“…the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”

                 They say he played the fiddle during the fires.  But no one could prove that he played the fiddle or started the fires.  Had he started the fires?  Well, if a person orders the deaths of his step-brother, mother and wife, what are a few fires compared to that?  But those fires ended up burning down much of Rome in 64 AD, destroying many lives along with numerous temples of Roman deities.  Public outcry was intense, and now it was Nero’s turn to feel the heat.  Guilty or not, he needed to redirect attention from himself to someone — anyone — else.  So he blamed the Christians, already unpopular in the empire because of their apparent association with Jews.  This began a wave of persecution across the whole empire, and it was during this wave that Peter wrote his first letter.

Right from the start Peter recognizes the difficulties of his day by describing his audience as “strangers” (1:1).  In the original it means, “a people sojourning in a contrary condition.”  To sojourn is to stay temporarily.  Pilgrims is another word that captures the idea.  Obviously then the recipients of Peter’s letter had to endure suffering, but only “for a little while” (v. 6).  Neither earth nor the empire was their home; heaven was (v. 4).  So Peter’s letter gives them advice in enduring and gaining victory over a hostile world of injustice, persecution and ungodly men.

Understanding this background is the clue to discovering how a God of love could be against even “those who do evil.”  Doesn’t God love the world (John 3:16)?  Yes.  Doesn’t God want “everyone to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9)?  Yes again.  Then how could he be against people, even evildoers and false prophets whom “the sovereign Lord…bought” (2 Pet. 2:1)?

God is a god of balance.  And all the tensions in the Scripture and in life come into perfect balance with him.  Take, for instance, the tension between living in the real world, this physical existence, and the anticipation of arriving in heaven.  On the one hand, we want to be good stewards of all God gives us and plan prudently, as if he will not return in our lifetime.  On the other hand, we know that we will leave everything behind whenever and however the Lord calls us home, either by death or his return for us.  Finding the balance between the two can be challenging.  The temptation of the former is to forget his return and get too comfortable here.  The weakness of the latter is to live foolishly and wreck one’s testimony toward impressionable unbelievers.  One is called now; the other, end game.  Both are on opposite ends of the continuum that we call life.  Both must be lived out by faith.

But persecution and suffering have a way of clearing up the picture in a hurry, especially if it comes in human form.  In a hell-bent world, too many still “follow the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air” (Ephesians 2:2) and persecute God’s people, just like in Nero’s day.  Loved or not, the Father is quick to stand against them.  He is not neutral when his Son’s bride is assaulted.  His thoughts turn to end game in such times when the books are opened and justice is served.

Interestingly, though, he commands us not to think end game, but now.  What should we do today when persecution sets in?  The same thing Peter told his audience:  “Finally, all of you, live in harmony… love as brothers…do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing…turn from evil and do good…seek peace and pursue it…For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer…” (vs. 8-12).  I have italicized “their” to show the contrast between God’s people and pagans.  God does not answer the prayers of practicing evil doers: “the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”  If you don’t have God’s face, you don’t have his attention.  There is no relationship there, and thus, no answers to prayer.  No, he only answers the prayers of those who are the models of his love and grace and forgiveness because of persecution, not despite it, those in the middle of it, not avoiding it.  In this way we work hand-in-hand with the Almighty.  Only he knows end game; we do not.  So he gives us the now and keeps end game for himself.  That’s the team effort he calls us to.

We can only respond to persecution this way if we trust him whose face is against evil doers, he who knows end game.  Do you trust him enough today to walk with him in the now?