Should We Rejoice At His Death?

I am torn.  At the news of the death of Osama Bin Ladin last night I was shocked, grateful, and saddened.  It is difficult for me to rejoice at the death of another human being, a creation of God.  But it is hard to contain my feelings of justice brought to him by God last night.  I sort of feel like I have a split personality and they are warring against each other.


Denny Burk wrote a good piece on his reaction to the news and how he feels we as believers should respond.

Earlier this evening, we all learned that U.S. special forces have killed Osama Bin Laden, who was hiding out in a mansion in Pakistan. The reaction across the country has been remarkable. I cannot remember another instance in my lifetime when throngs gathered spontaneously in the streets of our major cities to celebrate, but that is indeed what is happening right now as I type. That being said, I just wanted to take a moment to jot down where my thoughts have been over the last couple of hours since the news broke.

1. Romans 13:4, “It does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil.” If ever there were a just use of force, this was it. The U.S. government carried out its God-ordained task and has acted as the minister of God bringing His wrath upon one who practiced evil. The U.S. government isn’t God’s only minister of the sword. But tonight was our night, and I am grateful that justice was served.

2. Hebrews 10:31, “It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” Isaiah 33:14, “Who among us can live with the consuming fire? Who among us can live with continual burning?” I shudder to think of what Bin Laden is facing right now. I do not question the justice of it, but I can hardly bear to contemplate the horror of it. If my thinking is defective now, it won’t always be. The day will come when God will command me to rejoice in His justice in the damnation of the wicked (Revelation 18:20). Until then, the horror should serve as a motivation to warn people to flee the wrath to come (1 Thessalonians 1:10; 2 Corinthians 5:18-21).

3. I think Christians are right to contemplate how jubilation (like we see on TV right now) is consistent with Ezekiel 33:11, “I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live.” So I can understand why Christians may be asking, “If God is not delighting in the death of the wicked, then how can we?” I think there is confusion on this point because this verse is easily misunderstood. The second part of the verse is key to understanding its meaning. The text is not trying to say that God never delights in the death of the wicked. Rather, the verse means that God prefers for sinners to repent rather than to perish. If they refuse to repent, God delights in His own justice enough to punish them appropriately (e.g., Psalm 1:5-6; 5:4-6; 68:2; Isaiah 13:1-22; Jeremiah 18:11). We have to be willing to praise God for His justice one way or the other (Psalm 139:19-22; Proverbs 11:10; 28:28; Revelation 19:1-3).

I can see his point and I agree to a point.  We were all disgusted at the sight of throngs of people in the Middle East rejoicing during the 9/11 attacks.  And yet last night many in America did the same thing.  They rejoiced in the streets.  We could make the very good argument that those who died in 9/11 were innocent while Bin Ladan had blood on his hands and was far from innocent.  And that would be a very good and true argument.  But how does this make us any different than the throngs?  We are all rejoicing over death.  But we are called to bring life through Christ and rejoice in that life. 


I do praise God that his justice was done.  But I am more saddened that Bin Ladan never repented and turned to Christ.  That may have seemed like an impossibility, but God is a God of impossibilities.