December 20 - Revelation 16: As He Is

My mind can't even wrap itself around the colossal suffering and devastation of the seven bowl judgments. There are parts of my heart that cringe at the thought of this being inflicted by God. Clearly, on some level, I've bought into our culture's lie that a good and loving God wouldn't do this, as if those were His only attributes.

I think God must know and understand my very human reaction because He includes several verses right in the middle of the bowl judgments that help put it in perspective for me:

Righteous you are, and your judgments are righteous,

THE IS, THE WAS, THE HOLY...

they've gotten what they deserve...

Yes, O God, the Sovereign-Strong!

Your judgments are true and just! 

(16:5-7)

He reminds me that He is trustworthy, that He is the Judge. He reminds me that He's the only One who knows what people deserve. And He reminds me that His righteous wrath isn't targeted at innocents; it is poured out on people in active rebellion against God. These are the very real consequences that God has warned people about since Deuteronomy.

Burned and blistered, they cursed God's Name, the God behind these disasters. They refused to repent, refused to honor God. (16:9) 

Mad with pain, men and women bit and chewed their tongues, cursed the God-of-Heaven for their torment and sores, and refused to repent and change their ways. (16:11)

As I've wrestled with my internal reaction to this chapter, I've appreciated Larry Crabb's take on why the judgment is so severe and why the story must be this way:

"The reconciliation that God brings about depends on purifying judgment that kills evil and enlivens goodness, the goodness of genuine others-centered self-abandoning love...Reconciliation without purifying judgment, without pride-shattering brokenness and mind-altering repentance never results in secure intimacy... 

"But realism is tough. It requires us to admit that God's story isn't always fun, and for now, it wasn't meant to be, not until the next life...Sometimes our faith takes a beating. It's then we're most tempted to edit God's story, to redline the judgment parts... 

"[But] if we reject realism, if we downplay or ignore the inexcusable and pervasive selfishness in us that makes divine judgment a pivotal chapter in God's love story, we're not going to like His sixty-sixth love letter. It just won't make sense. John's bizarre and bloody visions...will seem like overkill, unnecessary to the goal of good relationships and a pleasant life and a lot of fun. Let's just love and get on with life. What's the problem? Why all this focus on judgment? 

"What John saw on Patmos was the unfolding of God's story, the unveiling of God's Son as He is, not as we might wish He were. John's visions reveal that what is happening as God's way of doing things is breaking into our way of doing things...[He] tells the story of how God is releasing us to love, how He's arranging for thorough reconciliation." 66 LL

Lord, help me to see You as You are. I pray that You will keep the truth You're revealing in Revelation forefront in my mind as we spend the holiday with family. I want You to empty me of myself, to kill the evil of pride and selfishness that lives in me and enliven the goodness, especially that part of You in me that loves others well. I pray that I'll be so aware of Your story that utter dependence on You will be my one consistent response. May I love my family with Your others-centered, self-abandoning love this Christmas.