Q & A

Sometimes we consider Yah to be late in answering our prayers. I was asked by my son-in-law during Passover a question about God. He asked this: If God knows all things and knew that Lucifer would betray Elohim and that Satan would lead man to betray His creator, why didn’t God stop Lucifer before these events happened? Satan has caused hardship, disease, and misery; why didn’t God, who is all-powerful, stop the devil? This is a legitimate question that needs to be answered.

I cannot answer the totality of Yahweh’s response to this question.  Perhaps, I can relate to these thoughts until we receive full disclosure in eternity. We know the scriptures teach us that God is love.

Yahweh is love, and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in Elohim, and Elohim in him. 1 John 4:16 RSB

Before man was created, the host in heaven had the power to decide for themselves either to serve or not to serve the God of the universe. Man, who was created from the earth’s soil, has also been given the power of choice; this freedom is born from God’s love. Yahweh is not looking for programmed individuals to love or adore Him. Love must come freely and deep within our worship of God.

As we learn from Scripture, Lucifer’s dilemma is the sin we call pride. The sin problem started in the heavens and was eradicated from Yah’s realm. Pride festered and burned within Lucifer, causing his downfall.  Satan continued his insurrection and furthered his revolt by infiltrating the Garden of Eden and by recruiting the first occupants in this lush garden. Adam and Eve, being warned by their creator what not to take, failed to heed Yah’s word. Elohim’s command was violated, as told in Genesis 2:17. Lucifer’s story reveals how he became self-centered as he focused on the “I can do this syndrome.” Satan’s uprising in the heavens is explained in Isaiah 14:11-16.

The serpent thought he could be like the Highest who created him. Satan actually deceived himself and is currently in the full-time business of turning the world upside down with his trickery. Individuals who do not read the Word will be left out in the cold as they choose to be un-informed. Those who hold this point of view and believe they can attain another path to utopia will pay a price to live without Yahweh.  

Satan’s path will lead you to ruin.  The sly one has chosen his future which is very bleak. Yah has developed acreage on prime real-estate land with a spectacular lake-front view. This reserved property is home to the adversary and his followers. The post office street address, “666 the Lake of Fire.” The weather forecast at this location is scorching hot! Satan will be the first occupant in this out-of-the-way private country club. Others will join him and choose to follow his rebellion.[1]

I myself prefer to heed Yah’s commands and walk the streets of gold, live in a mansion where my address is “The New Jerusalem” (Revelation 3:12, 21:2). My savior and King have placed a down payment with Messiah’s own blood sprinkled on the ‘mercy seat.’ My eternal destination includes a mansion prepared by the ‘Bright and Morning Star,” a secure promise to all believers (John 14:2).

Back to the specific question of why it is taking God so long to stop Satan. If I hire you to do a job and you say; you will complete the task in four days, I would be delighted with this immediate time frame. What are the details? This job site involves reversing the damage to a dying breed called humans. The cause-and-effect harm to these souls is the responsibility of Satan. The man also bears responsibility; his willingness to exercise His power of choice and forfeit Yah’s word has brought calamities for all mankind and creation itself.

Man will bear punishment as he continues to align himself with the evil one. In the ‘Garden of Eden’ man was perfectly perfect but chose to listen to lies enticed by the deceiver; man became completely impaired. Adam and Eve became unfit to inhabit a pure garden that was suitable to serve mankind forever. Man’s decision caused alienation of himself from a loving God. Sin entered the world, and man became filled with the knowledge of good and evil.[2]

To fix man’s damaged soul, Yahweh immediately acted and told the serpent; Yahweh Elohim said unto the serpent because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust[3]shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel (Genesis 3:14-150.  

These words by Yahweh were the first prophetic utterance spoken by our creator. The hidden message is that it would take four days to complete this endeavor called ‘redemption.’ This short order of business involves the repair of trillions upon trillions of souls that are lost. The work of restoring man to his original state and purpose is monumental. This completion of work would take miraculous synchronized events! Only the eternal God Himself could fix the problem.

Now how do I know this work was done in four days?

Prophecies spoken by the Holy Spirit had to take place in a specific order to confirm the hand of Yahweh. Man, a fallen creature by way of sin, is incapable of restoring himself. A perfect substitute was predicted to arrive. Only a supreme God could arrange the sequence of events and bring redemption to completion.  Yet still today, the completion is in progress and at our doorstep. Man is currently in the loop to receive a newly formed body equipped for eternity.

Our human history is jam-packed like a time capsule, containing centuries, generations, and kingdoms vanishing while Yahweh’s prophetic statements continue to endure the test of time. Who is there beside Yahushua Yahweh? Man in his earthly state must learn to hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The Holy Spirit speaks from the eternal point of view. In understanding Yah’s viewpoint, we must begin to grasp His timeless environment. Adam and Eve stood with Yah in the state of no sin, an eternal abode, before they made a terrible decision and entered the time zone of aging and decay.

We must reject the thought that God takes His time when He finally does something. Many believers agonize over unanswered prayer. The scriptures teach He fulfills His word in a precise, timely fashion. And yes, sometimes Yah says no to our unanswered prayer. We must ask God to reveal the wisdom of no. His Word declares, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10).

Let’s get ourselves out of Yah’s way and allow the Holy Spirit to work through us in delivering the message of salvation to mankind.

“But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with Yahweh as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day” (2 Kefa/Peter 3:8 RSB).

Man’s expulsion from the ‘Garden of Eden’ brought the perfect one to our doorstep. Messiah’s crucifixion and resurrection took four days from Yahweh’s prophetic statement in the ‘Garden of Eden.’ Man has counted a total of four thousand years to the miraculous event when Messiah rose from the dead. Messiah’s resurrection brought victory to mankind as He defeated the ‘angel of death.’ From Yah’s eternal viewpoint, the Word declares the process took four days to complete!  

We are now approaching the end of the sixth day and closing in on when Messiah will return in the clouds of glory. The Jewish Mashiach will begin to rule on the seventh day, a thousand-year period that is one day to Elohim!

We are destined for eternity too. Let’s think now as if we are there. One final thought was that Yahweh himself physically completed the task of redeeming man from his folly. Our creator suffered horrific punishment for His creation. What love is this?

“And without controversy, great is the mystery of holiness: Elohim was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory” (1 Timothy 3:16 RSB).

[1] And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone (Revelation 19:20). 

[2] “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die” (Genesis 2:17).

[3] The man was shaped from the soil/dust of the earth; in his rebellion, he gave Satan access to invade our souls and body with his intention of destruction. Messiah came and successfully undid the power of death, taking the keys of death, hell, and the grave from Satan (Revelation 1:18). Yahushua opened the door of glory with the Father. Believers must repent, receive Messiah’s forgiveness, and be reconstructed through the power of the Holy Spirit. The first step is to be born-again, a new birth and spiritual experience by way of The Holy Spirit.