Our iniquities separate us from God, and when we must deal with their consequences, we begin to blame Him, saying that He created a world mired in evil and tolerates it. But what about us? Why do we tolerate evil—and not merely tolerate it, but cherish and nurture it? Why have we agreed to regard evil as normal? Let us not shift the blame from the guilty to the innocent: it is not God who turned away from us, but we who turned away from Him. He does not want evil to triumph and rule, and He intends to eradicate it; that is precisely why the prophecy depicts Him here as an armed warrior ready for battle.
In fighting evil, He will also strike those who have placed themselves in evil's service. But if we regard sin as normal, do we not bring these blows upon ourselves, and do we not deserve them? Can we really say that we want God's victory when, out of a multitude of familiar and cherished sinful trifles, we constantly build barricades in His path?
These barricades will not stand before Him, but for a time they can hide Him from us.
