And when the angel stretched out his hand upon Jerusalem to destroy it, the LORD repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed the people, It is enough: stay now thine hand. And the angel of the LORD was by the threshingplace of Araunah the Jebusite.
Much wrong theology is the result of presumption on the part of the Bible reader. We presume to interpret the Bible according to our own understanding use of Biblical terms rather than the use it is meant to have in the context. We lazily omit adequate time in study so that we understand the passage we are reading properly.
Case in point. That God, it appears, repented of evil, He must be capable of evil.
The problem lies in the common understanding of the term, evil. We employ that word today to speak of something exceptionally wrong. We think of it as a moral wrong, wickedness. If bad is wrong then evil is over the top, devilishly wrong. One blog I follow often cites some exceptionally terrible crime and says that it is, “More proof that evil exists in this world.” He’s using the word evil to speak of something worse than the worst.
When the Bible says that the LORD “repented Him of the evil” it does not mean to describe the pestilence sent upon Israel as a moral wrong. It was not. It was just, merciful, and less than any of us deserve. But it was difficult, hard, and many souls cried out in agony over it.
God did not do wrong. David did. But when the judgment of that wrong was finished God repented, in that, He stopped or turned away from that judgment.
To my readers:
Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.
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