| I have the same issue with OT verses which seen to indicate that God "creates" evil, when there is
an abundance of Scripture which points to God as doing only good. I think traditionally people would
see Amos 3:6 as God's "judgment". An alternative translation is found in the footnotes of the
New English Bible, which may be more appropriate: "If there is evil in a city, will not the Lord act?"
Don Long
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| There's an awful lot in the Old Testament (and the New, actually) about the
Lord bringing calamity on His people as a consequence of their disobedience.
Read Deuteronomy 28, the whole chapter. The first 14 verses speak of the
blessings the Lord will bestow on His people if they adhere to Him and His
word. But verses 15-66 tell about all the curses that the Lord *will bring
upon* His people if they disobey and turn away from Him. It's very extreme,
and very clear that the Lord Himself, by His own hand, will bring forth these
curses upon His people.
After this, in Dt 30, the Lord makes clear the choice which He sets before
His people: "I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I
have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose
life in order that you may live, you and your descendants." Dt 30:19
The blessings of the Lord are something we all like to hear about. But the
curse of the Lord for disobedience is something we'd rather ignore. It's not
the kind of God we'd like, it's not the kind of God our culture thinks would
be nice. But it's the God who IS, who calls Himself "I AM."
Paul
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| Without looking up what word is used for 'evil' in the Amos 3:6 case, I
can't say whether what shade of meaning is attached, but I would imagine it
to be 'evil' in terms of 'judgement' or 'punishment'. The NIV (excuse me!)
translates it as 'disaster' - "When disaster comes to a city, has not the
LORD caused it?' - ie, 'Isn't it He Who has brought judgement incurred by
the people's sin?' - as in the case of Sodom and Gomorrah.
Isaiah 45:7 is a similar verse:
"I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace,
and create evil: I the LORD do all these things."
Again, the NIV uses "I bring prosperity and create disaster..." I remember
looking up the 'evil' in this context some years ago, and not seeing any
difference from the ordinary use of 'evil'. I'm not sure that it had a
moral implication, which I would find difficult!
Andrew
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| Andrew,
A quick look at Strong's bears out what you said. The word
rendered "evil" or "disaster" can mean bad, evil (natural or moral),
adversity, affliction, calamity, displeasure, distress, grief, harm,
mischief, misery, sorrow, trouble, wickedness, wretchedness, wrong, etc.
Whatever God does or permits, he does so (morally) righteously.
This can include a disaster that we (reasonably) call (naturally) "bad"
or "evil".
Bob Sampson
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