Evil men have
made their abode amongst us throughout human history. We've seen
some of them in recent times and we've read about many of them who
came before our time. They all came and went, and those now with
us will one day leave us, too.
Adolph Hitler challenged death, defied
reason, and elevated himself to a position of absolute power in Germany
and in most of Europe. He pitted himself against an entire world,
attempting to bend it to his will, determined to rule. Hitler, an
insecure little man was also a ruthless man. But, we have
the benefit of being Hitler's future. We can see what he could not
have seen. We know that in the end, he sat in a bunker, trembling
from what some doctors have determined was a disease brought on by
amphetamines (Speed). He took the coward’s way out
and committed suicide. He lost everything. His corpse was burned.
His power was meaningless in the end. His stored riches were worthless
to him. He also brought tens of thousands who endorsed his madness,
to an early grave and an ignoble end.
Stalin, who was as great, if not greater, a
murderer than Hitler, destroyed his own people by the millions. While
he lacked the sophistication of Hitler, nevertheless, he managed to
be a living death warrant for untold generations that were never and
will never be born because he brought entire lineages to an untimely
end. But, his day came, too. He is believed to have been murdered
by his own doctor, or someone on the inside, close to him. Death swallowed
him up.
Ghengis Khan was a rabid dog who took
vicious bites out of the Roman Empire, decimating entire populations.
His attacks were so ferocious that people trembled with fear at the
mere mention of his name. But he died and his kingdom dwindled.
In the ancient text in the book named Isaiah, there
is a fascinating story told of a powerful king very much like the
war lords of more modern times. His conquests began thousands of
years ago. His name was Sennacherib, and he was the son of Sargon.
Sennacherib was king of Assyria (and Babylon) in 704 BC. He was
a brute, ruthless and evil to the core. He was not a sophisticated
man and spent his entire life, with brief interludes, warring here
and there. Early into his kingship, he had to rush to Babylon to
put down a rebellion.
The Chaldeans, who had long been harsh enemies to
the Babylonians, managed to put a couple kings on the throne whilst
Sennacherib was chasing other rebels. He came back, subdued them
once more, then turned his attentions to other parts of his kingdom.
He was constantly warring with various tribes and factions within
his kingdom, which was a pretty vast domain, and included Egypt,
Judah, Israel and Syria.
Eventually, he came to Judah determined
to punish and sack the city of Jerusalem (he’d already destroyed
the surrounding villages and taken the populace prisoner). It is
during this time that the ancient writings describe tell the splendid
and delightful story of his boastful challenge to God and Hezekiah.
Often, man have challenged God openly and seemingly gotten no immediate
response. This man got a response from God. Sennacherib's challenge
did not go unnoticed.
The beautiful play on words in that
ancient text is a classic. It says, “Then the angel of the
LORD went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred
and fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the
morning, behold, they were all dead corpses,” (Isaiah 37:36).
Sennacherib left Judah humbled, and with 185,000 or so of his soldiers
lying scattered on the ground as corpses. The only ones left were
the supporting staff, such as cooks, helpers, camp prostitutes,
sooth-sayers, slaves and other such folk. This is believed to have
occurred around 700 BC. He returned home in disgrace and defeat,
and without an army.
Just seven years later, in 693, Sennacherib
waged war with the Edomites. It was a particularly bloody war, and
he soundly defeated them. Then, in 689, Sennacherib again marched
on Babylon. This time, he laid the city waste such that it became
a marsh. In essence, he depopulated the city. But, just 8 years
later, Sennacherib, the challenger of God, is dead, murdered by
his own sons.
And so is the end of all cruel despots.
Think about it. Napoleon is dead. Eichmann is dead. Himmler is dead.
Nero is dead. Ahab is dead. Mohammed is dead. Mussolini is dead. Capone
is dead. Pretty Boy Floyd is dead. Jack the Ripper is dead. Saddam
is dead. Osama bin laden, if not dead, will soon be dead. His life
will cease to exist. He will be a page in a history book.
Make your own list. Over and over again,
one word will become common to each evil man: “Dead.”
They are all dead. They all must come to that door and enter.
There is no escape. As it was written in those same ancient texts
thousands of years ago: “There is no man that hath power over
the spirit to retain the spirit; neither hath he power in the day
of death: and there is no discharge in that war; neither shall wickedness
deliver those that are given to it.”
(Ecclesiastes 8:8).
The living often despair under the rule of the
wicked. That was as true in history as it is now. “When the
righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked
beareth rule, the people mourn.” (Proverbs 29:2).
However, while
we may despair and grieve because of evil men who rule us, those of
us who have read all of that ancient text, and those of us who have
thrown our lot in with Jehovah, with the Messiah—called The
Christ—know that our future is determined already. We understand
and take great comfort in the fact that this place is not our home,
and that the pleasures and the wealth here in this present world and
all it offers pales in comparison to our inheritance. “That
in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace
in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.” (Ephesians
2:7). We know that our inheritance, while incalculable in richness,
is knowable: “The eyes of your understanding being enlightened;
that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches
of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,” (Ephesians 1:18).
And, we know it.
Paul spoke of the “unsearchable riches
of Christ” (Ephesians 3:7), and stressed again and again that
this was for us, that this was our inheritance, our future our reward,
and that we already possessed it.
Aren’t you glad that God is in
charge? Aren’t you glad that evil men will step over the threshold
of death one day and be gone? Aren’t you glad that we need not
fear what man can do unto us because our lives are hidden in Christ?
“For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.”
(Colossians 3:3). Isn’t it great that we have a fearless God
who has given us a fearless Spirit? “For God hath not given
us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”
(2 Timothy 1:7).
Satan wants us to fear. He wants to
do what Sennacherib tried to do to the Israelites and Hezekiah when
that evil king had his threats published loudly before the walls of
Jerusalem. Satan wants to come to your home and put fear in that home,
and in your family and in your heart. We need to recall the words
of King David: “In God have I put my trust: I will not be afraid
what man can do unto me.” (Psalms 56:11)
There may come
upon the land of America one day, a band of assassins led by a Sennacherib,
whose captain is Attilla the Hun. Biblical history teaches us that
God permitted enemies of Israel to come upon it because of the sin
of that nation. America is a wicked nation. There is no debate about
that fact. We've spawned more men with minds and hearts filled with
pornographic visions and lusts for wealth than any nation in history.
We will pay a price for that, someday.
What has spared us thus far is that America
also has salt in it. Christians are that salt. This
does not mean God will spare us always. Already, God is sending warnings.
Calamities have hit us, which go unnoticed by the nation insofar as
these things being from God. More will follow. These are not merely
punishment. They are used of God, even as He used such things with
the Jews, to warn us, to humble us, and to draw us to Him. He seeks
our hearts. He wants us to trust in Him. He wants America to turn
away from its love of evil.
However, fact that God is judging America,
does not mean we should fear. We should only fear God. But, even if
we do fear those things that swirl around us, and which will escalate,
recall what David said, in his acknowledgement of being afraid: “I
sought the LORD, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.”
(Psalms 34:4).
We need to find our comfort in the
Lord, and not in our homes and lives on this earth. Instead of fretting
about evil men and what they might do to us and ours, we ought instead
look on the fields “white unto harvest,” and be about
our Master’s business. Evil men will continue until the end.
But our God will never leave us nor forsake us. (Hebrews. 13:5).
The fact is that all the evil
men will eventually die. All of them. They will leave the earth.
They will leave all they collected, behind. They cannot escape that.
Not a single evil man has escaped that appointment with death since
the beginning of time. Be comforted in knowing that God has promised
vengeance on them. It isn’t up to us. “God is jealous,
and the LORD revengeth; the LORD revengeth, and is furious; the LORD
will take vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserveth wrath for his
enemies.” (Nahum 1:2). That is a promise that is even more sure
and certain as the fact that the sun rises in the East and sets in the
West.
In that ancient book called The Book
of John, the Christ King gave us a glimpse at the future of evil men.
He said: "Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the
which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, (29) And shall
come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life;
and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation."
John 5:28-29.
Compare that with another ancient writing
by John where it is predicted:
And I saw
a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face
the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place
for them. (12) And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before
God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which
is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things
which were written in the books, according to their works. (13)
And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell
delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged
every man according to their works. (14) And death and hell were
cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. (15) And
whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into
the lake of fire." -Revelation 20:11-15
This is the ultimate
end of all evil men. We have the word of
the living God on that. If Hitler could stand before you today, he'd
confess that he was wrong. He knows now there is a living God who
will judge mankind for its evil. Stalin knows. Saddam knows. They
all know, now. But, it's too late for them. They refused to bow before
God on this side of eternity. They refused to fear God on this side
of eternity. They love their evil more than God. As Christ said in
that ancient text of called John, "And this is the condemnation,
that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than
light, because their deeds were evil." John 3:19.
God does not die. Christians do not
die. Our lives are hid with Christ. Absent from this body is to be
present with the Lord. That's alive with God, not dead. “We
are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the
body, and to be present with the Lord.” (2 Corinthians
5:8). So long as God lives, we live. All we are is to be found in
Him. Christ is our life. It was for this purpose that Christ came,
to wit, to give us life.
We must keep such things in perspective.
It is vital to our spiritual health that we maintain the proper perspective.
“For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear;
but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba,
Father.” (Romans 8:15). See also, Psalms. 49.
