Assign Blame

Revelation 16:1 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.”

It is amazing when I hear people who have not placed their faith in Jesus blame God when bad things happen. The very person they don’t believe in is the very one they blame. They are throwing darts as a dartboard they claim doesn’t exist. They are throwing punches as an opponent who will never enter their ring.

There is a day coming, still in the future, when God’s righteous wrath on sin and rebellion will take place. To use the language of our text, He will “pour out” His wrath on the earth. What that says to me is this: that pouring out is still future. He is withholding His judgement until a later date. He isn’t in the habit of messing with humans in this way. Humans are pretty good at messing with themselves.

Notice that these words come from the temple, God’s temple in Heaven. From the very center of God’s person, He speaks justice against sin and rebellion. That’s right! Justice. From the beginning of time God set a standard and humanity has been failing to keep that standard ever since.

So what was that standard that has been from the beginning? For the first inhabitants it was simple: don’t eat this one fruit! In essence God was saying, “Will you trust me to keep you safe? Will you believe that I am in charge? Will you allow me to be the boss?”

But this is an especially difficult message for those of us in the West. We think science is king. (Except we ignore science and tell people that masks will keep them safe. They might keep other people safe, but unless it is an N95 mask changed multiple times a day, along with other carefully executed measures, your mask does nothing for you.) But I digress.

We are not in charge. We don’t have control over all the consequences. In fact, our actual sphere of control is very limited.

But there is a day coming when right will be shown to be right and wrong will be shown to be wrong. God’s wrath will be plain for all to see. But this is not that day. God is not about to throw lightening bolts our direction. He has reserved judgment for a future day.

This gives us time to come into line with His will. We can avoid the judgment of that day by saying “Yes” to Him and His leadership in our lives. We submit everything to Him and allow Him to step into the driver’s seat. 

The confidence I have in God holding back judgment at the present moment started with a baby in a manger. God, once and for all, came to deal with sin. Jesus’ birth and life are about His death and resurrection. He came to die, die a death He didn’t deserve to provide me with a life I don’t deserve. His death gives me life.

This is the simple message of Christmas. Listen to the words of the Christmas carols today. They proclaim a Savior being born. And we all need a Savior!