Seth Udinski, FISM News
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On Thursday, FISM News reported on the horrifying mass murder of almost 40 people at a daycare center in Thailand. Final reports from Friday show that 38 people were murdered by a disgruntled former cop, 34-year-old Panya Kamrab, who went on a shooting rampage before killing his wife and children and taking his own life at his house.
Friday’s reports confirmed that 24 of the victims were children, bringing an extra level of trauma to an already tragic development. The murderer had broken into a locked room where children were sleeping, where he took many of their lives. Some reports reveal he also used a knife.
Additionally, several teachers lost their lives, including an eight-months pregnant woman. Her husband said after the fact that his beloved wife was “doing her duty as teacher to the fullest capacity.”
On Friday, Thai flags flew at half mast as family members and friends shared their grief in remembrance of their loved ones. CNN reports that Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha is meeting with victims’ family members today.
Today was also supposed to be the day that Kamrab, who had been kicked off the police force due to drug possession, was to stand trial in court to face the drug-related charges.
The Prime Minister said of the mass murder,
This shouldn’t happen. I feel deep sadness toward the victims and their relatives.
In a shred of good news from an otherwise nightmarish situation, four children who were stabbed are currently in stable condition in a nearby hospital, according to local sources.
Author’s Biblical Analysis:
As I read this report, I could not help but think of my two young children, both the age where they could be in a daycare like the one that was attacked in Thailand yesterday. My heart utterly breaks for the parents who woke up this morning with the knowledge that their children were slaughtered yesterday. There are no words for this depth of grief.
I also thought, “How?” Perhaps this is your reaction as well. We believe in a God who sovereign and good, and yet see horrid acts of evil perpetrated in this world, this one against innocent children. Our question we have to ask is “How could this happen?”
As an effort to encourage you in the midst of this horrid event, let me offer a biblical answer to this question. A word of humility and warning before we begin: I come at this in the same place as you, as a mere man trying to make sense of something that, ultimately, belongs to the Lord. Let us proceed with humility and caution, knowing God is God and we are not.
The answer to our question is twofold. Here is the first – We live in is world that utterly wicked, filled with people who are utterly wicked.
As much as it breaks our hearts to read a report like this, in the final analysis, it should not surprise us. We live in a world where every single human being is bent towards selfishness. Even those of us who are redeemed always have the “old man” with which to contend.
In Genesis 6:5, the writer describes the state of the world before the flood, and I believe it is an accurate description of the world today as well:
Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
Without the restraining grace of God, we are, every one of us, utterly wicked. We hate the One True and Living God, and we hate all that is good. We desire for ourselves to be God, and we fail to submit to God.
The somber reality of this account is that you and I are equally as guilty before God as the ex-cop who murdered these children. We must take a deep dive at our own selfishness, for each of us is, like that man, one or two horrid decisions away from ruining our lives, the lives of our families, and the lives of these we may not even know.
If you are discouraged by these words – I understand. Sin is discouraging! Imagine our utter hopelessness if we lived in a world where God was not gracious and loving.
But believer, praise God that He does not treat us as our sins deserve.
He sent the Lord Jesus Christ to live perfectly on our behalf, die the death we deserved to die, and rise from the dead, justifying us before Him and making us His sons and daughters. The gospel is indeed the cure to human evil!
And in the gospel is the second answer to our question of the problem of evil. God uses horrid circumstances like this to bring about His great plan, for the glory of His name.
We may not know on this side of eternity what good could come about from the mass murder of children. But we know this – What man intended for evil, God intended for good (Genesis 50:20). God uses all things, the good and the bad, to bring sinners to Himself and to bring glory to His name.
If you need proof, look at the gospel itself, particularly the cross. The death of Jesus Christ was the most unjust, horrific, and wicked thing to ever happen in human history. Nothing was worse than the perfect Son of God being crushed in the place of sinners.
But what came about from it? The Father brought many sons and daughters to Himself. The veil was torn, the Father’s wrath against sin propitiated, and sinners could now approach the throne room of grace with confidence. Best of all, sinners were given eternal life and an inheritance in the Kingdom of God, with the promise of eternal joy in the presence of God forever. Nothing can be better than that!
So believer, when you face hardship and evil, remember why it is happening. We live in an evil world, but God, in His sovereignty, is using that evil to bring about a beautiful result, for the glory of His name. That is good news indeed.
For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous. – Romans 5:19