Revelation 6:17 MKJV for the great day of His wrath has come, and who will be able to stand?
A
study on “the great day of the wrath.”
The
concept of the day of the Lord, and no this is not a different time
frame, is scattered throughout both the old and new testament. A
passage that is familiar to many is:
1
Thessalonians 5:2 AMP (2) For you yourselves know perfectly well
that the day of the [return of the] Lord will come [as
unexpectedly and suddenly] as a thief in the night.
One
of the first things I want to ask yourself is, who
is this wrath intended for?
The
simple answer is: not
the believer. I wish I could assure you that it
was none of you, but I cannot. The simple qualifier is a personal,
loving relationship with Jesus Christ and of course, the Father, but
Matthew 25 is the place where Jesus spoke of the ten virgins, all
headed to the wedding. Five were unprepared, not having enough oil
and ran out before the groom came. At the most inconvenient time they
had to go out and try to buy more. We should be able to quickly see
that fifty percent of those desiring to go to the wedding are
unprepared. To be honest this is very scary to me.
Raised
in a “Christian” home there were so many things that were done
backward. One major one was having to pray this prayer every night,
“if I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take.”
That phrase alone kept me in fear and bondage for half my life. When
you consider that one of main themes in Christianity is faith; faith
that God loves you and has chosen you, long before you opted to clean
up your life, which by the way, you cannot do. This prayer works in
complete opposite. It kept me in fear that any minor sin committed
throughout the day would condemn me to hell and a life without the
Father. This also served to confuse me about the love of God which
Paul wrote extensively about in Romans and Corinthians. I had to
rebuild my mindset by reading the bible for myself.
In
terms of preparation you cannot have someone else feed you, beside
being unable to put on your own armor, you look ridiculous having a
bib put on you while someone has to spoon feed you. How do you know
they are feeding you the truth? You have to learn to think for
yourself, guided by the Holy Spirit. Scripture tells us that he will
guide you into all truth. Do not get me wrong here, you need
fellowship. I know I certainly do, but I am not going to associate
with flakes that do nothing more than fight with you over what they
believe. At one bible study we attended (at the time, we were doing
Rick Warren’s 40 days of purpose) a lady would lash out at those
she disagreed with, interjecting her theology by stating, “John
MacArthur says.” I think that if you are going to open your mouth
so boldly then you better back it with the word, not what Pastor John
has to say, beside that, Pastor John is adamantly against the moving
of the Holy Spirit in the believer today, and that forced me to put
him very low on my list of notable commentators for years. I have
since added his commentaries to my bible study program, but just
don’t ask me to cling so tightly to him.
1
Thessalonians 1:8-10 ESV (8) For not only has the word of the Lord
sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God
has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything. (9)
For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had
among you, and 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 delivers us from the wrath to
come.
These
people who Paul wrote to were anxiously awaiting the return of the
Son from Heaven. I only know of a few who feel that way. At least
there are few that want to share that with me. Those that do, have an
assurance that he is coming soon to deliver us from the wrath that is
to come. We also have Jesus references to Noah and Lot as examples of
deliverance from God’s wrath. Look these up in Matthew 24 and Luke
17, and then read the original stories in Genesis.
I
feel led to clarify what motivates my thought process writing all
this. Although I no longer choose to hang with them, I used to go to
a “bible study” at a hamburger stand. The man who considered
himself the leader of that small group was adamant about his concepts
of the “great tribulation”. When I pointed out, from scripture,
that we are looking at God’s wrath and judgment being poured out on
the nations during the seven-year period, he promptly attempted to
correct me, stating repeatedly that, “this period in scripture is
the seals, trumpets and bowls, and that God’s wrath is only for a
specific period time beginning at the half-way point.” How do you
segregate it into specific moments in time and not see that it is all
God’s handiwork, for a specific reason.
The
man from the restaurant flashes through my mind a lot lately. If he
is confused then how many others are confused as well. It is not a
question of does he know the Lord? I believe the answer is
absolutely; but then what does it mean to know someone.
I
had a close friend for three years when I was twenty years old. I
still bump into him from time to time. He says to me, “I know
you!” No he doesn’t, for much about me has changed and my
disrupted life has changed it. I have changed in the way I deal with
life anymore, I have changed in how I think, and my love for God has
grown so much deeper as I spent my life learning of him and realizing
the mercy that he shown me. He is no longer the mean judge waiting to
strike me down but a God that desires mercy above all; and yet he
cannot back down from his word, for without his word there is no God,
and that is not going to happen. I only know that by spending time
with him; enough time that would allow me to understand how he thinks
and what affects his decisions.
God’s wrath is directed at Israel and the nations.
Israel,
for rejecting him, the one who brought them out of bondage, and
against the nations for they too have rejected him. The nations have
taken this rejection one step further and directed their anger and
confusion against those who follow the God of the Jews.
Romans
2:3-6 MKJV And, O man, the one judging those who do such things, and
practice them, do you think this, that you shall escape the judgment
of God? (4) Or do you despise the riches of His kindness, and the
forbearance and long-suffering, not knowing that the kindness of God
leads you to repentance? (5) But according to your hardness and
your impenitent heart, do you treasure up wrath for yourself in a
day of wrath and revelation of the
righteous judgment of God, (6) who will render to
each according to his works;
Paul
was writing to the Christian body when he wrote this and yet it is a
clear definition of why wrath and judgment are coming: hardness of
heart, and a lack of sorrow for sins. All this proves even more that
my “friend” that led the restaurant bible study was not reading
his own bible. That is not a true statement about him, for he
constantly would jump to scriptures that he used to lead people to
Jesus as he walked the city park, and he was incessantly pouring over
the book of Revelation, in an effort to make it clearer or to
understand it. And yet he was more confused each day, and refused to
look into the old testament.
God
gives us specifics
Not
only is this a time of wrath and judgment, but God gives us specifics
about who his anger is directed at.
Psalms
110:5,6 The Lord at thy right hand shall
strike through kings in
the day of his wrath.
He shall judge among the heathen, he
shall fill the places with the dead bodies; he shall wound
the heads over many countries.
In
saying kings can we generalize and include dictators,
presidents, rulers, and those that lord their power over us?
Certainly, no one is to be exempt from God’s wrath. They think they
are untouchable but they are not.
Most
alternate versions tell us that he will judge among the nations, not
merely the heathen. We tend to apply our judgmental definitions upon
a word like this. The Hebrew word that the KJV translated heathen is
goy and means nations, usually a non-Hebrew people.
Psalms
110:6 BBE He will be judge among the nations, the
valleys will be full of dead bodies; the head over a great country
will be wounded by him.
From
the Barnes commentary: Shall strike through kings - The Hebrew word
here rendered “shall strike,” - from machats - meaning
“to shake, to agitate”; and then, “to shake
in pieces, to dash in pieces, to crush”;
and here it has the sense of dashing in pieces, smiting,
wounding, crushing. The “kings” referred to are the
enemies of God and the Messiah.
Revelation
6:12 MKJV And when He had opened the sixth seal, I looked, and
behold, there was a great
earthquake. And the sun became black as sackcloth of hair,
and the moon became like blood.
Revelation
6:14 MKJV And the heaven departed like a scroll when it is rolled
together. And every
mountain and island were moved out of their places.
It
is possible that these are two separate events. How would you not be
aware of the earthquakes and the damage they have left over the last
couple of years, and yet this one that is coming will be bigger. Two
verses later something, possibly the “great earthquake” has moved
every mountain and island out of their place. This is a very dramatic
and frightening event, and it is all part of God’s wrath and
judgment upon the nations and Israel. My personal opinion is that the
land masses will rejoin, should that be the case it will be very
dramatic. Seeing that we see the kings of the earth and the poor,
hiding in caves and holes calling out for the rocks to fall on them,
only a few verses later, I could be right. It is going to get worse
for them.
Revelation
19:15 KJV
And
out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite
the nations:
and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treads the wine
press of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
Psalms
2:8-9 KJV Ask of me, and I shall give thee the
heathen for thine inheritance, and
the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. (9) Thou
shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces
like a potter's vessel.
Job
20:27 -29 The heaven shall reveal his iniquity; and the earth
shall rise up against him. The increase of his house shall
depart, and his goods shall flow away in the day of his wrath.
This is the portion of a wicked man from God,
and the heritage appointed unto him by God.
Joel
1:15 BBE Sorrow
for the day!
for the day of the Lord is near, and as
destruction from the Ruler of all it will come.
Joel
1:15 ASV Alas for the day! for the day of Jehovah is at hand, and as
destruction from the Almighty shall it come.
Joel
2:1 ESV Blow a trumpet in Zion; sound an alarm on my holy mountain!
Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the
LORD is coming; it is near,
Doesn’t
this tend to push us to understand who the nations are?
Originally
the implication was anyone outside of Israel. Once God brought
about our adoption, we Gentiles (a part of the nations)
are no longer consider the nations but the church, the body of
Christ. Who is left? Anyone outside of Israel and the church body.
We tend to see most of these people as third world nations, but I
assure that many of those considered the nations live in wealth,
right here in the United States of America.
Why
would God direct all this wrath at the nations? It is hard to believe
that the nations have had the same opportunity to know this Jesus
Christ that I have come to know. God’s word tells us the opposite,
and holds them entirely responsible for their own reactions to what
they know. What might seem even more peculiar is that I see this as
God’s extended mercy toward those have incessantly rejected him and
his love.
Romans
1:18-21 ESV For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all
ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness
suppress the truth. (19) For what can be known
about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. (20)
For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine
nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the
world, in the things that have been made. So they
are without excuse. (21) For although they knew
God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they
became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were
darkened.
Acts
17:31 MKJV .. He has appointed a day in which He is going to judge
the world in righteousness by a Man whom He appointed, having
given proof to all by raising Him from the dead.
Ephesians
4:7 MKJV But to every one of us is given grace according to the
measure of the gift of Christ.
This
passage in Ephesians could be argued as one directed exclusively at
the Church, but then what do we do with Paul’s letter to the Romans
where it is argued and defined that Christ died once for all. That
all is not exclusive to merely those of an affluent society. Christ
died for the nations, therefore God’s love was extended to every
man. Now it is entirely up to that man to accept that life. The hows’
and whys’ are not for you to define, but know that a merciful God
has everything under control, and desires that all come into a
knowledge of his Son. Is it possible that he can make that happen
without you and I? Absolutely, but that does not excuse us from going
into all the world, no matter how small our world is.
2
Timothy 1:9 MKJV who has saved us and called us with a holy calling,
not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and
grace which was given us in Christ Jesus before the eternal times.
This
is another passage that after writing it out, I thought I would do
better to cut it for it too was written to a specific church body.
But consider what it says. God decreed that grace would be given,
not specifically, but over the populations of earth, before the earth
was formed. Did David not say, “before I born, you knew me”. You
cannot deny that God cast his love upon the inhabitants of earth with
one great payment.
1
John 5:20 MKJV And we know that the Son of God has come, and He
has given us an understanding so that we may know Him who is true.
And we are in Him that is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the
true God, and the everlasting life.
This
one may be the hardest to argue my way out of for the implications
are that the understanding came after rebirth. But what if I am wrong
and God has given all men the ability to understand and know Him who
is true. What makes sense about this argument is that scripture tells
us that the god of this world has blinded their eyes.
2
Corinthians 4:3-4 AMP (3) But even if our Gospel (the glad tidings)
also be hidden (obscured and covered up with a veil that hinders the
knowledge of God), it is hidden [only] to those who are perishing and
obscured [only] to those who are spiritually dying and veiled [only]
to those who are lost. (4) For the god of this world has blinded
the unbelievers' minds [that they should not discern the truth],
preventing them from seeing the illuminating light of the Gospel of
the glory of Christ (the Messiah), Who is the Image and Likeness of
God.
Bottom
line, it is rejection of his sacrifice, his son, and his love. The
reality, I suppose, is that God made man for relationship, one in
which he could shower his love on us by showing us the riches of his
glory. That is exactly what scripture tells he still intends to do.
Ephesians
2:7 AMP He did this that He might clearly demonstrate through the
ages to come the immeasurable (limitless, surpassing) riches of His
free grace (His unmerited favor) in [His] kindness and goodness of
heart toward us in Christ Jesus.
So
if I reject God’s offer of son-ship and all he wants to show me,
then what am I doing that offends him? Turning my heart toward
another, Satan, effectively making Satan my father, and following him
to destruction and eternal torment designed for him. There is no plus
side to that offer, it is merely his destination and those that
follow him will go there with him. God does not wish that for you,
but it is a choice that you are making. A choice; think about that!
All
the whining that people do, saying, “if God is so good then why
does he let bad things happen?” and “why did God do that? Perhaps
it all boils down to man making choices. Those that have some
understanding of the garden scenario know that Adam made a couple of
fast, bad choices. Those decisions were right up there with the
highest form of treason, for he rejected God, rejected truth, and
bought a lie, selling out the world for ages to come. What the plan
of redemption shows us is God’s plan to restore things back to a
corrected state. One where there is no longer a tempter to corrupt
it. Having lived in this broken condition, given to me by Adam, for
over 50 years, I cannot even imagine what it will feel like to not be
broken. I know and experience some relief from my brokenness because
of the relationship that I gained by accepting Jesus Christ into my
life. Yes there have been some horrendous moments of sin, but that is
exactly why God has to put things right. Until that day we will still
be prone to exhibit sinful, and broken behaviors.
The
entire time period is the day
God
is not breaking it down into segments, the entire time period is
the day. Now there is a day coming, also to be feared, for on
that day he calls all the dead before him to be judged. That will not
fair well for many.
The
word day is yom
in Hebrew and can also mean time, or year.
Genesis
1:8 KJV And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the
morning were the second day.
Every
reference to day in the creation event is the word yom, and carries
the same connotations. Some have interpreted the word to mean eons of
time. It is indeterminate without some clarifying such as nightfall
or dawn.
Joel
2:11 AMP And the Lord utters His voice before His army, for His host
is very great, and [they are] strong and powerful who execute [God's]
word. For the day of the Lord is great and very terrible, and who
can endure it? [Isa. 26:20, 21; 34:1-4, 8; Rev. 6:16, 17.]
Maybe
we are the ones that assigned what is to come into a specific time
period. Today’s date is 10/07/2012 and over the last few months
tribulations for Christians living in most of the middle east and
northern Africa have suffering greatly at the hands of Islamic
fanatics.
Matthew
24:21 AMP For then there will be great tribulation
(affliction, distress, and oppression) such as has not been from the
beginning of the world until now--no, and never will be [again].
[Dan. 12:1; Joel 2:2.]
The
inability to endure the time of great tribulation
is one of the aspects that Jesus spoke of. Unless God shortened the
time no one would survive. I think we assign that survival aspect to
the martyred saints, but Revelation 7:9 makes me believe that no one
survives outside of the nations, where they will do battle with Jesus
at the end of the seven-year period.
Brought
into knighthood
The
image I see is that of a young man being brought into knighthood. The
King, holding a sword across the young man’s shoulder, addresses
him, telling him who he is from this moment forth. Describing the
newcomers role, powers and duties, also explains with understanding
that there will be unsavory moments in this life journey. It is at
those moments that you must remember who you are. You are not
ordinary, you have been set aside as a representative of the King,
never to return intentionally to your old ways. Yes, I understand
that in the course of battle and fatigue that you may stumble and end
up in the mud, but you are to get up, brush yourself off, remind
yourself of who you are and continue on in a dignified manner, worthy
of the calling placed upon you.
Into the kingdom they
come.
After
this I looked and there before me was a
great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe,
people and language,
standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were
wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands.
(Revelation 7:9, NIV)
Do
not think that the mercy and arm of God is stopped or foreshortened,
because they come in droves. Imagine the simplicity; Father God, I
need you now, take me, and he does. Or as the thief on the cross
experienced as Jesus said, “this day you will be with me in
paradise.” Folks, there is a paradise and it exists in and with
Him, open up your hearts and allow him in. All it takes is your
desire, for he has waited for you for so long now.
Father,
receive me into your kingdom. I receive this Jesus Christ, the
Messiah that the world has longed for. Make yourself real to me this
day and change me. I know that from this moment on I am yours and the
relationship that I have longed for begins. Thank you for making me
new and causing this new life to begin in me. I welcome your changes
for you are love.
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