Why Let Them Be Born?

Q

Something has always confused me. Example: God selected Saul to be Israel’s first king but God must have known Saul would become disobedient even causing his own death and the death of his three sons. Why would God select Saul to be Israel’s king knowing this would happen? Also, why would a loving God let people be born He knows are going to hell? Why not prevent the birth of people God knows will never want Him? Are these questions that are not answerable while we are here on Earth? At one time in my life I was very angry with God for allowing so much suffering but I’ve come a place where I must believe God is just and a loving God but that since I am human there is a great deal I can’t understand even if I wanted to.

A

The Israelites wanted a human king like the other nations had. In effect they were saying they didn’t want God to be their king. After warning them of the down side of their desire, He yielded to their choice, like He always does. The result was Saul.

You’re correct in saying there’s a lot about God that we can’t understand. That will end at the resurrection/rapture when we’re made perfect. Speaking of that time, Paul said, “Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known” (1 Cor. 13:12).

That said, here are some things we can know. First, there’s a big difference between knowing something will happen and making it happen. In the first case we have the freedom to make choices and in the second case, we don’t.

Blaming God when people make the wrong choice after He gave His life so they could make the right one doesn’t make sense. If it was up to Him everyone would be saved (2 Peter 3:9). Even so, people who reject the provision He made for their sins often blame Him for their rejection.

Second, there was no suffering in the days before there was sin, and it wasn’t God who brought sin into the world. It was the disobedience of our first parents, after being manipulated by the serpent.

But when that happened, the whole world came under the control of the evil one (1 John 5:19). He’s the one who is ultimately to blame for all the suffering in the world.

Finally, God doesn’t choose whether we will be born or not. That choice belongs to our parents. Once we are born, we can choose to be born again as a child of God (John 1:12-13). If we do, then we will inherit eternal life with Him in a world where there is no death, or mourning, or crying, or pain (Rev. 21:4). No more suffering.