This pic is from a 2017 trip to Kauai with our dear friends John and Tracey Bennett!

Revelation 16

The wrath and the plagues are back. We had a break from them for a few chapters as we viewed the Tribulation from a few different scenes. But now the tribulation, from a chronological standpoint, is close to the end. Verse 1 says “Then I heard a loud voice from the temple, saying to the seven angels, “Go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God.” We had seven seals broken, seven trumpets blown and now seven bowls are poured out. 21 plagues of wrath in all with increasing intensity. These final seven bowls are ugly. They are the climatic end of the tribulation with the coming of Jesus at hand. In Matthew they are described as birth pangs indicating their increasing intensity (so I’m told as I have no personal experience in such things). One other occurrence in this chapter is the gathering of world kings toward Armageddon for a huge war. More to come on this.

I’m having difficulty drawing devotional application from these chapter of wrath. I’m ready to move on from them. But I do rejoice in Romans 8:1, “there is now therefore, no condemnation for those who in in Christ Jesus.” We still suffer the cause-n-effect of sin in the world we live in and the sowing and reaping of our sins. But we do not incur condemnation or wrath from God for our sin if we are in Christ. God may gently discipline us to bring us back to Him, but we do not, because of Jesus, incur His wrath and condemnation. Christ bore all our wrath in His body on the cross. Thank you Father and Lord for this blessing and gift. It is precious beyond words.

There are a couple viewpoints one could take while reading of the judgements and plagues of Revelation.

1. One can get wrapped up, depressed and feel overwhelmed with the wrath of God. This, I confess, I have slipped into from time to time. But I was reminded of Ezekiel 33:11, “Say to them, ‘As I live!’ declares the Lord GOD, ‘I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways!”
2. So, on the other hand, if we view Revelation from the viewpoint of Ezekiel 33, we can see through the plagues and other works of God in Revelation, His loving appeal for mankind to be saved and turn their hearts toward Him. Remember the 144,000 Jewish converts from all twelve tribes? They were released on the world like little apostle Paul’s sharing the gospel of Jesus. God takes no pleasure in His wrath, but He must be true to His holiness and true to Who He is. But, He is always a God of love, compassion and mercy.

To some, the plagues produced repentance and a change of heart. To others, such as here in chapter 16, “they blasphemed the name of God who has power over the plagues, and they did not repent or give Him glory” verse 8, 11. So this morning, I’m focusing on the love of God in Revelation. A God who woos sinners, in a variety ways, with the purpose of calling them to repentance and into the grace of God….right up to the last moments of the Tribulation.