Today, we live in an era where we can say that the wickedness of man has escalated to a certain level never imagined before. This being the case, an ordinary person sometimes asks why God still allows evildoers to live much longer. Why doesn’t He just annihilate them, or wipe them out of the face of the Earth? And instead of them, why not let the righteous ones thrive and enjoy long and peaceful lives?
If we are going to refer to the Bible, Psalm 90:10 (KJV) mentions the possible lifespan of a person. It says,
The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.
A person may possibly live until he is seventy or eighty years old, depending on his bodily strength.
But aside from physical strength, another contributory factor to a person’s having a long life is his fear in God.
As written in Proverbs 10:27 (KJV),
The fear of the LORD prolongeth days: but the years of the wicked shall be shortened.
Therefore, God may prolong the life of a person if he is God-fearing.
However, this is not always the case. Not all who enjoy long lives are God-fearing people. There are also cases wherein God lets the wicked live longer because He is giving them chances to repent and to change so that they’ll also have a chance to salvation. God doesn’t take away their lives just yet despite their wickedness because He wants them to come to repentance.
Now, if there are wicked people who live long, there are also upright and righteous people who die young. In the Bible, there are righteous people who died early like John the Baptist and the Lord Jesus Christ, who both died before reaching the age of thirty-four; the same goes for the Apostle James, who also died young.
But aside from these biblical personalities, we are also aware of stories of innocent babes who die in the wombs of their mothers; others die during infancy due to congenital diseases, or sometimes due to the negligence and cruelty of other people.
The question that many ask is, why does God permit the early death of the righteous and the innocent?
Isaiah 57:1 (KJV) says,
The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart: and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come.
There are times when God takes away the life of a good or righteous person quite early in order to spare him from the evil that is to come later on. Apparently, this is God’s gesture of compassion and mercy to him as He doesn’t want him to be affected or to be corrupted by the evil that is about to come.
On the other hand, God extends or prolongs the lives of those who are disobedient to Him because He is giving them chances to repent and change, which is also a gesture of His love and mercy toward them.
2 Peter 3:9 (KJV) says,
The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
God doesn’t want anyone to perish, that is why He gives the wicked chances to come to repentance for them to be saved.
We always have to remember that God is love; He is just and merciful. Should He take away the life of a righteous person early, or should He prolong the life of a wicked person, we can be sure that there is a valid reason behind it. And it is not for us to question His discretion. But we can be certain that whatever His decision is, it is always prompted by justice, love, and mercy.
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