WBTHTGP

Revelation 17 & 18     Eric Boberg

In 1978 Rabbi Harold Kushner wrote a book titled When Bad Things Happen to Good People. WBTHTGP.  As the title implies, it  dealt with the question of why God allows evil in the universe. Or to put it more personally : Why me? The book quickly became a New York Times best seller and stayed on the list for many months. Here in the last part of Revelation we are presented with the judgement of God and a scene that might be titled WBTHTBP: When Bad Things Happen To Bad People. God makes His case against people caught up in a system that is Evil at it's core. The woman or Lady, is called the great prostitute and she is the head of this whole system. She is drunk with the blood of the saints and in Rev 18:3 we learn:

"For all the nations have drunk
    the maddening wine of her adulteries.
The kings of the earth committed adultery with her,
    and the merchants of the earth grew rich from her excessive luxuries.”

As we read the description it becomes apparent that this lady is not a single person but a whole economic and political system that is tied to all the people of the earth. The people might correctly say, with apologies to Rodney Dangerfield, "That's no lady, that's my life." Just as the body of Christ has many members, so too this body of evil has many members who have dedicated their lives to her service.

If from our vantage point in scripture it becomes easy to see the folly of these sinful acts in Revelation, it is because of the grace of God. And also because we operate from a fixed and steady point. That point is the goodness and righteousness of God. It is obvious that the people in Revelation who have taken the mark of the Beast and are under the thrall of the Lady have no such clarity. They are so totally invested in the system that they are hardened to the specifics of their sins. You can almost hear the rationalization song.

I'm just doing my job, and the money is good.
If I didn't do it, someone else would.
I've got a family to feed, I had to take the mark.
It's not just me, we all play a part.

There are bits of truth in every lie to make it believable. But one of the reasons these lies are more easily swallowed is that they began with the false assumption: the really big lie of Harold Kushner's book. Yes, Yes, Yes we are all good people. It sounds so nice, so reasonable, so kind. Except that that is in direct conflict with scripture. You know the verses: for all have sinned…. There is none righteous, no not one.… Your own righteousness is like filthy rags…. More importantly and more clearly,  Jesus - the defining character of all of history - had to die exactly because we were not good people.

Yes, it is true we are made in the image of God, and because of that each of us carries a certain nobility. We have some good attributes that we inherited from our Father, even if we did not acknowledge the gift. But we, at our very core, are deeply flawed and fallen, sinful, in need of a Savior. God doesn't require us to suffer for our sins instantly. So we are allowed to go on thinking that the everyday blessings we experience are a reward for good behavior and not simply the patience and mercy of  a good God. A better title for a book might be WGTHTBP: When Good Things Happen To Bad People. The book would be about Patience and Grace. This is a far more realistic assessment of what goes on in the universe and our day-to-day existence. It's the Grace of God that keeps us alive, in the hope we might eventually stumble into the Truth.

The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness. Instead He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:9

It is only this patience that has delayed judgement for so long. So are the people at the end of Revelation more wicked than all those who have gone before? I'm not sure. The system they are part of is clearly very, very, wicked and requires the judgement of God. But do you remember that story about a tower in Siloam that fell and killed 18 people in the time of Jesus? Jesus says, "Don't think those that died were more wicked, but unless you repent, you too will also perish." Luke  13:4

It's a very simple message: repent. That's it; repent! Forget about WBTHTGP: When Bad Things Happen to Good People. You know in your heart of hearts you are not good; so repent. Repent and receive the love of God.

I didn't intend for my last line to rhyme but it did, so consider it a poem.

For all it's popularity,
Kushner's book was  deeply flawed
because it began with the goodness of man
and not the goodness of God.