“Pastor, why does it take time for God to judge wicked people? Some of them even live long on the earth”

Asides personal ignorance, most of the problems we face in life are caused by our adversary. One of the most disturbing things you’d learn about adversaries is that they are actually legal oppositions. The bible didn’t hold back this position in 1 Peter 5:8 when it said “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour”.

Notice the words used by the writer; “your adversary the devil”, “seeking who to devour”. So you don’t have to start asking why the devil hates you or why he’s against you, you’ve already been told that he’s your legal opponent or rival. If Satan is a legal opponent, then you can’t just get rid of him like that, you need to present a petition to God that overrides what Satan used to get a ruling against you in the first place.

I’ve taught you how Satan fights against a believer. If he’s not engaging in warfare, then he’s engaging a courtfare. Which means if he’s not engaging deception, then he’s engaging a ruling from the court of heaven. If he can’t play the mind game with you, then he’d find a weakness you have and make it a case in the court of heaven. If his case is in accordance to the will of God, then he’d receive a ruling in his favour.

Now that we’ve clarified who your adversary is, it’s wrong to think that your uncle in the village or your polical leaders are the ones responsible for the setbacks in your life. Although your relative or government may have done all kinds of evil against you, praying for them to die by fire isn’t the solution to the problem, they are just unfortunate puppets used by the devil to perform his evil and adversarial duties.

God may be against Satan, but He loves people, and he doesn’t want anybody to perish, rather He wants all to come to repentence. And this is why it takes time for an evil man to be judged. Let’s read how Ecclesiastes puts it:

Ecclesiastes 8:
11 Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.
12 Though a sinner do evil an hundred times, and his days be prolonged, yet surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God, which fear before him:
13 But it shall not be well with the wicked, neither shall he prolong his days, which are as a shadow; because he feareth not before God.

This explains why we still have evil people leading us. It also explains why you still see evil people walking around as saints. Judgment against an evil work is not executed speedily. Notice that two categories of evil doers were mentioned; the sinner that does evil and the wicked. The sinner may do evil an hundred times yet his days will still be prolonged, and that’s because even though he’s a sinner, he still fears God. And as long as he fears God, God still has a chance of reviving his soul. But for the wicked, he’d get instant judgment and his days will not be prolonged, and that’s because he doesn’t fear God. As long as he doesn’t fear God, there’s no hope for his revival.

In God’s perspective, keeping the wicked alive will cause an unnecessary destruction. But when the sinner does evil, according to those verses, He ensures that it is well with the righteous. This is funny, because it simply tells me that God doesn’t rate or consider evil works the way we do. We believe the evil doer should die because it affects us, yet God wants the sinner who does evil to live because He has a chance of saving him, and their evil does not even affect His people. If their evil affects you, it’s because you don’t know it’s not supposed to affect you.

If you want to stop the work of the adversary or the wicked, then you have to present a petition to God through a prayer of intercession or supplication. These prayers must contain details of the multitudes of evil works that has been executed by them and the scriptural judgment accrued to such evil. Since God may not judge them except there are witnesses, their evil works and the scriptures will stand as a witness against them.

All through scriptures we’d find out that every evil doer has a cup, and once that cup is full, God’s judgment is inevitable. In 1 Thessalonians 2:15-16, Apostle Paul spoke about a group of people who received the wrath of God because their cup of sin was full. In Genesis 15:12-16, God told Abraham that his seed would suffer affliction in a strange land for 400 years and afterwards He’d judge that land and cause Abraham’s seed to come out with great possessions. There were also evil occupants in the land of Canaan that God needed to vacate, but He couldn’t judge them until their iniquity was full. You may read that up in Genesis 15:12-16. When God finally judged them, we saw how beautifully everything played out. Indeed, God makes everything beautiful in His time.

That’s why I know that this government cannot be wicked forever, their cup will soon be full. And because believers are interceding and making supplications daily, they can’t escape judgment except they repent.

Let’s take caution though, just as that scripture says, there’s a very strong possibility of tilting your hearts to reciprocating their evil works with evil all in the name of fighting back. The moment you do that, God’s judgment will also fall on you when it’s time. I’ve heard Christians say things like, “if they kill Christians, let’s kill them too”. No, that’s lack of understanding. Our petitions to God are not a waste of time. Though it tarries, wait for it, it will surely come to pass.

I hope this has brought enlightenment to someone.

Remain ever blessed, in Jesus precious name!