A Balance of Justice and Mercy in Revelation

The book of Revelation presents a perfect balance of justice and mercy. But it requires considering this challenging book in light of scripture as a whole, and possibly trying to teach this truth to kids, to see it clearly.

Teaching Revelation to Fourth Graders

I have intentionally done some scary things in my life. One time, I jumped out of an airplane at 10,000 feet with only an instructor and a parachute on my back. On several occasions, I rode as a passenger on the north shore road in Maui, Hawaii and snorkeled in choppy waters off Lanai. I once recounted my story of being raped in front of a crowd of conservative Christian women.

But teaching the book of Revelation to fourth graders terrified me more than any of these. I knew what the Bible says about teaching: “Dear brothers and sisters, not many of you should become teachers in the church, for we who teach will be judged more strictly.” James 3:1 NLT. I also knew, from experience, that kids ask hard questions to which trite answers will not suffice.

Teaching a Balance of Justice and Mercy

So often those who teach kids about the Bible want to lean on “because the Bible is always true” as a reason why they should accept whatever is taught. But what if we really listened to what kids are asking and helped them to reach the truth on their own? What if by doing so we learned to trust God more ourselves?

Revelation is a challenging book for adults with years of Bible study under their belt. How would I ever explain it in a way that made sense to these young minds? Especially when I didn’t completely understand this prophetic book full of bizarre imagery myself. And my teaching partner was barely 20 years old with little Bible training herself.

In hindsight, I realize I learned the important truths of Revelation that year because I had to. Kids won’t accept trite and simplistic answers to the hard questions they ask. They deserved my best and so I grappled harder with Revelation than I ever would have if simply studying it for myself.

Kids Ask Hard Questions?

I had flashbacks of teaching preschool aged Sunday school many years before, when little four-year-old Lucy asked, “Why was it okay for Rahab to lie?” I could only imagine the questions a passel of tweens would come up with.

We only had five kids in the class, four girls and one boy. Their desire for answers and understanding did not disappoint. In spite of the difficult imagery in the first few chapters, we made it through the letters to the churches without much difficulty. We focused on how these letters referenced actual churches that existed at the time John wrote Revelation, but that the warnings and commendations could apply to us still today.

As we moved into John’s vision of the throne room and the four living creatures, we let the kids draw pictures of what they imagined John saw. We had a particularly artistic bunch and their drawing amazed me in their detail and vividness.

For the first few weeks none of the kids had asked any truly hard questions. I started to think I had feared the worst and it would never happen.

Yes, Kids Ask Hard Questions

Enter the scroll with the seven seals in Revelation 5.

As Jesus broke each seal, bringing war, famine, death, and terror, I could see the wheels turning in Sophie’s mind. She said, “Well, that’s not right for God to kill all those people.” She didn’t phrase it as a question, but at the heart of her adamant statement was the question: How can God be good if He is so vengeful?

The pat answer is that He’s God and He knows everything. His Word says He is good and perfect and holy, and His Word is true always. But I knew that a pat answer would not help Sophie understand this challenging passage. I knew because it didn’t help me. There had to be a better answer, for both of us.

We didn’t resolve this conundrum that week. And it came up again and again, with each successive judgment revealed in Revelation.

God’s Crazy Illustration

One week when we had another lesson involving God’s wrath and judgment, I was scheduled to tell the story. I prayed for God to give me an illustration that would help Sophie and the other kids understand what I was beginning to grasp about this recurring theme. I immediately saw in my mind a picture of my dog’s dry dog food bowl crawling with ants. “This is your illustration,” God said. “What would you do with this contaminated bowl of dog food?”

“That’s stupid,” I told God, “Can’t you give me a better illustration?”

He did not. I could not get that bowl and those ants out of my mind. No other idea came to me that week. So on Monday evening I described the scene to the kids.

“My dog Roman always has a bowl of dry dog food available. But sometimes the black house ants find it. There can be 100 ants or more crawling all over his food. I could try to brush all the ants off and put the food back in his bowl, but I don’t because I know they would have made the food taste bad and smell funny.

“So I dump the whole bowl, along with the ants, down the garbage disposal. Then I wash the bowl with soap and water, and I give him a fresh bowl of food. I do that because I love him. One day, that’s what God will do with the earth because it’s been corrupted by evil and sin. He will destroy this earth and create a new heaven and earth for those He loves to dwell in, one without evil and sin.”

Finding Justice and Mercy Together

Even with the dog bowl illustration, I wasn’t sure the kids were getting it, especially Sophie. Then on the last class night of the year, my co-teacher and I gave the kids gifts. I wrote them each a note in a card with a candy bar in it. My co-teacher gave them each a blank journal to write in over the summer. We gave them 15 minutes to write their first entry, and then asked them to share.

Sophie went first. “Is it okay if I like God’s judgment?” she asked.

I laughed and said, “Wait until you read what I wrote in your card.” In my note, I had thanked her for making us grapple with the hard questions, because in doing so I understood Revelation better. I had also written how much I enjoyed finding out together that Revelation reveals God’s perfect balance of justice and mercy.

Over and over in Revelation, God invites people to come to Him to enjoy eternal life in a sinless new heavens and new earth. He would not be merciful to those who choose to follow Him if He never meted out justice to those who choose evil instead. Just as I had to totally get rid of the ants in my dog’s food bowl, God must eventually rid the world completely of evil and those who choose darkness over light.

When Will This Happen?

When will we know a perfect balance of justice and mercy? What is the day that the new heavens and new earth—where there will be no sin, no pain, no tears—will come to pass? I don’t know the answer to that question. It could be imminent or it could still be 1,000 years away. God has not seen fit to clue me in on the timing of His perfect plan.

In the meantime, I do my best to make my little corner of the world more just and more merciful, to the extent it is in my power to do so.

Closing Prayer on Balancing Justice and Mercy

Jesus our Redeemer, I pray for Your perfect balance of justice and mercy, at the perfect time. We await Your final elimination of all evil. Help me and each person reading this article to cultivate justice and mercy in our own lives. We will never get them in perfect balance as You do, but with Your Holy Spirit power we can bring glory to Your name within the sphere of our influence. In Your precious name, amen.