Did God Allow Charlie Kirk to Be Martyred?
Written by Dale Ebel
In this article, I answer a couple of questions spurred on by the martyrdom of Charlie Kirk and the attempted assassination of President Trump while he was on the campaign trail in Butler, PA, on July 13, 2024.
I realize it has been a while since the murder of Charlie Kirk, but the question I received from a gal is still germane. These are wonderful and perplexing questions. I appreciate your thoughts and input regarding any of the answers.
[Ecclesiastes 3:14 NLT]
14 And I know that whatever God does is final. Nothing can be added to it or taken from it. God’s purpose is that people should fear Him.
The sovereignty of God and His purpose are meant to bring human beings to the fear of God. Sovereignty means the final outcomes rest in God’s hand.
The First Question
Did God allow Charlie to be assassinated?
My First Response
Yes.
Our Sovereign—whose final decisions rest in God’s hand—Yahweh God has chosen not to exercise His omnipotence (all power) in every situation, as He is allowing mankind to operate freely. He allows both people and nature to function without constant intervention.
People can choose to do evil or good (Deuteronomy 30:19). Hurricanes and natural disasters can wreak havoc because we are under the curse of entropy—all creation is in decay. Look to Romans 8:21 and 2 Corinthians 11:25–26. Our bodies experience sickness (Romans 8:20ff; 2 Timothy 4:6).
If God always intervened, life would be bereft of meaning. Humans would be moral robots—God would not permit them to do anything against His will—and the laws of nature would not operate. God would ensure that no one had cancer and that no earthquakes occurred.
This restoration will take place when Elohim the Creator makes the New Heavens and the New Earth, which will be our eternal home (Revelation 21:1). However, in heaven we will enter into meaningful and productive service (Revelation 7:15; 22:3).
It is true that Jesus Christ performed miracles, and at times we experience miracles, but they seem to occur very seldom. I have prayed for many people to be healed, yet far too often they are not. I believe most of the miracles Christ performed were to authenticate His Deity and His Messiahship.
I am hearing many Christ-followers assume that Christ will perform miracles for them routinely, and I believe we ought to avoid this mentality. However, we can—and should—pray for miracles. I routinely pray:
“Lord, I expect the answer yes, but I also accept the answer no.”
I define a miracle as God intervening by either halting or altering the physical natural laws.
A Familiar Refrain from Secularists
“God did not heal my dad or my mom,” or “my daughter/son died of cancer, so I cannot believe in a God who would not intervene for the people I love.” I believe Darwin was dissuaded from trusting God because of this notion.
As an aside, the Holy God of the Bible is not a “Benevolent Butler.” He owes us nothing except justice. If we believe that the God of the Bible is perfect and completely holy, we will understand that all mankind deserves hell (Romans 3:10–18; 1 Thessalonians 1:10). However, Yahweh God extends mercy—and mercy is something we do not deserve.
Mercy is not giving us what we deserve.
Grace is giving us what we do not deserve.
[Lamentations 3:22–23 NLT]
22 The faithful love of the LORD never ends! His mercies never cease.
23 Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.
[Psalm 84:11 NLT]
11 For the LORD God is our sun and our shield. He gives us grace and glory. The LORD will withhold no good thing from those who do what is right.
[John 1:16 NASB95]
16 For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace.
The Difference Between God Willing Something and God Governing Something
This tragedy (Charlie’s death) was not directed by God. This wicked man, Tyler Robinson, chose to commit a heinous crime, and hopefully he will receive the death penalty (Genesis 9:6) as soon as possible (Ecclesiastes 8:11).
Be careful, friends, not to listen to all the conspiracy theories.
It is also important to remember that God does not take pleasure in the death of the wicked. It sounds clear from the verse below that even though God is sovereign, He gives mankind a choice.
[Ezekiel 33:11 NLT]
11 “As surely as I live, says the Sovereign LORD, I take no pleasure in the death of wicked people. I only want them to turn from their wicked ways so they can live. Turn! Turn from your wickedness, O people of Israel! Why should you die?”
God does not will everything to happen, but at the same time He governs (oversees, presides over) the world. In His ultimate plan—His sovereignty and providence—God will use Charlie’s martyrdom to further the reputation of Christ. But God did not will this to happen or desire his premature death.
This is why Christ-followers can be confident that Yahweh God will orchestrate His plans even when we are recipients of evil. Romans 8:28 is a powerful rudder that guides us through the course of life if we love Him.
[Romans 8:28 NASB95]
28 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.
God Is With Us in Our Suffering
In the aftermath of Charlie’s death, many are suffering. Remember also the mass shootings of innocent schoolchildren in recent years. Many godly people are grieving deeply for the deaths caused by evil individuals.
From our biblical perspective, we do not suffer alone. God grieves with us, and because He cares for and knows every one of us, our lives are filled with ultimate meaning. For those of us who believe in Christ, this is enormously helpful and comforting.
[Psalm 23:1–2 NIV]
1 The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
The Second Question
Since Charlie was doing work for the Lord, why didn’t God intervene, like He did with President Trump not being killed by the bullet intended for him?
My Second Response
As I stated above, God governs the world but does not control everything that happens.
Is it not the case—at least as far as the Torah and the rest of the Bible are concerned—that much of what human beings do is against God’s will and therefore not controlled by Him? Does God control or will people to disobey Him and then punish them for doing so? No.
Is God controlling or making people do what is right? No.
As an aside, many people outside of faith in Christ are doing good—helping the poor, discovering medical remedies, giving large sums to charitable causes, or fighting sex trafficking. I believe it is healthy for us as Christ-followers to acknowledge this and even celebrate the good they are doing. I do this regularly in my conversations.
According to Moses, we have the free will to make decisions. Does God desire us to make the right choice (1 Timothy 2:3–4)? Of course He does—but He will not make it for us.
Therefore, I conclude that God is not controlling everything and everyone. This is not disconcerting to me at all. It simply demonstrates that we have free will, and it is best for mankind to do what is right—for that is what is best for all of us and for society.
Moses, the prophets, and Christ always assumed that people have the choice to do right or wrong.
[Deuteronomy 30:15, 19 NLT]
15 “Now listen! Today I am giving you a choice between life and death…”
19 “Today I have given you the choice between life and death… Oh, that you would choose life…”
[John 7:17 NIV]
17 Anyone who chooses to do the will of God will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own.
Does God Instigate Calamity?
My answer is No, but He will use calamity.
[Ecclesiastes 7:14 NKJV]
14 In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity consider: Surely God has appointed the one as well as the other…
The Hebrew word for “adversity” means disagreeable, unhappiness, misery, evil, or bad—but not evil in a moral sense, because God will never cause moral evil (James 1:13–15). It simply means bad and miserable things happen to both good people and morally evil people.
God allows it—but how we respond is up to us.
Regarding natural events, if they cause death or heartache, they fall within the scope of God’s sovereignty, and for those who love Him, He will work them together for good—either in this life or in eternity.
I believe the phrase “God has appointed one as well as the other” refers to His ultimate governance in which natural laws are operative and man is free to act as he wills—whether for good or evil.
The Living Bible says it well:
“See the way God does things and fall into line. Don’t fight the facts of nature.”
A Necessary Question
To ask why God did not protect Charlie Kirk is similar to asking why God did not intervene to protect Corey Comperatore, the former volunteer fireman from Butler, PA, during the attempted assassination of Donald Trump. I am sure Corey’s wife and children are still grieving deeply, especially knowing he fell over their bodies to protect them from the murderer’s bullets.
Or, for that matter, why hasn’t God intervened to stop the genocide of Christians in Nigeria by Islamist militants? Prayerfully, President Trump will send protection to these Christians and the powers to be will allow this. Perhaps this is one way the Lord will protect them. Generally, God does not work in a vacuum.
Are we saying that because Charlie was an influential Christian, God should have saved him? Or because Donald Trump was running for the presidency, God intervened to save him?
These are perplexing—but justifiable—questions.
Living in a Fallen World
Because I do not believe God controls everything—but that He sovereignly uses everything—there seem to be instances when people are more fortunate or less fortunate than others.
Some are born into loving families; others into abusive ones. Some inherit great wealth; others do not. Some children are born with debilitating diseases; others are healthy.
God did not cause our grandson, Jude, to have the horrible, incurable disease Tuberous Sclerosis. I believe Jude’s genetic disease is the result of living in a fallen world (Genesis 3). Since the fall of man, the entire physical world has been subject to decay (Romans 8:20–21).
Will God use Jude and his disease for His glory? Yes—if Jude’s parents, Seth and Vanessa, steward that life-altering situation to build up the reputation of Jesus Christ.
God and the Nations
I also believe God has sovereignly ordained nations and therefore conclude that, in His ultimate plan, He placed people within these nations because He desires all peoples to find Him. Yet He allows nations—often reflective of their leadership—and individuals to make righteous and unrighteous decisions.
[Acts 17:26–27 NKJV]
26 “And He has made from one blood every nation of men… and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings,
27 so that they should seek the Lord… though He is not far from each one of us.”
The last half of verse 27 is wonderfully staggering—“that they might grope for Him and find Him.” Millions from every ethnicity have come to saving faith for millennia, so obviously people are finding Him! Most of these people have never heard of Jesus Christ. I will address this conundrum in a subsequent article.
[Revelation 7:9–10 NLT]
9 After this I saw a vast crowd… from every nation and tribe and people and language…
10 And they were shouting, “Salvation comes from our God who sits on the throne and from the Lamb!”
Isn’t that absolutely thrilling!
What We Do Not Yet Know
Some things we simply do not fully know—but we will probably find the answers in heaven.
[Deuteronomy 29:29 KJV]
29 “The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us…”
The bottom line for me is this:
I am less concerned about what I do not know than I am about what I do know—and need to obey.
Please provide your thoughts. We all are trying to figure it out, aren’t we?
In Christ,
Dale