Hi Mike,

I want to point out Jer 32:35 in regards to God creating evil.

Jer 32:35 And they built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire unto Molech; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.

Am I misunderstanding something? PLEASE email me on this.

Thanks,

C____

 

Hi C____,

You ask if you have missed something when God tells us that He is working all things after the counsel of His own will:

Eph 1:11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:

And yet we also have this verse to which you refer:

Jer 32:35 And they built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire unto Molech; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.

You then ask:

“Am I misunderstanding something?”

The answer to your question is ‘yes’, considering your question which indicates your confusion, you probably are missing a whole lot of verses of God’s Word which explain that He “makes wicked men” for such actions as are described in the verse you reference. God “creates evil” and “turns men to destruction” and “makes us to err”, and then He tells us to repent. God even “created the waster to destroy”. He really is “working all of this after the counsel of His own will”, and we simply do not like His ways or His thoughts:

Psa 90:3 Thou turnest man to destruction; and sayest, Return, ye children of men.
Pro 16:4 The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.
Isa 45:7 I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.
Isa 54:16 Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy.
Isa 63:17 O LORD, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways, and hardened our heart from thy fear? Return for thy servants’ sake, the tribes of thine inheritance.

We are told that God has given all of mankind an evil experience for the express purpose of humbling us:

Ecc 1:13 I applied my heart to inquiring and exploring by wisdom concerning all that is done under the heavens: it is an experience of evil Elohim has given to the sons of humanity to humble them by it.

Job chapters 1 and 2 demonstrate that Satan is nothing more than an instrument in God’s hand to do the evil God created Satan to do.

Job 1:9 Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought?
Job 1:10 Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land.
Job 1:11 But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face.
Job 1:12 And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD.
Job 2:4 And Satan answered the LORD, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life.
Job 2:5 But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face.
Job 2:6 And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life.

Satan does just exactly what God sends Him to do – nothing more and nothing less. So when James tells us that God tempts no man, the Greek is “God Himself tempts no man”:

Jas 1:13 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:

Here is the proper translation:

Jas 1:13 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God; for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempteth no man:

So when you read:

Jer 32:35 And they built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire unto Molech; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.

Consider “the sum of thy Word”, and you will then have the Truth.

Psa 119:160 The sum of thy word is truth; And every one of thy righteous ordinances endureth for ever. (ASV)

God can say “neither came it into my mind”, simply because He placed it in the mind of an evil spirit to cause that to happen and to demonstrate just how evil is the “marred” flesh we are all in by His design, to bring us to see our need for a Savior.

Jer 18:4 And when the vessel that he made of the clay [Adam and “all in Adam”] was marred in the hand of the potter, he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.
Rom 7:18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.

Here is a story, which is related in the article on the IWWB web site named “After The Counsel of His Own Will”, which demonstrates how God can say what He says in Jer 32:35 and still tell us that He is working all things after the counsel of His own will. The story begins in 1 Kings 22:10 through verse 37, but I’ll just point out a few of the verses:

1Ki 22:20 And the LORD said, Who shall persuade Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramothgilead? And one said on this manner, and another said on that manner.
1Ki 22:21 And there came forth a spirit, and stood before the LORD, and said, I will persuade him.
1Ki 22:22 And the LORD said unto him, Wherewith? And he said, I will go forth, and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, Thou shalt persuade him, and prevail also: go forth, and do so.
1Ki 22:23 Now therefore, behold, the LORD hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these thy prophets, and the LORD hath spoken evil concerning thee.

God sent the evil lying spirit to do the evil deed of lying in the mouth of the prophets at that time and He is doing the same to this day.

I think you have probably missed most all of the verses quoted here and also all those quoted in “After The Counsel of His Own Will” simply because God has first given all of us eyes that cannot see and ears that cannot hear, before He begins to destroy our old man and create another vessel as seems good to Him to make us.

Rom 11:8 (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day.

I hope you will continue to read the website, and that you will be granted to see what is the mind of our God who really is working all things after the counsel of His own will, and that nothing, “Yes even the wicked” are out of His complete and total control.

Isa 55:9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Your brother in the all powerful Christ.

Mike