By: Yana

Read:

With his mouth the godless man would destroy his neighbor, but by knowledge the righteous are delivered.
When it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices, and when the wicked perish there are shouts of gladness.
By the blessing of the upright a city is exalted, but by the mouth of the wicked it is overthrown.
(Proverbs 11:9-11)

Relate: Although this is not a very Biblical comparison and the whole musical is not applicable to this verse, Wicked’s opening scene starts with a song called, “No One Mourns the Wicked”, where the good witch, Glinda, is seen coming down to Munchkin Land in a big bubble, joining their jubilant cries as they celebrate the death of the wicked witch of the west, Elphaba. Near the end of the song, Glinda sings very high notes, which we see later on in the musical, is symbolism and shows that Glinda is not telling the truth, hence why later on in the musical, she takes the lower harmony in the song, “For Good”, showing that she has been changed for the better. 

Focusing back on the beginning, let’s take some time to analyze some of the lyrics Glinda sings. Glinda says that the wicked’s lives are lonely and that they die alone. Following this, she says that the wicked are left only on their own, purely because of what they are. At the end, she sings repetitive words like good news and goodness knows in a very high head voice, implying that she is lying about how she truly feels about the wicked really perishing.

React: This is very symbolic in the musical and shows the growth Glinda went through during her time at Shiz University, but the part that I will be focusing on is mainly the beginning, since that alone is not as Biblically contradicting. In the musical, we find out that Elphaba isn’t truly wicked, but the premise of the whole musical is that everybody is wicked, which is similar to how we came out when we were born. Because everyone is wicked, the only way out is for us to find our Savior, Lord Jesus. Once we are enlightened with the Spirit and have become children of God, we will then gain the righteousness that we did not deserve and be able to be a part of His kingdom. 

With that being said, we will now be a part of God’s team and forever root for His reigning glory that will come, like how the munchkins rejoiced the death of the wicked witch. Elphaba represents what non-believers who actively turn away from the sight of God have to face. Looking back at the lyrics, “It just shows when you’re wicked, you’re left only on your own”, because Elphaba (non-believers) are “wicked”, they are left in the darkness with their unresolved sins and not granted the privilege of walking in the light with God. The only way they can get out of that wickedness is to actively seek Him.

Respond:

Dear Lord,
Thank you for your unending mercy towards us and that you never leave our sides. I pray that you will continue to help us through your path of light, and see the end of the victorious battle that you will win. Please help those who are trapped in the wicked darkness be able to find and seek the one true light that they need in their life, so that they would not be alone.
Amen