Job: Why Does Evil Exist?

Genesis 2:8-9

In the opening narrative of Job’s story, Satan appears before the Lord and accuses him of buying Job’s love. Satan said, 

Job 1:9-11
“Does Job fear God for no reason? ¹⁰ Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. ¹¹ But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.”

Satan, who embodies evil, was allowed to inflict severe emotional and physical pain on Job to prove his case. This passage raises essential questions: Where did Satan come from? Why is he standing before God? And why did God allow Satan to inflict pain on Job? Before we address those questions, we must take a step back and ask:

Why does evil exist?

The book of Job teaches us that God is the Creator and is sovereign over all. So: 

If God created everything, did he create evil?

To begin addressing these questions, let’s refer to Genesis. In Genesis 1:31, “…God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.” If God created everything and declared it good, did he create evil? And if he didn’t create evil, where did evil originate?

It’s helpful to have a basic definition of evil. Augustine was one of the brilliant thinkers and theologians of the early church. As he grappled with the question of evil, he described it this way:

Evil has no positive nature; but the loss of good has received the name “evil.”^[1]

Evil, then, is the absence of goodness. To say something lacks goodness is to say that it is evil. Consider it this way: what is darkness? Could you fill a jar with darkness? Of course not. Darkness has no positive nature; it is simply the lack of light. When there is light, there is no darkness. Where there is no light, darkness prevails. 

I know what some of you are thinking. Ron, you promised clear and practical teaching. However, this seems like philosophical gobbledygook. Okay, I hear you; hang in there with me! Just as darkness is the absence of light, evil is the absence of goodness. God did not create evil; it exists when goodness is not present. This raises our next question: Why did God allow the absence of goodness to enter his creation? Again, we need to reference passages from Genesis.

Genesis 2:8-9
And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. ⁹ And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 

Genesis 2:15-17
The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. ¹⁶ And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, ¹⁷ but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” 

God planted a specific tree in the middle of the garden of Eden—the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. There was nothing evil about the tree, but it presented Adam and Eve with a decision. It offered the first couple the choice to trust God or to trust themselves. They could obey God or rebel against his instructions. 

As you study the problem of evil, you will likely come across the writings of Alvin Plantinga, a philosopher and theologian who has taught at Calvin University and the University of Notre Dame. Plantinga formulated what is called the “Free Will Defense.” A common thought process articulated by Lex Luthor in the movie Batman v. Superman: The Dawn of Justice proposes, “If God is all powerful, he cannot be all good. And if he is all good, he cannot be all powerful.” In that statement is the assumption of an inherent contradiction: there is no reason for an all-powerful and all-good God to allow evil. However, Plantinga and Scripture explain that free will, which means our freedom to choose, necessitates the existence of evil. 

Remember, in Genesis, God made humanity in his image. God created us with communicable attributes such as the ability to love and possess wisdom, knowledge, and reason. He did not create humans as programmed robots. We are given these attributes that grant us the freedom to make choices. Think of it! God loves us so much and desires our love so profoundly that he allows us options. Forced love is not love. We have the capacity to demonstrate our love to God or to rebel against him.

God can make the act of rebellion impossible, or he can make humanity free, but he cannot allow both to coexist. Humanity cannot be free to choose, then have no choice! Again, God’s creation is granted freedom based on his sovereignty and unrestrained love. God placed Adam and Eve in the garden and gave them everything they could ever want or need. He also gave them a choice concerning the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. We know the rest of the story: Satan tempted Eve, she rebelled against God, and sin (the seed of all evil) entered the human race and thus the world. 

So far, here is what we know:

• The study of evil must be approached with humility and surrender before God.
• God did not create evil.
• Evil represents the absence of goodness.
• God did not create us as robots; humanity has been given free will. 

But wait a second! Satan is the evil one! So, where does he come from? That’s our question for next time. 

PERSONAL TIME WITH GOD
Read Job 1:9-11, Genesis 2:8-9, 15-17. What do you learn about God’s love in these passages? 

Talking to God
Ask God to help you grasp how deeply he loves and cares for you. 

Have Questions?
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