Why the Delay?

Theology and Politics from a Conservative, Biblical Perspective

I’ve been doing a good deal of thinking lately about why God seems to delay in meting out justice at times, yet at other times, He seems to move fairly quickly to resolve something. There are many examples in Scripture where God’s patience seems to have no end in sight, then He finally moves. In other examples, it only takes a person one misstep and God reaches out to deal with it. Why is that?

If we consider the time of Noah, we understand that the entire world got to a point where aside from Noah and his family, there was nothing at all redeemable in this world.

5 Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And the LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. 7 So the LORD said, “I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.” 8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. (Genesis 6:5-8 NKJV)

Note in the above text, God saw that “every intent of the thoughts of (man’s) heart was only evil continually.” There was nothing redeemable about humanity at that point. But why did God decide to not only end the human race, but most of the animals (except those that boarded the ark) as well and why did it take so long before it happened? Is it because the “sons of God” in Genesis 6:2 not only fell from their first estate by cohabitating with human women (daughters of men, also v2), but some commentators believe these same “sons of God” (angels who left their intended created state as guardians of humanity), not only somehow caused women to procreate, giving birth to Nephilim, but also found ways to manipulate the DNA of many within the animal kingdom, which may explain where the legends of Pegasus, unicorn and other creatures came from (if they actually did exist). If so, then it becomes clear why God chose to eliminate most animals since they were no longer the creatures He had uniquely created.

But even after God makes His decision to destroy humanity (and animals), He waited 120 years before doing so, Genesis 6:3.

And the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.”

Why did God wait? Well, clearly, in this case, there may be several reasons. First, I’m sure He wanted to provide men and women with every possible chance to seek Him through repentance. Second, it probably took Noah and his sons many years to create the ocean-going vessel needed to float above the flood waters that would contain them and the animals God sent to the ark. In the interim of 120 years, things continued on as they had when God first pronounced His coming judgment in Genesis 6:7. In fact, things probably worsened before the actual rains came and the waters of the deep spilled out onto the land. Noah was building the ark and people flocked (likely) to see it happening. Yet, they were not spiritually moved by it at all…until the rains came.

Later we get to the time of Lot when he lived in Sodom and Gomorrah and we see something similar, to an extent. Most people simply think the sin that demanded God’s justice in the perverted world of Sodom and Gomorrah was homosexuality. Certainly, that played a part and the apostle Paul highlights a downward spiral that occurs in societies who reject God’s truth (Romans 1:18ff). But there was likely much more to it and it had to do with the way the people of Sodom and Gomorrah treated not only outsiders, but those within those communities who were not part of the upper crust. It was against the law in those cities to treat the underclass fairly. In fact, if a person tried to help someone in need, a death sentence could easily be the result. I’ve written about this before. [1] This information came from the Talmud and other extrabiblical sources.

In essence, the people living in Sodom and Gomorrah were guided by violence against weaker people within society. Sound familiar today? We have extremely rich people gathering together to gain power over those within society who are simply trying to live and get by. Those super rich people have everything they want and there’s nothing they cannot buy. The only thing they actually lack is the power to control the lives of those who are not rich like them and that is what they continually pursue. It is what the rich people of Sodom and Gomorrah also pursued, allegedly.

The people over at Bible Hidden have produced a video that highlights much of what the Talmud and other extra biblical sources reveal about the inner workings of Sodom and Gomorrah. [2] Whether it is to be fully taken as historical fact is up for debate, however, it is worth watching and considering.

But the question is why did God wait so long before He chose to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah and the other cities of the plains (except for Zoar)? The answer aligns with God’s patience, His grace and His mercy. But it also includes His desire and need for justice.

Here’s my problem. I want things to happen now. I don’t want to wait until God arrives to the point of meting out His reckoning. As I said, that’s my problem. We know that He waits because He wants no one to perish, but there does come a point when He moves to rectify a situation because of His holiness, righteousness and need for judgment.

Consider also King Ahab, who was thoroughly corrupt in all his ways. He followed his wife Jezebel’s lead, who was a worshiper of Baal. In 1 Kings 21, Ahab wanted Naboth’s vineyard because it was right next to his palace. Naboth refused. Ahab sulked and would not eat, simply laying on his bed staring at the wall like a petulant child. Never fear, because Jezebel came to his rescue and said she would take care of it. She did this by throwing a dinner in Naboth’s honor then having two worthless men lie about Naboth’s cursing the king and God. He was taken out and stoned to death.

Jezebel told hubby Ahab what she had done and instead of feeling any remorse at Naboth’s murder, he delighted in the fact that he would be able to simply take Naboth’s vineyard. Oh, and Jezebel had Naboth’s sons killed as well.

God sent Elijah to Ahab to condemn his and Jezebel’s actions. Interestingly enough, Ahab actually repented and felt bad for what he had allowed his wife to do for him. Remarkably, following this, the Lord says to Elijah, “See how Ahab has humbled himself before Me? Because he has humbled himself before Me, I will not bring the calamity in his days.” (1 Kings 21:29)

Ultimately though, King Ahab died in battle. This appears to be the only time in his life (that we know of), in which Ahab actually repented of anything before God. The question is why did God allow Ahab and others like him to rule over Israel?

Consider one other example found in 1 Kings 13. There we meet a “man of God” who is commissioned by God to go and warn King Jeroboam regarding the altar at Bethel. Because this man of God had been speaking against the altar (that King Jeroboam was offering incense on), the king demanded that he be arrested. His hand withered and he could not pull it back to him. The king then asked the man of God to seek God’s mercy and restore his hand. The man of God did so and God did restore it. At this point the king entreated the man of God to stay with him and refresh himself. The man of God refused recounting the orders he had from God Himself, not allowing him to eat or drink anything while there.

There was another prophet who heard of the situation and went to find the first prophet. He then also entreated the man of God to go home with him and refresh himself with food and drink. The man of God became convinced when the other prophet said that God came to him and told him to go and find the man of God and bring him home. So the man of God was convinced and went home to eat and drink with the other prophet. During the meal, the other prophet predicted that the man of God would be killed because he had not obeyed the commands of the Lord. So, after he left, the man of God was killed by a lion.

So, here we see two examples of how God works. First, in the example of the man of God, it took only one misdeed or sin for God to kill him. Yet, the other prophet who clearly was suspect and did not follow God purely (he lied to the man of God to get him to come home with him), was allowed to live. These are things that I cannot fully understand because I am finite. I am not privy to God’s purposes in these matters and at best, commentators can only guess as to why this took place.

One thing I know though. God has His perfect explicit purposes and He brings them to light as He wills. Me? I have a hard time on occasion trying to pigeon hole them. I want them neatly filed away so that my intellect is satisfied. But then I have to concede that if I could do that with everything related to God and how He works, I would not need faith, would I?

I also have to remember a very important reality: God is outside of time, the very time I exist within. Since God is outside of our time, existing in eternity, what seems to take such a long time really takes no time at all where God is concerned. The entirety of our time is always before God. There is nothing that He does not see. There is nothing that He has to “wait” for because as He looks at the entire historical timeline of humanity, all of it at the same time, is always before Him. He deals with it as He will, in the appropriate method He chooses and it is completed. In fact, if we consider it, everything related to the “end times” is also always before Him, while we “wait” for this, that or the other thing because we are not there yet. God is not hampered by the limitations of the timeline we live in since He is completely outside of it. It does not control Him the way time tends to control us.

I also believe that the timeframe in which we live has been negatively affected by the fall, which resulted in the curse of this world and everything in it. It is helpful to see the historical timeline as though it all fit into a box rather than on a straight line going from left to right with the far left portion starting at “0” years (Creation). Everything inside that box represents the earth’s entire history and God can see it all at once. We cannot.

So what to us seems like a long time, to God it is nothing. Peter makes this point when he says that a thousand years with God is like a day (2 Peter 3:8). Peter is referring to the physical return of our Lord and specifically notes that even though scoffers will rise regarding the belief in His coming because Christians have been pointing to it since the first century, the truth is that the thousands of years that have passed since Jesus rose from the dead, is like one day to God. Time is simply not an issue with God at all. He is over it and not at all confined by time.

In that sense then, whether God allows an evil person to live on for decades before finally dealing with their sin or whether He deals with a righteous person quickly (to us), is immaterial. God’s justice is sublime and perfectly orchestrated. There are things I will never fully understand in this life and the sooner I come to terms with that, the more humble I will become.

[1] https://studygrowknowblog.com/2021/10/28/wicked-will-be-broken/

[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xq0XKSotCZ8

Theology and Politics from a Conservative, Biblical Perspective

Source: https://studygrowknowblog.com/2026/04/15/why-the-delay/