Introduction

The question of why God permits evil first requires a definition. Evil is defined as that which produces unhappiness; anything which either directly or remotely causes suffering of any kind. Evil can be divided into two categories. There are moral wrongs or evils that individuals inflict causing others to suffer. There are also the disasters of nature that have wrought much suffering—such as earthquakes, tsunamis and typhoons.

While all Christians are  familiar  with  the  compassion  and tears of Jesus, our study of this subject adds another dimension to the question. Evil not only results in human suffering but also in God’s suffering. Genesis 6:6 (NAS) states that “The LORD was sorry…He was grieved in His heart.” Isaiah 63:9 (NAS) tells us, “In all their affliction, He [God] was afflicted.” Yes, when man suffers, our Heavenly Father suffers. Understanding that God can suffer is basic to any discussion of—Why God permits evil.

Christian theologians throughout the past centuries  have taught that God is without passion and could not feel compassion for mankind’s suffering.¹

Many have responded—Can an unfeeling God love? A concept that embraces the idea that God cannot suffer has to answer the question—Can God really love?

The prophet Jeremiah’s reference to the “tears” of God (Jeremiah 14:17) confirms the beautiful insight into God’s love penned by a compassionate Pastor.²

The principle taught in the divine Word, that true love weeps with those that weep and rejoices with those that rejoice, is one which is also exemplified in the Divine character.

But God is not man. He is not bound by man’s limitations. God’s ability to suffer does not disturb His peace of mind. His fatherly love that shares the sorrows of His human family contains no anxiety over their eternal welfare. With Divine serenity His wisdom has planned for the eternal welfare of all, and in His serenity He knows His Divine love and power will attain that goal.

The title of this booklet—And God Cried—is based on Jeremiah 9:9-11; and 14:17, where God speaks of shedding “tears night and day” for the “daughter of my people” (KJV). Calvinists insist that it is Jeremiah, not God, who is crying. However, it was God who told Jeremiah to tell Judah that He, God, was crying for their light.

Shall I not visit them for these things? saith the LORD: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this? For the mountains will I take up a weeping and wailing, and for the habitations of the wilderness a lamentation, because they are burned up, so that none can pass through  them;  neither can men hear the voice of the cattle; both the fowl of the heavens and the beast are fled; they are gone.… and I will make the cities of Judah desolate, without an inhabitant.

Only God could say the  “daughter  of  my  people.”  The generation of Jews living in Jeremiah’s day were the “daughter” or descendants of God’s people, Israel who came out of Egypt. In verses 17 and 18 God, as a loving father, deeply feels the chastisement inflicted on His wayward people.

In Chapter 14, verse 19, Jeremiah is speaking. He asks God, “Hast thou utterly rejected Judah?…Why hast thou smitten us?” Notice the us. Jeremiah includes himself as a part of Judah, God’s people, or the “my people” of verse 17. Yes, God says He was crying over the plight of His people. Jeremiah includes himself in the “My people” for whom God was crying.

First, this presentation will consider the Scriptures that reveal the tenderness of God’s fatherly love as He shares the sufferings of His children. Then the question—Why does God permit evil?—will be Scripturally answered revealing the eternal benefits of both man’s suffering and God’s suffering.