? Does the devil perform God's will, through destruction and the darkness that causes men to turn toward and seek the light? Much like
pharaoh and Egypt. Was the devil raised, or fallen, to accomplish this purpose, to reveal the Son? It is a strange thought: one I have had often.

Job 41:12,32-34 KJV
[12] I will not conceal his parts, nor his power, nor his comely proportion. [32] He maketh a path to shine after him; one would think the deep to be hoary. [33] Upon earth there is not his like, who is made without fear. [34] He beholdeth all high things : he is a king over all the children of pride.

You didn't answer the question: Can God look upon evil? Or was that your answer: that there is a conflict in the definition of what evil is? And until that is understood, it is pointless to ask if God can look upon it?

 

[KBCid]

BTW you didn't say if you thought that God could not look upon sin?Bless you ....H

You didn't answer the question: Can God look upon evil?

I see that getting the answer to that question ranks higher than what I did answer. Remember it is written "man shall live by every word of the mouth of God" right? ok here is some words from the mouth of God;

Gen 3:22 And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil...

To know evil one must have experienced it and since evil is to not obey God's will then God would know about it at that point when their will was not done and since it is plainly stated that they know what evil is then God has seen / experienced it.

Or was that your answer: that there is a conflict in the definition of what evil is? And until that is understood, it is pointless to ask if God can look upon it?

Implying meaning into someone's text is what brings about errors as was apparent in my answer in the last post.

Did God create the devil? Is the devil evil? Does the devil perform God's will, through destruction and the darkness that causes men to turn toward and seek the light? Much like
pharaoh and Egypt. Was the devil raised, or fallen, to accomplish this purpose, to reveal the Son? It is a strange thought: one I have had often.

God created (Heylel, Hebrew) the Daystar, son of the morning, the anointed cherub that covereth perfect as it is written;

Ezekiel 28:15 Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.

When iniquity was found in satan (adversary) was when God saw / experienced / knew evil. satan's evil was his desire to replace God with himself. His continuing desire is to be worshipped as God by all of God's creations. Does God want to see evil.... no... which is why satan and his angels were expelled from heaven.