What are we to say about the passing of this lost soul, assuming that God did not regenerate him before his death? Should we mourn that he is gone? Should we pay tribute to his intellect, reasoning and desire to seek whether or not God really does exist? Could we say that Christopher Hitchens was just following the evidence wherever it lead him, and he had just not gotten there yet? Did God want Christopher Hitchens to burn in hell?
The Bible gives us two answers to the passing of wicked men like Mr. Hitchens. Rejoice in his destruction and use his death as an evangelistic tool. Yes, we are to rejoice in the justice of God on unrepentant sinners. Yes, we will use his death, in unrepentant sin, to warn others of where they will spend eternity if they do not flee to Christ. I know that it may seem unethical or harsh to some, to have such an attitude of rejoicing over the death of one in hell, yet this is the exact attitude that the Bible tells us to have. It is a part of imprecatory prayer.
Prayer is not just a means of asking for the salvation of others, food for us, blessings on our lives and family, it is also a means of asking God to punish the wicked.
Ps 139:19-22
"O that You would slay the wicked, O God;
Depart from me, therefore, men of bloodshed.
20 For they speak against You wickedly,
And Your enemies take Your name in vain.
21 Do I not hate those who hate You, O Lord?
And do I not loathe those who rise up against You?
22 I hate them with the utmost hatred;
They have become my enemies."
NASU
When we pray, we should not only pray for salvation of some, but also the destruction of some, if that is God's will. I pray like this, "God either save them or destroy them.". We can see here that David hated his enemies and it was not sin. David hated his enemies with a righteous, perfect hatred, not a sinful, self-centered hatred that leads to murder. In other Psalms and books such as Jeremiah and Exodus, the people of God have always prayed for God's anger and wrath to be poured out on their enemies. Some may say, "Well that's the Old Testament and Jesus would have never done such a thing, for He said to pray for our enemies", which is exactly my point, He did say to pray for them. We see this in the Gospel of John,
"John 15:25
"But they have done this to fulfill the word that is written in their Law, 'THEY HATED ME WITHOUT A CAUSE.'"
NASU
This is a direct quote from Psalm 69, which if we read the entire thing, we would see verses like these,
"Ps 69:22-28
22 May their table before them become a snare;
And when they are in peace, may it become a trap.
23 May their eyes grow dim so that they cannot see,
And make their loins shake continually.
24 Pour out Your indignation on them,
And may Your burning anger overtake them.
25 May their camp be desolate;
May none dwell in their tents.
26 For they have persecuted him whom You Yourself have smitten,
And they tell of the pain of those whom You have wounded.
27 Add iniquity to their iniquity,
And may they not come into Your righteousness.
28 May they be blotted out of the book of life
And may they not be recorded with the righteous."
NASU
This entire Psalm is about Christ and His crucifixion, but we see in the near conclusion of the Psalm, a prayer of imprecation, a desire for their destruction. So, we can find even in the NT the continuity of imprecatory prayer.
Now what does this have to do with Christopher Hitchens? Well, the rejoicing of his destruction is a part of this same righteous attitude. Let me conclude with this Psalm, and it is important that we read it in it's entirety.
"Psalm 58
1 Do you indeed speak righteousness, O gods?
Do you judge uprightly, O sons of men?
2 No, in heart you work unrighteousness;
On earth you weigh out the violence of your hands.
3 The wicked are estranged from the womb;
These who speak lies go astray from birth.
4 They have venom like the venom of a serpent;
Like a deaf cobra that stops up its ear,
5 So that it does not hear the voice of charmers,
Or a skillful caster of spells.
6 O God, shatter their teeth in their mouth;
Break out the fangs of the young lions, O Lord.
7 Let them flow away like water that runs off;
When he aims his arrows, let them be as headless shafts.
8 Let them be as a snail which melts away as it goes along,
Like the miscarriages of a woman which never see the sun.
9 Before your pots can feel the fire of thorns
He will sweep them away with a whirlwind, the green and the burning alike.
10 The righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance;
He will wash his feet in the blood of the wicked.
11 And men will say, "Surely there is a reward for the righteous;
Surely there is a God who judges on earth!""
NASU
So I exhort everyone who is lost and railing against God, as Mr. Hitchens devoted his life to doing, to be reconciled to God and to turn from your rebellion against God. We should desire that all should come to Christ to be saved, just as Paul has shown us in Romans 9, yet we also desire that God be a just God.
For further study, I recommend this book.
For further study, I recommend this book.
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