ns? Was it not God that caused the Babylonians and the Assyrians to come against His own people in judgment of their idolatry? Indeed, even though Herod certainly acted on his own free will to murder the young boys in Bethlehem, his actions fell right in step with God's unchangeable plan.

Three points need to be made concerning God's sovereignty and man's freedom. (1) People do make real choices and are accountable for those choices. No one will be able to excuse their sins by blaming God's sovereignty. (2) Nevertheless, ultimately everything we do is a part of God's sovereign will. (3) Though God has ordained for people to do evil things, and is therefore indirectly responsible for sin, His plans are good and just and He remains blameless.

The Crucifixion of Jesus

If you are still struggling with the premise that God might ordain someone to do evil, consider the death of His Son. Certainly murder is against God's moral will. The sixth command speaks clearly: "Thou shall not murder." So Pontius Pilate, the angry crowd, and the soldiers who placed Christ on the cross will all have to answer for their evil involvement in murdering Jesus. Yet the Bible makes it very clear that this very evil deed (Could there be a greater sin than murdering the Son of God?!) was ordained by God Himself. Acts 2:23 says that Jesus was "delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God." Isaiah 53:10 says it clearly: "Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief."

Someone might ask, "If God had ordained for Jesus to be killed by these people, how can God hold them responsible for their sin?" Consider Shakespeare's play Macbeth. In that play, Macbeth murders King Duncan. Who, then, is responsible for King Duncan's death? Obviously Macbeth is responsible, but also Shakespeare. It was Macbeth who desired to commit the murder and who acted upon that desire. Yet it was Shakespeare who was sovereign over the whole event, and none of it could have taken place without the stroke of his pen.

God is the author of history. It truly is "His story." Though we are responsible for all of our thoughts, words, and actions, it is God who works through these things to accomplish His purpose.

Two Wrong Responses

Upon encountering this idea that God has ordained all that takes place - both good and bad - some try and rebel against God's sovereignty.

Tori Amos, the rock star from North Carolina and the daughter of a Methodist minister, experienced a miscarriage. "To the idea that this painful event may have been in God's will she responds, 'If it was, then I'm going to kick his ..., because I'm not interested in "thy will be done." As mother of this child, I wanted my will, not thy will.' (Foster's Sunday Citizen, Nov. 15, 1998)"

Heather MacDonald wrote an editorial in Slate magazine soon after the aforementioned tsunami. She titled her opinion piece "He Has Gone Too Far This Time". It began this way: "In the wake of the tsunami disaster, it's time for believers to take a more proactive role in world events. It's time to boycott God. Centuries of uncritical worship have clearly produced a monster?"

Her solution to God's misbehaving is preposterous: "Let the human race play hard to get. Imagine God's discombobulation if, after the next mass slaughter of human life, the hymns of praise and incense do not rise up. He checks the Sunday census; the pews are empty. Week after week, the churches and mosques are unattended?He starts to worry. Has he gone too far this time? Maybe he should've exercised his much heralded powers of intervention, the same powers that his erstwhile worshipers presupposed every time they prayed for him to cure a cancer victim, or get them into law school?And so, no longer guaranteed an adoring public, he starts to make nice. He calls back avalanches poised to wipe out whole villages; he brings rain to drought-stricken communities; he cures fatally handicapped babies in the womb, or prevents such flawed conceptions before they happen. He presents tokens of his love to malaria victims and children paralyzed by auto accidents. Africa blooms with peace and prosperity."

Do you hear what Mrs. MacDonald is saying? She is proposing that if we just stick our noses up at God and refuse to love Him, commit not to worship Him, then perhaps God will straighten up His act and stop ordaining evil things.

There are several things wrong with Mrs. MacDonald's perception of God. First, she seems to have this idea that God needs our worship, and that without it He will somehow become lonely or depressed. This is simply untru

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