“They continued to commit evil in the sight of the Lord”
Continued evil. An hour or more worth of evil. Beat one of your children to a pulp -levels of evil. A child that wanted to go home. He told them that, on the ground, as they mocked him. Begged him to keep resisting so they could break his arms. They said that. “I’ll break your fucking arms”. Hoped he’d get stomped out. He did. On camera. For the world to see. They didn’t know that. Maybe You did. Maybe You orchestrated this moment to happen in the where’s and how’s because something so evil had to be stopped.
I just hate that You use your children this way. That omnipotence of You strikes early and often and ugly. I don’t want to put this on You, I really don’t. We do evil completely independent of You, I know. I’m in Judges right now. I know what it’s like to watch Your creations act like they weren’t manufactured to do good works. But eventually they cry out to You because they’ve seen the error in their ways. You raise up one of your best and brightest to save them from themselves. Then peace. There is always peace. Until the end of the book, when the people had no king and did as they saw fit. You had enough. So you raised a king.
Then you raised a King of Kings who got beaten to a pulp to prove a point. Beaten by folks in the finest wears of a corrupt system. Threw rocks at him and hoped he’d get stomped out. Like Tyre.
He’s one of Your children. Just like Jesus.
This is trash and You know it.
Evil in your eyes continues to happen. Evil in mass form. Evil in corrupt systems and structures. Evil in kinfolk. What got into those children of Yours? That badge activates their privilege to justify their thug. I first saw the Vans on Tyre’s feet. The skinny jeans, the hoodie. Very much from-around-the-way. Cousin or brother or first date or neighbor or coworker-around the way. He was one of ours. One of Yours. He wanted to go home. He yelled for his mother. He just wanted to get home. He says he didn’t do anything wrong. I’m looking in the face of a child of Yours that’s scared.
Home. That’s safety from fear. He didn’t make it. I know he was running there. Where he was – at the mercy of generals orchestrating evil in the vein of their lord – wasn’t safe. He didn’t make it home. By the hands of folks who continued to do evil in the eyes of the Lord.
We know in Scripture that eventually You kicked evil doers out on the Promised Land. Are You ready to repeat some history? In ways, I don’t want you to. If I believe that You can raise any and all things from the dead then you can redeem any and all of Your children. Even the ones that beat another of Yours to death. I pray that their spirits are ripped and torn. I pray that their hearts won’t beat the same again. I pray that they fear for their own damnation. I pray that they call out to You in repentance. A justice system made of human hands ain’t set to save them now. A judge raised up to do what’s just and fair will, by Your willing, defeat evil and bring peace.
All for them to continue doing evil in the sight of the Lord. Because that’s what they do.
At what point do You kick them out for not learning their lesson?
ciara roslyn-james 