If God is love, why does war exist? If God is love, why do innocent children die? If God is love, why are there so many heartaches in life? These are fair questions and questions that many people struggle with at some point in their lives. As we seek answers to these questions, there are two passages of Scripture that we must bear in mind. The first is Isaiah 55:8-9. Isaiah recorded, “. . . my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.”
We are simply unable to fully understand God’s intricate design for the workings of the universe. This, however, does not mean that we cannot know some things concerning the subject of this article.
The second passage of Scripture is Isaiah 59:1-2. Isaiah wrote, “Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither His ear heavy, that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that he will not hear.”
To honestly approach the questions of our concern, we must understand and never forget the horrendous effect of sin. Only with this understanding can we place blame where it truly belongs.
If God is love, why does war exist?
It is certainly the case that God commanded the destruction of entire nations. Why would a God of love do that? What some people do not understand and others refuse to believe is that even that destruction was a result of God’s love.
The ultimate expression of God’s love was the sending of his beloved Son into the world. “For God so loved the world, that he gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16). God made promises concerning his Son. In Genesis 22:18, God made a promise to Abraham which concerned all of mankind. “In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.” God promised to send the Messiah through the seed of Abraham and the love of God demanded that this great promise be kept.
Certain nations would have destroyed the promise of God by destroying Abraham’s seed or corrupting the chosen people of God with evil practices. If allowed, those actions would have negated God’s promise concerning the Savior. Had those nations been allowed to destroy Abraham’s seed, thereby destroying the promise of God, the whole world would have suffered spiritual death. No hope of eternal life would have existed. So, God on occasion, commanded that these nations be destroyed. “Samuel also said to Saul, the Lord sent me to anoint you king over His people, over Israel. Now therefore, heed the voice of the words of the Lord. Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘I will punish Amalek for what he did to Israel, how he ambushed him on the way when he came up from Egypt. Now go and attack Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare them. But kill both man and woman, infant and nursing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’” The nation of Amalek had ambushed God’s chosen people as they wandered in the wilderness. However, there may be more to it than that. In Acts 10:34-35, “. . . Peter opened his mouth and said: In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him.”
The character of God never changes. It has always been the case that “in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him.” While it is true that some nations were destroyed due to the wrath of God, it is also true that God’s wrath could be turned aside by repentance. If the city of Nineveh (in Jonah’s day) was given an opportunity to repent, and God shows no partiality, is it not consistent with the nature of God that other nations would have been afforded this same opportunity? The opportunity for repentance may not have been extended on a national scale as it was in Nineveh; however, every individual surely had the opportunity to repent. Though many did not respond positively, God has always called sinners to repentance. That nation was destroyed because of sin. It was destroyed for the sin that it committed in the past and which it continued to practice. God did not cause Amalek to sin or to remain in sin. It was not a lack of love on God’s part that destroyed that nation; rather it was their lack of love for God and for their fellow man which caused their destruction.
