(Malachi 4:3) “You will tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day which I am preparing, says the Lord of hosts.” It seems wrong for Christians who read this verse, its context and other related prophesy, to get excited about the coming judgment upon the wicked. Some Christians are elated by references to a role believers will have carrying out God’s wrath upon evildoers. “. . . they will be ashes under the soles of your feet.” John describes a battle scene in the 17th chapter of The Revelation. Verse 14 says, “these will wage war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, because He is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those who are with Him are the called and chosen and faithful.” Yes! We will destroy the enemies of God. We will cut down those who side with Satan. Death to those who love unrighteousness. Death to the infidel. Ouch. That hurts our sensitive and tender hearts. We must turn our innocent eyes away from that scene.
In our defense, I don’t think most who love the Lord take delight in the destruction of the wicked out of some hunger for revenge. Believers cry for justice. God’s people, from Old Testament days to today, have complained to God that the wicked prosper and the righteous suffer. Still, It seems like we are angry. Shouldn’t Christians love the unbeliever? Shouldn’t we reject the idea of wiping evil doers from the face of the earth? Let’s just give peace a chance. Right?
We don’t take pleasure in the ultimate judgment of the unbeliever. Nevertheless, It is prophecy. God declares that he will not delay His punishment forever. Some Christians want to ignore scripture’s warning and would rather believe all the talk of some awful day in the future is nonsense. Their Bible doesn’t contain the words of Malachi 4:1, “the day is coming, burning like a furnace; and all the arrogant and every evildoer will be chaff.” Jesus words are left out of their Bible too. In Matthew 25:41 and 46 Jesus says, “Then He (The King) will say to those on His left, Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; . . . these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
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