Why Does God Allow Evil to Prevail?

Often the most serious accusation that is leveled against God is that He allows evil to go unpunished. People argue that if God were really just, and really cared about humanity, and if He were really all powerful, He would not allow evil to be as prevalent as it is today. He would stop genocide, hatred and all crime, and would prevent the innocent from suffering at the hands of the wicked. But those who think this have too high a view of themselves.

If God were to come in full power and justice, to punish evil, and to stop wickedness, what would happen? The book of Revelation provides the answer. Revelation is all about God doing exactly what man has always demanded; He is proving Himself to them, and the terror of His return is far more then they bargained for. After the tribulation is in full swing, God prepares to finalize His judgment upon wicked men with the seven trumpet judgments. As each angel blows his trumpet, God pours out his wrath upon the earth.

At the first trumpet blast, fire and blood rain down from heaven, destroying a full one third of the earth’s vegetation. The second trumpet is blown and a mountain of fire falls into the sea, polluting it, turning one third of the oceans to blood. A third of all sea life is killed, and a third of all ships are sunk. The third trumpet is blown, and a comet or meteor falls to the earth, and poisons one third of the world’s fresh water sources. Finally the fourth angel blows his trumpet, and the sky is struck. A third of the sun is dimmed, as well as a third of the moon, and a third of the stars are hidden. God then pauses; all that was beautiful on this earth is diminished and laid bare, leaving a scorched hunk of rock, floating through space. Yet God is not through.

Then I looked, and I heard an eagle crying with a loud voice as it flew directly overhead, "Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth, at the blasts of the other trumpets that the three angels are about to blow!"