MANY people who doubt the existence of an all-powerful, loving God ask: If God does exist, why has he allowed so much suffering and wickedness throughout history? Why does he allow the sorry state of things we see around us today? Why does he not do something to bring an end to war, crime, injustice, poverty, and other miseries that are escalating at an alarming rate in so many countries of the earth?
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It is suggested by some that God created the universe, installed humans on planet Earth, and then left them to run their own affairs. According to this view, God would not be to blame for the trouble and misery that people bring upon themselves because of their greed or mismanagement.
However, others reject such a theory. For example, physics professor Conyers Herring, who acknowledges a belief in God, states: “I reject the idea of a God who long ago set a great clockwork in motion and has since been sitting back as a spectator while mankind wrestles with the puzzle. One reason for my rejection of this is that my scientific experience gives me no reason to believe that there is any ‘clockwork’ model of the universe that is ultimately and finally the correct one. Our scientific theories . . . will always be capable of greater and greater refinement, but I feel sure they will always prove imperfect. It is safer, I think, to have faith in the living force that makes this improvement always possible.”
God Does Have a Purpose
God’s original purpose was for planet Earth to be inhabited by righteous, perfect humans. The prophet Isaiah wrote: “This is what Jehovah has said, the Creator of the heavens, He the true God, the Former of the earth and the Maker of it, He the One who firmly established it, who did not create it simply for nothing, who formed it even to be inhabited.”—Isaiah 45:18.
Rather than populate the earth through the direct creation of individual humans, God purposed to fill the earth by means of procreation by humans. When Adam and Eve rebelled against God, this did not thwart his original purpose, but it did cause a necessary adjustment of some details in order for his purpose regarding humans and the earth to be fulfilled.
For about the first 6,000 years of this period, God has allowed mankind to operate independently of his direct guidance. That is what our original parents chose of their own free will. (Genesis 3:17-19; Deuteronomy 32:4, 5) This allowance of independence from God’s guidance and the subsequent rule by humans instead of by God would show up man’s inability to direct his own steps and his inability to govern his fellowmen successfully.
Jehovah, of course, had known this outcome in advance. He inspired Bible penmen to put it into words. For example, the prophet Jeremiah wrote: “I well know, O Jehovah, that to earthling man his way does not belong. It does not belong to man who is walking even to direct his step.”—Jeremiah 10:23.
The wise man Solomon commented on the disastrous results that follow when humans attempt to dominate their fellows, as they have over the centuries. “All this I have seen, and there was an applying of my heart to every work that has been done under the sun, during the time that man has dominated man to his injury.”—Ecclesiastes 8:9.
However, far from “sitting back as a spectator while mankind wrestles with the puzzle,” Almighty God has had good reason for allowing the passage of these thousands of years without intervening directly in the lives of the majority of mankind.
A Good Purpose Served
The past 6,000 years of human history may seem a long time when compared with our average life span of less than 100 years. But according to God’s timetable and his view of the passing of time, these thousands of years are like six days—less than one week! The apostle Peter explained: “Let this one fact not be escaping your notice, beloved ones, that one day is with Jehovah as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day.”—2 Peter 3:8.
Peter then goes on to counter any charge of negligence or procrastination on God’s part, by adding: “Jehovah is not slow respecting his promise, as some people consider slowness, but he is patient with you because he does not desire any to be destroyed but desires all to attain to repentance.”—2 Peter 3:9.
Thus, when the allotted years have run their course, the Creator will bring an end to the mismanagement of our beautiful planet. He will have allowed ample time for man to demonstrate his inability to govern or to bring an end to war, violence, poverty, sickness, and other causes of suffering. This will confirm by actual experience what God indicated to humans in the beginning—that they must follow divine guidance to be successful.—Genesis 2:15-17.
According to the fulfillment of Bible prophecy, we now live in the final part of “the last days” of this ungodly system of things. (2 Timothy 3:1-5, 13; Matthew 24:3-14) God’s toleration of human rule independent of him as well as of wickedness and suffering is nearing its end. (Daniel 2:44) Soon the greatest tribulation this world has ever witnessed will be upon us, culminating in “the war of the great day of God the Almighty,” Armageddon. (Revelation 16:14, 16) This God-directed war will not destroy God’s handiwork the earth, but it will “bring to ruin those ruining the earth.”—Revelation 11:18.
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God’s Kingdom of a Thousand Years
There will be millions of survivors on earth when Armageddon has run its course. (Revelation 7:9-14) The prophecy at Proverbs 2:21, 22 will have been fulfilled: “The upright are the ones that will reside in the earth, and the blameless are the ones that will be left over in it. As regards the wicked, they will be cut off from the very earth; and as for the treacherous, they will be torn away from it.”
God’s purpose is that a special period of a thousand years will follow the righteous war of Armageddon. (Revelation 20:1-3) This will constitute the Millennial Reign of God’s Son, Christ Jesus, as King of God’s heavenly Kingdom. (Matthew 6:10) During this joyful Kingdom rule over the earth, countless millions will be resurrected from their sleep in death to join the millions of Armageddon survivors. (Acts 24:15) Together they will be restored to perfection, and then—at the end of the Thousand Year Reign of Christ—the earth will finally be filled with perfect men and women, all descendants of Adam and Eve. God’s purpose will have been carried out gloriously and successfully.
Yes, God’s purpose is to “‘wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore. The former things have passed away.’ And the One seated on the throne said: ‘Look! I am making all things new.’” (Revelation 21:4, 5) Without fail, that purpose will be fulfilled in the very near future.—Isaiah 14:24, 27.
