I get a lot of questions about the relationship between God and Satan. Most of them are from people who want to know how God can tolerate Satan in His presence, and as far as I can tell the Bible offers no explanation for this. All we know is that Satan regularly comes before the Lord to accuse us and will continue to do so until he’s finally expelled from Heaven at the beginning of the Great Tribulation (Rev. 12:10-11).
Questions like this are motivated by simple curiosity and are understandable. It’s a mystery to us and we always want our mysteries solved. But lately I’ve also begun to receive some questions that are clearly born out of frustration and even anger. These questioners point out all the death and destruction Satan has been responsible for, adding that untold millions have been lost forever because of him. They ask, “Why couldn’t God have just destroyed him when he rebelled and saved humanity all that grief?”
Others ask why God even created Satan in the first place, knowing he’d become evil? It would have saved us a lot of pain and hardship had He not done so.
To me this type of question is an example of the pot questioning the potter, as if they’re angry with God for allowing such an adversary to remain in our lives when He could have easily gotten rid of him. This implies that God makes us suffer unnecessarily, which we know is contrary to His character. But before we get into a possible response to this (no one knows the answer for sure) let’s get review the background we’ve been given on our age old enemy.
Blessings,
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