Unholy glee

It is one thing to kill your enemy; it is another thing to be gleeful about it.

We know that even when presiding over the death of evil men, God has no glee in it:

“Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the LORD GOD, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live?” (Ezekiel 18:23, ESV)

Last week’s massacre of five Israelis worshipping in a synagogue in their Jewish neighborhood of Har Nof in West Jerusalem precipitated a time of celebration in the Gazan town of Rafah, complete with dancing in the streets and the passing out of sweets and posters. Time and again in Scripture, God declares that it is the gleeful aftermath—as much as the original murderous deed—that He has an indictment against:

“For thus says the Lord GOD: Because you have clapped your hands and stamped your feet and rejoiced with all the malice within your soul against the land of Israel, therefore, behold, I have stretched out my hand against you …” (Ezekiel 25:6–7, ESV).

Down through history, God has used heathen nations to punish His own people when they deserved it, but that gave God no pleasure, either. And it never went well for those nations that did the job with glee:

“Come down and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon. … I was angry with my people; I profaned my heritage; I gave them into your hand; you showed them no mercy. … But evil shall come upon you …” (Isaiah 47:1–11, ESV).

It is in conforming to the image of God to take no pleasure in the death of our enemies, even if we must fight. There is something telling in the character of the person who salivates while slicing with a meat cleaver, or beheads with a dull sword, to exact the bloodiest and cruelest death possible. God refers to it in Ezekiel 25:6–7 as “the malice within your soul.”

At least once more in history we will see the frenzy of delight by men beholding the death of men better than themselves. The last book of the Bible tells of a day coming when two holy witnesses of God will be cut down after they have finished their testimony:

“For three and a half days, some from the peoples and tribes and languages and nations will gaze at their dead bodies and refuse to let them be placed in a tomb, and those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and make merry and exchange presents, because these two prophets had been a torment to those who dwell on the earth” (Revelation 11:9–10, ESV).

God was pleased with Solomon because when He presented him with a carte blanche request, the king did not ask for wealth or the death of his enemies, but for wisdom. It showed God what was in his heart. He still is the God who sees hearts.

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