The Death of the Wicked
Ah, social media! You can find helpful things there—but other posts can make us grow cold toward God’s Word or toward topics that require us to seriously seek God’s mind.
Recently, while scrolling Facebook, I (Rachel) was struck by the reactions and comments around various armed conflicts between nations. Many responses sounded like this: those responsible for the deaths of others should be killed too. Those labeled “terrorists” or “dangerous” should simply be eliminated.
It’s a sensitive subject—one that sparks tension even among Christians (at least among the people whose comments I read who identified as such).
I always feel deep pain for victims, and my flesh often cries first for vengeance and exemplary punishment for the guilty. I know I’m not alone; the people who inspired this reflection felt the same.
🧭 What Should a Christian Desire?
As I wrestled with this, I asked: What should a Christian’s heart be when the “wicked” are targeted for death? What should we desire? How should we pray? What is the Father’s heart?
Nothing speaks better than God’s Word itself. Here are a few passages:
“The Lord examines the righteous, but the wicked, those who love violence, he hates with a passion.”
It’s clear: God takes no delight in wickedness in any form.
“The one who sins is the one who will die. The child will not share the guilt of the parent, nor will the parent share the guilt of the child. The righteousness of the righteous will be credited to them, and the wickedness of the wicked will be charged against them.”
Before God, the “wicked” already stand condemned by their own condition and choices.
“Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Sovereign Lord. Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live?”
“But if a wicked person turns away from all the sins they have committed and keeps all my decrees and does what is just and right, that person will surely live; they will not die.”
God states plainly: His desire is that the wicked live—by turning back to Him.
“When I say to a wicked person, ‘You will surely die,’ and you do not warn them or speak out to dissuade them from their evil ways in order to save their life, that wicked person will die for their sin, and I will hold you accountable for their blood. But if you do warn the wicked person and they do not turn from their wickedness or from their evil ways, they will die for their sin; but you will have saved yourself.”
God expects us to work with Him to help the wicked turn from wickedness. This was Ezekiel’s charge when an unfaithful Jerusalem turned from God’s face.
💔 My Flesh vs. God’s Heart
My flesh cries for vengeance when I see innocent blood and glaring injustice. But God’s Word urges me to seek that the wicked live—to pray for repentance instead of their destruction.
What about you, dear friend?
Scripture references: Psalm 11:5; Ezekiel 18:20–23; Ezekiel 3:18–19 (NIV).
