No Pleasure in Death

"Say to them: 'As I live,' says the Lord GOD, 'I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?'"

Ezekiel 33:11

Before I finally went to bed last night I flipped back and forth between a couple of movies.  I wanted to see the end of both "The World's Fastest Indian" and "The Count of Monte Cristo," movies I had seen previously.  I wanted to see Burt Munro finally open up the throttle on the salt flats.  Then I couldn't remember the exact ending of Monte Cristo, as Dantes took his revenge upon the wretched traitor Mondego.  He is a most unlikable villain who even makes Nurse Ratched seem genuine and caring.

As I saw the final battle scene of the movie that ends with Dantes' sword skewering Mondego's heart, I sensed a difference in myself.  The satisfaction I expected from seeing the fitting end of the snake Mondego never came.  Instead, all I heard were the words repeated over and over in my mind:  "I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked."  It was a revelation to me, though I was already familiar with the passage in Ezekiel.  But it made me think about God and the misconceptions I have had concerning Him over the years.

There is a tendency for us to think God must think like us. Movies with the theme of revenge are common in both the theater and on the screen.  A happy ending is the right people live and die:  a bad ending is when the "wrong" people live.  Therefore we have this idea that God is pleased when "bad people" die because we are.  In the cases of the ends of the movies I caught last night, both were happy endings:  Munro finally fulfilled his dream of racing in Bonneville, and Dantes killed Mondego, was wealthy, and had a bright future with the woman who loved him.  Mondego acts the part of villain so well I'm sure most viewers really want to see him dead!  After scheming, murdering, lying, and deceiving all the way through the movie, it wouldn't feel like a good ending if Mondego lived, right?  In God's eyes, a good ending would have Mondego repent and live.  And if justice demanded the death of Mondego, God would take no pleasure even in that.

God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked!  Ezekiel 18:20 states, "The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself."  Death has come into the world because of sin.  The wages of a single sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ.  Even when people commit sin and deserve death and eternal condemnation under the law, God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked.  Why will people die when Jesus has died so they might live?  There is no divine satisfaction when serial rapists and murderers are executed for their crimes.  God has no satisfaction to see people die and their souls perish in hell. 

Contrast this with Psalm 116:15: "Precious in the sight of the LORD Is the death of His saints."  The wicked depart into eternal torment, while those righteous through faith in Christ will spend eternity with Him.  What gives God pleasure is for people to turn from their sins and be forgiven through the shed blood of Jesus.  He takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but in the salvation and redemption of lost souls.  John 11:25-26 contains a wonderful promise to those who trust in Christ.  "Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. ²⁶ And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?"  Even a man being strapped into the electric chair is not beyond salvation through repentance and faith in Jesus.

Do you take pleasure in the death of the wicked?  God doesn't.