The Face of Evil
Lou Tiscione, Pastor, Weatherford Presbyterian Church (PCA)
“But they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint” (Isaiah 40:31).
God’s declaration through the prophet Isaiah is His promise for believers. The verse is in contrast to those who appear strong like youths and those who are powerful. Those who are strong in worldly terms will all grow tired and weary, but those who wait for the LORD will not only survive but will run because they won’t get tired. At times it seems as though evil men are winning.
God promised to deliver His people, and the prophet Isaiah began chapter 40 with God’s word of comfort. “Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.” This Chapter of Isaiah is the beginning of the Suffering Servant passages. The Servant is revealed to be Jesus! He declared that He was the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy of the Suffering Servant (Luke 4:18-21). The Servant of God, Jesus, is the one who brings comfort. The comfort He brings is the assurance of deliverance which leads to glory in heaven and the elimination of evil.
Isaiah sometimes wrote in what is called the Prophetic Past Tense. For example, “He was despised and rejected by men,… he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely, he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted” (Isaiah 53:3). Isaiah, writing in 750 B.C., saw the humiliation of Christ as completed. When Isaiah wrote of judgment, he saw the total destruction of the wicked, their final end. Isaiah used a future expression to confirm what he prophesied, for example, “The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this” (Isaiah 9:7).
The end is certain! On the one hand God will establish perfect righteousness and on the other He will judge all ungodliness. There will be no escape for the ungodly. He will lift the curse of original sin and usher in the New Heaven and the New Earth (Revelation 21).
God has promised the elect comfort, peace, and glory. This is what we are waiting for! We know that God never fails to keep His word. His word declares He has claimed His people as His possessions (Isaiah 43:1). Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish and no one will snatch them out of my hand” (John 10:27-28).
God’s people wait upon Him with eager expectation of the fulfillment of His promises. The promise now is comfort. We eagerly await His promise of final deliverance. These promises are for all those who belong to the LORD. Those who belong to the Lord wait upon Him. The word translated “wait” means trusting God now by obeying Him while waiting for His final deliverance.
Events in Gaza, the Ukraine, and most recently the assassination of Charlie Kirk, may cause you to lose hope. But God is always faithful to His word. He will execute perfect justice. Those who hide behind children while pursing the destruction of a nation will stand before the Holy and Just God. Likewise, God will judge men of lawlessness like the deranged assassin of Charlie Kirk and those who promote lawlessness.
Evildoers will be with us until Christ returns. The evil in the world done by men is a result of the fall of Adam and Eve. We know that evil will be absent from the perfection that God has promised when Christ returns. God has declared it! But for now God has promised comfort. His comfort is the certainty of knowing that evil and all ungodliness will come to an end. Further, the comfort that God gives is in knowing that He walks through these evil circumstances with His people. Those who believe that Jesus is who He said He is and rely upon Him alone have the assurance that nothing will ever separate them from God (Romans 8:35-39).
God promised never to leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). We persevere knowing that glory awaits us. We are waiting for perfect justice and peace. We wait with an eager expectation and certain assurance that God will bring them all to pass. While we wait, we have the comfort of the Lord given in His promise to be with us!
