Scripture Daily

Context No. 3053 of 4322 · Revelation

Context · Reflection

Revelation 16:1-6: in context

1I heard a loud voice out of the temple, saying to the seven angels, “Go and pour out the seven bowls of the wrath of God on the earth!” 2The first went, and poured out his bowl into the earth, and it became a harmful and painful sore on the people who had the mark of the beast, and who worshiped his image. 3The second angel poured out his bowl into the sea, and it became blood as of a dead man. Every living thing in the sea died. 4The third poured out his bowl into the rivers and springs of water, and they became blood. 5I heard the angel of the waters saying, “You are righteous, who are and who were, O Holy One, because you have judged these things. 6For they poured out the blood of saints and prophets, and you have given them blood to drink. They deserve this.”

The seven angels are told to pour out the bowls of God's wrath on the earth: sores on those who bear the mark of the beast, the sea and rivers turned to blood. These are fearsome images of final judgment, and they should not be read with any relish. But notice the response heaven gives to them.

The angel of the waters declares: You are just, O Holy One, for you have judged these things. They poured out the blood of saints and prophets, and you have given them blood to drink; they deserve this. The judgment is not arbitrary cruelty; it is God at last answering the shed blood of the martyrs, the saints and prophets who were killed. The God who seemed silent while his people were slaughtered is shown, in the end, to be righteous, requiting the blood that had cried out to him for so long. The comfort here is for the persecuted: their suffering is seen, and God will set it right.

Do I trust that God is just, that the wrongs done to his people are seen and will be righted, even when judgment seems long delayed?

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