Hello Mike,

I am in a discussion with a young man about the Lord and the evil he thought about the nation of Israel.

Exo 32:7 And the LORD said unto Moses, Go, get thee down; for thy people, which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves:
Exo 32:8 They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them: they have made them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed thereunto, and said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
Exo 32:9 And the LORD said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people:
Exo 32:10 Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a great nation.

I could not explain this well enough to help us see the whole truth of this matter. Can you please help me to explain this correctly?

Your Brother in Christ,
A____

Hi A____,
God creates evil every day. The Bible declares this from Genesis to Revelation. You know all the verses:

Pro 16:4  The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.
Isa 45:7  I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.
Amo 3:6  Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD hath not done it?
Eph 1:11  In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
Rev 13:13  And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,
Rev 13:14  And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.

If God really is “working all things after the counsel of His own will, then He is working and thinking of how to work all the evil that is occurring in all the earth all the time.
But God alone is capable of “creating evil” and making good come from evil. No man can do that, and God does not give an accounting to any man for His actions and His plan. Paul deals with this question and answers it head on, but no natural man is going to be satisfied with God’s answer to whether he can create evil and still not be evil. Here is God’s answer to all who confront Him on this question:

Rom 9:17  For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.
Rom 9:18  Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will [ have mercy], and whom he will he hardeneth.
Rom 9:19  Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will?
Rom 9:20  Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed [ it], Why hast thou made me thus?
Rom 9:21  Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?

The answer is that no one can resist God’s will, and He is working all things according to the counsel of His own will, and if we don’t like the way He is doing things, then that too, is His work. All of our thoughts, good and evil, are His work via either good or evil spirits, and in the end it will all “work together for good”.

Pro 16:1  The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the LORD.

According to Rom 7, we can’t even sin of our own volition. We sin because God has a “law of sin” in motion which directs our every move.

Rom 7:17  Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
Rom 7:18  For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but [ how] to perform that which is good I find not.
Rom 7:19  For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
Rom 7:20  Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
Rom 7:21  I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.

Who gave and who sustains that “law of sin and death”?

Jas 4:12  There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another?

So God is working every thought and action of all men of all time “after the counsel of His own will”, but He is in the process of “calling light out of darkness” and making good come of evil.

Gen 50:20  But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it [ all evil ever committed] unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.

God means our evil deeds for good to “bring to pass… to save much people alive”, and in the process convince all flesh of the futility, and the sinfulness, of these bodies of “sinful flesh and blood”.
When it is all said and done, we will all acknowledge that God’s way is really the only way.
As far as Exo 32:14 goes, God already knew very well that He was going to lead Moses to think that He intended to destroy Israel, and He already knew what Moses’ response to that threat would be. That verse is written for our benefit and for our admonition, to let us know how serious God is in dealing with sin.

Exo 32:14 And the LORD repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people.

God tells us that He had all of this planned out in advance:

Psa 139:16  Thine eyes did see mine unformed substance; And in thy book they were all written, Even the days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was none of them.
Isa 63:17 O Jehovah, why dost thou make us to err from thy ways, and hardenest our heart from thy fear? Return for thy servants’ sake, the tribes of thine inheritance.

I hope this is of some help to you.
Your brother in Christ,
Mike