The Restraints of God

Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, Go, pour out the seven bowls of God's wrath on the earth.

Rev 16:1

In chapter 16, the seven angels pour out their bowls in rapid succession. It is a terrible time of judgment, the most intensive period of tribulation the world has ever seen. It is what several of the Old Testament prophets call The Great and Terrible day of the Lord. It is what Jesus referred to when he said, If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive (Matthew 24:22). No one! All the population of the world would have been destroyed. It is a brief, intense period that comes at the close of the last 3-1/2 years of the Great Tribulation. As you finish reading this passage, you will want to breathe a sigh of relief. What is God trying to say to us by all this?

Remember, this book of Revelation was written for the seven churches, which stand for the whole church on earth today. What is this intended to say to us? It is repeated several times in this chapter: Judgment does not produce repentance. The Apostle Paul says in Romans 2:4, Do you not know that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? It is not judgment that will change our minds. People often get more stubborn, more set upon evil, by judgment. But it is grace that changes the heart. Judgment removes and ends evil. Judgment cleanses society. Judgment enables a new beginning to come. But it does not change people's minds. No, for that you have to look to the grace of God, the mercy of God, the blessing of God, even the providence of God.

Think of gathering with your family and doing something enjoyable together. Do you ever stop to think that those moments are only possible by the restraints of God upon the evil of man? If human evil was allowed for one moment to be loosed among us, if people were allowed to do what they want to do in their hearts toward each other, we would be instantly plunged into terrible anarchy and murderous bloodshed. Nothing of the pleasantness of life would be possible to us. God has sent anticipations of his judgments to us so we know what such judgments are like. We have seen enough of them to know how bad they will be. But it is God's grace that invites us to receive the Lord Jesus, to come to the One who took our place, who gave himself for us, not only to change us and make us over anew, but to teach us how to live in the midst of a world gone mad! That is what grace is for. How grateful we ought to be for the present restraints of evil that God has ordained in our day!

Thank you, Father, for the restraint of evil that you have granted to me today. Help me to live in the midst of a world gone mad. Amen.