The Heart of Darkness: Where Evil Originates and How God Intervenes
March 7, 2024 · Pastor Miles DeBenedictis
In this teaching
Drawing from Galatians 5, Mark 7, and Judges 4, Pastor Miles teaches that evil is objectively real because there is an objective moral law and therefore a moral Lawgiver—God—and that evil originates in the sinful human heart. Apart from God's intervening redemptive action, every person is enslaved to moral evil and stands exposed before the God who sees all.
- The works of the flesh listed in Scripture are objectively evil, not matters of personal opinion.
- An objective moral law necessitates an objective moral Lawgiver, who is God.
- Isaiah pronounces woe on those who call evil good and good evil.
- Evil originates within the human heart as the effect of sin, not merely from society.
- Apart from God's redemptive intervention, we are slaves to moral evil and sin.
- Nothing is hidden from God; all will one day stand exposed before Him in judgment.
Readable is a lightly edited reading copy; Verbatim stays close to the spoken words. The audio and video are the record of what was said.
And the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord... So the Lord sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan... And the children of Israel cried out to the Lord; for he had nine hundred chariots of iron, and for twenty years he harshly oppressed the children of Israel. ()
Where does evil come from—and why are we powerless to escape it apart from God's intervention?
Evil Is Objective, Not Opinion
The list of the works of the flesh could go on and on—things that are objectively evil. How do we know they are objectively evil? Because Scripture tells us beforehand, as Paul told them in times past, that those who continually practice such things will not inherit the kingdom or the blessing of God. Some of these we readily acknowledge: murder—yes, that is wicked, that is evil.
But in our culture today, there are others people dismiss as "just your opinion." They call evil good and good evil. Take fornication—sexual activity outside the bounds of marriage. Our culture says, "No, that's not evil, that's normal behavior between consenting adults, that's perfectly fine." Yet Scripture says that actually falls outside the bounds of what God calls right. He calls it wicked, and those who practice such things will not inherit eternal life in the kingdom of God but will inherit corruption and destruction.
Doing Evil in the Eyes of the Lord
Notice the language in Judges 4: the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord. Another way to read that is they did evil in the eyes of the Lord. That Hebrew word translated "eyes" or "sight" is the very same word used twice in Judges when we read that every man did what was right in his own eyes.
People will say, "That thing you call evil isn't really that bad." But look at the outcomes. What does it produce in a culture, in a society? By the fruit you shall know the tree. Every man did what was right in his own eyes—and by doing those things, they did evil in the eyes of the Lord. Things are evil based on an authority declaring them to be out of bounds. When we read they did evil in the sight of the Lord, we are given an understanding that accords with reality: there are things that are objectively evil because there is an objective moral standard, a moral law.
A Moral Law Requires a Lawgiver
We live in a culture that increasingly says there is no such thing as an objective standard or moral law—that it's merely a socially constructed idea of right and wrong. This is social construct theory, and the Western world of 2024 has been fed this ideology for a long time: morality is socially constructed.
If you ever talk with someone who claims morality is socially constructed and there are no objective standards of right and wrong, simply ask: Was what happened in Auschwitz in the 1940s objectively wrong? I have yet to meet a person who will not agree that it was objectively wrong. And if it was objectively wrong, then there is an objective moral law. If there is a moral law, then by necessity there is a moral Lawgiver—and that Lawgiver, we find in Scripture, is God.
Some say, "I just don't agree with that." Your agreement doesn't matter one lick. Have I told you about the law of gravity? "I just don't agree with that." Okay—try it. Let's see how that works out for you. As Dr. Phil says, "How's that working for you?" It doesn't appear to be working very well.
Woe to Those Who Call Evil Good
Twenty-eight hundred years ago, Isaiah addressed those who call evil good and good evil:
Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! ()
That word "woe" is translated in other English translations as "sorrow awaits" or "judgment is certain." Sorrow awaits the person who calls evil good and good evil.
Where Does Evil Come From?
But this begs the question: where does evil come from? Fascinatingly, the first use of the word "evil" in the Bible is in the opening chapters, where God gives the first command to humanity. He says of all the trees of the garden you may freely eat, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day you eat of it you shall surely die. Through man's decision to disobey God's command, he gained an experiential knowledge of evil. Through that disobedience—which the Bible calls sin, because sin is disobedience of God's command—death entered the world, and evil entered into our hearts.
Some philosophers today say evil is the result of society—people do evil things because they've been oppressed. But where did the oppression of society that is evil come from? Jesus gives the answer in Mark 7:
For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and defile the man. ()
Where does evil come from? It is the result of sin's effect in our lives and hearts. Through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and it spread to all humanity. The works of the flesh Paul identifies in —adultery, sexual immorality, murder, theft, lewdness—are the very same evil results of an evil heart Jesus identifies in . According to God, they are all evil.
Enslaved to Sin Apart from God's Intervention
Point number two, if you're taking notes: apart from God's intervening, redemptive action, I am the subject of and enslaved to moral evil and sin. A broken heart, affected by sin, produces sinful and evil thoughts and actions. There is no way to deal with that apart from the intervening redemptive action of God. Without God intervening, we are the subject of and slave to moral evil and sin.
This is why, for all their hopeful ambition—for all their professions that "all that you have said we will do and be obedient"—the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord. Note those words: in the sight of the Lord. God sees and knows the full depths of the wickedness of our sinful heart, even though, amazingly, we often don't even know it ourselves.
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? ()
And yet the very next verse says: "I the Lord search the heart" (). I know the heart.
Nothing Is Hidden from God
Sometimes we think our sins are private, personal, or hidden—that they're not harming anybody, that it's my own personal thing. But nothing is hidden from the Lord. Jesus said in that nothing is covered or hidden that will not be known. In we read that all things are exposed and naked before God, the eyes of the Lord to whom we must give an account. And in that same book we read that it is appointed to all men to die once, and then comes the judgment. He who sees all and knows all—one day I will stand before Him completely exposed and open.
Isaiah said it again:
Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the Lord, and their works are in the dark, and they say, Who seeth us? and who knoweth us? ()
In Isaiah's day there was a group in Israel doing all kinds of immoral and sinful things behind closed doors, saying, "Nobody knows, nobody sees, it harms nobody, it's no big deal." But God sees and He knows.
Under Sin, Subject to Justice
The children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord, so the Lord sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who had nine hundred chariots of iron and for twenty years harshly oppressed them—and they cried out to the Lord.
Apart from God's intervening redemptive action, I am the subject of and the slave to sin and moral evil. If God does not intervene, and if I do not receive His redemptive intervention, then I am under sin and subject to justice. The wrath of God will be revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of those who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.
The list could go on and on of things that are the works of the flesh that are objectively evil. How do we know they are objectively evil? Because I tell you beforehand, just as I told you in times past, that those who practice such things continually will not inherit the Kingdom or the blessing of God. These are among the things that are, according to the Scriptures, objectively evil.
Some of them we hear in the list and we say, "Yes, that's evil. Murder? Yes, that's wicked; that's evil." However, in our culture today, there are others that people say, "Well, that's just your opinion." They call evil good and good evil.
Notice in this passage in that the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord. Another way to read that would be that the children of Israel did evil in the eyes of the Lord. The word translated as "eyes" or "sight" in is the very same word used in the Hebrew language when we read later on that every man did what was right in his own eyes.
There will be people who say, "Well, that thing that you call evil is not evil. It's not that bad." We read in that list fornication. What is that? That's sexual activity outside the bounds of marriage. We live in a culture that says, "No, no, no, that's not evil; that's normal behavior of consensual adults." They say that's perfectly fine, and that is what we are told in our culture. Yet the Scriptures say, "No, that actually is outside the bounds of what God calls right." He says, "No, that's actually wicked and evil," and those who practice such things shall not inherit eternal life in the Kingdom of God; they shall indeed inherit corruption and destruction.
In our culture, there will be many saying, "No, no, no, that's not true; that's not objectively evil." Well, look at the outcomes. What does it produce in a culture and society? I think you can see by the fruit you shall know the tree. Every man did what was right in his own eyes, and by doing those things, they did evil in the eyes of the Lord.
Things are evil based on an authority declaring them to be out of bounds or wrong, evil, immoral. When we read that they did evil in the sight of the Lord, we are given this understanding, which accords with reality as we understand it and see it. There are things that are objectively evil, and they are objectively evil because there is an objective moral standard, or what we call a moral law. However, we are living in a culture that more and more says there is no such standard.
There is no such thing as an objective standard or moral law; it is a socially constructed idea of what is right or wrong. This is what's called social construct theory. Here in the Western world of 2024, we live in a society that has been feeding us this ideology and worldview for a long time: morality is socially constructed.
If you ever have a conversation with someone who claims that morality is socially constructed and that there are no objective standards of right and wrong, all you have to do is ask, "Was it objectively wrong what happened in Auschwitz in the 1940s?" I have yet to meet a person who will not agree that it was objectively wrong. If it was objectively wrong, then there is a moral law that is objective. If there is a moral law, then there is a moral lawgiver. By necessity, there is a rule giver, who we find in the Scriptures is God. If there is an objective moral law, then there is an objective moral lawgiver, and God is of necessity.
Some people may say, "Well, I just don't agree with that." However, your agreement doesn't matter one bit. There are many things people might say they don't agree with. For example, if I talked with you about the law of gravity and you said, "I just don't agree with that," I would suggest you try it and see how that works out for you. I love that phrase from Dr. Phil: "How's that working for you?" It doesn't appear to be working very well.
When Isaiah spoke 2,800 years ago about those who call evil good and good evil, he actually said it like this in : "Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter." That word "woe" is translated in other English versions as "sorrow awaits" or "judgment is certain." Sorrow awaits the person who calls evil good and good evil.
This does beg the question: Where does evil come from? What's fascinating is that in the Bible, the first use of the word "evil" is in the opening chapters, where God gives the first command to humanity. He says, "Of all the trees of the garden, you shall freely eat, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat of it; for in the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die." Through man's decision to disobey God's command, he...
Gained awareness, understanding, and experiential knowledge of what evil is comes through disobedience, which the Bible calls sin. Sin is disobedience to God's command. Through that sin, death entered the world, and evil entered into our hearts.
Where does evil come from? Some philosophers in our culture today say that evil is the result of society; people do evil things because they have been oppressed by society. But where did the oppression of society, which is evil, come from? Jesus provides an answer in when He states that "from within, out of the heart of man, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness." All of these things come from within and defile man, or destroy humanity.
So, where does evil come from? It is the result of sin's effect in our lives and in our hearts. Through one man, sin entered the world, and death through sin spread to all humanity. The things identified by Paul in as the works of the flesh are recognized as the evil results of an evil heart by Jesus in . Adultery, sexual immorality, murder, and theft are all, according to God, evil.
Point number two, if you're taking notes: apart from God's intervening redemptive action, I am subject to being enslaved to moral evil and sin. Evil comes from our hearts. A broken heart affected by sin produces sinful thoughts and actions, and there is no way to deal with that apart from the intervening redemptive action of God. Without God intervening, we are subjects of and slaves to moral evil and sin. This is why, even with all their hopeful ambition and professions of obedience, the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord. Note those words.
The sight of the Lord is something we need to really take to heart and understand. God sees, and He knows the fullness of the depths of the wickedness of our sinful hearts. Even though, here's the amazing thing, we often times don't even know it. , says, "The heart of man is desperately wicked; who can know it?" Yet the very next verse, verse 10, says, "I, the Lord, search the heart; I know the heart."
Even in the sight of the Lord, sometimes we think that our sins are private, personal, or hidden, and that they are not harming anybody. We might think, "It's my own personal thing." But nothing is hidden from the Lord. Jesus said in , "Nothing is covered nor hidden that will not be known." In , we read that all things are exposed and naked before Him, before God, to whom we must give an account.
Again, in that very same book of Hebrews, it is said, "It is appointed to all men to die once, and then there will come a judgment." He who sees all and knows all, one day I will stand before Him completely exposed and open before Him. Woe to those, as Isaiah said in , "Woe to those," which means sorrow awaits or destruction is certain. Woe to those who seek deep to hide their counsel far from the Lord, and they say, "Who sees us? Who knows us?"
In the time of Isaiah, there was a group of people in the land of Israel who were doing all kinds of immoral and sinful things, but they did it behind closed doors. They said, "Nobody knows; nobody sees. It doesn't harm anybody; it's no big deal." But God sees and knows. The children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord, so the Lord sold them into the hand of Jabin, king of Canaan. The children of Israel cried out to the Lord, for Jabin had 900 chariots of iron and harshly oppressed the children of Israel for 20 years.
Apart from God's intervening redemptive action, I am the subject of and the slave of sin and moral evil. If God does not intervene, and if I do not receive His redemptive intervention, then I am under sin and subject to justice. The wrath of God will be revealed from Heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of those who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.
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