An Epic Tale
Have you ever seen an Apocalyptic Cricket? They’re pretty scary. We had them for a bit in our storage unit behind our house. I know I’m not exaggerating because when the bug guy came to spray them, he was shocked by them and began messaging all his bug technician friends pictures of these crazy crickets.
The crickets would only come out during the summer when the door was closed, and the unit was dark and cool. If you left the door open for a bit, they would retreat into the cinder blocks and disappear. We had to wait for them to be drawn out so they would take the poison back to their layer. In Revelation, chapters six and seven, the lamb is drawing each of the seven seals out so they might be defeated. This is all part of the epic tale of evil, wrath, and redemption within the story.
Evil is a problem in our world. We have corrupt institutions and leaders who use their power to enslave others. Economic inequities drive poverty and negatively impact people’s lives. Our relationships are marked by division, strife, and war instead of peace and love. Finally, death is an unsolvable problem for everyone. These are all signs of evil in the world– evil that God hates and will defeat.
We need God to defeat evil because history has shown us that humanity cannot accomplish this feat. It’s good news that God draws out evil to conquer it!
“Everyone, slave and free, hid in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of the one seated on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb;” (Rev. 6:16)
The wrath of God makes us all uncomfortable, as it should. But it’s not something we have to fear or reject because perfect love can respond with wrath perfectly. You should never trust a human’s wrath to be just because we are biased, but we need someone to condemn and destroy the evil within the world. Who can do this? The Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world can be trusted to condemn evil out of love versus revenge, hatred, or insecurity.
Remember that despite the evil and brokenness we now encounter, the end of the story is redemption. We know that God desires all people, from every tribe, nation, and tongue, to be set free and live in a world where evil has been defeated. Our confidence rests in God’s love and power revealed through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.
Between now and when evil is ultimately defeated, we wait—reflecting grace to others through forgiveness and servanthood because we trust that God will be the one to judge and set things right. We stay active by engaging in actions that fight the evil we know God will destroy. Finally, we commit ourselves to prayer to deal with the wrestle of how things are versus how they will be. Asking for strength, courage, and endurance as we wait.
