And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, seven angels having the seven plagues, for in them is filled up the wrath of God. Revelation 15:1
Did you ever wonder how wicked this world will be during the time of the great tribulation? Those of us who are older can remember a time when morality in our society was much different from what it is now. Less than 50 years ago, it was a great shame for a child to be born out of wedlock; now a majority of parents make no effort to get married before taking up housekeeping. Back then, the sin of homosexuality was never mentioned in polite society; today it is flaunted and paraded and spoken of as though it merited great pride. Other elements of morality and society have also degenerated radically. But what we are seeing today is very tame compared to conditions during the great tribulation. Today, the presence of true Christians helps to preserve the world to a certain extent. But the Rapture will remove the influence of the Christians as well as the influence of the Holy Spirit as He indwells the believers. The vile heart of sinful man will be on display, and God’s wrath against this world will be topped up.
Even today, God allows some of the willfully wicked to fill up their cup of wickedness, and these ones will bear the full blast of God’s wrath for their wickedness. Such outward and willful rebellion against God will be displayed in the worship of the beast, in gross immorality, in violence against other people. God must judge such sin, and will do so when His wrath is filled up. The term ‘filled up’ is an interesting one, and it indicates the fullest extent of God’s wrath. Even more interesting is the fact that this expression is used during one other great event in our Bibles. The Greek work for ‘filled up’ can also be rendered ‘finished’. Yes, this is exactly the same word that the Lord Jesus uttered when He died on the cross of Calvary.
We can understand the wrath of God against sinners and their sin. We acknowledge that God is righteous to mete out punishment to all sinners; in fact, he would not be righteous if He did not. But when we turn our attention to Calvary and the One Who hung there in shame and agony, declared faultless by Pilate and proclaimed righteous by the centurion in charge of the execution squad, we wonder how such a travesty of man’s justice could be the fulfillment of God’s justice. The reason that God will be vindicated when the wicked are turned into hell is that His wrath in all its fulness will be poured out on them. The reason why God is vindicated in the death of His son is that His wrath in all its fulness was poured out on the One Who took our place.
God’s wrath against man’s sin will be forever fierce in eternity. But it will be no less fierce than it was at Calvary when the Lord Jesus finished the work of our redemption. -Jim MacIntosh