Korah's Contemplation

     My Bible study for today was Psalm 44, a maschil (contemplation) of Korah, one of the chief psalm writers. What he is contemplating is, if God allowed puny Israel to drive out the inhabitants of the promised land early in their history, why is He allowing more powerful Israel to be defeated and scorned by their enemies when they are being obedient? Age old question--Why do bad things happen to good people? There are no easy answers. The Arminian view is that God is in charge of good things and Satan is in charge of bad things, like a really screwed up custody battle. In that view, God is the one who sends rain to help man, Satan sends hurricanes to harm them. God does not cause the bad thing, but He allows Satan to do it. I wish I could find the sermon I heard by R.C. Sproul refuting this idea, because he said if that were true, we should probably worship Satan because God is not the one who wants to hurt us. The Arminian view is appealing because we don't want God to look bad. But it is not our place to justify God, it is His place to justify us.

     An example I read of the difference between God causing and allowing circumstances, is that of a parent passively watching his toddler fall in the swimming pool and drown versus a parent holding their toddler's head in the pool until they drown. One is more evil and intentional than the other but the outcome for the toddler is not changed by the semantics of allowed vs. caused. If God is sovereign, He is in charge of both the victories and the defeats. God, not Satan, sent the death angel into Egypt and, though He provided a way for the Israelites to be protected, the firstborn of Hebrews who ignored his warning would be just as dead. The same God who opened a path through the Red Sea for Israel, closed it on the Egyptians. He sent hail stones to defeat Israel's enemies and sent His angel to slay 185,000 Assyrians in one night. He sometimes commanded genocide including against women and children, even their livestock. God does not step out and sub in Satan for the messy stuff. They are working opposite plans.

     I am looking forward to the seminars in heaven which tackle the complex issue of the sovereignty of God, the plots of Satan and the choices of man. Though I may have to repeat the class several times, because I know it is more complicated than God controls good things/Satan controls bad. So my contemplation cannot help you with that one Korah, but I bet you have figured it out by now.