BEGIN BY PRAYER

1. BEGIN BY PRAYER

2. BIBLE TRIVIA

3. DID YOU KNOW? Jews are commanded by God not to be bad to us, the Egyptians? "You shall not abhor an Edomite, for he is your brother. You shall not abhor an Egyptian, because you were an alien in his land. - Deuteronomy 23:7 BIBLE TRIVIA

4. DID YOU KNOW? The Sun and Moon stopped moving for an entire day? Then Joshua spoke to the LORD in the day when the LORD delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel: "Sun, stand still over Gibeon; And Moon, in the Valley of Aijalon.” 13 So the sun stood still, And the moon stopped, Till the people had revenge Upon their enemies. . . . So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and did not hasten to go down for about a whole day. - Joshua 10:12-13 BIBLE TRIVIA

5. DID YOU KNOW? • The Coptic Language • is in the Bible? • “And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born?  “Parthians and Medes and Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,  “Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya adjoining Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, • Acts 2:8-11 BIBLE TRIVIA

6. QUESTION How were letters sent in the Old Testament? ANSWER: And Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah, and also wrote letters to Ephraim and Manasseh, . . . 6 Then the runners went throughout all Israel and Judah with the letters from the king and his leaders . . . – 2 Chronicles 30:1, 6 And he wrote in the name of King Ahasuerus, sealed it with the king's signet ring, and sent letters by couriers on horseback, riding on royal horses bred from swift steeds. – Esther 8:10 BIBLE TRIVIA

7. Why do BAD THINGS Happen?

8. WHAT DO YOU THINK?

9. GOD’S PUNISHMENT & GOD’S JUSTICE Let’s not confuse “Bad Things” with God’s Punishment and Justice DOES GOD PUNISH? • YES! God can punish. And His punishment is there to teach us to Fear Him, which in turn leads us to our salvation.

10. GOD’S PUNISHMENT & GOD’S JUSTICE Let’s not confuse “Bad Things” with God’s Punishment and Justice SOME EXAMPLES OF GOD’S PUNISHMENT • And when they came to Nachon's threshing floor, Uzzah put out his hand to the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen stumbled.  Then the anger of the LORD was aroused against Uzzah, and God struck him there for his error; and he died there by the ark of God. - 2 Samuel 6:6-7

11. GOD’S PUNISHMENT & GOD’S JUSTICE Let’s not confuse “Bad Things” with God’s Punishment and Justice SOME EXAMPLES OF GOD’S PUNISHMENT • 9 ‘Why have you despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in His sight? You have killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword; you have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the people of Ammon. 13 So David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.” And Nathan said to David, “The LORD also has put away your sin; you shall not die.14 “However, because by this deed you have given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also who is born to you shall surely die.” - 2 Samuel 12:9, 13-14

12. GOD’S PUNISHMENT & GOD’S JUSTICE Let’s not confuse “Bad Things” with God’s Punishment and Justice SOME EXAMPLES OF GOD’S PUNISHMENT • 1 In the twenty-seventh year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Azariah the son of Amaziah, king of Judah, became king.2 He was sixteen years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jecholiah of Jerusalem.3 And he did what was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father Amaziah had done,4 except that the high places were not removed; the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places.5 Then the LORD struck the king, so that he was a leper until the day of his death; so he dwelt in an isolated house. And Jotham the king's son was over the royal house, judging the people of the land. - 2 Kings 15:1-5

13. GOD’S PUNISHMENT & GOD’S JUSTICE [Dt 30:15-20] [Dt 30:15-20] 15 "See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil,16 "in that I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His judgments, that you may live and multiply; and the LORD your God will bless you in the land which you go to possess.17 "But if your heart turns away so that you do not hear, and are drawn away, and worship other gods and serve them,18 "I announce to you today that you shall surely perish; you shall not prolong your days in the land which you cross over the Jordan to go in and possess.19 "I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live;20 "that you may love the LORD your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days; and that you may dwell in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them."

14. GOD’S DISCIPLINE Let’s not confuse “Bad Things” with God’s DISCIPLINE! DOES GOD DISCIPLINE? • YES! God can discipline. SOME EXAMPLES OF GOD’S DISCIPLINE • [2 Sa 7:12-14] 12 “When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom.13 “He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.14 “I will be his Father, and he shall be My son. If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men. - 2 Samuel 7:12-14

15. DISCIPLINE [Nu 12:1-16] 1 Then Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married; for he had married an Ethiopian woman.2 So they said, “Has the LORD indeed spoken only through Moses? Has He not spoken through us also?” And the LORD heard it.3 (Now the man Moses was very humble, more than all men who were on the face of the earth.)4 Suddenly the LORD said to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, “Come out, you three, to the tabernacle of meeting!” So the three came out.5 Then the LORD came down in the pillar of cloud and stood in the door of the tabernacle, and called Aaron and Miriam. And they both went forward.6 Then He said, “Hear now My words: . . . 7 . . . Moses; He is faithful in all My house. 8 I speak with him face to face, Even plainly, and not in dark sayings; And he sees the form of the LORD.Why then were you not afraid To speak against My servant Moses?”

16. DISCIPLINE [Nu 12:1-16] 9 So the anger of the LORD was aroused against them, and He departed.10 And when the cloud departed from above the tabernacle, suddenly Miriam became leprous, as white as snow. Then Aaron turned toward Miriam, and there she was, a leper.11 So Aaron said to Moses, “Oh, my lord! Please do not lay this sin on us, in which we have done foolishly and in which we have sinned.12 “Please do not let her be as one dead, whose flesh is half consumed when he comes out of his mother's womb!”13 So Moses cried out to the LORD, saying, “Please heal her, O God, I pray!” 14 Then the LORD said to Moses, “If her father had but spit in her face, would she not be shamed seven days? Let her be shut out of the camp seven days, and afterward she may be received again.”15 So Miriam was shut out of the camp seven days, and the people did not journey till Miriam was brought in again.16 And afterward the people moved from Hazeroth and camped in the Wilderness of Paran.

17. SOMETIMES GOD DOES SOMETHING THAT MIGHT “SEEM BAD” BUT IT IS FOR A REASON • Some things are actually good because what seems “bad” was done by God to achieve a greater goodpurpose. SOME EXAMPLES OF GOD’S PURPOSE • 1 Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth. 2 And His disciples asked Him, saying, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”3 Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him. - John 9:1-3 Let’s not confuse “Bad Things” with God’s PURPOSE

18. BUT WHY DO BAD THINGS HAPPEN? From the Book “Experiences in Life”: What God Wills or Permits I have heard many people say about everything that comes about: “It was God’s will”, whether the outcome was good or Bad. Yet God wants only the best. As for the ills that happen on the earth, they happen against God’s beneficent will. What about when it’s not PUNISHMENT, or DISCIPLINE, or JUSTICE?

19. BUT WHY DO BAD THINGS HAPPEN? What God Wills or Permits (cont…) … God permits these things to happen because He has generously granted man free will, but God will judge him for it... So that is why the tyrant is free to oppress, the murderer to kill and the thief to steal. All these matters are opposed to God’s good will and He will judge the wrong-doers for them. There is, therefore, a big difference between what God wills and what God permits. What about when it’s not PUNISHMENT, or DISCIPLINE, or JUSTICE?

20. BUT WHY DO BAD THINGS HAPPEN? From the Book “Many Years with the People’s Questions Vol. III” Question: If everything comes about according to the will of God, and nothing on the face of the earth happens without His command alone, then why doesn't He prevent evil before it happens? Answer: Before coming to the reply, let us make note of various errors in your question. What about when it’s not PUNISHMENT, or DISCIPLINE, or JUSTICE?

21. BUT WHY DO BAD THINGS HAPPEN? It is not correct to say that nothing happens on earth except by God's will, for various wrongs, evils, crimes and injustices take place all too frequently in the world, and how could all these be 'according to the will of God'? That would not be right at all. Could all the killing, the adultery,'-the theft, fraud and lying that goes on in the world, ever be in accordance with God's will?! No, of course not. And does God like all these things to happen?! No, not at all. What about when it’s not PUNISHMENT, or DISCIPLINE, or JUSTICE?

22. BUT WHY DO BAD THINGS HAPPEN? Therefore your words 'everything comes about according to the will of God', are theologically incorrect, because everything would have to include the bad as well as the good. When bad things take place, it can never be in accordance with God's will, for God never desires what is bad. God only ever wants what is good. He wants all to be saved, and all to accept the knowledge of the Truth. All the good that happens on earth to people, or by them comes about in accordance with the will of God, but not the evil. What about when it’s not PUNISHMENT, or DISCIPLINE, or JUSTICE?

23. BUT WHY DO BAD THINGS HAPPEN? So what, then, is the position of evil in relation to God's will? It was God who gave mankind free will. It is God who permits human beings to do as they wish, whether good or bad, otherwise they would be nothing but robots. What about when it’s not PUNISHMENT, or DISCIPLINE, or JUSTICE?

24. BUT WHY DO BAD THINGS HAPPEN? The good that man does, he does in accordance with God‘s will, while the bad things that he does, is tolerated by God, but does not meet with His approval. There is a difference between what God wills and what God permits. His will is only ever for what is good. But He tolerates what is not good, because it is the inevitable consequence of that freedom of choice which He has given to some of His creatures. What about when it’s not PUNISHMENT, or DISCIPLINE, or JUSTICE?

25. FREE WILL & NATURAL LAWS Human Free Will & Natural Laws are the sources for most bad things that happen to us. Examples – Who did this, God or Human Free will? • [Lk 3:19-20] 19 But Herod the tetrarch, being rebuked by him concerning Herodias, his brother Philip's wife,* and for all the evils which Herod had done, 20 also added this, above all, that he shut John up in prison. • [Lk 10:30] 30 Then Jesus answered and said: "A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. These are the sources of most “bad things” that happen

26. FREE WILL & NATURAL LAWS Examples – Who did this, God or Human Free will & Natural Laws? [2 Sa 4:4] 4 Jonathan, Saul's son, had a son who was lame in his feet. He was five years old when the news about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel; and his nurse took him up and fled. And it happened, as she made haste to flee, that he fell and became lame. His name was Mephibosheth.*** [2 Sa 9:1-13] 1 Now David said, “Is there still anyone who is left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake?” . . . 3 Then the king said, “Is there not still someone of the house of Saul, to whom I may show the kindness of God?” And Ziba said to the king, “There is still a son of Jonathan who is lame in his feet.”4 So the king said to him, “Where is he?” And Ziba said to the king, “Indeed he is in the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, in Lo Debar.” These are the sources of most “bad things” that happen

27. FREE WILL & NATURAL LAWS Examples – Who did this, God or Human Free will & Natural Laws? • 5 Then King David sent and brought him out of the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, from Lo Debar.6 Now when Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, had come to David, he fell on his face and prostrated himself. Then David said, “Mephibosheth?” And he answered, “Here is your servant!”7 So David said to him, “Do not fear, for I will surely show you kindness for Jonathan your father's sake, and will restore to you all the land of Saul your grandfather; and you shall eat bread at my table continually.”8 Then he bowed himself, and said, “What is your servant, that you should look upon such a dead dog as I?” Notice how Natural Laws caused Jonathan’s son to be lame; and Human Free will could have caused more “bad”, but instead, King David shows kindness. These are the sources of most “bad things” that happen

28. GOD IS OUR REFUGE When something happens that is seemingly “bad” but is meant to punish, discipline, or there is some reason for it, then we should be content because when God acts it is always for the greatergood. When something “bad” happens because of human will and/or natural law, we should still feel content because we have a powerful God to turn to as our refuge, to help us, and to compensate us for the lives we live. No matter what happens, God is there to help us

29. GOD IS OUR REFUGE No matter what we face, when we remain content with God and happy, we are going to be glorified in heaven for it. • TammavEiriny (She wanted to become martyr, and then Abu Sufein and St. Mary appeared on two different occasions, telling her that whenever you tolerate sicknesses, mental tribulation, psychological pressure, that is like martyrdom) No matter what happens, God is there to help us

30. GOD IS OUR REFUGE No matter what we face, when we remain content with God and happy, we are going to be glorified in heaven for it. 6 Now godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. 8 And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. - Timothy 6:6-8 No matter what happens, God is there to help us

31. GOD IS OUR REFUGE • [Dt 23:5-6] 5 "Nevertheless the LORD your God would not listen to Balaam, but the LORD your God turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the LORD your God loves you.6 "You shall not seek their peace nor their prosperity all your days forever. • [Lk 6:21] 21 Blessed are you who hunger now, For you shall be filled. Blessed are you who weep now, For you shall laugh. For yours is the kingdom of God.   No matter what happens, God is there to help us

32. GOD IS OUR REFUGE • [Dt 33:27-29] 27 The eternal God is your refuge, And underneath are the everlasting arms; He will thrust out the enemy from before you, And will say, 'Destroy!‘ • [Ac 16:25] 25 But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. No matter what happens, God is there to help us

33. GOD IS OUR REFUGE • [Lk 8:22-25] 22 Now it happened, on a certain day, that He got into a boat with His disciples. And He said to them, "Let us cross over to the other side of the lake." And they launched out.23 But as they sailed He fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water, and were in jeopardy.24 And they came to Him and awoke Him, saying, "Master, Master, we are perishing!" Then He arose and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water. And they ceased, and there was a calm.25 But He said to them, "Where is your faith?" And they were afraid, and marveled, saying to one another, "Who can this be? For He commands even the winds and water, and they obey Him!" No matter what happens, God is there to help us

34. ONE FINAL STORY TO SUM THINGS UP HUMAN FREE WILL • [2 Sa 12:9, 13-23] 9 ‘Why have you despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in His sight? You have killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword; you have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the people of Ammon. . . . 13 So David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.” And Nathan said to David, “The LORD also has put away your sin; you shall not die.14 “However, because by this deed you have given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also who is born to you shall surely die.” King David, His Sin, and The “bad” consequence

35. ONE FINAL STORY TO SUM THINGS UP GOD’S PUNISHMENT; GOD AS REFUGE • 15 Then Nathan departed to his house. And the LORD struck the child that Uriah's wife bore to David, and it became ill.16 David therefore pleaded with God for the child, and David fasted and went in and lay all night on the ground.17 So the elders of his house arose and went to him, to raise him up from the ground. But he would not, nor did he eat food with them.18 Then on the seventh day it came to pass that the child died.And the servants of David were afraid to tell him that the child was dead. For they said, “Indeed, while the child was alive, we spoke to him, and he would not heed our voice. How can we tell him that the child is dead? He may do some harm!” King David,

36. ONE FINAL STORY TO SUM THINGS UP EVEN THOUGH “BAD THING” HAPPENED, HE WAS NOT MAD AT GOD • 19 When David saw that his servants were whispering, David perceived that the child was dead. Therefore David said to his servants, “Is the child dead?” And they said, “He is dead.”20 So David arose from the ground, washed and anointed himself, and changed his clothes; and he went into the house of the LORD and worshiped. Then he went to his own house; and when he requested, they set food before him, and he ate. King David,

37. ONE FINAL STORY TO SUM THINGS UP EVEN THOUGH “BAD THING” HAPPENED, HE WAS NOT MAD AT GOD • 21 Then his servants said to him, “What is this that you have done? You fasted and wept for the child while he was alive, but when the child died, you arose and ate food.” • 22 And he said, “While the child was alive, I fasted and wept; for I said, ‘Who can tell whether the LORD* will be gracious to me, that the child may live?’ • 23 “But now he is dead; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.” King David,

38.  FINALLY WE ARE DONE! YAY! WOOHOO!  ANY QUESTIONS? Comments?

39. GLORY BE TO GOD FOREVER. Amen.