Another part of the Bible shows that it was really Satan the Devil who was speaking to her through the serpent.

First, notice that a serpent spoke to the woman, Eve. For God knows that in the very day you eat from it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and bad.’” But God has said about the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden: “You must not eat from it, no, you must not touch it otherwise you will die.”’ At this the serpent said to the woman: ‘You certainly will not die. So it said to the woman: ‘Did God really say that you must not eat from every tree of the garden?’ At this the woman said to the serpent: ‘We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden. “Now the serpent was the most cautious of all the wild animals of the field that Jehovah God had made. Would you please read Genesis chapter 3, verses 1 through 5? Those events have a direct bearing on the question of why we suffer. Now, let’s focus on the events that led up to Adam and Eve’s sin. God said not to eat from a certain tree, but they went ahead and ate from it anyway. Sophia: Yes, I learned that story in Sunday school. Are you familiar with the account of Adam and Eve and the forbidden fruit? Michelle: We can start to find the answer to your question by turning to the first book of the Bible, Genesis. Why does God let all these bad things happen when he has the power to stop them? Michelle: Finally, we agreed that considering the vast amount of power our Creator possesses, surely he has the ability to step in and end suffering at any moment. For example, the Bible says that when his people were going through distress, “it was distressing to him.” * Isn’t it comforting to know that God feels for us when we suffer?

Michelle: We also learned that Jehovah God hates to see us suffer. Yet, God never scolded him for asking about it, nor did God tell him that he simply needed more faith. Michelle: For one thing, we learned that even a faithful man in Bible times wondered why God allows suffering. Michelle: Before we consider the Bible’s answer, let’s review a few of the points we covered last time. You may recall that at the end of our last visit, I left you with a question about why God has allowed suffering to continue if he has the power to end it. Sometimes I wonder how much longer she will have to suffer. It must be a real challenge to keep your head up in a situation like this. By the way, how has your mother been doing? * You mentioned that this is something you have wondered about for a long time, especially after your mother was injured in a car crash. Michelle: The last time I was here, we discussed how God feels about our suffering.

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