The
Deliverers of Justice and Judgment
“Then the angel took the censer,
filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth, and there came
peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake” (Revelation
8:5).
Ever
since the fall of man, God has shown Himself to be the Lord of righteousness
and justice. He cannot stand for evil to be in His presence nor does He
tolerate it, which Lucifer found to be true when he rebelled against the Most
High. Many people have tried to get away with doing evil, and although God is
longsuffering, His patience will eventually come to an end. The Bible says, “Your
eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrongdoing. Why then do
you tolerate the treacherous? Why are you silent while the wicked swallow up
those more righteous than themselves?” (Habakkuk 1:13). The Prophet Habakkuk lived during a time when
evil seemed to thrive in the land, and he did not understand why God was
allowing it to continue. Yet, God assured him that the evil had not gone
unnoticed, and the justice that was going to be rendered had never been seen
before. The
Bible says, “Look at the nations and watch – and be utterly amazed. For I am going
to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you
were told” (Habakkuk 1:5). God was not going to allow evil to continue amongst
His people, and eventually, justice was served to the Children of Israel who
continued with their wicked ways.
The
Lord has used angels to administer justice on His behalf to the wicked all
throughout Bible history. One example of this was when God used the death angel
to render punishment to the Egyptians prior to their being released from captivity.
God had forewarned Abraham that his descendants would be enslaved for four-hundred
years, but they would eventually be freed. This prophecy took place after Joseph
had become governor of Egypt and helped to save the Egyptians as well as his
own family from a drought that God allowed to come to the land. Unfortunately,
for the Children of Israel, the Pharaohs that came to reign after Joseph’s time
did not remember this part of Egypt’s history. Therefore, they felt the need to
enslave what they considered as a possible threat to their existence.
The Children of Israel were greatly
oppressed by their Egyptian taskmasters and cried out to God for help. The Bible says, “And
now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the
Egyptians are oppressing them. So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring
my people the Israelites out of Egypt” (Exodus 3:9-10). God heard their
cries and sent Moses to be their deliverer. Prior to the Children of Israel being
able to leave, the Lord sent the death angel throughout the land of Egypt to
slay their firstborn as well as the firstborn of their animals for all who did
not have blood on their doorposts. The Bible says, “When the Lord goes through the
land to strike down the Egyptians, he will see the blood on the top and sides
of the doorframe and will pass over that doorway, and he will not permit the
destroyer to enter your houses and strike you down” (Exodus 12:23). The
death angel (destroyer) was sent to administer justice on behalf of God so that
the Children of Israel could finally go free.
During
the days of the apostles, the early church endured tremendous persecution. King
Herod, who ruled over the Jews at that time, had already put to death the Apostle
James and sought to do the same with Peter whom he had arrested. To ensure that
Peter could not escape, Herod stationed sixteen soldiers to stand guard. Peter
had to sleep between the two of them while bound with two sets of chains. Nevertheless,
an angel of the Lord freed him from his captivity and led him out to safety. Upon
Herod hearing the news of Peter’s escape, he had the soldiers executed after
questioning them and went to another city to discuss the citizen’s concerns.
The
people were in dire need and did not have food of their own, so they relied
upon Herod’s provisions. He gave a public address to them, but as he did so,
they began to praise him as a god. Instead of them giving God honor for
enabling him to give them provisions to ease their hunger, they worshiped the
man. Herod’s heart became full of pride as they rendered praises to him during
his speech. This offended God and the Lord sent an angel to strike him down. The Bible says, “Immediately
because Herod did not give praise to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down,
and he was eaten by worms and died” (Acts 12:23). Herod received
justice for his evil ways and the angel carried it out in accordance with the
will of God.
In
the book of Revelation, we read where God uses angels in the last days to pour
out His wrath on mankind. The Bible says, “Then I heard a loud voice from the temple
saying to the seven angels, “Go pour out the seven bowls of God’s wrath on the
earth” (Revelation 16:1). During this time, God will begin to
administer judgments upon the wicked through His angels – similar to the
plagues that were sent to Egypt. Because God is holy and true, evil cannot
reign forever without being punished; therefore, angels are sometimes sent by
God to be the delivers of justice and judgment. They are His administrators and
they work to render the decisions of the Lord upon mankind.
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