Revelation 6-18
This is the second of three weeks we’ll spend in this middle section of Revelation where the conflict reaches its height. Last week we saw that evil will win some battles, but this week we see God release His wrath upon the earth in judgment. … When we see injustice in the world, we feel a righteous angry towards those who commit the injustice. That anger comes from being made in God’s image. If we have trouble accepting injustice, just imagine how God feels towards injustice and those who commit them.
Wrath is God’s intense hatred of all sin. There are two aspects to God’s wrath:
God’s wrath is expressed every day (Romans 1:18; Psalm 7:11). … God judges people everyday and His wrath is poured out a little everyday.
God’s wrath is being stored up (Romans 5:25). … God’s patience allows him to store up wrath so He doesn’t pour out all that we deserve every day. Revelation shows God pouring out all of His stored up wrath.
In Revelation, God’s wrath is poured on the earth in three series of sevens:
Seven seals (Revelation 6:15-17) … The first four seals release the four horsemen of the apocalypse.
Seven trumpets (Revelation 8:1-2). … The trumpets herald judgments that affect creation.
Seven plagues/bowls (Revelation 15:1-4; 16:1) … The seven bowls release plagues upon the earth.
God’s wrath is described as a cup which sinners must must (Revelation 14:9-10).
On the cross, Jesus drank the cup of God’s wrath for us (Luke 22:42; John 3:36). … Today we took the Lord’s Supper as a way to remember what Jesus did for us. Jesus knew the wrath of God and that all sinners deserved it. But Jesus took our cup and drunk it. Jesus has already endured and absorbed the wrath of God for those who have accepted Him as savior.