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SERIES: THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST, WEEK 61

TITLE: DIVINE RETRIBUTION

TEXT: REVELATION 16:1-7

INTRODUCTION: (1) IN GOD’S GOVERNMENT, THE PUNISHMENT ALWAYS FITS THE CRIME, YOU REAP WHAT YOU SOW.

* FOR EXAMPLE, PHARAOH KING OF EGYPT IN EXODUS 1:22 GAVE A COMMAND TO DROWN BABY BOYS IN THE NILE RIVER.

** YET LATER ON PHARAOH AND HIS ARMY DROWNED IN THE RED SEA.

*** IN THE BOOK OF ESTHER HAMAN PLANNED TO HANG MORDECAI ON THE GALLOWS AND TO EXTERMINATE THE JEWS.

**** BUT IN THE END, HAMAN WAS HANGED ON THE GALLOWS AND HIS SONS WERE EXTERMINATED.

(2) IN THE BOOKS OF I AND II SAMUEL, KING SAUL REFUSED TO OBEY GOD AND SLAY THE AMALEKITES, SO HE WAS SLAIN BY AN AMALEKITE.

* MY POINT BEING, THE SCALES OF DIVINE JUSTICE ARE EVENLY BALANCED, THE PUNISHMENT FITS THE CRIME, THE LAW OF RECOMPENSE IS USED BY GOD FOR HE IS A GOD OF VENGEANCE.

** NOW NORMALLY WHEN WE THINK OF VENGEANCE AND VINDICATION, WE THINK OF SOMETHING THAT IS WRONG, WHICH IT IS WHEN PRACTICED BY IMPERFECT HUMAN BEINGS.

*** FOR IN THE WRATH OF HUMAN VENGEANCE WE GO BEYOND WHAT IS JUST, WE REACT RATHER THAN RESPOND AND OVER DO IT, NOT GIVING A PERSON WHAT THEY DESERVE, BUT MANY TIMES MORE IN WHAT THEY DESERVE IN PUNISHMENT.

**** BECAUSE OF THAT, WE ARE TOLD THIS IN ROMANS 12:19-21.

(3) NOW WE LEARN THAT VENGEANCE IS THE LORD’S, FOR HE ALWAYS DOLES OUT AND DISTRIBUTES THE PROPER AMOUNT OF PUNISHMENT FOR THE CRIME, NEVER TOO LITTLE AND NEVER TOO MUCH.

* AND THE ONLY EXCEPTION TO THAT RULE IS IN DIVINE JUSTICE, FOR THOSE GOD CALLS AND BRINGS TO REPENTANT FAITH IN CHRIST, CHRIST BORE DIVINE WRATH FOR THOSE PEOPLE GOD HAS PURPOSED TO SAVE.

** AND THEY DON’T RECEIVE WHAT THEY DESERVE, WRATH, BUT RECEIVE MORE THAN THEY DESERVE-FORGIVENESS BECAUSE CHRIST BECAME THE PROPITIATION, THE SATISFACTION FOR THOSE PEOPLE’S SIN, II CORINTHIANS 5:21, ROMANS 5:9 AND JOHN 3:36.

*** BUT FOR THE REST, FOR THOSE WHO DON’T TURN TO CHRIST, THEY RECEIVE JUSTICE, DIVINE RETRIBUTION FOR THEIR SINS, WHAT THEY DESERVE.

**** NOW WITH THAT SAID, IN OUR STUDY TODAY, THE BOWL JUDGMENTS WILL SHOW PEOPLE THE PENAL RESULTS OF SIN, PEOPLE WILL KNOW THE PUNITIVE ACTION OF GOD UPON A GUILTY EARTH.

(4) IN FACT, IN OUR TEXT IN REVELATION 16:5-7, AFTER THE 3’D BOWL JUDGMENT IS POURED OUT ON FRESH WATER SUPPLY, WE READ THIS RESPONSE FROM HEAVEN TO THE JUDGMENT:

* REVELATION 16:5-7 –

V. 5 – AND I HEARD THE ANGEL OF THE WATERS SAYING, “RIGHTEOUS ARE YOU, WHO ARE AND WHO WERE, O HOLY ONE, BECAUSE YOU JUDGED THESE THINGS;

V. 6 – FOR THEY POURED OUT THE BLOOD OF SAINTS AND PROPHETS, AND YOU HAVE GIVEN THEM BLOOD TO DRINK. THEY DESERVE IT.”

V. 7 – AND I HEARD THE ALTAR SAYING, “YES, O LORD GOD, THE ALMIGHTY, TRUE AND RIGHTEOUS ARE YOUR JUDGMENTS.”

** NOW HERE THE LAW OF DIVINE RETRIBUTION IS CARRIED OUT, FOR THOSE WHO POUR OUT THE BLOOD OF THE SAINTS-GOD WILL GIVE THEM BLOOD TO DRINK WITH THE WORD SAID-“THEY DESERVE IT.”

*** IN OTHER WORDS, THEY ARE GETTING WHAT THEY DESERVE, THEY ARE WORTHY OF THIS JUDGMENT.

**** BLOOD TO DRINK IS A FITTING JUDGMENT UPON THOSE WHO HAVE SHED BLOOD.

(5) AGAIN VENGEANCE IS THE LORD’S, THE SCALES OF DIVINE JUSTICE ARE EVENLY BALANCED, THERE WILL BE DIVINE RETRIBUTION.

* AND THAT’S WHAT I’VE TITLED OUR STUDY OF GOD’S WORD TODAY: “DIVINE RETRIBUTION” AS WE STUDY THE FIRST 3 BOWL JUDGMENTS IN REVELATION 16.

** AND GOD’S JUSTICE AND RIGHTEOUSNESS AND HOLINESS ARE BROUGHT FORTH WITH THESE DIVINE JUDGMENTS AS GOD’S JUDGMENTS ARE TRUE AND RIGHTEOUS.

*** THERE IS DIVINE REQUITAL, DIVINE VENGEANCE AND RETALIATION FOR SIN.

**** AND MY OUTLINE WILL SIMPLY BE, THE BOWLS OF WRATH, V. 1, THE COMMAND TO POUR THEM OUT, V. 1; AND THEN WE’LL LOOK AT BOWL #1 IN V. 2; BOWL #2 IN V. 3; AND BOWL #3 IN VV. 4-7.

(6) AND WITH THAT OUTLINE AS OUR MAP TO FOLLOW, LOOK AT V. 1 WHERE WE’LL SEE OUR FIRST POINT TODAY, THE BOWLS OF WRATH. LOOK AT REVELATION 16:1 PLEASE.

I. BOWLS OF WRATH, (READ V. 1)

A. NOW FROM LAST WEEK, WE LEARNED IN REVELATION 15:5 THAT THE TEMPLE IN HEAVEN WAS OPENED WHERE GOD DWELT IN V. 5.

* REVELATION 15:5 SAYS: AFTER THESE THINGS I LOOKED, AND THE TEMPLE OF THE TABERNACLE OF TESTIMONY IN HEAVEN WAS OPENED.

** BUT NOT ONLY WAS THE TEMPLE OPENED IN HEAVEN, BUT ALSO IT WAS SMOKE FILLED WITH THE GLORIOUS PRESENCE OF GOD WHO IS GOING TO POUR HIS WRATH IN THE 7 BOWL JUDGMENTS.

*** AND WE SAW THIS IN REVELATION 15:8 WHICH SAYS: AND THE TEMPLE WAS FILLED WITH SMOKE FROM THE GLORY OF GOD AND FROM HIS POWER; AND NO ONE WAS ABLE TO ENTER THE TEMPLE UNTIL THE SEVEN PLAGUES OF THE SEVEN ANGELS WERE FINISHED.

**** NOW WITH THE CONTEXT OF REVELATION 15:5&8 BEFORE US, FROM THE OPENED SMOKE FILLED TEMPLE WHERE NO CREATED BEING COULD ENTER UNTIL THE 7 PLAGUES WERE POURED OUT, COMES THE COMMAND TO THE 7 ANGELS TO POUR OUT THEIR PLAGUES, THEIR JUDGMENTS UPON THE EARTH.

1. AND THIS LOUD OR GREAT VOICE HAS TO BE GOD’S FOR NO ONE WAS ABLE TO ENTER THE TEMPLE UNTIL THE 7 PLAGUES WERE POURED OUT.

* AND THIS IS ALSO CONFIRMED IN V. 17 WHERE THIS LOUD VOICE, THIS GREAT VOICE “CAME OUT OF THE TEMPLE FROM THE THRONE.”

** SO CLEARLY THIS IS GOD’S LOUD GREAT VOICE.

*** NOW IT’S WORTH NOTING THAT THE ADJECTIVE TRANSLATED LOUD OR GREAT DEPENDING ON WHICH TRANSLATION YOU HAVE IS THE GREEK WORD MEGAS FOR WHICH WE GET OUR ENGLISH WORD MEGA WHICH MEANS HUGE, BIG, GREAT.

**** AND THIS ADJECTIVE OCCURS 11 TIMES IN REVELATION 16, MORE THAN ANY OTHER CHAPTER OF THE N.T., AND AS ONE COMMENTATOR SAID, THIS IS THE “GREAT” CHAPTER OF THE BIBLE.

2. TO ILLUSTRATE THAT MEN WERE SCORCHED WITH “FIERCE OR GREAT HEAT” IN V. 9.

* WE HAVE THE “GREAT RIVER, THE EUPHRATES” IN V. 12.

** IN V. 14 WE HAVE THE “GREAT DAY OF GOD ALMIGHTY.”

*** IN V. 17 WE HAVE “A LOUD OR GREAT VOICE.”

**** IN V. 18 WE HAVE AN EARTHQUAKE THAT IS SO POWERFUL IT IS CALLED A “GREAT EARTHQUAKE” TWICE.

3. IN V. 19 WE HAVE THE “GREAT CITY” AND “BABYLON THE GREAT.”

* AND THEN IN V. 21 WE HAVE “HUGE OR GREAT HAIL” AND THAT THE PLAGUE OF THE HAIL WAS “SEVERE OR GREAT.”

** THUS A GREAT CHAPTER, A SEVER CHAPTER, A HUGE CHAPTER-MEGAS THAT DEALS WITH GOD’S JUDGMENT.

*** NOW AS WE GO BACK TO V. 1, THE LOUD OR GREAT VOICE OF GOD GIVES THESE 7 ANGELS THEIR FINAL MARCHING ORDERS TO POUR OUT THESE GREAT JUDGMENTS.

**** AND ONE LAST THING BEFORE WE GO TO THE FIRST BOWL IN V. 2.

4. AND THAT IS SOME WRITERS SEE THESE BOWL JUDGMENTS AS A REVIEW, A REPEAT, A SUMMARY, A RECAPITULATION OF THE TRUMPET JUDGMENTS ON A WIDER SCALE.

* AND THERE ARE RESEMBLANCES AND SIMILARITIES. BUT THERE IS BOTH INTENSIFICATION AND ENLARGEMENT AND MAJOR DIFFERENCES THAT DECLARE THAT THE BOWLS HAVE A FINALITY NOT SEEN IN THE TRUMPETS.

** JOHN MACARTHUR IN HIS EXCELLENT COMMENTARY ON REVELATION 12-22 SAYS AT THIS POINT AND I QUOTE:

*** “SOME WRITERS HAVE SEEN THESE BOWL JUDGMENTS AS RECAPITULATING THE SEAL AND TRUMPET JUDGMENTS. THERE ARE SIMILARITIES, BUT MANY MORE DIFFERENCES, ESPECIALLY IN THE DEGREE OF DEVASTATION.

**** THE FOURTH BOWL HAS NO PARALLEL IN EARLIER JUDGMENTS, NO PERSONAL SUFFERING ACCOMPANIES THE FIRST FOUR TRUMPETS, BUT THE BOWLS BRING TORMENT FROM THE START. THE BOWLS ARE UNIVERSAL, MORE INTENSE THAN THE PREVIOUS JUDGMENTS, AND ARE CALLED “THE LAST” JUDGMENTS (15:1), SHOWING THEY DO NOT GO BACK IN TIME TO REPEAT EARLIER PLAGUES.” (END QUOTE)

5. SO CLOSE SCRUTINY AND COMPARISON REFLECT A NUMBER OF DIFFERENCES, PARTICULARLY IN THE DEGREE OF FINALITY WITH THE BOWL JUDGMENTS.

* THEREFORE THE BOWL JUDGMENTS ARE NOT A REPEAT, A REVIEW, A SUMMARY OF THE TRUMPET JUDGMENTS, BUT THE WORST AND FINAL JUDGMENTS OF THE 7 YEAR TRIBULATION.

** AND THE BOWL JUDGMENTS WILL BE RAPID FIRE, MACHINE GUN, TYPES OF JUDGMENTS THAT ARE POURED OUT IN RAPID SUCCESSION TAKING US TO THE END OF THE TRIBULATION.

*** MEANING AT THIS POINT IN OUR STUDY OF THE BOOK OF REVELATION WE ARE ALMOST AT THE END OF THE TRIBULATION WITH CHRIST COMING BACK TO THE EARTH.

**** BOWL #1 IS POURED OUT IN V. 2 BY THE FIRST ANGEL. LOOK AT V. 2 PLEASE.

II. BOWL #1, (READ V. 2)

A. NOW THE FIRST ANGEL DID EXACTLY WHAT HE WAS COMMANDED TO DO, POURING HIS BOWL “ON” OR “UPON” OR “INTO” THE EARTH, LIT. THE LAND, THE DRY LAND PART OF THE EARTH WHERE PEOPLE LIVE AS WE WILL SEE THAT BOWLS TWO AND THREE ARE POURED OUT ON THE WATERS OF THE EARTH.

* NOW THE IMMEDIATE RESULT OF THIS FIRST BOWL IS THAT MEN (MANKIND–MEN & WOMAN) ON-THROW-POCE IS THE GREEK WORD, THAT MANKIND, SPECIFICALLY THOSE WHO HAD THE MARK OF THE BEAST ARE AFFLICTED BY A LOATHSOME OR MALIGNANT SORE.

** NOW THE WORDS LOATHSOME AND MALIGNANT TRANSLATE TWO GENERAL GREEK ADJECTIVES THAT TALK ABOUT THINGS THAT ARE BAD AND EVIL, AND HARMFUL AND INJURIOUS.

*** AND THESE TWO ADJECTIVES USED TOGETHER STRESS THAT THE SORES WILL BE PAINFUL AND FESTERING, REALLY BAD SORES. THEY WILL BE SERIOUS SORES IN THAT LIGHT.

**** AND THE WORD SORE LIT. MEANS AN ULCER, A WOUND PRODUCING A DISCHARGE.

1. AND WHAT IS PICTURED IS CLEARLY A BOIL OR SORE, POSSIBLY A MALIGNANT ULCER BREAKING OUT ON THE SKIN.

* POSSIBLY CANCER OF THE SKIN, BUT AT THE VERY LEAST IS VERY PAINFUL AND IRRITATING.

** IN FACT THESE OOZING, ULCEROUS SORES ARE LIKE THOSE THAT AFFECTED THE EGYPTIANS IN EXODUS 9:9-11, THE SIXTH EGYPTIAN PLAGUE, AND BY THE WAY, THOSE BOILS WERE LITERAL BOILS AND SORES, NOT FIGURATIVE.

*** AND CERTAINLY THESE IN REVELATION ARE NOT SYMBOLIC OR FIGURATIVE SORES AS ONE COMMENTATOR SUGGESTED MORAL SORES-GIVE ME A BREAK.

**** AND BELOVED, WE MUST ALLOW SCRIPTURE TO MEAN WHAT IT SAYS, ESPECIALLY WHEN THERE IS NOT THE SLIGHTEST HINT IN THE LANGUAGE OR CONTEXT THAT A MEANING OTHER THAN THE LITERAL IS TO BE SOUGHT.

2. AND ONE LAST THING BEFORE WE GO ON TO BOWL#2. THERE IS DIVINE DISCRIMINATION WITH THIS BOWL FOR THOSE ALIVE THAT ARE CHRIST’S DO NOT RECEIVE IT, ONLY THOSE “WHO HAD THE MARK OF THE BEAST AND WHO WORSHIPPED HIS IMAGE” RECEIVED THE SORE.

* ANTICHRIST’S FOLLOWERS ARE SUFFERING THE CONSEQUENCES OF FOLLOWING HIM. GOD’S PEOPLE ARE PROTECTED AS THEY WERE IN EGYPT.

** SO BOWL#1 IS A TERRIBLE, A LOATHSOME AND MALIGNANT SORE UPON THOSE WHO DON’T KNOW CHRIST.

*** BOWL #2 IS JUDGMENT UPON THE SEAS, THE OCEANS OF THE EARTH. LOOK AT V. 3 PLEASE.

III. BOWL #2, (READ V. 3)

A. NOW THE SECOND ANGEL POURS OUT HIS BOWL “INTO” OR “UPON” OR “ON” THE SEA, LIT. THE SEA IN GENERAL, THE OCEANS, NOT FRESHWATER, FOR THE FRESHWATER WILL BE DEALT WITH IN PLAGUE OR BOWL #3.

* AND THE OCEANS ARE IN VIEW, NOT THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA FOR WE HAVE A WORLDWIDE UNIVERSAL CONTEXT, “THE EARTH” IN V. 1; “THE EARTH” IN V. 2; AND “UPON THE EARTH” IN V. 18; “THE THRONE OF THE BEAST AND HIS KINGDOM” IN V. 10; “THE KINGS OF THE WHOLE WORLD” IN V. 14; AND “THE CITIES OF THE NATION’S” FALL IN V. 19.

** SO THE SEAS OF THE WORLD BECOME BLOOD LIKE THAT OF A DEAD MAN SO THAT EVERY LIVING THING IN THE SEA DIED.

*** AND BLOOD LIKE THAT OF A DEAD MAN MAKES REFERENCE TO BLOOD THAT IS THICK, DARK AND COAGULATED.

**** AND RATHER THAN THE SEAS BEING FLUID WATER, IT WILL BE A THICK, CLOTTED BLOOD LIKE SUBSTANCE.

1. AND JOHN DOESN’T SAY HOW THIS HAPPENS EXCEPT THAT THE 2’D BOWL BEING POURED OUT INTO THE SEA CAUSES IT.

* AND WHETHER IT IS WORLDWIDE RED TIDE OR WHATEVER, THE SEAS OF THE WORLD DIE, THIS IS AN ECOLOGICAL DISASTER, AS BILLIONS OF SEA CREATURES DIE.

** AND QUITE FRANKLY THIS WILL LEAD TO THE DEATH OF OUR PLANET. FOR THE OCEANS COVER APPROXIMATELY 70% OF THE EARTH AND WILL IMPACT THE HYDROLOGICAL CYCLE OF RAIN.

*** AND THE STENCH WILL BE A WHOLE LOT WORSE THAN WHEN GOD TURNED THE NILE RIVER AND THE WATERS OF EGYPT INTO BLOOD IN THE BOOK OF EXODUS.

**** FOR ALL LIFE IN THE SEA DIES.

2. IN TALKING ABOUT THIS ECOLOGICAL DISASTER DR. HENRY MORRIS SAYS THIS IN HIS COMMENTARY ON REVELATION AND I QUOTE:

* “IN THIS TOXIC OCEAN NOTHING CAN SURVIVE, AND SOON ALL THE BILLIONS OF FISHES AND MARINE MAMMALS AND MARINE REPTILES AND THE INNUMERABLE VARIETIES OF MARINE INVERTEBRATES WILL PERISH, THUS STILL FURTHER POISONING THE OCEANS AND CONTAMINATING THE SEA SHORES OF THE WORLD. THE OCEANS WILL HAVE EFFECTIVELY COMPLETED THEIR AGELONG FUNCTION IN EARTH’S PHYSICAL ECONOMY, AND WILL DIE. AS GOD HAD CREATED EVERY LIVING SOUL IN THE WATERS (GENESIS 1:21), SO NOW EVERY LIVING SOUL DIED IN THE SEA.”

** NOW CAN YOU IMAGE THAT. THIS JUDGMENT IS CATASTROPHIC, BUT THEY CONTINUE TO GET WORSE. LOOK AT V. 4 WHERE WE’LL SEE BOWL #3.

IV. BOWL #3, (READ V. 4)

A. NOW ANOTHER HAMMER BLOW OF DIVINE JUDGMENT COMES AS THE 3’D ANGEL POURS OUT HIS BOWL INTO OR UPON THE RIVERS AND SPRINGS OF WATER, LIT. THE FRESH WATER SUPPLY OF THE EARTH.

* AND THE FRESH WATER, THE DRINKING WATER OF THE WORLD BECOMES BLOOD.

** AND IT APPEARS THAT PEOPLE MAY DRINK IT, FOR THE SITUATION WILL BE DRASTIC. FOR THIRST DRIVES PEOPLE TO DO DRAMATIC THINGS.

*** AND I AM SUGGESTING THAT AFTER A DAY OR TWO WITHOUT FRESH WATER, PEOPLE WILL DRINK BLOOD TO STAY ALIVE.

**** AND V. 6 MAY BE MORE THAN FIGURATIVE SPEECH WHERE IT SAYS: “FOR THEY HAVE POURED OUT THE BLOOD OF SAINTS AND PROPHETS, AND YOU HAVE GIVEN THEM BLOOD TO DRINK.”

1. AND DRASTIC TIMES LEAD TO DRASTIC MEASURES AND PEOPLE MAY DRINK BLOOD TO STAY ALIVE.

* NOW FRESH WATER WILL ALREADY BE IN SHORT SUPPLY BECAUSE OF THE 3’D TRUMPET WHICH POISONED ONE THIRD OF THE FRESH WATER OF THE WORLD AND FROM A DROUGHT CAUSED BY THE TWO WITNESSES IN REVELATION 11:6 WHO “HAVE POWER TO SHUT UP THE SKY, SO THAT RAIN WILL NOT FALL DURING THE DAYS OF THEIR PROPHESYING.”

** SO FRESH WATER, THAT MOST OF US TAKE FOR GRANTED WILL BE IN SHORT SUPPLY AT THIS TIME. IT WILL BE A TERRIBLE CATASTROPHIC JUDGMENT, FOR WE MUST HAVE WATER TO LIVE.

*** BUT NOTICE IN V. 5 THAT THOSE JUDGMENTS ARE VERY SEVERE AND MANY WHO DO NOT KNOW CHRIST WOULD SAY ARE NOT RIGHT AND GOD WOULD NOT DO THAT, NOTICE THAT GOD IS VINDICATED. LOOK AT V. 5 PLEASE.

B. READ V. 5. NOW JOHN HEARS THE ANGEL OF THE WATERS SAY SOMETHING. AND THE PHRASE “ANGEL OF THE WATERS” COULD BE AN ANGEL WHO HAS BEEN APPOINTED BY GOD TO HAVE AUTHORITY OVER FRESH WATER, LIKE THE ANGELS WHO GOVERN THE WIND IN REVELATION 7:1 AND AN ANGEL WHO HAS POWER OVER FIRE IN 14:18.

* OR THIS MAY BE THE THIRD ANGEL TALKED ABOUT IN V. 4, WHO POURS OUT THE THIRD BOWL UPON THE FRESH WATERS, AND I LEAN THAT WAY.

** BUT THIS ANGEL COMMUNICATES CLEARLY THE RIGHTEOUS ACTION OF GOD IN THIS JUDGMENT.

*** FOR HE SAYS “RIGHTEOUS ARE YOU.”

**** AND GOD IS ALWAYS RIGHT AND JUST IN HIS JUDGMENT. DIVINE RETRIBUTION IS ALWAYS JUST AND RIGHT FOR IT IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR GOD TO BE UNRIGHTEOUS AND UNJUST IN WHAT HE DOES BECAUSE OF HIS PERFECT CHARACTER AND BEING.

1. BASICALLY THIS IS A THEODICY, A DEFENSE OF GOD’S JUSTICE, FOR HE NOT ONLY SAYS GOD IS RIGHTEOUS, BUT THAT HE IS ALSO THE “HOLY ONE.”

* WITH THE EMPHASIS FALLING ON GOD’S HOLY CHARACTER AND NOT ONLY IS GOD HOLY FOR THIS JUDGMENT, HE IS ETERNALLY HOLY.

** FOR BEFORE THE PHRASE, “O HOLY ONE” IS THE PHRASE “WHO ARE AND WHO WERE” WHICH MAKES REFERENCE TO GOD’S ETERNALITY. HE IS ETERNALLY HOLY, FOREVER PURE, THE EVERLASTING RIGHTEOUS ONE WHO IS INCAPABLE OF INJUSTICE.

*** WHICH REMINDS ME OF WHAT ABRAHAM SAID IN GENESIS 18:25B “SHALL NOT THE JUDGE OF THE EARTH DEAL JUSTLY?”

**** AND THE ANSWER TO THAT QUESTION IS ALWAYS! THE JUDGE OF THE EARTH DEALS JUSTLY IN HIS JUDGMENT FOR HE IS RIGHTEOUS AND ETERNALLY HOLY.

2. GOD’S JUDGMENT IN THIS 3’D BOWL IS A JUST, DESERVED AND APPROPRIATE RESPONSE, IT IS DIVINE RETRIBUTION, AND THE FULFILLMENT OF PERFECT DIVINE VENGEANCE, BROUGHT OUT IN V. 6. LOOK AT V. 6 PLEASE.

C. READ V. 6. NOW BLOOD TO DRINK IS A FITTING JUDGMENT UPON THOSE WHO HAVE SHED THE BLOOD OF SAINTS AND PROPHETS.

* AND NOTE THAT THE VERB SHED HERE IN V. 6 IS THE VERB TRANSLATED POURED OUT IN V. 4 MEANING SINNERS POURED OUT BLOOD-SHED BLOOD, GOD RESPONDS AND POURS OUT JUDGMENT UPON THEM.

** BELOVED, THE SCALES OF DIVINE JUSTICE ARE BALANCED. GOD’S VENGEANCE IS PERFECT GIVEN OUT EXACTLY WHAT IS DESERVED. THIS IS RETRIBUTION, THE LAW OF SOWING AND REAPING PERFORMED TO PERFECTION.

*** IN FACT, THIS ANGEL SAYS AT THE END OF V. 6 “THEY DESERVE IT” THEY ARE WORTHY OF IT, THIS IS THEIR JUST DUE, SPEAKING OF THE JUDGMENT THEY RECEIVE.

**** AND THIS IS CONFIRMED FROM THE ALTAR OF GOD IN THE TEMPLE. LOOK AT V. 7 PLEASE.

D. READ V. 7. NOW THE ALTAR OF GOD IN REVELATION SOMETIMES RELATES TO JUDGMENT AS I BELIEVE IT DOES HERE.

* SO THE ALTAR OF GOD IS PERSONIFIED AS SPEAKING HERE, WHICH PROBABLY CARRIES AN EARLIER ASSOCIATION WITH THE PRAYERS OF THE SAINTS FOR VENGEANCE.

** FOR EARLIER IN REVELATION 6:9-10 JOHN SAW AND HEARD WHAT IS RECORDED HERE WHICH SAYS:

*** REVELATION 6:9 – WHEN THE LAMB BROKE THE FIFTH SEAL, I SAW UNDERNEATH THE ALTAR THE SOULS OF THOSE WHO HAD BEEN SLAIN BECAUSE OF THE WORD OF GOD, AND BECAUSE OF THE TESTIMONY WHICH THEY HAD MAINTAINED:

V. 10 – AND THEY CRIED OUT WITH A LOUD VOICE, SAYING, “HOW LONG, O LORD, HOLY AND TRUE, WILL YOU REFRAIN FROM JUDGING AND AVENGING OUR BLOOD ON THOSE WHO DWELL ON THE EARTH?”

**** WELL, HERE IN REVELATION 16:7, THE PRAYER OF THE MARTYRS ARE ANSWERED, FOR GOD AVENGES THE BLOOD OF THE MARTYRS AND JUDGES THOSE WHO FOLLOW ANTI-CHRIST.

1. AND THE ALTAR SPEAKS, AND IT HAS TO BE THE ALTAR, FOR NO ONE WAS ABLE TO ENTER THIS HOLY TEMPLE IN HEAVEN UNTIL THE 7 PLAGUES WERE FINISHED.

* AND THIS IS NO BIG DEAL FOR THE CREATOR TO MAKE AN ALTAR SPEAK, FOR HE MADE BALAAM’S DONKEY SPEAK AND HE CAN MAKE THE STONES OR THE ROCKS CRY OUT.

** AND THE WORD ANOTHER IN SOME TRANSLATIONS IS NOT IN THE OLDER MANUSCRIPTS AND IS WEAK IN SUPPORT, SO THE ALTAR SPEAKING IS THE BEST TRANSLATION.

*** AND THE ALTAR CRIES OUT TO THE LORD GOD AND TESTIFIES THAT THE LORD GOD IS THE ALMIGHTY, THE ALL POWERFUL ONE WHO HAS THE DIVINE POWER TO BRING FORTH THESE JUDGMENTS.

**** BUT ALSO THE ALTAR CRIES OUT AND ECHOES BASICALLY WHAT THE ANGEL OF THE WATER SAYS: “TRUE AND RIGHTEOUS ARE YOUR JUDGMENTS.”

2. BELOVED, GOD’S JUDGMENT IS ALWAYS PERFECT AND RIGHT, NEVER AS A WHIM OR DONE CAPRICIOUSLY FROM AN INCONSISTENT UNRIGHTEOUS GOD.

IN WRAP UP: (1) LET ME SAY IN APPLICATION THE SENTENCE THAT GOD PASSES ARE ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS IN KEEPING WITH HIS ETERNAL CHARACTER OF TRUTH, RIGHTEOUSNESS AND HOLINESS.

* AND WHEREAS MYTHOLOGY AND RELIGIOUS BOOKS ARE FULL OF THE IMPERFECT VENGEFUL AND CAPRICIOUS ACTS OF FALSE GODS, THE ONLY HOLY AND TRUE GOD ALWAYS ACTS IN KEEPING WITH HIS RIGHTEOUS CHARACTER.

** THEY ALWAYS AGREE WITH HIS JUST NATURE.

*** AND THAT’S WHY THE PSALMIST SAID IN PSALM 19:9 (READ IT). ALSO READ PSALM 119:75.

- DAVID WENT ON TO SAY IN PSALM 119:137 – RIGHTEOUS ARE YOU, O LORD, AND UPRIGHT ARE YOUR JUDGMENTS.

**** AND THEN PAUL SAID IN ROMANS 2:5 – BUT BECAUSE OF YOUR STUBBORNNESS AND UNREPENTANT HEART YOU ARE STORING UP WRATH FOR YOURSELF IN THE DAY OF WRATH AND REVELATION OF THE RIGHTEOUS JUDGMENT OF GOD.

2. THEN IN REVELATION 19:1&2 JOHN HEARS THIS:

V. 1 – AFTER THESE THINGS I HEARD SOMETHING LIKE A LOUD VOICE OF A GREAT MULTITUDE IN HEAVEN, SAYING, “HALLELUJAH! SALVATION AND GLORY AND POWER BELONG TO OUR GOD.”

V. 2 – BECAUSE HIS JUDGMENTS ARE TRUE AND RIGHTEOUS; FOR HE HAS JUDGED THE GREAT HARLOT WHO WAS CORRUPTING THE EARTH WITH HER IMMORALITY, AND HE HAS AVENGED THE BLOOD OF HIS BOND-SERVANTS ON HER.”

* NOW MY POINT FROM THESE SCRIPTURES IS A LOT OF PEOPLE, BOTH NON-BELIEVING AND BELIEVERS, QUESTION WHAT GOD DOES AND DIFFERENT CIRCUMSTANCES.

** BUT WHEN YOU COME DOWN TO WHERE THE RUBBER MEETS THE ROAD, GOD IS ALWAYS JUST, RIGHTEOUS, HOLY AND GOOD, REGARDLESS OF WHAT PEOPLE THINK.

*** PSALM 145:17 SAYS: (READ IT). ALSO READ ISAIAH 55:8&9.

**** AND BROTHERS AND SISTERS, WE CAN UNDERSTAND FOR THOSE WHO DON’T KNOW CHRIST AND FOLLOW HIM THAT THEY COME TO WRONG CONCLUSIONS ABOUT GOD’S WORKS, JUDGMENTS AND WAYS.

3. AND WE UNDERSTAND THAT THEY WRESTLE WITH THE TRUTH OF ETERNAL HELL.

* BUT FOR US, WE MUST GO BACK TO THE TRUTHS, THE PROMISES AND PRINCIPLES OF THE WORD OF GOD AND STAND ON THEM.

** AND THAT’S WHEN STUDYING AND MEDITATION UPON THE TRUTHS OF GOD’S CHARACTER AND ATTRIBUTES AND WAYS COME IN.

*** AND AS WE GET LOST IN THE IMMENSITY OF GOD AND WHO HE IS AND THAT IT’S ALL ABOUT HIM, WE START TO TRUST HIM MORE THROUGH KNOWING HIM MORE.

**** AND WE START TO REST IN WHAT WE CANNOT COMPREHEND ABOUT THE INCOMPREHENSIBILITY OF GOD AND HIS HIGHER WAYS.

4. AND WHEN WE DON’T UNDERSTAND AND DON’T HAVE AN EXPLANATION ABOUT A JUDGMENT OF GOD OR SOMETHING THAT HAPPENS THAT WE CAN’T EXPLAIN.

* WE LIKE ABRAHAM MUST SAY: “SHALL NOT THE JUDGE OF ALL THE EARTH DEAL JUSTLY?” AND WE RESPOND YES, AND HE ALWAYS DOES, FOR HE IS GOOD, RIGHTEOUS, JUST, HOLY AND PERFECT.

** AND MAY WE RESPOND WITH TRUST, CONFIDENCE, WORSHIP, OBEDIENCE AND SERVICE TO A GOD WHO MANIFESTED MERCY TO US AND RESCUED US FROM HIS WRATH.

*** MAY WE BE GRATEFUL AND RATHER THAN GRUMBLING AND FEELING SORRY FOR OURSELVES, MAY WE SAY AS THE PSALMIST DID IN PSALM 107:1 (READ IT AND PRAY).