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In our last study, I explained that God does indeed have a day set when He will judge the wicked and cast them into the fire. But why does He allow evil to continue until then?
It’s quite ironic how often I hear people accuse God of being evil for punishing sin, yet they also accuse Him of being evil for not punishing it. Obviously, our ability to be objective judges of right and wrong is impaired. It’s a good thing we are not the judges.
Why God Waits
Daniel 9:24
24 Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.
God has said that He will make an end of sins and bring in everlasting righteousness. He is going to stop evil by delivering those who refuse to repent into hell. But He hasn’t done it yet.
Consider a world where God doesn’t wait to deliver justice. The moment we sin, judgment would fall on us. The entire human race would have ended the moment Adam and Eve ate from the tree of knowledge.
With instant justice, there can be no mercy. This is why God waits. He doesn’t immediately send His wrath when we sin—because without His patience, there would be no hope for anyone to be saved.
The moment you sin, you die. That includes both the murderer and the man who commits adultery in his heart simply by looking at a woman with lust.
2 Peter 3:9
9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
The Bible tells us repeatedly that God doesn’t want to deliver people into hell! Scripture emphasizes this truth in so many places that I could fill this entire website with verses illustrating it.
Yet, while God doesn’t want to deliver judgment, He will still do so—because He is not just merciful, but also a righteous and just judge.
So how does He reconcile His justice and His mercy?
Revelation 2:21
21 And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not.
God gives us space to repent. He doesn’t end us immediately.
Romans 2:4
4 Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?
In His patience, He shows us mercy by delaying our punishment. He gives us a chance to repent and seek forgiveness. Not only that, but He has publicly made a way for us to be forgiven by taking our punishment upon Himself in Jesus.
Surely, anyone who truly reflects on this and believes it would be filled with gratitude and love for Him. Surely, they would repent and turn to God.
But not everyone believes it. Some don’t believe He even exists, let alone that He is both judge and mercy-giver. Because of their unbelief, they cannot be saved.
Still, others believe but love their sin more than righteousness. They love evil because they are evil. Even though they believe, they refuse to repent—because they know turning to God requires turning from sin.
Yet God still waits. He continues to give them space to repent.
The Mercy of Sodom and Gomorrah
Many people know the story of Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis. They know about the wrath of God poured out in fire and brimstone. But the story of Sodom and Gomorrah isn’t just about God’s wrath—it’s also about His mercy.
Genesis 13:13
13 But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly.
This was before Lot went to live in Sodom. The city was already wicked for who knows how long. Yet, as we read on, we see Lot spend about twenty years there before God judged the city.
2 Peter 2:7-8
7 And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked: 8 (For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;)
The Bible tells us Lot was a just man, deeply troubled by the sins around him. No doubt Lot spent those twenty years preaching repentance.
Yet for those twenty years, God held back His wrath. He waited until there were none left in the city who would repent. Only then did He remove Lot and judge the city.
1 Peter 3:20
20 Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.
Consider the flood of Noah. Many scoffers point to this event as evidence of God’s immorality. They make it seem as though God just decided to do this without mercy. But God waited while Noah built the ark for 120 years. During that time, God pleaded with humanity through Noah to repent.
Consider also that this event was two thousand years after man had become corrupt. God spent two millennia pleading with men to repent before pronouncing judgment!
This is why God waits to bring about judgment: it is because of His mercy.
Why God Allows Evil
Clearly, God could stop people from committing sin. So why doesn’t He? Wouldn’t that leave nothing for people to repent of?
Consider Adam and Eve in the garden. God gave them a single command—not to eat from one specific tree. He wanted them to know the difference between good and evil but did not want them to sin.
He could have left out the tree or the commandment, but then they would have been incomplete. They wouldn’t have been like Him, for He knows good and evil.
Mankind was created in the image of God, meaning we have free will, capability, and the freedom to choose. Taking away any of these would strip us of the image of God.
He wants us to make our own choices. If He stopped us from carrying out sinful actions, He wouldn’t destroy evil—only prevent it from happening. But the evil within our hearts would remain.
Preventing sin without addressing the heart would only breed anger, bitterness, and frustration. Evil would still consume us from within.
Isaiah 61:3
3 To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.
Romans 8:28
28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
Rather than merely stopping evil from happening, God brings something good out of tragedy. From the ashes, He brings beauty. From the very devastation caused by sin, God brings goodness. In doing so, He destroys evil in the hearts of men.
God allows evil to occur for the purpose of ultimately destroying it. There are two ways He accomplishes this.
First, He brings people to repentance and extends mercy, giving them a new heart filled with goodness.
Second, for those who do not repent, He will judge them in a single day, making them an example of His love for His bride by delivering justice.
In either case, God permits evil for the purpose of extending mercy to those who will repent and to do away with evil once and for all in the end.
But there is one more question: Why does God punish someone for eternity? Isn’t that excessive? Does the punishment truly fit the crime?
We will address these questions in our next study.
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Return To Christianity 101 Unit 2 – Sin and Eternal Judgment