10. WHO KILLS PEOPLE, THE ALMIGHTY GOD OR SATAN?
God does not kill each and every person who dies. No! God never does that thing. God had made things here on earth to follow a specific law without fail. Take for instance a person who cuts his throat with a knife. The law is, he will bleed to death as long as he does not get help soon. Someone sets a house alight with people inside it. The law is, all inside the house would burn together with it. If people could not escape would also burn to death. If a person eats too much of fatty meat, drinks a lot of sweetened drinks, does not do exercises and is always watching a television, the law is, he will develop heart problems and may become diabetic. This illness may lead to his death. Sometimes a person is born of diabetic parents the law is, chances are high that he himself may also be diabetic. If a person slits open his veins, will bleed to death unless help comes soon. If someone takes in a poisonous substance, that one is sure to die unless suitable help is received quickly or will survive if that substance is not lethal. One who douses oneself with petrol and sets oneself alight will burn oneself to death. These incidents and many more fatal ones will themselves continue to kill people.
All things follow a certain law laid down by God long time ago here on earth. God has nothing to do with what a person does. God allowed people to do according to their judgment and dictates of their hearts. The Almighty God made it a law that whatever a person does, will suffer consequences or enjoy benefits thereof. People started to be able to use their own discretion when doing things after Adam and Eve had eaten the fruit of the tree of knowledge.
Read Genesis 3:22 Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us. To know good and evil.” Thenceforth people became the directors and architects of their own destiny (EKR). One who plans his life well will definitely live a better life in future. God watches as people do whatever they do on earth. No intervention whatsoever is made by Him.
There are only two incidents where God had to talk to people who had killed others. The first one is after Cain had killed his brother Abel. The second one is through a prophet Nathan who was sent to King David by God Almighty to tell him how angry He was with him for killing Uriah for his wife. We will look at the repercussions of King David's actions broadly later on.
Someone may ask: What about people who are killed by natural forces? Is God not causing their death? The answer is, if someone is struck by lightning, it is either he was at a wrong place at a wrong time or his home is built at a place prone to thunder strikes.
What about dying in floods? The answer is, people decided on their own, in most cases through lack of space, to build their home in low lying areas that are flooded during rainy seasons. People have power to think, they are like God Himself, so they can see what they can do to avoid staying in a place where floods are prevalent. This applies to people staying in places with volcanic eruptions and earth-quakes. They have to think. Their ancestors Adam and Eve ate of the fruit of wisdom so they have wisdom too. They must make use of it. It is either they leave that place and stay somewhere else or device survival means.
God fought for the Israelites long time ago but they were so disobedient that He stopped fighting their wars. God assisted them in winning battles and in those battles people were killed. People knew that Abraham's descendents were coming back home. What was once their homeland had been inhabited by others. It is not easy for one to destroy his home and hand the land over to the rightful owners therefore war has to settle it all. If the owner is defeated then he loses his claim to that land. If he is victorious then he wins his land back. God had taken the Israelites from the land of Egypt back to Canaan. He could not just dump them there and leave them like that. So God had to be part of their battles. After giving the Israelites their promised land back, God Almighty expected them to worship Him till the end of the world. But the Jews, starting from the reign of King Solomon on wards started to worship the idols. God Almighty could not stand it. He then stopped helping them in times of war. What followed was catastrophic to them. They were defeated and driven to exile many times. It was only in 1956 that The Jews had to reclaim their land back with the help from the Christian West. Jesus Christ intervened. In fact he was sent to do so by God Himself. Yet the Jews never realized that.
There are those who are taken by Lord God Almighty Himself. People like Enoch, Elijah and Jesus. But most people die through, old age, accidents, error in judgement, or are killed by other people.
A young man once tried to stop the Ark of the Covenant of God Almighty from falling down to the ground. He held it up with his hands, and died instantly. What God had said had to happen to him. God had only allowed His priests to handle His Ark yet, Uzzah forgot about all that and was seen handling the Ark of God with his hands, as it was falling to the ground. He died instantly. God did not kill him but it was the fulfillment of His word. Uzzah was killed by his forgetfulness. Read 2 Samuel 6:6 and Numbers 4:15.
If a person out of rage kills another person, God Almighty gets very much cross with the killer. God detests such an act. God will never condone actions of murder done by people to other people.
Let us hear what God has to say in Genesis 4:10 Then the Lord said, “Why have you done THIS TERRIBLE THING? Your brother's blood is crying out to me from the ground.” Therefore if a person kills another person it is not the time for that person to die but it is only a TERRIBLE THING done by the murderer. God Almighty will ask the murderer this question: ' Why have you done this terrible thing?' Read Genesis 4:10. God Almighty does not end there He continues; Your brother's blood is crying out to me from the ground. Soon a curse is cast upon the murderer. God Almighty never says; “Well done, that is how I wanted him to die.' No! no! no! God Almighty rebukes the murderer. God refers to murder as the terrible thing done.
Note; if people die in a road accident, the one who caused that accident is cursed and the blood of the dead is upon him. God Almighty will ask him why he has done that terrible thing. If a person decided to terminate his life, his blood would be upon himself.
The Jews knew about this and I am sure even this day they still do. That is why they said in Matthew 27:25 Let the responsibility for his death fall on us and our children. Let me clarify this. The murderer gets a curse that will never be redeemed by any means. Neither prayers nor fasting could free one from such curse. If you do not believe it learn from King David; 2 Samuel 11:1-27.
King David out of lust had Uriah the husband to Bathsheba killed. Little did he know that by so doing he had provoked the wrath of The Almighty. All his prayers, his fasting and supplications to God Almighty could not help him. Why? Uriah's blood kept on calling out to God Almighty from the ground.
King David had to face the curse. Firstly Absalom killed his brother Amnon for raping his sister Tamar. Tamar was Amnon's half sister. Amnon could not control his lust for Tamar just as King David had failed to control his for Bathsheba the wife of Uriah. Absalom too could not be stopped from killing Amnon as David could not change his mind set on killing Uriah. Absalom made a plan to kill his half brother Amnon just as King David had done for Uriah. Read 2 Samuel 13:1-39. It did not end there. King David saw the unexpected when Absalom his son had sexual intercourse with all his concubines who were left behind in the palace to take care of it as king David fled from him. Read 2 Samuel 16:21-22.
The curse continued. Absalom was also killed in the battle against his father King David. Still the curse remained unabated. Solomon who had been blessed with wisdom by God Almighty, could not be stopped from whatever he wanted to do. He ended up worshiping the idols brought to his palace by his wives, the heathens. God Almighty had warned the Israelites against getting married to the gentiles. Solomon could not control himself so he took no notice of that because the curse of his father King David was upon him.
The curse continued and caused the kingdom of Israel to be divided into two. Rehoboam the grandson of King David could not be advised. He followed his heart the curse of King David being prevalent. Eventually both kingdoms ceased to exist. The almighty God's wrath was upon the murderers. This must prove it to you beyond doubt that it is only God Almighty who has authority over our lives here on earth. One who takes someone else's life has crossed swords with the Almighty God, hence curses, following what God stipulated fall automatically upon him.
The blood that is shed during times of war is also a terrible thing to God. That blood will be called upon the one who caused that war. Neither prayers nor sacrifices could free that one from the curse
Read Isaiah 45:7 I create both light and darkness; I bring both blessing and disaster. I, the Lord DO ALL THESE THINGS. (GNB) These things then operate on their own. Just like the traffic lights that flash green, amber and red on their own. They do not need the manufacturer to keep on controlling them to work.
Question: What God means by these words 'I create both light and darkness; I bring both blessing and disaster. I, the Lord DO ALL THESE THINGS.' to Prophet Isaiah?
Answer: God means that He created light and darkness as we see it even today. He also created life which He freely gave to all living things as well as death which He hid in the fruit of the tree which He had planted in the center of the Garden of Eden. Human beings being disobedient as they still are, ate of the fruit and took in death as well. Now death is busy doing its work of killing people as God said it would do. This is the disaster He created, which Adam and Eve brought upon themselves and upon all living things. That disaster which is death in all its forms is still with us even to this day.
Did Satan entered a snake to deceive them?
According to the Gospel of John chapter 8 : 44 Jesus says: “You are the children of your father, the Devil, and you want to follow your father's desires. From the beginning he was a murderer and has never been on the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he tells a lie, he is only doing what is natural to him, because he is a liar and the father of all lies.” (Good New Bible)
Question: What does Jesus mean by saying Satan was a murderer from the beginning? Who was murdered by Satan in the beginning?
Answer: Indeed Satan in this (in this context figuratively meaning a deceiver or anything causing people to disobey God), killed us all in the beginning. The curse of Adam and Eve keeps of falling upon all living things to this day.
Question: What caused Adam and Eve to disobey God? Was it a snake?
Answer: No it was not a snake but it was their greed. They could not resist greed within them pushing them on to eat those delicious sweet smelling fruit. The snake is only a scapegoat. Not all things that people are told to do, do. Teachers may tell children to study, some will and others won't. Why? Each and every person follows the dictates of his or her mind. Before any action, thinking process takes place, then a choice is made. If someone can say steal! No one can there and then start stealing. Thinking will take place then a choice will be made. If he steals, it will be wrong to blame the one who told him to steal for his thievery. That is why it is only a thief that is arrested not the one who told him to steal unless the culprit is a minor. That is why if he doesn't steal, accolade falls upon him. Nothing is said of the instigator. The instigator gets involved if he forces the perpetrator in any way to steal. It can be by threats or paying him to do it. One who has been forced or paid to do something is different from someone who is only told with no threats or incentives.
Let me clarify this point. The blood of Jesus Christ does not call out for curses. Jesus Christ's blood calls out for salvation ready made by God Almighty for those who believe in Jesus Christ.
Why is it like this with Jesus Christ? Jesus Christ is the lamb of God that was seen by John the Baptist. Read the gospel according to John 1:29 The next day, John saw Jesus coming to him, and said, 'There is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!'
Jesus therefore is both The Highest Priest and the lamb for sacrifice to those who believe in Him. Therefore His death was the final sacrifice to God Almighty for the sins of the world. It was the sacrifice which brought to an end all other sacrifices to all Christians. The Almighty God Himself planned for it to be like this.