I know that God is the only one who is good, and I know that my understanding of God may not be complete due to the sin in my life, but I have a problem understanding something.  If I were a parent and I had a newborn son, what kind of environment would I create for him?  Would I create a living room with a couch, a coffee table, TV, etc...?  Would I provide food and drink, companionship, and love?  Of course, I would.  I would want the best for my child.  What kind of parent would you think I was if I put a loaded gun on the coffee table and then told my newborn son that he should not put the gun to his head and pull the trigger.  He can do anything else, but he cannot do this.  Of course, I would want him to listen to me and not blow his brains out.  Now, throw into the mix my hated enemy, allow him into the living room, and allow him to convince the child to pick up the gun.

Why did my Father put the tree in the garden and then let the evil devil into the garden to deceive Adam and Eve?  Why didn’t He protect them and us?  I am confused, and prayer is not helping.  Am I wrong to think of this, or is it my cross to bear?  Please help me.

Sincerely,
Gun Safety

Dear Gun Safety,

If God hadn’t put the tree of the knowledge of good and evil into the garden (Gen 2:9), Adam and Eve wouldn’t really have had free will… which is an integral part of what makes mankind “in the image of God” (Gen 1:27).  If Adam hadn’t had the opportunity to choose to do the wrong thing, he really wouldn’t have had the opportunity to choose to do the right thing either.  It is that choice that sets us apart from the animals.  God made it very clear to Adam and Eve what would happen if they ate of the tree – they would die (Gen 2:17).  Adam and Eve weren’t children; they were full-grown adults with highly developed intellects (consider the fact that Adam had the mental capacity to name all of the animals – Gen 2:20).

God gave Adam and Eve, fully responsible adults, the choice to listen to Him and live – or to ignore Him and die.  They chose death.  Eve knew what she was doing was wrong (Gen 3:2-3), as did Adam.  Their situation isn’t the same as your analogy of a gun with an immature child – these were adults.

Furthermore, God prepared beforehand a way back to Him for those who rebelled (Eph 1:5-6).  God allows us to choose, and through the blood of Christ, He allows us to choose to return to Him (1 Pet 2:25).

What does it mean when you are asked, "Is the yoke uneven?"

Sincerely,
Huh?

Dear Huh,

The verse being referred to is 2 Cor 6:14.  A ‘yoke’ is a ‘harness used to tie oxen together, so that they can pull a plow or cart’.  When God tells us not to be “unequally yoked” to an unbeliever, He is warning us not to put ourselves in a position where we are committed and tied to someone who doesn’t share our values.  The most poignant example of this is marriage.

If you are a christian and you are married to someone who is not a christian… you are going to have MAJOR problems.  Your life is going one way, and their’s is going another.  It is hard to pull a plow if the oxen don’t both go the same direction!  This is why God tells christians to only marry other christians (1 Cor 7:39).  So when someone asks you, “Is the yoke uneven?”, they are probably asking whether you are married to a christian.

Is it a sin to not be legally married with a marriage license but to be married in God’s eyes?  The reason I am asking this is because my husband and I can't get legally married because he is on SSI, and they will take all of his money and his insurance if we got married because I work. But his dad is a preacher, and he married us under GOD's eyes.  I was just wondering if there is such a thing as that.  A guy I work with said to me, “Follow the law of the land”; is that what that means, that we are supposed to get married legally?  I got saved a year ago and baptized, so am I living in sin?

Sincerely,
The Bride (Maybe)

Dear The Bride (Maybe),

It is important to make the distinction between 'can't' and 'would be hard to'.  It isn't that you and your husband can't get a marriage license; it is that it would be hard on you financially to have one.  Whether or not your marriage is valid without the government's paperwork is not the issue – either way, you are being deceptive.  The Scriptures say that you should get married rather than live together in a sinful relationship (1 Cor 6:18), AND they say that you should obey the laws of the land (1 Pet 2:13-15).  Right now, you are obeying one command… but not the other (you yourself said that you are "not legally married", which – by definition – means you are doing something you believe is illegal).  Currently, you are intentionally deceiving the government in regard to your relationship with your husband in order to continue to receive money from it.  We can't simply obey some of God's laws and forsake the others.  The sum of God's Word is truth (Ps 119:160).

My family is having a serious dispute over my parents’ last will and testament.  I suggested taking this dispute to my late parents’ pastor.  My sisters flatly refuse.

Is there a Bible verse that states to the effect that family disputes should be taken to a minister rather than a judge?

Sincerely,
Court Of Appeals

Dear Court Of Appeals,

There isn't any verse that will force your family members to talk to a religious teacher instead of a judge.  There are plenty of verses that teach that christians shouldn't take one another to court (most notably 1 Cor 6:5-8).  However, it should also be noted that those same verses also say that it is better to be defrauded than to fight with your brother over legal matters.

Hi, I had a dream a few nights ago; I was outside, and it was daytime.  I looked up at the sky, and I saw a few clouds, and something red was in the clouds.  It was like a human shape; it was red.  I couldn’t see a face or hands; I don’t know what it was.  Then I saw three or four, maybe even five, moons in the sky.  What does this mean?

Sincerely,
New Moon

Dear New Moon,

It means you had a weird dream.  The days of prophecy and visions are over.  The purpose of prophecy was to bring God's Word to us.  Now that we have the complete and perfect word of God, there is no more need for visions and dreams (1 Cor 13:8-10).  God's Word is complete, and it has once and for all been given to mankind (Jude 1:3).  We all have odd dreams from time to time; they are caused by strange events in our lives, eating something disagreeable, or any number of other factors... but they have no divine significance.

We recommend you read "I Dreamed A Dream" for more information.