He Loveth the World

One of the earliest stories in the Old Testament is that of the destruction of the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. From what we understand, they committed terribly immoral behavior, abusing others and making a mockery of that which is sacred. One story that we have perhaps represents their general licentious behavior: some men of the city came to Lot and demanded that he deliver to them the male guests in his house as well as his daughters so they could sexually abuse them. They said to Lot, “We will have the men, and thy daughters also; and we will do with them as seemeth us good” (JST Genesis 19:11). Gratefully Lot was able to resist them, and angels of the Lord protected him and his daughters. In addition, the prophet Ezekiel gave this description from the Lord about what happened there: “Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. And they were haughty, and committed abomination before me: therefore I took them away as I saw good” (Ezekiel 16:49-50). The wickedness had become so bad that the Lord chose to destroy the city, and shortly after the above story the Lord told Lot to leave the place with his family so they would not be a part of that destruction.

                This story, and others from the Old Testament and Book of Mormon, might cause us to wonder why God, who loves His children, would choose to destroy them. I think the first thing to understand is what Nephi taught us about the Lord: “He doeth not anything save it be for the benefit of the world; for he loveth the world, even that he layeth down his own life that he may draw all men unto him. Wherefore, he commandeth none that they shall not partake of his salvation” (2 Nephi 26:24). So we can know that if He chose in some cases to destroy the people, it was out of love and not hate. The Lord said this through one prophet who witnessed such destruction, “Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?” (Ezekiel 33:11) He has no pleasure in the wicked dying, but in some cases because their wickedness is so bad, it is better for them to leave this life and move to the next (where perhaps they might also have the chance to repent). And the destruction of the wicked may be alleviating mortal suffering of those affected by the grievous iniquities of others.

For me the most powerful insight into the feelings and mind of God about this come from the vision of Enoch recorded in the Pearl of Great Price. The prophet saw that the Lord was weeping over the state of the children of men and asked God how He could weep. The Lord answered, “Behold these thy brethren; they are the workmanship of mine own hands, and I gave unto them their knowledge, in the day I created them; and in the Garden of Eden, gave I unto man his agency; And unto thy brethren have I said, and also given commandment, that they should love one another, and that they should choose me, their Father; but behold, they are without affection, and they hate their own blood.” God continued with a question to Enoch, “Satan shall be their father, and misery shall be their doom; and the whole heavens shall weep over them, even all the workmanship of mine hands; wherefore should not the heavens weep, seeing these shall suffer?” In other words, the Lord was weeping because of the wickedness of His children, knowing that they would have to suffer because of their evil choices. He then added this: “But behold, these which thine eyes are upon shall perish in the floods; and behold, I will shut them up; a prison have I prepared for them. And that which I have chosen hath pled before my face. Wherefore, he suffereth for their sins; inasmuch as they will repent in the day that my Chosen shall return unto me, and until that day they shall be in torment; Wherefore, for this shall the heavens weep, yea, and all the workmanship of mine hands” (Moses 7:32-33, 37-40). He chose to have them perish in mortality so they could go to spirit prison, a place He prepared for them that they might repent. He does not destroy the wicked out of hatred but because He loves them and is seeking however He can to help them progress eternally. We will likely not understand in this life why He sometimes chooses to destroy the wicked—and other times He does not—but we can say with Nephi, “I know that he loveth his children; nevertheless, I do not know the meaning of all things” (1 Nephi 11:17). I hope that you can feel in your heart that God loves you personally and trust that how He has dealt in the past with His children is all out of love for them.