Have you ever heard of the argument that there couldn’t be a God, since ‘x’ occurs? ‘X’ might be the death of a loved one,[1] the terrible deaths of many in war, the state of the poor and the homeless etc. One can create his own list, but these, at least in my experience, are the most frequent reasons why folks say there couldn’t be a good God dwelling in the heavens. Analyzing this, which, admittedly, is from a perspective apart from those who actually experience or witness these deaths or examples of deprivation, I understand it as an ignorant or at least a misinformed point of view. How can I say this?
The fact is, that, as understood from Book of Genesis, mankind has rebelled from God, vis-à-vis he is at war with God. He doesn’t even what to know about God (Romans 1:28). In other words, and as a general rule, God simply isn’t welcome in our society. So, why blame him for the deaths that occur in a war that man has declared against his fellowmen? If God created an earth that has been enabled to provide enough for everyone on our planet, but folks go hungry and are homeless, why blame him, because of the greed of men that keeps the necessities of life from the hungry and the homeless?
While Nehemiah was the governor of the Jews in the province of Judah, a complaint of injustice was made before him. The thing was presented from the perspective that men were risking their lives not only in defense of their own families, but also in defense of all the other folks in Jerusalem. Both men and women came to Nehemiah to complain, that this kind of thing was very unfair (Nehemiah 5:1). How so? Wasn’t everyone equally defending his family and possessions? Not really! Like many things in life, there is more to what is going on than what is immediately observed with one’s eyes.
For example, large families were employed by the nobles and the rulers of Jerusalem for the price of a mere living. There were more of these folks than the rulers and nobles, yet the lives of all of them were at risk, but for what? Wasn’t it for the protection of the interests of the rulers and the nobles? If a mere living were all that one could desire, any Jew could sell himself to the heathen for such a thing, and be their slave for the price of food. Yet, in Jerusalem, these same folks not only reaped the land for the nobles and the rulers, but they risked their lives to protect their wealth (Nehemiah 5:2)!
Similarly, those who once hand land and vineyards and houses, had to sell what they had in order to buy the necessities of life because the lack of rain kept them from getting a yield from the land that would support them. Yet, they, too, risked their lives to protect the wealth of the very men who benefited from their loss (Nehemiah 5:3). Moreover, the very same could be said of the men who had to sell their property in order to borrow money to pay the king’s taxes on the very lands and vineyards that others now possess (Nehemiah 5:4).
It doesn’t take a genius to understand the grave injustice of these things. Aren’t the lives of folks considered equal, whether of nobility or of the common stock? If this is logical and true, why shouldn’t the rewards of risking one’s life to protect the lives and wealth of all, be equal as well? Is it right for one family to have needed to sell his children in bondage to a Jew, and unable to pay the debt to redeem his loved ones, to risk his life and the lives of his children, who are presently held in bondage until the debt is paid, all to protect the wealth of the Jew who holds all the former wealth of the Jew now in his debt (Nehemiah 5:5)? All he has left is his own life and the lives of his children, who are now in bondage to a member of the nobility. Why should he be expected to risk is own life to protect the wealth of the nobles who have confiscated all the wealth the commoner once had? The commoner could be just as well off, had he sold himself to the heathen for food and shelter.
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[1] Yet, death is an unavoidable fact of life. When would be a good time for a loved one to pass on? When would we approve of it, saying; ‘Yes, this is a good time for him/her to die? Life may be simple from one perspective, but it is, in reality, a very complex state of affairs, and one life affects many lives on different levels. If God is so knowledgeable to have created such a vast and complex universe, certainly he should be given the benefit of the doubt that he may have permitted such a tragedy, but to have prevented it would have involved much more than preserving a single solitary life. Moreover, we, the mourners of our loved ones, don’t know what all of such things entail.
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