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There are those that believe both Bush and Kerry are evil. There are those who believe both are liars and murderers. I do not believe Bush is a liar and murderer as some do!

If both are seen as evil, is there any hope to vote?

No one denies that the lesser of two evils is still evil.

What is evil?

Are you evil?

Am I evil?

Is the world evil?

Evil is the moral badness, or the deviation of a moral being from the principles of virtue imposed by conscience, or by the will of the Supreme Being, or by the principles of a lawful human authority; disposition to do wrong; moral offence; wickedness; depravity. (Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary)

If evil can be taken as the moral badness or the deviation of a moral being from the principles of virtue imposed by the will of the Supreme Being, then all of us are evil.

“The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time.” (Genesis 6:5, NIV)

"This is the evil in everything that happens under the sun: The same destiny overtakes all. The hearts of men, moreover, are full of evil and there is madness in their hearts while they live, and afterward they join the dead. (Ecclesiastes 9:3, NIV)

Since the hearts of men moreover are full of evil all the time, every choice we make between human beings is going to be based on choosing the lesser of the two evils.

According to God’s standards, none of us are good! If we are not good then we are bad. The entire human race has been run by bad people except when Jesus walked the earth. Jesus in his humanity was the only perfect leader.

“The LORD looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God. All have turned aside, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.” (Psalm 14:2-3, NIV)

“All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one." (Romans 3:12, NIV)

There is no one who does good but yet the Lord chooses leaders for Israel and leaders to spread the Gospel to the nations.

I decided to look at some leaders from the Bible that God chose through direct intervention, prophets, or his servants. God knows the hearts of mankind and the wrongs they would do in the future and yet he chooses those leaders.

Noah:

After the flood, God gave Noah a Covenant reminding him that He will never destroy the earth again through a flood. Noah must have been ecstatic after God’s Noahic Covenant with him.

“And God said, ‘This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.’ So God said to Noah, ‘This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth.’” (Noah 9:12-17, NIV)

God just gave him a victory. These days when people get a victory, many like to celebrate by drinking which is no different from what Noah did. After God gave him the Noahic Covenant, Noah decides to plant a vineyard and gets drunk. He got so drunk that he was naked. Two of his sons did not want to shame him so they cover him.

“Noah, a man of the soil, proceeded to plant a vineyard. When he drank some of its wine, he became drunk and lay uncovered inside his tent.” (Noah 9:20-21, NIV)

When God chose Noah to build an Ark, God also knew what Noah would do in the future and yet chose him to do God’s work. No one agrees that getting drunk is good. If it is not good then it is bad. If something is bad it has a degree of evil no matter how small that degree it. Noah was not perfect and yet God chose him to be a leader. True, he was chosen as a leader before he was drunk and yet God who knows the hearts of mankind chose him.

"Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done.” (Genesis 8:21, NIV)

Every inclination of man’s heart is evil from childhood and yet God chose Noah who is part of the human race.

Abraham:

God gave Abram a covenant that his descendants will be numerous as the stars of heaven but Abram was no perfect leader. God chose Abram even though God knew what evil he would do later.

Abram was so selfish and scared for his own life when he was with the Egyptians that he introduced his wife as his sister to Pharaoh to save his own life. If he told the Pharaoh the truth he felt that Pharaoh would kill him to have his wife. He was willing to prostitute his wife so payment won’t be in money but payment would be having his life spared. I believe God foresaw this evil but still used Abram to accomplish his work.

“As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, ‘I know what a beautiful woman you are. When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.' Then they will kill me but will let you live. Say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake and my life will be spared because of you.’ When Abram came to Egypt, the Egyptians saw that she was a very beautiful woman. And when Pharaoh's officials saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh, and she was taken into his palace. He treated Abram well for her sake, and Abram acquired sheep and cattle, male and female donkeys, menservants and maidservants, and camels.’” (Genesis 12:11-16, NIV)

Abram became a selfish liar to save his own life and made Sarai into a liar too! No one would consider being a liar to save one’s own life to be considered good. If it is not good then it is evil. Good and evil are used as opposites in the Garden of Eden.

“And the LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground-trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” (Genesis 2:9, NIV)

Even though Abram was a liar, God still decided to use him to be the leader of the Jewish people.

“He took him outside and said, ‘Look up at the heavens and count the stars-if indeed you can count them.’ Then he said to him, ‘So shall your offspring be.’ Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness.” (Genesis 15:5-6, NIV)

Right now I looked at a drunk and a liar used by God to do His work.

Moses:

Moses was a prince of Egypt who was in a leadership position in Egypt being a prince. One day he finds out that he is not an Egyptian but actually a Hebrew. As he watches the Hebrew slaves working, he murders an Egyptian to save a Hebrew

“When Pharaoh heard of this, he tried to kill Moses, but Moses fled from Pharaoh and went to live in Midian, where he sat down by a well.” (Exodus 2:15, NIV)

At Midian, for 40 years he was a shepherd of a flock of sheep before God called him to become a shepherd of the flock of Israelites, the Hebrews.

“So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt." But Moses said to God, ‘Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?’ And God said, ‘I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain." (Exodus 3:10-12, NIV)

Is it not possible that when Bush ran for president, he could have felt that God wanted him to run for president to help bring changes to the nation and continue that again?

Moses was guilty of evil for murdering an Egyptian but that did not stop God from choosing Moses to be a leader. But it is interesting when God gave Moses the Ten Commandments that has to do with humankind (the next six), the first of the six has to do with ‘Thou shalt not murder’. God was reminding Moses after 40 years that murder was still wrong. The first four of the Ten Commandments has to do with our horizontal relationship with the Lord.

Now I looked at a murderer who God used to do His work! So far, I have looked at a drunk, liar, and murderer who were given leadership positions.

PART II