Evil Has Its Day

Evil has its day.

Evil brings cruelty, death, destruction, and darkness.

Fed by anger, bitterness, hatred, and greed, evil grows, and even the most innocent get caught in evil’s cruel snares.

We might have different ways of saying it—Satan is at work, the devil is having his way, or the human heart is inherently wicked—but, ever how one says it, the reality in the end is evil is in the world.

Wars bring their own unique suffering to those in its path. The winds of war blow an evil and cruel gale. Gangs bent on assault and murder leave heartache and grief in their wake. People caught up in the pain of addiction can find themselves carrying out evil acts they never imagined as the “high” affects their reasoning. Filled with hate, evil people do evil things to others. From human trafficking to animal cruelty, evil acts leave pain and suffering in their path.

Where is God? Why does God not intervene to stop evil? If God loves us, as the Bible teaches us, why doesn’t his love include protecting us from the evil in the world? We might think evil people deserve to suffer, but what about good and righteous people, why must they get caught in evil’s web?

Does God not see the havoc evil brings to the world?

Does God not care?

Does God not exist, and we’ve deceived ourselves into believing?

Where can we find the answers? Are there answers? Are these timeless questions of humanity that we struggle to answer, but never can or will?

John of Patmos must have struggled with these same kinds of questions. He was exiled on the Island of Patmos in the Aegean Sea, separated from those he loved, including his beloved seven churches of Asia Minor (modern Turkey). “I, John, your brother who shares with you in Jesus the persecution and the kingdom and the patient endurance, was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.” (Revelation 1:9) Because of the persecution, John was living with “patient endurance.” Living with “patient endurance” doesn’t keep us from questioning why.

But one Lord’s Day (Sunday) John received a message of hope, comfort, and reassurance. There are things beyond human understanding. And John was given a vision of these things—the Revelation. Some things are unseen and unknown. John was told to write what he saw—his vision (Revelation)—and to send it to his brothers and sisters in Christ on the mainland, and ultimately what he wrote has made its way to us in the twenty-first century. Many things have changed since the first century, and the ancient world, but the human heart has not—there is still evil that owns the souls of some.

And that brings us to the throne room of God that John saw in his vision (Revelation) given to him by an angel, who received it from the risen Christ, to whom it was given by God. (See Revelation 1:1-2.)

The throne room of God is described for us in Revelation chapter four. In that room there is continuous praise to the One on the throne from all creation represented by the four strange looking creatures, and from the people of God represented by the twenty-four elders. We must not miss the great symbol of hope John describes for us in the rainbow like emerald that is over the throne, and we must stand back with awe at the power and glory of the One on the throne as John describes lightnings and thundering coming from the throne. We bow in awe, adoration, and respectful fear before the throne of God.

But then…

“Then I saw in the right hand of the One seated on the throne a scroll written on the inside and on the back, sealed with seven seals, and I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, ‘Who is worthy to open the scroll and open its seals?” (See chapter 5)

Here we are required to think (God gave us a brain for a reason). Jesus quoted the Jewish Shema when asked about the greatest commandment, and in doing so our Lord reminds us, we are to love the Lord our God “with all our mind.” (See Mark 12:29-30.) So, what if we think about the scroll as a “sort-of” last will and testament, sealed with seven seals. (This was the way last wills and testaments were sealed in the ancient world.) When the seals are broken and the “will” is read, we will have a vision of what it contains, and in this case, a vision (Revelation) of the present and the future.

The scroll is full—inside and back. There’s a lot to be revealed when this scroll is opened. It is full. It is complete.

No one else can add anything to what is written in the scroll; for it is full. The power of evil surely tries, and will continue to try, but what is in the scroll cannot and will not be changed.

“A mighty angel”—not just any angel—proclaims with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals.” This isn’t just any scroll. This is the scroll containing the plan and purposes of the One on the throne. Finding someone to open it and reveal its contents seems impossible, for John discovered in his vision (Revelation), “And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it.”

John, living in exile, knowing his fellow believers, his brothers and sisters in Christ, are being persecuted, suffering for the sake of the gospel, wants to know what the future holds; he wants to know what is written and sealed with seven seals. But his vision reveals to him that there is no one, no one, who can break the seals and open the scroll revealing its contents. It’s all in God’s hands. The future is hidden from us humans…unless God chooses to reveal it—no one was able to open the scroll.

“And I began to weep bitterly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or look into it.”

So close, and yet so far away. Before him in his vision was this scroll that could help him understand what was happening in the world, and no one was found worthy to open it. It’s no wonder he wept bitter tears.

But one of the elders gives him a word of hope—see Revelation 5:5.

And then a strange thing happened…really strange, even for a vision (Revelation). “Then I saw between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders a Lamb standing as if it had been slaughtered…” See what I mean—strange.

John the Baptist, remember him? He was preaching and baptizing in the wilderness near the Jordan River when one day, “He saw Jesus coming toward him and declared,

‘Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.’” (John 1:29)