There is No Darkness in Him at All

Idiom of Permission - God's Word as Shared by Dottie Tompary Continuing our study in being "Bible Detectives" we looked at the "Seven Steps to Biblical Accuracy." Number seven is "The words must be understood in light of the figures of speech." Figures of Speech- are thoughts stated unusually to get your attention. Idioms- are figures of speech so common to a group of people that it has lost the strong emphasis that other figures might carry. Example: Lani spilled the beans.  Idiom of Permission- when one person gives permission for an action but is instead described as responsible for performing the action. Example: My mother made me mad. Your mother did not make you mad. You chose to get mad.  Examples in the Bible:  Genesis 19:24 "the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire" Exodus 10:20 "the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart" 2 Samuel 6:7 "God smote him" The following accounts show how the Idiom of Permission is explained in God's Word: Samuel was written from man's point of view: 2 Samuel 24:1 "And again the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he *moved David against them to say, Go, number Israel and Judah.  Chronicles was written from God's point of view: 1 Chronicles 21:1 " And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel."  Another example:  Exodus 9:12 "And the LORD *hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had spoken unto Moses."  Exodus 8:32 "And Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also, neither would he let the people go." This would seem to be a contradiction. Let's look at one more example: Exodus 12:23 For the Lord will pass though to *smite the Egyptians; and when he seeth the blood upon the lintel and on the two side posts, the Lord will pass over the door and will not suffer (allow- Idiom of Permission) the destroyer to come into your houses to smite you.  Now wait a minute! Is it Lord or the destroyer doing the smiting? No, no, no - the destroyer is doing the smiting here. Thus the name "destroyer." Explanation: God is the best Father. (John 3:16- "For God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.") He loves you unconditionally and never possesses you. You always have free will because he gave it to you. He goes so far as to limit Himself to your free will. However there is Satan, the "destroyer", the "author of death", "the thief." John 10:10 says "The thief cometh not but for to steal and to kill and to destroy. I (Jesus Christ) am come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly. " God also abides by His own laws. The law of Gravity works. You cannot go jump off a building and blame God if you break your arm. You chose to jump. This is a consequence of your decision to jump. Consequences are good too. Without them you'd jump and break your bones all up and render them useless. Without feeling the heat of the stove you'd burn your skin to the point it couldn't protect your body. In God's law is a hedge of protection. Stay in God's law and you're protected. You can choose to leave anytime but isn't it great that God's maintains His law for you to rely on!  James 1:17 "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and cometh down from the Father of lights with whom is no variableness (God NEVER changes. He is not killing people at one time and saving people at the same time!) neither shadow of turning." In fact Matthew 22:32 says "...God is not the God of the dead, but of the living." 1 John 4:16 "And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love and he that dwelleth in God and God in him." *Each situation where God's Word says God did anything dark or bad it can be understood as "permitted." God is all powerful and there is no equality of power between Him and Satan. Satan has dominion over the world because God limited Himself by giving Earth's dominion to Adam, and Adam gave that dominion to Satan. God does not take back, even when you do the wrong thing. Just as the writers inspired by God to write the Old Testament Bible rarely fathomed giving Satan any credence, we can learn from this and do the same. Instead we can keep God's praise on our lips and praise Him for His infinite mercy and goodness.