Why do the wicked prosper? Why do liars, cheats, and criminals go unpunished? Why does it seem like they have things easier? And why doesn’t God right these wrongs?
Hello Readers, hope all’s well. Time for another End Times post.
Do you ever wonder about God’s justice?
Why does it seem like some people get away with everything, while others are oppressed by the justice system? Why does it seem like awful, wicked people are often the most prosperous? And why does it seem like living a dishonest life of cheating and manipulation is ‘better’ than living right? Because it looks like the Righteous path is full of hardship with no reward, while those who act without morals have it all.
Well, if you’ve ever wondered any of these questions, you’re not alone. These questions, these objections, are as old as the Old Testament. Life has always been like this here in the fallen, sinful world. But we need to keep things in perspective. The New Testament gives answers to these questions, and an indisputable reason to live Righteously.
Not everyone gets the punishment they deserve here in this life on earth. Don’t worry about it—what does or doesn’t happen here on earth isn’t what matters. As Christians, we have our sights set on eternity and know that life on earth isn’t the end of the story.
So that’s today’s topic. Let’s get right into it.
One of the Oldest Stories there Is
Oftentimes it seems like there’s no justice in this world. Am I right?
Yesterday I read a story about corruption, shady business, and abuse of power by a local government somewhere, and I got angry. It wasn’t even my local government, the story is from somewhere else. But I got angry because the actions of this government hurt their people, and that’s injustice. Of course injustice will always make me angry, as it also makes the LORD angry. But what added an extra layer to my anger was knowing that these officials will most likely never face consequences for what they’ve done. There will be no justice to correct the injustice (most likely).
Rich and powerful people commit crimes and appear to get away with it. When they get arrested for their crimes of fraud or abuse of power, etc., they devote an army of lawyers to their case and either get away with it or get a ridiculously minor punishment instead. Something like having to pay a fine. Despite being larger in scale, crimes by the rich and powerful get punished less—if they get punished at all—than those committed by the poor. And when the case goes through court and everything’s settled, the rich are still rich no matter what happened.
Besides crime, there are other ways it seems like there’s no justice in this world. One of those is watching people sin, lie, cheat, and manipulate and seem to get away with it. People living the wrong way, being dishonest, etc., and not suffering the consequences.
Earlier this year, I watched the public bankruptcy proceedings of a minor celebrity. A very minor celebrity, there’s no point in saying who because most won’t know him. He’d taken out a bunch of loans, maxed out his credit cards, fallen behind on his debt and got dragged into bankruptcy court. The final decision of the judge was to give him the bankruptcy protection and discharge most of the debt.
In other words, he got off the hook from paying back most of the money he owed. After taking out all the loans and credit and not paying it back, now it seemed he wouldn’t face the consequences of doing so.
In response to that, someone commented: “It’s stupid to live honestly. Borrow money you have no intention of paying back. Lie, cheat, steal. I see now it doesn’t matter. It’s smarter to be a manipulative, dishonest scammer and liar.” This feeling is understandable, isn’t it?
Living a Righteous life is hard work, without much material reward. If we’re trying to live the right way and we’re struggling, and we see someone living dishonestly or committing crimes and they seem to have it better than us, we question the point of following the Righteous path at all.
Why do the wicked prosper? Why do liars, cheats, and criminals go unpunished? Why does it seem like they have things easier? And why doesn’t God right these wrongs?
I was reminded of these things when I read Malachi 2:17 recently. People have been asking these exact questions since the days of the Old Testament. Let’s read Malachi 2:17.
(17) You have made the LORD tired with your words.
Malachi 2:17 (CEB)
You say, “How have we made him tired?”
When you say:
“Anyone doing evil is good in the LORD’s eyes,”
or “He delights in those doing evil,”
or “Where is the God of justice?”
This fallen world has always been one of injustice, since the earliest days. There have always been rich and poor, and inequality. There have always been people being taken advantage of by the rich and powerful.
There have always been people getting away with grievous crimes, with no consequences. There have always been dishonest cheaters prospering more than honest people. Sometimes it can seem like God is on the side of the wicked!
And many of the Righteous over the ages have cried out to God in protest over this. So many that the LORD got “tired” with their words, as the first line of Malachi 2:17 says. Well, the Book of Malachi is in the Old Testament. As I noted in my book review on the Wisdom of Solomon, the lack of a Heaven or hell in Jewish theology meant there was no reason for Jews not to live wickedly (if they chose) during their life! I said: “Jewish theology up to this point had no concept of Heaven and hell. All souls went to the same afterlife. Under this concept, there was no reason for the Jews to act Righteously or even honor God.“
If all souls go to the same place after we die here on earth, then sure, there would be no reason to live Righteously. If this life is all there is, then we should lie, cheat, steal, and do anything it takes to get ahead. This life is all we got, so we can enjoy ourselves with no need to think about anything after this life on earth.
Well, the Jews didn’t have the full picture. Jesus and the New Testament complete the picture, and now we know why we must live Righteously here on earth. And we also know the ones who do evil on earth will never “get away with it,” as we have so often thought.
Trust all to the Just Judge
The crucifixion of our LORD Jesus Christ is the ultimate example of an injustice going unpunished. An innocent man was executed in the most cruel and humiliating way, and the ones responsible for this got away with it … at that time. Although He forgave the ones who condemned Him because they didn’t know what they were doing, Jesus also knew that anyone who deserves punishment and doesn’t REPENT! will never escape it. Jesus trusted in the LORD Most High, the Just Judge, for perfect justice.
I wrote about this in Part 57, a post about enduring our suffering like Jesus did—without complaining or trying to escape. Trust everything to the LORD. He judges justly between the Righteous and the unrepentant sinners.
(23) When he was insulted, he did not reply with insults. When he suffered, he did not threaten revenge. Instead, he entrusted himself to the one who judges justly.
1 Peter 2:23 (CEB)
If someone sins against us or others, and they don’t humble themselves before the LORD and REPENT!, they will be judged. Hebrews 9:27 tells us everyone will kneel before the LORD in judgment after they die, to account for their life.
(27) People are destined to die once and then face judgment.
Hebrews 9:27 (CEB)
And there are more passages in the New Testament on this topic too. Revelation, for example, explains the eternal punishment for the wicked. So now with the New Testament, we know that nobody “gets away with it.” Anyone who lies, cheats, steals, commits crimes, and doesn’t face punishment on earth will face punishment from God after they die. (That’s assuming they don’t REPENT! and turn to Jesus first though.)
No one escapes having to face the LORD God after they die. Everyone will have to account for their lives and what they did. And if they deserve punishment, the LORD will punish them. There’s no amount of money that can bribe the LORD or buy mercy. No one “gets away with” anything.
And any punishment we can come up with can’t even hope to compare with what the LORD can do. Any punishment society can inflict on people is temporary. The LORD’s judgments are eternal. So if justice is what we want, we’re much better off leaving it all to the LORD. That is His jurisdiction, after all. He told us that Himself in Deuteronomy 32:35.
(35) Revenge is my domain, so is punishment-in-kind,
Deuteronomy 32:35 (CEB)
at the exact moment their step slips up,
because the day of their destruction is just around the corner;
their final destiny is speeding on its way!
The LORD is the one who punishes. Everyone will face Him after they die here on earth. Everyone will have to explain their actions and choices to Him. Then He will pass judgment on them. No one gets away with anything, no one can escape having to face Him. That’s why Romans 12:19 quotes Deuteronomy and tells us not to try to get payback on anybody. We must leave it up to the LORD instead—and if the offender doesn’t REPENT! first, the LORD will punish them.
(19) Don’t try to get revenge for yourselves, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath. It is written, “Revenge belongs to me; I will pay it back, says the Lord”.
Romans 12:19 (CEB)
So we need to keep things in perspective. No one is getting away with anything—God will sort everyone out. As for us Christians, our job is to turn the other cheek and forgive. It’s not easy in the short-term. But in the eternal-term, God will always work everything out the way it should be.
Live Life, Let God Worry about them
It’s natural that injustice and sin make us angry. Anger is even more understandable when someone who did wrong seems to get away with it. And not only that, but sometimes the cheaters and wrongdoers are so prosperous and successful. Sometimes it even seems like God is on their side, because they don’t suffer the consequences of what they do and also have such an abundant life.
If you’ve ever felt deeply offended at the injustice of this situation, you’re not alone. People have been offended and angry at this phenomenon going all the way back to the Old Testament. It’s an injustice as old as the Bible.
But the New Testament completes the picture of the Old Testament. The New Testament finishes the story. And the New Testament reveals in many passages that no one gets away with anything. Anyone who deserves punishment for some sin, crime, or whatever will be punished when they kneel before the LORD in judgment after death.**
**As long as they don’t turn to the LORD Jesus in Faith and genuinely REPENT! first.
So we need to keep perspective. It’s not about who gets punished here on earth. Some people never get the punishment they deserve on earth. But this world is only temporary—what happens after death is what matters. Punishments on earth are temporary, the LORD’s punishments are eternal!
And with the End drawing nearer every day, people are running out of time to REPENT! and change their ways to avoid the LORD’s punishment. It’s not good for them.
And for another thing, just because someone appears to have a happy, prosperous life doesn’t mean it’s true. Under the surface, behind closed doors, we never know how things truly are. The people ‘getting away with’ stuff might not be as happy as they look, because one of the consequences of sin is guilt. If they have any conscience at all, they’ll feel the guilt. And their money (or whatever) can’t erase that guilt.
So we must never despair over the sins of others, or let the sins of others make us too angry or sad. First, we can’t control the sins and crimes of other people, so we mustn’t get too emotional about them. That doesn’t help anything. We also can’t control the punishments people do or don’t receive, so we mustn’t get too emotional over that either. Punishment isn’t our right or jurisdiction either, as both the Old and New Testament teach us.
But more than anything else, remember to trust everything to the Just Judge, the LORD Most High. Vengeance is His, He will repay. Everyone will kneel before Him after death and have to account for themselves. No one will get away with anything, and no one will escape punishments they deserve. With that in mind, let’s stay focused more on our actions than on the lives of others. We can trust that the LORD will give everyone what they deserve.
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Until next time, be strong and do good!
Your new best friend in Christ,
99:9
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