When we consider what the Bible clearly shows regarding God’s promised judgment on sin and unrepentant sinning humans, it is easy to see only the darker tones of the prophetic picture and to miss the highlights of goodness, mercy and compassion that are also there. Looking at the messages of the Old Testament prophets, for example, it is easy to miss seeing the loving God behind the looming punishments. Even in Isaiah – one of the most positive and uplifting of the prophetic books – it can often be hard to see the love in the graphic words of judgment aimed at Israel, Judah, and their surrounding nations. Yet the goodness of God is there, nonetheless.
While Isaiah 13–23 and other chapters consist of dire “burdens” or pronouncements on the nations, we must not overlook the attitude of both the prophet and the God who inspired him. After reading the promised violent destruction of Israel’s enemy, Moab, for example, we should not miss Isaiah’s words “My heart cries out over Moab” (Isaiah 15:5), and his statement “My heart laments for Moab like a harp, my inmost being for Kir Hareseth” (Isaiah 16:11) – showing the deep underlying divine sympathy even for those who must be punished in the extreme.
But perhaps the clearest place in which God’s attitude toward those who must receive his punishment is found is in the Bible’s final book and final word of judgment – the book of Revelation. God’s judgment against sin and wrongdoing is repeatedly shown to be both final and fierce, leading many skeptics to claim that Revelation shows a “harsh” God – as they claim many of the prophetic books of the Old Testament also do.
But Revelation shows that this is not the case. Just as the Old Testament acknowledges God’s righteousness in judgment – as when Abraham declares “Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?” (Genesis 18:25), and the Psalmist declares that “righteousness and justice” are the foundation of God’s throne (Psalm 89:14) – so the Greek word for righteousness used repeatedly throughout Revelation is dikaiosuné which carries the dual connotation of both righteousness and justice. Revelation asserts this justice is based on the righteousness of God: “You are just in these judgments, O Holy One …Yes, Lord God the Almighty, true and just are your judgments!” (Revelation 16:5, 7) and of Christ: “Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war” (Rev. 19:11 ESV, emphases added here and below).
Revelation shows that despite the patience God displays to the wicked, he will eventually judge and destroy evil – and this theme underlies chapters 6–20, the bulk of the book. In two passages within those chapters (Rev. 14:14–20 and 19:11–16) we are given graphic symbolic summaries of God’s judgment (one of several indications that several scenes in Revelation may be parallel views of the same event rather than sequential events), and it is not coincidental that both passages speak of God’s “wrath” (Rev. 14:19; 19:15). But this wrathful judgment is for a purpose – it is loving anger aimed at freeing humanity from sin rather than vengeful anger intended to simply punish God’s mortal children.
To see this, we must look closely at the imagery used by Revelation. The punishments described in the central chapters of the book culminate in the catastrophic plagues poured out on humanity in chapters 15 and 16. The images used in this climactic part of Revelation closely resemble the plagues God brought on Egypt to enable the Exodus. That is why, as the plagues begin, a heavenly chorus is said to sing “the song of God’s servant Moses and of the Lamb” (Rev. 15:3). It is sometimes said that this song reflects God’s law (Moses) and grace (the Lamb), but this misses the point that Moses oversaw and administered the same kind of plagues on Egypt so that it would release Israel from slavery that the Lamb will administer on the powers that hold all humanity in sin, as well as those who will not submit to him. Notice how the song stresses the justness of this punishment:
“Great and marvelous are your deeds, Lord God Almighty. Just and true are your ways, King of the nations. Who will not fear you, Lord, and bring glory to your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.” (Rev. 15:3–4)
Truly, the final plague-punishments of Revelation conclude in a redemption that is far greater than that of Israel’s release from Egypt. Now, instead of only Israel coming to worship God (Exodus 8:1; etc.), all nations are said to turn to him– for the specific reason that God’s acts have been revealed and recognized as righteous judgment (Rev. 15:4). These are the very same nations that were said to rage against God in Rev. 11:18, but God’s righteous judgment does not destroy them – it frees them from sin and leads to their eventual salvation (Rev. 12:10). This point is nowhere more clearly made than in Revelation, but it is not a new theme in the Bible. The Psalmist wrote “Let all creation rejoice before the LORD, for he comes, he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in his faithfulness” (Psalm 96:13). God’s judgment and punishment have always been, and always will be, made in righteousness and love.
While Isaiah 13–23 and other chapters consist of dire “burdens” or pronouncements on the nations, we must not overlook the attitude of both the prophet and the God who inspired him. After reading the promised violent destruction of Israel’s enemy, Moab, for example, we should not miss Isaiah’s words “My heart cries out over Moab” (Isaiah 15:5), and his statement “My heart laments for Moab like a harp, my inmost being for Kir Hareseth” (Isaiah 16:11) – showing the deep underlying divine sympathy even for those who must be punished in the extreme.
But perhaps the clearest place in which God’s attitude toward those who must receive his punishment is found is in the Bible’s final book and final word of judgment – the book of Revelation. God’s judgment against sin and wrongdoing is repeatedly shown to be both final and fierce, leading many skeptics to claim that Revelation shows a “harsh” God – as they claim many of the prophetic books of the Old Testament also do.
But Revelation shows that this is not the case. Just as the Old Testament acknowledges God’s righteousness in judgment – as when Abraham declares “Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?” (Genesis 18:25), and the Psalmist declares that “righteousness and justice” are the foundation of God’s throne (Psalm 89:14) – so the Greek word for righteousness used repeatedly throughout Revelation is dikaiosuné which carries the dual connotation of both righteousness and justice. Revelation asserts this justice is based on the righteousness of God: “You are just in these judgments, O Holy One …Yes, Lord God the Almighty, true and just are your judgments!” (Revelation 16:5, 7) and of Christ: “Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war” (Rev. 19:11 ESV, emphases added here and below).
Revelation shows that despite the patience God displays to the wicked, he will eventually judge and destroy evil – and this theme underlies chapters 6–20, the bulk of the book. In two passages within those chapters (Rev. 14:14–20 and 19:11–16) we are given graphic symbolic summaries of God’s judgment (one of several indications that several scenes in Revelation may be parallel views of the same event rather than sequential events), and it is not coincidental that both passages speak of God’s “wrath” (Rev. 14:19; 19:15). But this wrathful judgment is for a purpose – it is loving anger aimed at freeing humanity from sin rather than vengeful anger intended to simply punish God’s mortal children.
To see this, we must look closely at the imagery used by Revelation. The punishments described in the central chapters of the book culminate in the catastrophic plagues poured out on humanity in chapters 15 and 16. The images used in this climactic part of Revelation closely resemble the plagues God brought on Egypt to enable the Exodus. That is why, as the plagues begin, a heavenly chorus is said to sing “the song of God’s servant Moses and of the Lamb” (Rev. 15:3). It is sometimes said that this song reflects God’s law (Moses) and grace (the Lamb), but this misses the point that Moses oversaw and administered the same kind of plagues on Egypt so that it would release Israel from slavery that the Lamb will administer on the powers that hold all humanity in sin, as well as those who will not submit to him. Notice how the song stresses the justness of this punishment:
“Great and marvelous are your deeds, Lord God Almighty. Just and true are your ways, King of the nations. Who will not fear you, Lord, and bring glory to your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.” (Rev. 15:3–4)
Truly, the final plague-punishments of Revelation conclude in a redemption that is far greater than that of Israel’s release from Egypt. Now, instead of only Israel coming to worship God (Exodus 8:1; etc.), all nations are said to turn to him– for the specific reason that God’s acts have been revealed and recognized as righteous judgment (Rev. 15:4). These are the very same nations that were said to rage against God in Rev. 11:18, but God’s righteous judgment does not destroy them – it frees them from sin and leads to their eventual salvation (Rev. 12:10). This point is nowhere more clearly made than in Revelation, but it is not a new theme in the Bible. The Psalmist wrote “Let all creation rejoice before the LORD, for he comes, he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in his faithfulness” (Psalm 96:13). God’s judgment and punishment have always been, and always will be, made in righteousness and love.
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