Why God Destroys

By Benjamin H. Liles

          Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘I will punish Amalek for what he did to Israel, how he ambushed him on the way when he came up from Egypt. Now go and attack Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare them. But kill both man and woman, infant and nursing child, ox and sheep, camel, and donkey.’ ~ 1 Samuel 15:2-3, New King James

          Then his wife Zeresh and all his friends said to him, “Let a gallows be made, fifty cubits high, and in the morning suggest to the king that Mordecai be hanged on it; then go merrily with the king to the banquet.” And the thing pleased Haman; so he had the gallows made. ~ Esther 5:14
          
          Now Harbonah, one of the eunuchs, said to the king, “Look! The gallows, fifty cubits high, which Haman made for Mordecai, who spoke well on the king’s behalf, is standing at the house of Haman.” Then the king said, “Hang him on it!” So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the king’s wrath subsided. ~ Esther 7:9-10

          I can tell you exactly why God destroys certain things: He finds something they do as abhorrent and even evil. Sin separates man from knowing God and having a relationship with Him. Recall God telling Abraham, "Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years. But I will also judge the nation whom they will serve, and afterward, they will come out with many possessions" (Genesis 15:13-14, New American Standard).

          In the case of Egypt, and why God struck them was twofold: the first is that Egypt worshiped strange and foreign gods. They had known God due to Abraham and even Isaac. The second part is that by the time the Exodus was to take place Egypt forgot the God of Israel as well as Joseph: "Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. And he said to his people, “Look, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we; come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and it happen, in the event of war, that they also join our enemies and fight against us, and so go up out of the land" (Exodus 1:8-10).

          This ruler committed a sin before the Law was handed to Moses, that made God angry.  "Then the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, of whom the name of one was Shiphrah and the name of the other Puah; and he said, “When you do the duties of a midwife for the Hebrew women, and see them on the birthstools, if it is a son, then you shall kill him; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live" (Exodus 1:16). Remember back in Genesis the curse and promise God gave to the serpent? "And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel" (Genesis 3:15).

          Somewhere in the fall of mankind from God's glorious Creation, the serpent fell as well and became the ruler of nations: "It shall come to pass in the day the Lord gives you rest from your sorrow, and from your fear and the hard bondage in which you were made to serve, that you will take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say...'How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’ Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, to the lowest depths of the Pit. “Those who see you will gaze at you, and consider you, saying: ‘Is this the man who made the earth tremble, Who shook kingdoms, who made the world as a wilderness
and destroyed its cities, who did not open the house of his prisoners?" (Isaiah 14:3-4, 12-17).

         In his own evil desires, sin, and beauty this accuser of the brethren has led nations aside speaking nothing but lies, deceit, and bondage over them. So, the truth of the matter is that God destroys the vile things that oppose Him. He is truth, love, gracious, filled with mercy, and compassion. Scripture tells us, "Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour" (1 Peter 5:8, New American Standard). And yet, we--as God's children--are to do as God does, extending His mercy and compassion where we are persecuted. Yet, we cannot do so with these principalities and powers as they oppose God Himself.

          So, this goes back to the question as to why God destroys. Simply stated God is holy and anything impure cannot remain in His presence. While His desire is for us to be His, to be pure and made righteous through His Son Jesus, He won't hold our feet to the fire (so to speak). He will get our attention through renewing our minds to the fact that we are not meant for Hell as opposing principalities and powers are. Hell was not designed for mankind, but for those who fell from God's original design. It is why we have a Savior who came and bought us with His blood. His sacrifice, His obedience to God, destines us for an eternal and glorious future with Him and the Father.

          I will continue on in another post as to why there has to be an apocalypse; why God judges nations, people, and all. It also ties in to what I previously started with Hope for Nations. There is hope for us. We just have to allow Him the right to show us Him and His ways. It means we change to show the expression of Him and His glory. It is why Jesus set up the Church to be His body here and now until He comes again. After all, Jesus is the Hope for all nations.

          Father, I ask that You rekindle those who read the words You give to me. I ask that You show Your love, compassion, merciful and lovingkindness to them. It means they see Your Son high and lifted up on Calvary's cross. He died in our place, my own as well, and gives us access to You. I ask for this in Jesus' holy and precious name. Amen.