For some, a study of the end times provokes the reaction, Why is God so harsh? Ironically, many times when people look at evil running rampant in our world, they ask, Why doesn’t God stop it? So which is it? Is God too permissive today, or too severe at the end of the age?
When we study Scripture, we gain a better understanding of God’s heart in this matter. We see that God delights in love, justice, truth, and righteousness (Jeremiah 9:24). And because He alone knows the hearts and minds of mankind, He always judges rightly (1 Kings 8:39).
When we as humans take issue with God’s approach to justice, it usually means we need to gain a better understanding of three things: God’s standard, God’s timing, and God’s objective.
God’s Standard
Notice that the Bible always divides people into two groups, the righteous and the wicked, based on those who serve God and those who do not (Malachi 3:18 and Matthew 25:31-33). In regards to holiness, Jesus uses this metaphor of fruit trees to show the simplicity of His perspective.
“For there is no good tree which produces bad fruit, nor, on the other hand, a bad tree which produces good fruit. For each tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they pick grapes from a briar bush. The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart.” (Luke 6:43-45)
Most of us do not see ourselves or others in such black and white terms — partly because we do not have God’s insight into the true nature of each person’s heart and mind, but more importantly because we often do not understand righteousness.
God’s standard of righteousness is complete, absolute perfection, which no person can attain in their own power. Instead, it comes through faith, like Abraham who “believed in the Lord; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness” (Genesis 15:6). We believe in God’s free gift of salvation and it changes the way that we live our lives, and it is the Holy Spirit who enables us to produce good fruit. This allows God to maintain His standard of holiness without condemning every human to eternal punishment, and at the same time, it allows our actions on this earth to have a meaningful effect on eternity.
Each one of us will give an account to the Lord at the judgment seat of Christ, and we will be recompensed for the way we spent our lives while on earth (2 Corinthians 5:10). Revelation 2:23 tells us, “I am He who searches the minds and hearts; and I will give to each one of you according to your deeds.” We also read in Jeremiah 32 that God is “great in counsel and mighty in deed, whose eyes are open to all the ways of the sons of men, giving to everyone according to his ways and according to the fruit of his deeds” (Jeremiah 32:19).
Those who have produced good fruit will be given a resurrection of eternal life, but those who have done evil and rebelled against the truth will be given a resurrection of judgment and wrath (John 5:28-29 and Romans 2:5-8).
So if God’s standard divides all humanity into the righteous and wicked categories, then why does He need the prophesied events of the end times to happen? Why not just stop the clock right now?
God’s Timing
The first thing that we need to understand about God’s timing is that God’s perspective on time is always longer than ours. He has existed from eternity past and He sees into eternity future, so it only makes sense that He does not see a year, decade, century, or even a millennium as a very long time. This can feel frustrating when we are waiting on God to act, but it actually works to our advantage. Psalm 103:8 tells us, “The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness.”
The second thing we must realize is that God’s timing always follows the principle of sowing and reaping. The Bible describes righteousness and wickedness as two harvests, which will not be gathered until they have reached full maturity (Matthew 3:8-12 and Revelation 14:14-19). The longer a righteous person lives, the more time they have to produce good fruit. The longer a wicked person lives, the more thoroughly they earn their coming judgment. This is even more true on the global scale than it is on a personal scale.
When Jesus returns, He will utterly defeat the forces of evil at the height of their power, and pour out His wrath on the nations and peoples that do not know or worship Him (Jeremiah 10:25). If He returned before the appointed time, it would diminish the glory of His victory. Likewise, when Jesus returns, He will find His own people fully refined, purged, and purified by the fires of tribulation (Daniel 11:32-35), and if He rescued them early He would deprive them of the full measure of their reward.
In short, God has designed His story of redemption to reach a perfectly-timed righteous crescendo. If He dealt with every turn of events in a piecemeal fashion, the kingdom of Heaven would trickle in rather than arriving with a bang!
God’s Objective
God’s objective, in a single word, is salvation. I Timothy 2:4 says that God “desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” Peter underscores the connection between God’s objective and His timing when he writes, “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).
As long as a wicked person is alive on earth, he still has the opportunity to repent. “‘Do I have any pleasure in the death of the wicked,’ declares the Lord God, ‘rather than that he should turn from his ways and live?'” (Ezekiel 18:23, see also 33:11). God may intervene with discipline in a person’s life, “striking but healing; so they will return to the Lord” (Isaiah 19:22). Until that person’s last breath, God is extending the offer of eternal salvation while also allowing the free will to choose life or death.
Let’s return to our original question: Is God too permissive today, or too severe at the end of the age? In truth, He is neither. As pastor Charles Stanley says, “He tempers His justice with grace.”1 Only God has the wisdom to balance His standard of righteousness with His desire to save. If that balance ever looks off from our point of view, we can rest assured that the error is in our human perspective. God’s ways are perfect, and trusting them will always be in our best interest.
“Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who became His counselor? Or who has first given to Him that it might be paid back to him again? For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.” (Romans 11:33-36)
1 The Charles F. Stanley Life Principles Daily Bible, NASB, page 354.
