The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom was plunged into darkness. Men gnawed their tongues in agony and cursed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, but they refused to repent of what they had done. (Revelation 16:10–11, NIV 1984).
My Musings – “Why doesn’t God do something?” Sound familiar? Yet it overlooks what God has offered mankind for over 2000 years. Grace. Bought and paid for by God’s own Son’s birth, death, and resurrection. But “[we] are living among a rebellious people. They have eyes to see but do not see and ears to hear but do not hear, for they are a rebellious people.” (Ezekiel 12:2, NIV 1984). Still, God remains “patient with [us], not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9, NIV 1984). So, He extends His period of grace. Delaying “the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.” (2 Peter 3:7, NIV 1984).
Between the age of grace and “the day of judgment” there will come “be a day of wrath, a day of distress and anguish, a day of trouble and ruin, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness, a day of trumpet and battle cry against the fortified cities and against the corner towers. [When God] will bring distress on the people.” (Zephaniah 1:15–17, NIV 1984). It will be a time of “great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again. If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive.” (Matthew 24:21–22, NIV 1984). Perhaps God’s wrath will cause people to finally respond to God’s grace? Yet in John’s vision, there were many who “cursed the God of heaven…they refused to repent.“
But this “day of wrath” will not be fruitless. During the period of great tribulation there will come “a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb…wearing white robes. These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” (Revelation 7:9, 14, NIV 1984). There is still God’s grace in the midst of His wrath, until the “day of judgment and destruction” comes.
My Advice – We can either be “a rebellious people” cursing God and refusing to repent, or a responsive people who “have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” Make the choice before it is too late. Before death of the “day of judgment and destruction” comes.
The Brew Is A Musing 