The Wicked.

"Why do the wicked live on,

reach old age, and grow mighty in power?"  Job 21:7 (NRSV)

"They spend their days in prosperity,

and in peace they go down to Sheol."  Job 21: 13 (NRSV)

"Why does the way of the guilty prosper?

Why do all who are treacherous thrive?"  Jeremiah 12:1 (NRSV)

This is an age-old question.

And it can still be asked today.

If God is good why do the wicked prosper on Earth?

The answer to this question does not lie in the notion of Natural Justice.

We have an assumption that God will reward good behavior and punish bad behavior.

And if God is not doing this now then He will do it when we die.

But there is no evidence that God behaves in this way at all.

And this does not mean that the wicked are in some way more worthy than the righteous.

God is our Father.

And a good father will not condemn his own children.

And God can see things that we cannot see.

He knows that the wicked are acting out of fear.

And some of that fear is created by His own Churches.

And so God does not punish us.

 

God loves us like a Father.

He does not intervene to stop bad behavior.

But He waits for us to see.

To see His Love for us.

And His great Love for us will overcome our fears.

For it is fear that causes us to do what we know is wrong.

And it is God's prerogative to enact His amazing grace.

[Scripture quotations (marked NRSV) are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and are used by permission.  All rights reserved.]

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