Seth Joshua

There is a story about Seth Joshua, the Welsh revivalist at the turn of the nineteenth century, that helps to illustrate the point that God may indeed be a patient and longsuffering God but his wrath does come upon men. Joshua was to preach in a town one evening, and advertisements appeared announcing his appearance at a local theater. This was a ruse. In reality, an actor was going to play the part of the evangelist and make great fun of him. That night, with the theater packed with people, the actor came on stage and began imitating Joshua, to the great glee of the crowd. As he circled the stage, the actor "fell with a thud and a hushed audience soon discovered that he was dead." Sometimes God's judgment does go forth immediately in the earth; other times it is withheld. But it will come.