The Difficult yet Beautiful Wrath of God
Notes
Transcript
Please turn to Revelation 15. We are looking at a big chunk of Scripture today—Revelation 15-16.
and I actually recommend that if you are new to reading the Bible or find it hard to understand, one tip I recommend is reading or listening to big chunks of Scripture.
so you see the big picture.
today, we are talking about one of the difficult aspects of who God is—and that is His wrath.
We talked about this last week...
and if you are new here—you may say “well is this the kind of church that always talks about God’s judgment and wrath...” and (then we might handle snakes later…).
The answer is— “It all depends on what God’s Word brings up for the day.” We try to be very faithful to how God is presented in the Bible.
and I recognize this is a tough, uncomfortable topic....
so...
Here is the vision that John the Apostle continues to get from God to help the church 2000 years ago and today keep following Jesus...
and pay attention to how God’s wrath is shown here...
and I want to show you what is the purpose of God’s difficult yet appropriate wrath
Revelation 15:1 (NIV)
1 I (Apostle John) saw in heaven another great and marvelous sign: seven angels with the seven last…(what) plagues—last, because with them God’s .... (what…) wrath is completed.
Revelation 15:2–4 (NIV)
2 And I saw what looked like a sea of glass glowing with fire and, standing beside the sea, those who had been victorious over the beast and its image and over the number of its name. They held harps given them by God (these are Christians)
3 and sang the song of God’s servant Moses and of the Lamb: “Great and marvelous are your deeds, Lord God Almighty. Just and true are your ways, King of the nations.
4 Who will not fear you, Lord, and bring glory to your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.”
the fact that it mentions the Song of Moses..takes us back to the Old Testament.
to the 2nd book of the Bible called the book of Exodus and the story of the Israelites who were in slavery for over 400 years to the mighty Egyptians and Pharaoh. the Israelites cried out for God to save them from their oppressors. and so...
God delivered them by raising up a leader Moses and sending 10 plagues against Egypt, and he parted the Red Sea so the Israelites walked across on dry ground and destroyed the Egyptians.
after that episode, Moses and Israel sang a celebration song like we see here in Rev. 15.
this is called the Exodus—they left Egypt on the way to a new Garden, a new Paradise—the Promised Land.
and then John the Apostle says this...
Revelation 15:5–8 (NIV)
5 After this I looked, and I saw in heaven the temple—that is, the tabernacle of the covenant law—and it was opened.
6 Out of the temple came the seven angels with the seven plagues. They were dressed in clean, shining linen and wore golden sashes around their chests.
7 Then one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden…(what…) bowls filled with the wrath of God, who lives for ever and ever.
8 And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power, and no one could enter the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were completed.
What do we learn about the difficult yet dare I say beautiful wrath of God...
Wrath of God...
God’s wrath flows from His holiness. (15:5-8)
what do I mean by holiness…when the Bible talk about the holiness of God...
His utter purity…he is without sin. He is beautiful, perfect, righteous…glorious. not stained or marked by it.
and holiness — The fact that He is utterly unique—in a category by Himself. He is not like us.
the prophet Isaiah in the OT sees a vision of God like this in the temple—high and lifted up and is blown away by the utter holiness and majesty of God.
and so the fact that the temple, the most holy place—is opened—and God’s wrath is about to come shows us this. the temple—the most holy place where God met with his priests and people in the OT—the most holy place in the OT...it is open. the angels are coming forth…and they are ready to show God’s plagues, his wrath.
this reminds us that God’s wrath does not happen b/c he is in a bad mood, or didn’t get enough sleep last night, or is hangry—hungry and angry…throwing lightning bolts around—
no it pours forth from who He is in his holiness. it showcases his manifold perfections and glory. and that is tough.
God is glorified just as much in his wrath and justice as He is in His love. (let me say that again).
so this is point #1 about God’s wrath.
point #2 here of God’s wrath..
God’s wrath sometimes comes in response to the prayers/cries of His people. (15:5-8)
so God’s people cry out to Him for help; he responds in appropriate, righteous wrath.
so 15:7 mentions the 7 golden bowls. the last time we see bowls mentioned in Revelation---was back in chapter 5.
Revelation 5:8 says this (2nd half especially)
8 And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people.
our prayers are pictured as incense, fragrant incense rising before God that he hears, smells, and interacts with.
part of their prayers is in chapter 6.
9 When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained.
10 They called out in a loud voice, “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?”
and so in chapter 16—we see that God is responding to the prayers of God’s people—the incense from the bowls, by pouring out the bowls of His wrath.
just as in the OT—when the Israelites were enslaved to the Egyptians, they cried out—the prayers of God’s people went up, God responded in wrath to Pharaoh and the Egyptians with the 10 plagues…now he is responding here in wrath to the prayers of his people—bringing his justice against sin and sinners who are oppressing them.
God is reminding John and the early church now who were being persecuted, that there is a day in store when God will righteously and appropriately bring His justice about. His justice is an answer to the prayers of his oppressed and persecuted people.
I know that brings up some tough questions…but let’s look at what God’s judgment, justice, and wrath looks like in chapter 16 with the bowls of God’s judgment.
btw—timeout...if you look at the heading of Revelation 16 in your bible. mine says the 7 bowls of God’s wrath. there are how many? 7. #7 is mentioned much in Revelation--symbolic for perfection and completion in Revelation.
already we saw earlier forms of God’s judgment in Revelation.
7 seals - chapters 6 and 7. 7 seals on a scroll that Jesus the Lamb opened and God poured out his judgment.
7 trumpets - chapters 8-9. 7 trumpets were blown and God’s judgment was poured out. his wrath
and now 7 bowls.
and part of our question is always WHEN these will happen. and WHAT they will look like.
that’s hard to answer.
some of it may be future.
but don’t forget this was written to real Christians 2000 years ago.
I really think (My opinion) a lot of what happens in Revelation - is meant to describe what happens between Jesus’ 1st and 2nd coming—this entire 2,000 year period.
also keep in mind that with each 7, 7 seals, 7 trumpets, 7 bowls. time moves funny.
when the last one of each happens—so the 7th seal, it’s like we get to the end of time and return of Christ. and then time backs up…and the 7 trumpets happen—and on the 7th trumpet, it’s like we get to the end of time. and then it backs up again—same here—the 7th bowl seems to describe the end.
so are these bowls describing something that will happen in the future only or now—and I think it is describing some of now—and some of the future...
let’s read...
Revelation 16:1–11 (NIV)
1 Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, “Go, pour out the seven bowls of God’s wrath on the earth.”
2 The first angel went and poured out his bowl on the land, and ugly, festering sores broke out on the people who had the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. (so God’s wrath is poured out on those who clearly identify not with Jesus, but the beast, Satan’s kingdom, the ways of the world.)
3 The second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it turned into blood like that of a dead person, and every living thing in the sea died.
4 The third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs of water, and they became blood.
(what Old Testament story do these bowls remind us of—the 10 plagues that God sent against Egypt to convince Pharaoh to let God’s people go)
and each plague that God sent exposed the weakness of Egypt’s gods.
and it may be that these are future…but is it possible that there is a sense that these are happening now...
the 1st bowl—with the sores on the skin reminds us that we dare not rely on good health and medical breakthroughs as our Savior…we are not immortal. we are fragile human beings.
the 2nd bowl with the blood in the waters—the sea was the center of business and economic activity—if everything died, it would be an economic disaster. this may be God’s judgment on the idols of depending on business or money alone.
these bowls of god’s judgment may be future—but maybe happening now too—when people experience the emptiness of the things we put our hope in.
look at verse 5--
5 Then I heard the angel in charge of the waters say: “You are just in these judgments, O Holy One, you who are and who were;
6 for they have shed the blood of your holy people and your prophets, and you have given them blood to drink as they deserve.”
7 And I heard the altar respond: “Yes, Lord God Almighty, true and just are your judgments.”
(that response is surprising—but God is worshipped, even celebrated for these judgments)
8 The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and the sun was allowed to scorch people with fire.
9 They were seared by the intense heat and they cursed the name of God, who had control over these plagues, but they refused to repent and glorify him.
10 The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was plunged into darkness. People gnawed their tongues in agony
11 and cursed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, but they refused to repent of what they had done.
here is the 3rd point of God’s wrath
#3 God’s wrath poured out is an opportunity for people to wake up, repent, and follow Jesus. (16:9, 16:11)
these bowls we said—so much remind us of the 10 plagues in the OT against Egypt. and God was given Pharaoh back then, and Egypt a chance to see his power and glory, and even turn to him.
and He is doing the same with these now with us, and especially non-believers.
these judgments are not just poured out willy-nilly, or random upon people and creation.
these come upon hearts that are hard. hearts that worship other things rather than God. hearts that are self-absorbed “I am going to do what I want to do, and not what God wants.”
and yet the purpose is not only to glorify God and show his perfections, but to shake people up, wake us up, and repent—that means change from following my way to surrendering and following Jesus’ way.
if these bowls have some relation to now—we can see how this works. for instance bowl #1—when our health fails—it is an opportunity to either curse God and say “Why—I don’t deserve this?” or surrender and say, “I need you.”
when we have financial problems—it is the same— Curse God or I surrender to the one who owns everything.
when we are so thirsty (the 3rd bowl—water turned to blood) or the heat gets turned up (#4th bowl) or darkness reigns in our life (#5)—we have an opportunity, turn to God or self.
for some of us let’s be honest—we will never turn to God unless we realize our desperate need for Him. until we are at the end of our rope.
but sadly—just like Pharaoh, their response is to harden their own heart.
God’s wrath is very purposeful—and in some ways dare I say— “beautiful.?”
it’s purposeful—b/c whenever we follow sin, or something else other than god, or ourselves…the image here is that it leads to destruction. so many times in Scripture, most of God’s judgment is simply him handing us over to the consequences of our choices—it feels like hunger, or heat, or darkness, or despair…so that we will realize our desperate need for God...
the 4th aspect of God’s wrath...
#4 (delay…) God’s wrath poured out is his final justice on all his enemies.
Revelation 16:12–16 (NIV)
12 The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up to prepare the way for the kings from the East.
(again we are reminded of God parting the Red Sea in the OT)
the readers are being reminded God is going to defeat their enemies just like then!
(it was also prophesied in books like Isaiah and Jeremiah that God would do this when he defeated Babylon—and he kind of did—King Cyrus of the Persians who came in and defeated Babylon diverted the Euphrates river flow)
13 Then I saw three impure spirits that looked like frogs (reminds us of the plague of frogs); they came out of the mouth of the dragon (Satan), out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet. (the unholy Trinity in chapters 12 and 13)
14 They are demonic spirits that perform signs, and they go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them for the battle on the great day of God Almighty.
15 “Look, I come like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake and remains clothed, so as not to go naked and be shamefully exposed.”
16 Then they gathered the kings together to the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.
The nations are deceived by demonic spirits, thinking they can defeat the kingdom of God. thinking they can destroy the people of God.
the kingdom of Satan/kingdom of man thinks it can defeat the kingdom of God. it is gathered.
some think this is a literal war—because Armageddon = mount of Megiddo.
Nancy Guthrie says, “Megiddo is the place where righteous Israelites were attacked by wicked nations (Judg. 5:19; 2 Kings 23:29; 2 Chron. 35:20–22), and where kings who oppressed God’s people were defeated (Judg. 5:19–21). It’s where false prophets were destroyed (1 Kings 18:40). It’s the place where the destruction of “all the nations that come against Jerusalem” was prophesied to take place (Zech. 12:9–12).
(Guthrie, N. (2022). Blessed: Experiencing the Promise of the Book of Revelation (p. 181). Crossway.)
it may be that this is a literal battle--—but God’s point here is that no matter how much Satan deceives mankind and wages war against Jesus and His church—He will not win, nor will the kingdoms of man. Jesus will win.
and to prove that—look at the next verses Revelation 16:17-21
17 The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and out of the temple came a loud voice from the throne, saying, “It is done!”
18 Then there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder and a severe earthquake. No earthquake like it has ever occurred since mankind has been on earth, so tremendous was the quake.
19 The great city split into three parts, and the cities of the nations collapsed. God remembered Babylon the Great and gave her the cup filled with the wine of the fury of his wrath.
20 Every island fled away and the mountains could not be found.
21 From the sky huge hailstones, each weighing about a hundred pounds, fell on people. And they cursed God on account of the plague of hail, because the plague was so terrible.
just like the 7th seal, the 7th trumpet, and now the 7th bowl—we get to the end of time—the final judgment, God’s kingdom coming in its fullness…Jesus coming back.
God's wrath...
1. flows out of his holiness
2. is in response to the prayers of his people (chapter 15). God cares!
3. is an opportunity to wake-up and repent
4. to defeat his enemies and all evil
This is a hard passage to accept.
there is this weird line we were wrestling with as a staff…b/c the point of this is to encourage the people of God to keep following Jesus. God is going to bring his justice and display his glory.
in thinking about this, we are certainly not to wish evil upon people. If you have an enemy, our attitude should NOT be “well just you wait and see buddy. God’s going to get you someday.”
or even wish that someone would experience the final judgment of God or experience eternity in hell. That is not our hope and goal.
Jesus certainly said to love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. (Jr. quizzing!)
20 On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”
21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
but a passage like this reminds us that we can surrender any feelings of revenge to God, b/c He has got it.
any ill will we feels towards people—we can be honest with God, just like the Psalms—the Psalms in the OT express some tough language that God would judge our enemies—and the key—listen carefully—is to bring it God. we can’t discern all of our heart motivations—God can—and as we bring everything to him, including the hatred of our enemies and desire for revenge—He can work on and mold our hearts, He can remind us of truth from His Word.
God will set everything right.
He is not passive.
and He knows that sin is like a cancer destroying us and our world, and so a passage like this shows us that the effects of sin—God’s going to bring his full judgment on all of creation, some of which we experience now—but will someday when Jesus Christ returns.
I think the best response to this passage is communion.
the Lord’s Supper.
we had elements available when you entered—if you need some, raise your hand, and our ushers will come forward.
if you are at home, we encourage you to gather some and join us.
the Lord’s Supper is for anyone who is a believer and follower of Jesus. you don’t have to be a member or regular attender.
1 Corinthians 11:23-26 says this:
23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread,
24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.”
25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
the bread
the cup
point us to what Jesus did.
the bread to his body broken in our place on the cross for our sin
the cup—his blood, which cleanses us and purifies us and forgives us when we trust in Jesus.
in fact, if you connect it with Revelation 16. Revelation 16:19 mentions the cup of God’s wrath.
Jesus drank the cup of God’s wrath on the cross.
42 “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”
Jesus surrendered to His Father—and drank the cup that we deserved on our behalf.
on the cross, Jesus experienced the bowls of God’s wrath.
sores on his body.
blood flowing
darkness literally came over the earth
He experienced a type of hell on earth-as He took sin in our place.
it’s amazing that He would do this for us.
and this really helps us understand and soften the wrath of God.
and it’s not like God the Father was angry and God the Son had to say “i will serve the punishment”…no in the Godhood—the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit were in full cooperation—all one…to provide a way for sin to be taken seriously and punished and yet grace and mercy for sin be provided.
Blessed: Experiencing the Promise of the Book of Revelation Hearing and Keeping Revelation 15–16
So the first and foremost way to hear and keep Revelation 15 and 16 is to flee to the place of safety in the person of Christ. Drink the cup of salvation that he holds out to you, made possible because he drank “the cup of the wine of the fury of his wrath” in your place.
Would you take a moment and praise God for this?
What we are called to do in the meantime (16:15)
15 “Look, I come like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake and remains clothed, so as not to go naked and be shamefully exposed.”
we are called to keep feasting on Jesus—daily.
Be ready...stay awake.
What does that mean?