Doubts, freewill or not, suffering, & OT deaths
Q: I grew up in a Christian home, daughter of a pastor, and yet I find myself having doubts. Why does God allow bad things to happen to Children? And yes I know the first answer will be “free will” then why does it say that he hardened pharaohs heart? - Exodus 4:21: "Then the LORD said to Moses, “When you return to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders that I have given you the power to do. But I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and he will not let the people go.”
Surely that goes against free will, or why did he send an angel to kill the first borns, - Exodus 12:29: “At midnight the LORD struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on the throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner, who was in the dungeon, and the firstborn of all the livestock as well.”
...and why is there so much death and violence in the Old Testament:
Ezekiel 9:5-7, “As I listened, he said to the others, “Follow him through the city and kill, without showing pity or compassion. Slaughter the old men, the young men and women, the mothers and children, but do not touch anyone who has the mark. Begin at my sanctuary.” So they began with the old men who were in front of the temple.
Then he said to them, “Defile the temple and fill the courts with the slain. Go!” So they went out and began killing throughout the city.”
A: We live in a fallen world. Thus corruption entered. Sin continues, suffering, pain, illness, disease & death, are all part of life in a fallen world and it doesn't just affect humans or kids but the animals, plants, food and everything. BUT through Jesus God is redeeming and restoring. He has a sin free future coming for those in Christ. The things of earth (whether from the womb to the tomb at any age) pail in comparison to the sin free, gloriously blessed, eternity that awaits. Our focus is on the eternal and eternity. It has to play out in "time" till Judgment Day when humans are no longer created and man's time in these bodies ends.
As to the freewill Q. Theres only 2 options. Sinful man is enslaved to sin, and redeemed man is enslaved to righteousness. There's only 2 possibilities, 2 nature's. You will only live inside and belong to one. Either Satan or Jesus. Until we redeemed shed this body, we are righteous but still at war with sin. The unsaved could care less, as they love their nature. We redeemed love the Lord and want to please Him.
As far as the other Q: God's will and man's will... God hardened and softens hearts, believers grow, but the unsaved harden their hearts in sin and God also hardened it to teach lessons, either for them or recorded in Scripture for us. There is a good purpose in the end, and even when Satan or others mean it for Evil... God works it out for good (soon or by the end) we see this with Pharoah situation freeing Israel as Hebrews, with Job which still informs us in right thinking and guiding [as do all of Scripture] as well as with King Nebuchadnezzar. He was the king of Babylon and is described as having been humbled by God due to his pride. As a result, he lived like an animal, eating grass like oxen and dwelling in the fields until he acknowledged God's sovereignty. After a period of living in this state, he repented and recognized God's power, which led to his restoration.
Also related
Proverbs 19:21: "Many are the plans in a person's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails."
Proverbs 16:9: "In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps."
Isaiah 14:24: "The Lord Almighty has sworn, 'Surely, as I have planned, so it will be, and as I have purposed, so it will happen.'"
James 4:13-15: "Now listen, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.' Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, 'If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that.'"
Psalm 33:10-11: "The Lord foils the plans of the nations; he thwarts the purposes of the peoples. The plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations."
As to what you percieve as," so much death and violence in the Old Testament" it is either sinful people doing evil or God justly directed judgments on sinful nations, and people, for right reasons, including the nations around Israel which became the land of Israel because those nations sins had hit His limits and he got rid of them. As to Israel, God deals seriously with sin, as they were set apart to live Holy. Sin is so serious it deserves the death sentence, Rom 3:23; the wages of sin is death. God is good and will only do what is right. He had patience and mercy but there was a line they crossed, pre Jesus, and he judged them (removed them from earth), but God does that today with believers, if they sin, remain in sin, and unrepentant, he has no use for a rebellious useless servant here and will take them out. They'll go into eternity and suffer loss vs blessing in etetnity but are still saved. We need to heed these stories, and be faithful servants.
If God stopped by evil, he would destroy us all. All are sinners, all sin and do evil. All sin is a crime done against God. So it is another mercy he gives to mankind too in his patience, & working things out. This means working towards and through all things so that all men who are in the Lambs Book of Life are redeemed generation to generation, until the last one. God is good, gracious, merciful and will accomplish what he set to do, so we can go into eternity and live evermore with Him.
The rest of Rom 3:23 and all of Scripture points to the Gospel. God is so serious about sin, that Jesus had to come, die a brutal death, take God's wrath upon Him on the cross for our sins, so we could be redeemed and restored. Man sinned so many must die, Jesus traded places with us, because he loves us so much. He went to great lengths at extreme cost, to do so. Now we believers have the righteous nature of Christ, the indwelling Holy Spirit, thr Fruit of the Spirit, God with us, and the empowering to live holy, as a transformed new creation.
Trust Him who always does what's right, and never fails to keep His promises.
Discuss further on this or other questions (in humbleness) with your dad, Sunday School teacher, woman's group teacher, or decons, their wives or the pastor &/or his wife. The more mature in the faith folk can help you. It's one of many blessings in being in and of the community of believers at your local church 😊✨️✝️
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