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Rev. 16:1-12 "There are things worse than a nuclear war." – Gen. Alexander Haig
Picture light, lush green meadows, rows of smiling relatives and tremendous peace. Those who have near death experiences often speak of having experiences such as these. Omni magazine once reported a study by Dr. Maurice Rawlings, cardiologist, and professor of medicine at the University of Tennessee College of Medicine in Chattanooga. He and his emergency room colleagues were constantly treating such cases. In his study, however, and reported in his book Beyond Death's Door, Dr. Rawlings obtained new information by interviewing patients immediately after resuscitation while they are still too shaken to deny where they've been. Nearly 50 percent of the group of 300 interviewed reported lakes of fire and brimstone, devil-like figures and other sights hailing from the darkness of hell. He says they later change their story because most people are simply ashamed to admit they've been to hell; they won't even admit it to their families. Dr. Rawlings concluded, "Just listening to these patients has changed my whole life. There's life after death, and if I don't know where I'm going, it's not safe to die."
Many, however, don't want to talk about sin, judgment, or hell. Why? Most read the Bible selectively, omitting those parts they don't like. The first thing many do is throw out the concept of hell, because a nice, well-behaved God wouldn't let anyone go to hell. After you lose hell, you lose a sense of sin. No one is guilty of anything. Everybody is just a victim. The call to repent has no meaning. Dr. Calvin Miller of the Beeson Divinity School claims that instead of repenting we play a nice little game entitled, "It's not all that bad." It sounds like this—"Yes, I did have a brief affair, but my wife was not meeting my needs. I didn't divorce her, so don't call it adultery; it's not all that bad." "Yes, my daughter and her fiancée share the same bedroom when they visit us, but most engaged couples do. After all, this is the 21st Century; it's not all that bad." "Sure, I sometimes drink too much, but never in front of the kids. I don't do any harm and it never causes me to miss a day of work. It's not all that bad." Many live in a state of denial. No one is guilty of anything. "It's not all that bad."
Sin, judgment, and hell, however, are very real, whether we want to admit it or not. In Revelation 16:1 John hears a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, "Go, pour out the seven bowls of God's wrath on the earth." The time has come for divine judgment to vindicate God's oppressed people, to get the world's attention, avenge injustice and offer the opportunity for repentance. That many people do not repent when they face judgment is not too surprising (Rev: 16:9). One survivor of a plane crash recounts he always expected people who were dying to cry out to God for mercy in their final moments, but noted he heard many respond with cursing, following the habits they had spent their lives developing. Whether God acts with justice or mercy, some refuse to believe. That the world dies unrepentant in the face of God's judgment reveals their obstinacy and the depth of human rebellion against God.
Scholars have long pointed out the similarities between the first six trumpet judgments (Rev. 8:6-9:21) and the first six bowl judgments (Rev. 16:2-12) as well as the "hailstorm" that links the seventh trumpet to the seventh bowl (Rev. 16:21). In one sense, John's vision of bowl judgments repeats and emphasizes the previous point: divine judgment intends to bring the nations to repent and to confess God as sovereign creator and ruling Lord. Their refusal to repent, then, justifies God's condemnation of them and their ungodly kingdom. There is another sense, however, that John's vision expands and deepens the significance of divine judgment. On the face of it, the bowl judgments extend the scope of God's wrath. Earlier only a "third" of the created order was affected; in this vision, however, the bowls of God's wrath are poured out onto the entire earth and its unbelieving population. In fact, unlike before when the martyrs experienced a portion of God's judgment of the world order, the bowl judgments are more discriminating and "pass over" the believing community. These differences suggest a spiral of severity, finally reaching its climax with the collapse of the world order. This is not to say the bowl judgments follow the completion of the trumpet judgments according to some chronological scheme. But they do denote together a particular theological conviction that John now views through his apocalyptic lens from a different "moment" of salvation's history. With the exaltation of Christ from time of his resurrection and ascension began a period of increased tribulation, envisioned by the trumpet judgments, that will intensify in severity until the complete collapse of the fallen creation, envisioned by the bowl judgments. The inevitability of complete chaos and the utter inability of any social institution to do anything about it points to the ultimate hope of Christ's return, when he comes from outside of history to transform history. The bowl judgments represent the conclusion of the "third woe" (Rev. 11:14), the demise of evil dominion, and the preparation for the new social order characterized by God's shalom and grace.
How shall we prepare for this coming Judgment? General Alexander Haig, a military leader in the Vietnam War and political leader in the Reagan administration once said something which on the surface sounded utterly stupid, and he was roundly criticized by the media for saying it. He said, "There are worse things than a nuclear war." That sounds like he stuck his foot in his mouth, but that is exactly what we Christians believe. What is far worse than a nuclear war? Not having faith and trust in God. Not to trust God and his promises means that we are headed for a destiny even worse than a nuclear holocaust. But to trust and believe the promises of God means that nothing in this world, not even the mushroom cloud of a nuclear bomb or the ecological disaster of global warming or the insidious attack of terminal cancer or the suffering and humiliation of an economic recession can separate us from the love of God in Jesus Christ. We can believe that because our Judgment Day has already happened.
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Rev. Charles Eldredge is a member of Maitland Church of the Brethren. He has a Facebook page and can be contacted by email: ce1133 @verizon.net.