The pandemic

Dear editor:

This is a response to C.G. Smith’s letter (Monday, May 11).

You stated that “Scripture is in the eye of the beholder.” By that, I suppose you meant that Scripture can mean just about anything someone says that it is.

To that, I will ask you if it is more likely that the problem is with the person reading the Bible rather than implying that the Scriptures are at fault?

You also criticized people who “cite other verses as backups” which are offered as additional evidence for a certain Bible verse or passage.

Bible scholars and pastors have long instructed us that the Bible is the best interpreter of itself, so more Scripture only affirms the truthfulness of God’s Word.

There are certainly some things in the Bible that can be difficult to properly understand but fortunately, God has made most things in the Bible very easy to understand. It doesn’t take a ” rocket scientist” to properly understand The Ten Commandments, for example. “You shall not steal” seems incredibly simple to me!

Just as easy to understand is a less familiar verse that I quoted in my last letter: “… it is the Lord who sends the thunderstorms.” (Zechariah 10:1) Is that verse also not very plain and clear? How can you possibly interpret this in more than one way?

You also said, “No, this scourge is not God’s will. He may permit it, but He is not the source.”

By your saying that God may permit something to happen without actually causing it to happen does not make good sense because God is sovereign which means that He is always in absolute control!

How about all the terrible suffering that Job experienced from the hand of God for a long time? Yes, it was a test and not a punishment for sin, but the Bible gives many examples of how God can send “storms” of all kinds into our lives to achieve various purposes. These can include chastisement whenever God decides it is needed to help us get back on the right path.

Please read 1 Corinthians 10:1-13 about how God punished the ancient Israelites for their chronic disobedience to God! Even though this happened long ago, pay special attention to verse 11, which says “These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us on whom the culmination of the ages has come.”

You concluded that “He is not the author of evil.” Of course, God is not evil! 1 John 1:5 informs us that “God is light; in Him there is no darkness at all.” Therefore, it would be impossible for God to be guilty of doing something evil!

Keep in mind that God brought a plague upon His own chosen people, the ancient Israelites whenever they turned away from Him! “14,700 people died from the plague”! (Numbers 16:49)

God does not have to be evil in order for Him (in all of His infinite complexity) to indeed be the source of His creation, including a storm or a virus! Lloyd Hoffman Hot Springs