Take a moment to read the entire chapter of Revelation 16 before reading the devotional below.
A lot of people see God as an angry being that is out to destroy the earth. Today’s chapter certainly reveals his anger on full display. We often think of anger as out of control because when humans are angry we can act impulsively and foolishly. Here we see that God’s anger has been held until a specific time, and that the plagues he orders the angels to carry out are a deliberate, last-chance effort to allow evildoers to repent. Again, this passage reminds me of the plagues in Exodus and the ways in which Pharaoh’s heart remained hard toward God.
Notice in verse 17 there is a shout, “It is finished!” The same thing happens in John 19:30 when Jesus dies on the cross. Both in today’s passage and in some accounts of Jesus’ death on the cross, there is an earthquake. Matthew 28 describes another earthquake when the angel appears to remove the stone from the tomb entrance. The parallels between Jesus’ victory on the cross and this final victory over evil are too strong to overlook.
God is angry at evil. Satan has established a kingdom of evil that has harmed God’s most beloved creatures: humans. Satan has tricked us, led us astray, and usurped the authority God gave us over the earth. God will not sit back and allow Satan to keep what he has stolen. Notice God gives humans who have succumb to evil one last chance to repent. He does not seem to offer that to the dragon (Satan) or the beast (false prophet) at any point. God is waging war for humanity, not against it. His anger is deliberate, calculated, and strategic. Verse 9 reminds us that God was in control of these events for a purpose, and we know that his purposes will be fulfilled.