Day 358: Revelation 15:1–8

Then I saw another great and awe-inspiring sign in heaven: seven angels with the seven last plagues, for with them, God’s wrath will be completed (v. 1).

Perhaps the truest words that ever fall from tainted human lips are these: God is faithful. Indeed He is. What may trouble us is that He is always faithful. In other words, God always does what He insists He will whether we like it or not.

The idealist in me wishes the wrath of God didn’t even exist and would never be unleashed. Then the realist in me . . .

• reads accounts of unspeakable cruelties and abuses to children;

• reviews a human history blighted by war crimes and bloody crusades;

• hears the name of God mocked, profaned, and publicly derided;

• listens to the arrogant who have convinced themselves they are gods;

• sees the violence bred by hatred, ignorance, and prejudice;

• watches princes of the earth lay bricks on an unseen but very present Tower of Babel.

I look around me and shudder with horror over and over again, asking, “Where is the fear of God?” Then I shake my head and wonder what kind of inconceivable power God must use to restrain Himself.

I don’t even have to look as far as the world. At times in my life I’ve looked no further than my own mirror or my own church and wondered the words of Lamentations 3:22, “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed.” I have said to Him more times than I can count, “Lord, why You do not rend this earth and swallow up Your own people, not to mention this godless world, is beyond me.” Why does God continue to put up with a world that increasingly mocks Him? Why does He wait? For all of time, the most succinct answer to those questions can be found in 2 Peter 3:9: “The Lord does not delay His promise, as some understand delay, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance” (hcsb).

In some ways the wrath of God will simply finish off what man has started. I am convinced that mankind will do a proficient job of nearly destroying himself and his own planet based on the wars and conflicts prophesied in Scripture. God’s Word promises a new heaven and a new earth but not until this one is destroyed. Matthew 24 prophesies increasing wickedness and destruction with a mounting strength and frequency of birth pains. Toward the very end of this age, God will allow the full measure of all permissible wrath to be poured out upon this earth: the wrath of man (never underestimate it), the unholy wrath of Satan, and the holy wrath of God. No wonder this time of great tribulation will be like no other.

The wrath described in the book of Revelation unfolds in a somewhat mysterious sequence: seals, trumpets, and bowls. The seals introduce the trumpets, and the trumpets usher in the bowls. To call this “unsettling” is an understatement. My horror is primarily for those who refuse to believe, of course, because in 1 Thessalonians 1:10, Paul called Jesus the one “who rescues us from the coming wrath.”

I am not implying that believers won’t go through terrible times. The Word clearly states we will (2 Tim. 3:1), and many Christians already are. My point is that the wrath of God described in the book of Revelation is not toward the redeemed. They will either be delivered from it or through it.

God will reveal Himself in countless ways toward the end of times, pouring out His Spirit, His wonders, and His mercies. Those mercies, however, are dealt according to demand. In other words, some people respond to tender mercies. Others don’t respond until God shows severe mercies. Others don’t respond at all. Never forget that God wants to save people and not destroy them. During the last days, the heavens will show so many signs, and evangelists will preach so powerfully that I am convinced people will practically have to work at refusing Him. Yet many tragically will.

The apostle Paul warned that “because of your hardness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment is revealed” (Rom. 2:5 hcsb). People will not refuse Him because God didn’t love them or make provision for them. Beloved, please hear my heart. The wrath of God cannot be separated from His character and person. In other words, even in His unleashed wrath, God cannot be less than who He is. God is holy. He is good. He is love. God is righteous, and God is right. The Judge will judge, but His judgments are always based on truth (Rom. 2:2).

Ours is also a God of inconceivable compassion, forgiveness, and mercy. God’s heart is neither mean nor unjust. He is holy. And beloved, the holy God will judge this world. The day of the Lord will come, and none will doubt He is God. He will not be mocked. He’d have to be untrue to His own character to do otherwise.