DOES HE MEAN SO?
If God is a God of love who cares for all without respect of persons, why has He allowed such great plagues like hunger, starvation, and death to ravage such huge areas of the earth affecting a vast number of humanity....those least able to help themselves because of abject poverty and ignorance? Consider world hunger in those nations backward by our standards whose peoples are without the basic necessities for living. The peoples of India, Africa, Southeast Asia, South America, and many of the islands are the ones I am writing about. If God has commanded us to be loving, merciful, and charitable to those in need, why does He not practice what He has us preaching? Matthew 5:44-48, 25:34-40. Is God really "good"?
It is easy for the light deficient to take a superficial look at world conditions and with a few scriptures describing God's nature, judge and conclude that God has double standards, or ... there must not be a God of "goodness". To understand this seemingly perplexing reality, let us consider a few basic truths regarding man and his "exercise" in this world, Ecclesiastes 1:13; Romans 8:20-21.
ALL must suffer and become His likeness
We have shown in past letters that man is the image and likeness of God. God had a terrible initial history of grief, loneliness, no friends or family, and no place to rest. He was all there was and is in an indescribable and directionless void of dark nothingness. Man must have some kind of equivalent beginning of suffering, and the same "kind of imprisonment" by stressful conditions which we cannot like God could not immediately change. These things are apportioned to all men as their initial history is proportionately made to a degree to be the "likeness" of God's past. Those men in poverty stricken areas of the world are receiving their share according to their general life expectancy on earth.
God's strategy in warfare
Warfare is ensuing between God, Satan, and their respective armies, Revelation 12:7-12. The environment of this earth is a bottomless pit for devils who must observe men walking on its surface dressed in clothes with power to eat, drink, rest, and to dwell in peace. Thus God has made it a torture chamber, a mirage, and a continuing nightmare for devils who pass through solid matter deprived of food and water clothing and rest which they crave intensely, Isaiah 8:21-22, 29:4,7-8, 65:12-15. To the enemy, seeing men, God's sons, living in peace is a provocation to wrath. So any man just because he is God's child is an object and target for revenge. Since he cannot harm God, the only avenue of vengeance is to attack His offsprings. So all men suffer crucifixion in warfare to some degree as a recompense from devils because God sorely punished them, Isaiah 14:12-15,21-22.
The devil soon discovered after he was cast down that the bodies of men and animals are solid to them, and they can avoid their bottomless pit style fall in never ending circles if they grab and hold on to a live man or animal as they fall past. This realization has been the greatest advantage for Satan's invisible powers and man's most harmful disadvantage. Gradually the first fallen devils climbed out of the pit to escape that form of punishment as the numbers of men and animals increased. Because of the power God gave devils over man's vulnerable flesh, man became a captive, a slave, and an unwitting tool used against his Father, God and against himself. Thus man's body became a seat or throne for devils (Revelation 2:13), a house for them (Matthew 12:43-45), a horse or chariot for them to ride in warfare (Ezekiel 38:15-16; Mark 9:1), and a microphone to amplify their words (Matthew 16:22-23).
It is a fact that all men are God's children whether they know it or not, and whether they Him or not, Acts 10:9-17,28, 17:14-28; Hebrews 2:6-7,10-15. God has used us to help torture the devil just by our mere presence. Our powers to walk on earth's surface, to eat, to drink, and to wear clothing and to live in peace is a cause of great envy in devils. NOW GET THIS FOUNDATION FACT: "We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places", Ephesians 6:12. Get it out of your mind that we are fighting human beings because that is all that we can see. Only devils are God's enemies and men are captives...enslaved by devils, II Timothy 2:26; Hebrews 2:14-15. The job of the ministry is to undo heavy burdens and to free men from demonic captivity that they may become soldiers for God and fight against their captors, Isaiah 58:5-10; Luke 4:18-19. Recall the uses devils derive from our bodies as mentioned above. With these facts in mind, let us begin to answer the questions posed at the beginning of this letter by asking a few questions to prime your mind. Is it "good" for devils to climb out of the pit and avoid that part of their curse? Is it wise to let them use our bodies as a resting place, a seat, and a throne and allow them to rule us for long periods of time? Should they be allowed to mock God by deceiving us into thinking they are God, or angels of glory, or the Holy Spirit. Should they be allowed to use man as a weapon, a horse and a chariot against God and mankind in spiritual warfare? Should they be allowed to use man as a weapon against God and himself in spiritual warfare? Should God let them have a man's whole lifetime to use him to amplify their lies and deceptions as their microphone?
If you answered "No" to all those questions, then you are ready to learn God's strategy in demonic warfare. Removing men by death is the means by which God "delivers (us) men from evil" as in the Lord's prayer, while casting the enemy back into his curse and breaking his dominion over man. The parable of Lazarus and the rich man illustrates this procedure, where Lazarus is any human being, God's "jewel" (Malachi 3:6,17), and the rich man is any demonic possessor of God's jewel, Luke 16:19-26, 17:34-37. Death casts men up as free and living spirits, Ecclesiastes 12:7; II Corinthians 5:1-8; Hebrews 12:22-24. But the evil spirit (beast) falls back into the pit, Ecclesiastes 3:21; Isaiah 14:18-20; Revelation 17:8. Using these things as eyeglasses and focusing lenses, let us re-examine our thoughts concerning the first questions in this letter.
Hunger is a means of "scourging" .... scourging for whom? Because devils are on men as a "badgerskin veil", a threat to remove men is an attempt to correct or persuade devils not to use men against God and against themselves ... if devils hope to keep their resting places, houses, and thrones for a full three score and ten years. To attempt to correct devils necessitates a blow to man's flesh, but the but the affect on man is not intended directly for him. You can see this in Isaiah 10:5-12, where God used the devils on the Assyrians to punish the devils in the Jews. Those devils had caused the Jews to go awhoring from God through idolatry and malfeasance against the commandments. Punishment of Israel's devils meant the men of Israel had to be killed. Death cast those devils back into their pit-fall, while it uplifted the spirits of those men to heaven. Notice the reference to Ephesians 6:12..."We wrestle not against flesh and blood", in Isaiah 10:7, where God says, "He meaneth not so, neither does His heart think so, but it is in His heart to destroy and cut off many (invisible demonic) nations not a few". Those Jews killed were blessed in that their years of slavery were ended and they became really "clean" as new additions to the Heavenly Hosts, Luke 20:37-38; John 12:24,32; Hebrews 12:22-24. Poverty, drought, and starvation is a real intimidation for those demons on the children of flesh and blood in Africa, India, South America, Southeast Asia, and the islands. Impending death threatens a quick re-entry into the pit for devils clinging to the bodies of the dying and those near dying, Matthew 12:43-45; Mark 9:1. Starvation is not God's only method of vexing pit escapees. Look at Ezekiel 14:12-21. Use of ravaging animals, natural disasters, pestilences, and diseases may be added to shooting wars and starvation. Just recently in Mexico City an oil and gas disaster sent up many souls as a genuine burnt offering of "wheat" to God, Psalm 44:11,22; Isaiah 29:5; Luke 3:17, where devils are the "chaff". Many devils (chaff) were cast back into the pit, their curse of unquenchable fire. Judging God and assessing His deeds fairly... not according to appearance... we can say, "God is fair" in doing these things to those peoples. Now no man knows the day nor the hour wherein the sons of men will come back to heaven, Psalm 49:20; Acts 10:9-16,28. Nevertheless He uplifted them quickly to heaven from their earthly poverty and misery, prevented them from a long-term captivity, deprived their demons of a seat, a resting place and a house, a throne, and a chariot for war as He cast those demons back into the pit. Is it fair to Americans that the average one provides for his demons a seat, a house, a throne, a horse in battle, and a podium for their words for an average lifetime of seventy years? To shorten time God must reap men by cutting them out of this world and prison house, Psalm 126; John 12:24. To free men from prison, God must release men from the body of this death, Romans 7:24; II Corinthians 5:1-8.
Man's state of being creates educational opportunities
God is a Teacher who has created conditions to help Him educate His billions and exercise them in the 2nd Great commandment, Matthew 22:36-40. By explaining this to you, we can answer the last questions at the beginning of this letter... "Does God practice the love He has us preaching, and is He really "good"? These questions deal with God's fairness to man. Firstly, GOD IS EVERY MAN, that is His consciousness and a small portion of his immortal Spirit self is the "person" we individually feel we are, John 17:21-23; II Corinthians 6:16; Colossians 1:16-17. God has every right to do to His body parts as He sees fit. But nothing that is done to any man and no suffering that a man experiences can happen without it happening simultaneously to God! Isaiah 43:2, 46:3-4, 63:9. We will relate once more that it is God's will for us to have a traumatic beginning like His as He makes us after His likeness, even to that anguishing extent. We share His life and we must also share His suffering. We have no choice! No human being can get out of his prescribed degree of suffering. Our apportioned degrees of misery vary from very great to very little. It is unbecoming for us to be jealous of those who suffer less or angry at God because our cup of suffering seems to be too much to swallow. I cannot object to God's decision to make us after His likeness (even His suffering). But no one likes to suffer...not even God! That is why He thought of a way to ease His torture. Our various life conditions provide a format and a stage on which we may learn and practice the depths of love in contrast with the demerits of evil, Deuteronomy 30:15; Ecclesiastes 1:13. All of us must be taught of God by God through our personal experiences, and vicariously through the experiences of others, Psalm 127:1; Isaiah 54:13; John 15:5. When we see others punished for wrong doing, we learn not to disobey. When we are personally hurt as victims of wrong doing, the wrong is emphasized and we understand better why we should avoid wronging others. To express love and to show that it is really a part of us, CONDITIONS MUST BE FIXED TO GIVE US THE OPPORTUNITY. MAN'S VARIOUS STATES OF SUFFERING PROVIDE THOSE OF US WHO HAVE LEARNED THE TENETS OF THE SECOND GREAT COMMANDMENT OPPORTUNITIES TO GLOW WITH OUR LIGHT. Those who are naked, hungry, thirsty, and imprisoned, we minister to as men in this life and as consciences, teachers, and guardians in heaven. Every student whether upstairs or down must pass His exams! As a Teacher, God has used both the devil and the world conditions to provide for those purposes. With those rose-colored glasses on, let us answer the questions, "Does God practice what He has us preaching, and is God really "good""?! Unequivocally we can say, "Yes", He is fair and "good"! But one must be aware of what is going on above and below in the spirit world if he is to understand correctly. Blind men and men with too little knowledge of God will be lead to judge by appearance and to believe the slander against God they hear in their heads coming from their "crown of thorns" (demons). They may be used to pass on such blasphemy or to say there is no God because they do not really know God rightly, . This is what we expect from demon Gog, and Magog: DEMAGOGUERY! Ezekiel 38:2,16-18,21-23. When I saw a picture of starving and dead Ethiopians on TV, I heard DEMON-GOG slander God and pose those questions to me.
In conclusion, we can answer the title of this letter and say God does not really want to harm man. He cares for ALL His children the same! Because of the presence of treacherous devils on us (dirt on us) men are used against God and to commit "man's inhumanity to man". To counteract this, God has shortened man's days of captivity and frees us through "death". STAR-VATION is an intimidation intended to vex devils and a means by which STARS may rise, Psalm 147:4; Daniel 8:8-12, 12:3. Unfortunately to strike a blow at the enemy invariably hits our bodies. Nevertheless God uses these conditions and the war against sin for teaching purposes. We must look at both the spiritual side and the natural side of things if we are to be good judges. Care must be taken against judging by appearance, because DEMON-GOG and MAGOG are eager to teach us slanders against God.