You might have heard or read that there ain’t no rest for the wicked, but have you ever wondered why? Perhaps you have. But who is the wicked, and what does that even mean?
I have been thinking about this thing for a while, and while I’ve got something to share, I find it quite troubling to begin with, especially if what I want to tell you is anywhere close to the truth.
So, while you sit and have a read, let’s look at the righteous and the wicked and discuss the question, Who made the wicked? And why there ain’t no rest for the wicked? We will do that from the passages of scripture and consider its proclamations.
Who Made The Wicked?
When the question, “Who made the wicked?” is asked, some people are quick to say that God made everyone with the ability to choose between right and wrong. So the wicked would be the product of one’s free will.
But is that what the Bible teaches? Are we free in that sense to determine our fates in the hands of a creator whose heaven is his throne and the earth his footstool? Why ain’t no rest for the wicked? How about we take a step back to think about this all-powerful God and see if we can figure out anything without his allowance or do anything without his approval?
Previous Read: My God, My God, Why Have You Forsaken Me?
In Isaiah 45, we see the Yahweh God express himself through the scriptures and proclaim his sovereignty over all. That God is identified as the God of Israel, and while it claims the role of the Creator of the universe, it also identifies as a he. That’s the reason why we will address the being as such.
The passage opens with Yahweh and his anointed, Cyrus; the one he has chosen in their ignorance to use for a chaotic purpose. While I don’t intend to quote the whole narrative here, let’s see some of what Yahweh God has to say.
“Isaiah 45:5 I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me:
Isaiah 45:6 That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else.
Isaiah 45:7 I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.”
While this God claims to be the only God that there is, it is worth noting that the individual that the God was referring to was led to do the things he did by this God and was ignorant of it. All that was for the God to make himself known to the people.
The God went on to profess that he formed the light and created darkness; he made peace and created evil. More so, the God claimed to be the progenitor of those things, situations, and actions in the present, putting himself at the center of it all. So who made the wicked?
First, what does the wicked mean? The wicked are those who do evil or morally bad things. God conceived a world where evil exists against good and made the righteous and the wicked to exist in it to enable him to achieve his aims. According to the scriptures, God made the wicked, and intentionally so.
Proverbs 16:4 KJV says, “The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.”
And Revelation 4:11 KJV says, “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.”
There Ain’t No Rest For The Wicked
One would wonder what God is doing about the problems going on in the world. It’s always about those who think that they are righteous calling out the wicked, but failing to acknowledge that God created them all. Well, some would argue that he gave them free will, but that was after he foresaw that they would have it anyway, or not? What a helpless God that is.
But the Yahweh God in the Bible does not appear to be so helpless; he claims to be the one in charge, punishing generations for the sins of their parents and bringing forth the wicked for the evil days. So what is he doing about the evil in the world? Perhaps he is sitting on his throne and having a good time watching.
If that’s the case, then sorry, but there ain’t no rest for the wicked. Their attention is in high demand as they need to keep the God entertained for as long as he keeps enjoying the things happening in the world. If he isn’t having a good time, he should have done something about it. But what would you expect from a God directly responsible for his creation with creatures arguing for his exception from what he claims in the holy book?
According to the holy book, there ain’t no rest for the wicked. Oh! I mean no peace for the wicked, more so, says the Lord who made them. But in this case, the Lord will be the one bringing evil on those who do evil and watching them suffer. All these would not be necessary if he didn’t bring them to be in the first place or claim to have done so.
Why There Ain’t No Rest For The Wicked
In the year 2008, Cage the Elephant released a song titled Ain’t No Rest For The Wicked. In the song were three groups of people: the streetwalker, the robber, and the preacher. All were trying to survive, but some acts weren’t healthy.
More so, the main problems for me were between the robber and the preacher. The robber wanted the guy’s money but promised not to cause him physical harm. For the preacher, it was the scandal of stealing from the church; let’s say they were taking God’s money until they got caught by other people.
A portion of the Ain’t No Rest For The Wicked lyrics that got coming was the part where the following was said repeatedly:
You know there ain’t no rest for the wicked
Money don’t grow on trees
We got bills to pay
We got mouths to feed
There ain’t nothing in this world for free
I know we can’t slow down
We can’t hold back, though you know, we wish we could
Oh no, there ain’t no rest for the wicked
Until we close our eyes for good.
Some religious folks, especially those in Christianity, want to make it sound like the only wicked people in the world are those who don’t believe in their gods. They say that as long as you do, you won’t be punished for all your wickedness because someone innocent was already punished on your behalf. More so, when you commit more evil, all you need to do is confess to God, and when you do, you’re good to go. Some even object to the need for confession. How true!
No wonder! No wonder how they turn a blind eye to the mess in their midst, and when you point that out, they come all out for you, saying that you’re against the “body of Christ.” Or they would disown those people saying that they were never true Christians.
The best excuse you’d get (I think) is that they are humans. But aren’t we all humans? We aren’t the ones acting like superhuman beings here, are we?
Everyone has individual reasons for doing what they do, whether good or evil. But we’re a community, and our development relies on our contributions to the good course. When we find out something isn’t going right, we try our best to fix it. If it ain’t broken, we improve it. If it’s someone, we treat them. We ain’t all going to heaven, or are we? For many, this life is what we’ve got, and we’ve got to protect it as long as we can. So help us, God.
