Ancient Words —
Revelation and Bowls of Wrath
The seven bowls of God’s wrath are poured out on the earth in Revelation 16, 17, 18. The angels of Christ are God’s messengers sent to bring death and destruction upon all of mankind because of their unrepentant heart and their allegiance to the dragon, beast, and false prophet. The scene John witnesses in heaven is ever so distressing. One may want to fast forward through this warfare against the Lamb but the facts remain and are certain, and John’s account is completely accurate! Evil must be defeated completely and banished for eternity. Good must and will prevail forever and ever!
The seven bowls of wrath in Revelation are a repeat within the 10 plagues pronounced upon Egypt by Moses in Exodus. Plagues of blood, frogs, gnats, flies, dead livestock, boils, hail, locusts, darkness were issued upon Egypt yet God’s chosen people of Israel, the slaves of Egypt, were spared from all of these calamities. No harm fell on Jacob’s offspring, yet Pharaoh’s people suffered and suffered and suffered. The death of the firstborn would be the final straw for Pharaoh in his decision the let Israel go free. Yet God’s mighty angel of death was so powerful in execution that Moses had to convey to possibly 2 million people that the blood of lambs had to cover the doorposts of every single dwelling in the land of Goshen. In each home throughout the land, God directed his angel to kill the firstborn of every household where the blood of the lamb was not found.
Exodus 12:29-32 reads, “At midnight the LORD struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on the throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner, who was in the dungeon, and the firstborn of all the livestock as well. Pharaoh and all his officials and all the Egyptians got up during the night, and there was loud wailing in Egypt, for there was not a house without someone dead. During the night Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, ‘Up! Leave my people, you and the Israelites! Go, worship the LORD as you have requested. Take your flocks and herds, as you have said, and go. And also bless me.’”
God is not willing that any should perish but that all would come to repentance. God’s grace and mercy measures far beyond man’s capability of the same. Yet God, full of grace and mercy, is holy and righteous and just. His ways are pure and clean, full of light and truth. Christ Jesus, the Lord, is God’s full expression of himself, the deity embodied in human flesh; and to reject His Son is to reject God.
Hebrews 10:26-31 states that if we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” and again, “The Lord will judge his people.” It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
Israel is released from Egypt through the blood of lambs and now in Rev. 19, John sees the release of God’s servants through the blood of the Lamb.
Rev. 19:1-9 reads, “After this I heard what sounded like the roar of a great multitude in heaven shouting: ‘Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, for true and just are his judgments. He has condemned the great prostitute who corrupted the earth by her adulteries. He has avenged on her the blood of his servants.’ And again they shouted: ‘Hallelujah! The smoke from her goes up for ever and ever.’ The twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God, who was seated on the throne. And they cried: ‘Amen, Hallelujah!’ Then a voice came from the throne, saying: ‘Praise our God, all you his servants, you who fear him, both great and small!’ Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting: ‘Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear’.” (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of God’s holy people.)
Then the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!” And he added, “These are the true words of God.”
(Scott Johnson is pastor at East Faulkner Church of Christ and author of the BRG Bible).
• • •
Sparks From The Gospel Anvil
1 Timothy 1:15
Our scripture says that the Lord Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. When Jesus was rebuked for His loving-kindness to Zaccheus the publican, He explained, “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10).
There is nothing you can do for people that is comparable in importance to getting them right with God, keeping their souls out of hell. Labor unions, Social Security, relief agencies, educational advantages, are incidental and secondary. They cannot make people happy. They cannot answer the cries of humanities’ heart. They cannot begin to heal the awful sickness of mankind. Humanity needs a savior! They need forgiveness, they need new hearts, right with each other and right with God! They need peace, cleansing and strength that can come only to people who are saved by the blood, made into new creations by God’s grace.
Reader, whatever you think you need most, your greatest need is for Christ to save you! Out of every high school class, the most deserving student, the one with top grades and greatest worth, secures a scholarship to some great university. The reward goes to the deserving. In business, employees who turn out the best work receive raises in pay or a Christmas bonus. It is an accepted principle in good society that virtue should be rewarded.
Congressman recommend the finest young men for free training in West Point and Annapolis. But in contrast to this principle, the Lord Jesus saves nobody but sinners! “This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.” Jesus said, “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Luke 5:32).
The dying thief on the cross beside Him was more important to Jesus that the self-righteous high priest who had Jesus crucified, because the dying thief was a self-confessed sinner who could be saved. Here is a principle, then, that we need to never forget: Jesus will save any sinner who wants to be saved and He will save no one who is not a self-confessed sinner. Jesus came to save sinners and nobody else.
It has been the marvel of the ages that Christ can redeem the vilest sinner. The invitation of the dear Savior to sinners is, “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool” (Isaiah 1:18).
It was when Gipsy Smith was in Brooklyn, New York conducting a revival that he said, “Months ago I was conducting a great mission in Aberdeen, in the north of Scotland. Within the largest building in the city three thousand were gathered, while without were twice as many more. To get into the hall I had to ask the assistance of the police. One night as I worked my way through the crowd I felt a hand tugging at my coat. I thought it the plea of one who wanted to get in with me, and for a few seconds I paid no heed. But the tug became insistent. I stopped, and there beside me stood a little Scotch lassie, clad in rags, and in her uplifted hands was something wrapped in tissue paper, moist and grimy from the clutch of her hand. ‘What is it, my dear?’ I asked. And she said, ‘I want you to have my candy.’ ‘Why?’ I asked. “‘Oh, sir,’ she cried, ‘we’ve got a new daddy! He’s never been sober ‘till Saturday. We’ve never known him to be sober. He was in your meeting on Saturday and it’s so wonderful now.’ “And didn’t I take her candy, and didn’t I take her in my arms? Men, it was worth living a lifetime for that minute!”
Jesus is calling; He is waiting for you to answer. Are you listening?
(Lieutenant Charles Smith is commanding officer of the Salvation Army of El Dorado).