Turnabout

Now, this is interesting. Isaiah the prophet passed on to his people what God told him to -- all about how the Assyrians were going to come in and wipe them out. Judgment. That sort of thing. But in chapter 10, God says, "Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger and the staff in whose hands is My indignation." (Isa 10:5) Now, wait a minute. Assyria is "the rod of My anger." Assyria is the nation God sent to annihilate Israel. So ... why is He saying "Woe" to them?

It's not like it's the only time. Habakkuk complained to God that He wasn't doing anything about Israel's sin. God replied, essentially, "Don't worry about it. I'm bringing down the Chaldeans to judge My people." "Hang on," Habakkuk replied, "the Chaldeans are worse than we are!" (Hab 1) God tells him not to concern himself about them, and Habakkuk 2 is a litany of the woes God will visit on the Chaldeans ... for carrying out the judgment on Israel that God ordained them to do.

We find the same thing in the New Testament. Jesus said, "For indeed, the Son of Man is going as it has been determined; but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed!" (Luke 22:22) That is, Judas was ordained ("it has been determined") for this task of betraying Him and Judas would be held responsible for it. And not just Judas. In Acts we read, "For truly in this city there were gathered together against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose predestined to occur. (Acts 4:27-28) That whole "killing the Son of God" thing? That was carried out by evil men performing evil acts that God predestined to occur.

We (mistakenly) think -- quite often, I think -- that God only does "nice things". God only arranges the pleasant events in life. If bad things happen, it wasn't His doing. He had no part, no intent. We are wrong to think that. Scripture says, "The LORD has made everything for its own purpose, even the wicked for the day of evil." (Prov 16:4) Just like the story of Joseph, where his brothers meant it for evil, God was there intending it for good (Gen 50:20). So bad people do bad things that God allows for God's purposes. They are still culpable for their evil even when God uses it for good. He allows that which He hates in order to accomplish that which He loves. He holds those people responsible for the wrong they do while working it together for good (Rom 8:28).

Some Christians don't like that. Some don't want a God who doesn't only do nice things. Some balk -- sometimes vehemently -- at the idea that God allows, even causes calamity (Isa 45:7). I rest in it. If I can be confident that everything that happens occurs within the realm of His control, I can relax in the toughest of circumstances knowing that He -- not they nor I -- is going to bring it to good even when they intend otherwise. The alternative, to me, is terrifying.