part 30: The Great Day of the Lord’s Wrath
Puzzled About Revelation, june 16 2022
“Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! 10 For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!”
main text: revelation 6:15-17
With the breaking of the 6th Seal, the Great Day of God’s Wrath has come upon the inhabitants of the earth! The saints are promised deliverance from the “wrath of God” (See Rom. 5:8-10; 1 Thess. 1:10; 5:9). What “wrath” are we rescued from, when does it begin, and how are we rescued?
A. The Great Day of the Lord’s Wrath
Revelation 6:15-17
“Then the kings of the earth, the nobles, the generals, the rich, the powerful, and every slave and free person hid in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains. 16 And they said to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of the one seated on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb, 17 because the great day of their wrath has come! And who is able to stand?”
1) Every Eye Shall See Him! (v.16)
This is clearly the VISIBLE Second Coming of the Son of Man on the clouds of heaven to JUDGE the inhabitants of the earth for the evil they have done. Even “those who pierced Him” (Rev. 1:7) will see “the Lamb that was slain” (Rev. 5:6).
2) Nowhere to Hide! (v.15)
They will look to the rocks for protection but not to the Rock and their Deliverer!
The GOSPEL message: FLEE the wrath that is to come! See Matt. 3:7; Acts 2:40.
3) The Wrath of the Lamb??!! (v.16)
The SLAIN now becomes the SLAYER, the SLAUGHTERED is now the One coming in great wrath to SLAUGHTER those who have blood on their hands!
4) The Great Day of Their Wrath Has Come…Who Can Stand? (v.17)
Isaiah 2:12-22 (CSB)
“For a day belonging to the Lord of Armies is coming against all that is proud and lofty,
against all that is lifted up—it will be humbled— 13 against all the cedars of Lebanon, lofty and lifted up,
against all the oaks of Bashan, 14 against all the high mountains,
against all the lofty hills, 15 against every high tower, against every fortified wall,
16 against every ship of Tarshish, and against every splendid sea vessel.
17 The pride of mankind will be brought low, and human loftiness will be humbled;
the Lord alone will be exalted on that day.
18 The worthless idols will vanish completely. 19 People will go into caves in the rocks
and holes in the ground, away from the terror of the Lord and from his majestic splendor,
when he rises to terrify the earth.
20 On that day people will throw their worthless idols of silver and gold,
which they made to worship, to the moles and the bats.
21 They will go into the caves of the rocks and the crevices in the cliffs,
away from the terror of the Lord and from his majestic splendor,
when he rises to terrify the earth. 22 Put no more trust in a mere human,
who has only the breath in his nostrils. What is he really worth?”
Joel 2:1-11 (CSB)
“Blow the ram’s horn in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy mountain! Let all the residents of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming; in fact, it is near— 2 a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and total darkness, like the dawn spreading over the mountains; a great and strong people appears, such as never existed in ages past and never will again in all the generations to come.
3 A fire devours in front of them, and behind them a flame blazes. The land in front of them is like the garden of Eden, but behind them, it is like a desert wasteland; there is no escape from them. 4 Their appearance is like that of horses, and they gallop like war horses. 5 They bound on the tops of the mountains. Their sound is like the sound of chariots, like the sound of fiery flames consuming stubble, like a mighty army deployed for war.
6 Nations writhe in horror before them; all faces turn pale. 7 They attack as warriors attack; they scale walls as men of war do. Each goes on his own path, and they do not change their course. 8 They do not push each other; each proceeds on his own path. They dodge the arrows, never stopping.
9 They storm the city; they run on the wall; they climb into the houses; they enter through the windows like thieves. 10 The earth quakes before them; the sky shakes. The sun and moon grow dark, and the stars cease their shining.
11 The Lord makes his voice heard in the presence of his army. His camp is very large; those who carry out his command are powerful. Indeed, the day of the Lord is terrible and dreadful— who can endure it?”
Zephaniah 1:14-18
“The great day of the Lord is near, near and rapidly approaching. Listen, the day of the Lord— then the warrior’s cry is bitter. 15 That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of destruction and desolation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and total darkness, 16 a day of ram’s horn and battle cry against the fortified cities, and against the high corner towers.
17 I will bring distress on mankind, and they will walk like the blind because they have sinned against the Lord. Their blood will be poured out like dust and their flesh like dung. 18 Their silver and their gold will be unable to rescue them on the day of the Lord’s wrath. The whole earth will be consumed by the fire of his jealousy, for he will make a complete, yes, a horrifying end of all the inhabitants of the earth.”
Zephaniah 2:1-3
“Gather together, yes, gather, O shameless nation, 2 before the decree takes effect — before the day passes away like chaff— before there comes upon you the burning anger of the Lord, before there comes upon you the day of the anger of the Lord. 3 Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land, who do his just commands; seek righteousness; seek humility; perhaps you may be hidden on the day of the anger of the Lord.”
B. Rescued from the Wrath to Come
“But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap.”
1) God’s wrath is both a PAST, PRESENT, and FUTURE reality.
Past wrath:
1 Thess. 2:15-16: “who killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets and also drove us out. They displease God and are hostile to everyone 16 in their effort to keep us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved. In this way they always heap up their sins to the limit. The wrath of God has come upon them at last.”
Present wrath:
Rom. 1:18: “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness…”
Romans 2:5: “But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed.
John 3:16-21, 36: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God… 36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.”
2) Wrath and tribulation are NOT the same thing! In the Apostle Paul’s understanding, the saints are NOT appointed to WRATH, but we ARE appointed to TRIBULATION.
1 Thess. 1:9-10: “for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, 10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.”
1 Thess. 5:3, 9-10: “While people are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape… For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. 10 He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him”
1 Thess. 3:2-4:“And we sent Timothy, our brother and God’s coworker in the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you concerning your faith, 3 so that no one will be shaken by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that we are appointed to this. 4 In fact, when we were with you, we told you in advance that we were going to experience affliction, and as you know, it happened.”
Twice, Paul says that we are not appointed to wrath, but in between, he says that we are appointed to affliction/tribulation.
Q: What “wrath” are we saved from? And when?
I maintain that the “wrath of God” is not the entire time period described in Revelation, but is revealed on the Day of the Lord, at the breaking of the 6th seal, the sounding of the 7th trumpet, and the pouring out of the 7th bowl of judgment, when the Lord Jesus comes in wrath - that is the day that we are rescued from.
Some may argue that the other bowls of wrath, poured out before the 7th bowl, are also the wrath of God. It is interesting to note that all of the previous bowls of wrath mirror the plagues of Egypt in the book of Exodus. So, where was Israel when those plagues were being poured out on Egypt? They weren’t in heaven, they hadn’t already left Egypt. They were present in the land, but God made a distinction between the Israelites and the Egyptians. Egypt experienced the plagues, Israel did not, because God had marked His people, culminating in the mark of the Lamb on the doorposts of their homes. Thus, the angel of the Lord passed over their homes and slaughtered the firstborn of Egypt. This is an illustration of our deliverance on the Day of the Lord as God’s wrath is poured out on the nations.
We do not need to be removed from the earth to be spared from the effects of the wrath of God. Revelation 16:2 says, “severely painful sores broke out on the people who had the mark of the beast and who worshiped its image.” The implication is that sores will NOT break out on those who had been marked by God (Revelation 7:3).
3) The 6th seal defines the wrath of God as the “great Day of the Lord’s wrath” (v.17). This is the Day all the Prophets and Apostles spoke of, when the Lord will appear and pour out His FIERY WRATH upon the inhabitants of the earth.
Q: How are we saved, and where are we saved?
2 Thess. 1:6-10: “since it is just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you 7 and to give relief to you who are afflicted, along with us. This will take place at the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven with his powerful angels, 8 when he takes vengeance with flaming fire on those who don’t know God and on those who don’t obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 They will pay the penalty of eternal destruction from the Lord’s presence and from his glorious strength 10 on that day when he comes to be glorified by his saints and to be marveled at by all those who have believed, because our testimony among you was believed.”
4) The saints are promised deliverance from God’s wrath on the SAME DAY—a simultaneous wrath & rescue!
Days of Noah & Days of Lot
Luke 17:26-30: “Just as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be in the days of the Son of Man: 27 People went on eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage until the day Noah boarded the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. 28 It will be the same as it was in the days of Lot: People went on eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, building. 29 But on the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all. 30 It will be like that on the day the Son of Man is revealed.”
5) Saved THROUGH FIRE!
Q: How are the saints rescued from the wrath of God? How are they able to withstand His fiery wrath?
1 Corinthians 3:13: “each one’s work will become obvious. For the day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire; the fire will test the quality of each one’s work.”
Malachi 4:1: “For look, the day is coming, burning like a furnace, when all the arrogant and everyone who commits wickedness will become stubble. The coming day will consume them,” says the Lord of Armies, “not leaving them root or branches.”
This fulfills the prophetic type of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the fiery furnace (See Daniel chapter 3).
Isaiah 43:2: “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and the rivers will not overwhelm you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, and the flame will not burn you.”
6) Saved THROUGH the LIFE of Jesus in a RESURRECTION - RAPTURE! We will be CLOTHED with Christ and His resurrection life and glory, then GATHERED to our ROCK and our REFUGE, high above the storm!
7) Gathered to the Lord Our Rock & Refuge on Mount Zion (Jerusalem)!
See Isaiah 2:1-3: “In the last days the mountain of the Lord’s house will be established at the top of the mountains and will be raised above the hills. All nations will stream to it, 3 and many peoples will come and say, “Come, let’s go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us about his ways so that we may walk in his paths.” For instruction will go out of Zion and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.”
Isaiah 4:2-6: “On that day the Branch of the Lord will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land will be the pride and glory of Israel’s survivors. 3 Whoever remains in Zion and whoever is left in Jerusalem will be called holy—all in Jerusalem written in the book of life— 4 when the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and cleansed the bloodguilt from the heart of Jerusalem by a spirit of judgment and a spirit of burning. 5 Then the Lord will create a cloud of smoke by day and a glowing flame of fire by night over the entire site of Mount Zion and over its assemblies. For there will be a canopy over all the glory, 6 and there will be a shelter for shade from heat by day and a refuge and shelter from storm and rain.”