Word of Encouragement (12/14/2021)
The third angel poured out his bowl into the rivers and the springs of water, and they became blood. 5 And I heard the angel in charge of the waters say, “Just are you, O Holy One, who is and who was, for you brought these judgments. 6 For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and you have given them blood to drink. It is what they deserve!” And I heard the altar saying, "Yes, Lord God the Almighty, true and just are your judgments” (Rev. 16:4-7)!
The destruction that the third bowl brings upon the world is patterned after the first plague that fell on Egypt. The Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, their canals, and their ponds, and all their pools of water, so that they may become blood, and there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, even in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone’” (Ex. 7:19). Seeing the connection between the two, we can see that God’s judgment on Egypt was a type of God’s judgment of the world in the last days, just as Israel’s exodus out of Egypt was a type of God’s eternal salvation in Jesus Christ. God’s plan for the world does not evolve from one thing to another: it was determined before the foundation of the world and it is unfolded exactly the way God decreed it in the beginning. That is why we see the progression from the Old Testament types to the New Testament fulfillment in Jesus Christ. God is faithful and He does not fail to bring all His plans to their glorious fruition.
As the angel pours out the third bowl into the rivers and the springs of water, which makes these bodies of water turn into blood, the angel praises God. He addresses God in a way that is like the way the twenty-four elders addressed God when the seventh trumpet was sounded: “We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, who is and who was, for you have taken your great power and begun to reign” (11:17). We noticed how the last part of the three-fold description of God—“who is and who was and who is to come”—was missing. The same thing is happening in this praise of the third angel. But we can say that the third part is not really missing; rather, it is replaced by something else—“for you brought these judgments.” This praise shows that “who is to come” has brought “these judgments” upon the world.
God’s judgment is inevitable because God is the “Holy One.” “Holy” refers to God’s transcendence over all other things, which are all created by Him: He alone is uncreated, self-existing Being. But “holy” has a moral dimension as well. To be holy is to be set apart from all that is sinful and wicked. So then, as long as God is holy, He cannot let any sin go unpunished.
Even as fallen sinners, we long to see justice upheld. When we hear news of gross injustice, our hearts burn with rage. But nothing enrages us more than wefall victim to injustice. Unfortunately, we hear too often of people committing unthinkable cruelties to others. Some are so horrible that even a death sentence doesn’t seem enough. It is in such moments we realize that God must judge the world and execute perfect justice.
The only problem is that, if God should execute His full justice, we, too, must receive His judgment. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Were it not for Jesus, who died and rose again from the dead for our salvation, we must bear God’s infinite wrath. How grateful we should be for Jesus’ salvation! Because He came, “who is to come” will come to us with all the blessings of heaven! Let us give thanks to the Lord!