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I am not interested in asking questions about what goes on in the heavens; I am only concerned about things that go on around us. Why has God allowed Israel to be disgraced by foreign nations? Why has he let the nation he loves be handed over to the power of godless nations? Why do the Law and the covenant that were given to our ancestors mean nothing any more?
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Why do we die as quickly as insects? Why is our life shorter than a breath? Why does God think us unworthy of his mercy?
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Why doesn't God do something to help his own people? These are the questions that I want to ask."
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Uriel answered, "If you live long enough, you will be surprised at what you will see, because this age is rapidly passing away.
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This age is so full of misery and imperfection that it cannot hold all the blessings that God has promised the righteous in the time to come.
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The evil about which you have asked me has already been planted, but the time for its harvesting has not yet arrived.
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This evil must be harvested, and this world where it was planted must be removed, before the new age where the good is to be planted can appear.
30
At the beginning of time one grain of evil seed was sown in the heart of Adam. See how much wickedness it has already produced! Think of how much more it will produce before it is cut down and threshed out at Judgment Day.
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You can see for yourself what a big crop this one evil seed has produced.
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How terrible will be the harvest on Judgment Day when these countless heads of grain are threshed out!"
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Then I asked, "How long do we have to wait before this happens? Why are our lives so short and so full of misery?"