Divine retribution. Revelation 16 v7
"And I heard another out of the altar say, even so Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are Thy judgments."
The text breaks off here, in the midst of judgments, to give heaven's view on what is happening . This is clearly divine retribution as indicated in verse 6, as much as to say, what they have done ,so will be done unto them; this is the meaning of retribution. It is simply getting back what we have given out. The comment that "God is righteous" in judging the world is made three times in the book of Revelation (chapter 16v5, 16v7, & 19v2). In chapter 15v4 it says at the end of the verse "for thy righteous judgments are made manifest." God is going to reveal to the world just what He thinks about sin. This is not a popular subject with any of us, and we tend to cast it to the back of our minds, but the day is coming when God will judge the world both nationally and individually, and all of heaven will declare that he is right to do so. His sense of justice is declared of old and is well known in the world today "an eye for an eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe." (Exodus 21v24).
The context here is of the most dreadful judgments on earth that have ever been seen, yet from the very altar of heaven comes the cry "true and righteous are Thy judgments". There are chapters in this bible which are rarely read and which certainly are never preached. One such chapter would be Psalm 109, in which there are pronounced about thirty curses upon David's enemies. These are called "imprecatory prayers" calling down God's justice and vengeance on the on the enemies of His people. Unpopular as it is, the principle is all over scripture: "vengeance is mine saith the Lord I will repay." (Hebrews 10v30, a quotation from Deuteronomy 32v35-36). If God is to bring in righteousness every wrong must be put to right. The world at large has forgotten that they are accountable to God but the record is there for all to see. There will be a future judgment on all nations and on all individuals concerning the sins which they have committed. This is called "the day of the Lord." In 2nd Thessalonians 1v6-9 Paul expounds this "seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you; and to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that no not God and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ........."
In the present time when the deeds of a nation or an individual become so bad, God may, (and does), introduce temporal judgments, such as He has done in the past. Once again we proclaim that "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom". The principle is clearly stated in the Old Testament in (Deuteronomy 19 v20-21); in the New Testament it is clearly stated in (Romans 13v3-4; there is a present control on the sin of man, and, there is a future account to be given for the lives we have lived. The principles of divine retribution are clearly outlined for us all in Romans 2. There are in all seven separate individual features of the righteous judgment of God:
The text breaks off here, in the midst of judgments, to give heaven's view on what is happening . This is clearly divine retribution as indicated in verse 6, as much as to say, what they have done ,so will be done unto them; this is the meaning of retribution. It is simply getting back what we have given out. The comment that "God is righteous" in judging the world is made three times in the book of Revelation (chapter 16v5, 16v7, & 19v2). In chapter 15v4 it says at the end of the verse "for thy righteous judgments are made manifest." God is going to reveal to the world just what He thinks about sin. This is not a popular subject with any of us, and we tend to cast it to the back of our minds, but the day is coming when God will judge the world both nationally and individually, and all of heaven will declare that he is right to do so. His sense of justice is declared of old and is well known in the world today "an eye for an eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe." (Exodus 21v24).
The context here is of the most dreadful judgments on earth that have ever been seen, yet from the very altar of heaven comes the cry "true and righteous are Thy judgments". There are chapters in this bible which are rarely read and which certainly are never preached. One such chapter would be Psalm 109, in which there are pronounced about thirty curses upon David's enemies. These are called "imprecatory prayers" calling down God's justice and vengeance on the on the enemies of His people. Unpopular as it is, the principle is all over scripture: "vengeance is mine saith the Lord I will repay." (Hebrews 10v30, a quotation from Deuteronomy 32v35-36). If God is to bring in righteousness every wrong must be put to right. The world at large has forgotten that they are accountable to God but the record is there for all to see. There will be a future judgment on all nations and on all individuals concerning the sins which they have committed. This is called "the day of the Lord." In 2nd Thessalonians 1v6-9 Paul expounds this "seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you; and to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that no not God and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ........."
In the present time when the deeds of a nation or an individual become so bad, God may, (and does), introduce temporal judgments, such as He has done in the past. Once again we proclaim that "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom". The principle is clearly stated in the Old Testament in (Deuteronomy 19 v20-21); in the New Testament it is clearly stated in (Romans 13v3-4; there is a present control on the sin of man, and, there is a future account to be given for the lives we have lived. The principles of divine retribution are clearly outlined for us all in Romans 2. There are in all seven separate individual features of the righteous judgment of God:
- Romans 2v2 - The judgment of God will be according to truth; that is it will be according to the facts as God knows them. He will need no one to testify to Him because he knows all.
- Romans 2v5 - The judgment of God is according to accumulated guilt. There are some who take the view that if I am going to be damned I might as well commit as many sins as possible. This is a folly because every sin will be paid for in the future and the Spirit of God speaks of "treasuring up wrath against the day of wrath."
- Romans 2v6&7 - The judgment of God will be according to our works. No account will be taken of what we intended to do ,but never did. We will be judged purely on what we did.
- Romans 2v11 - In the judgment of God there will be no respect of persons. There will be no account taken of status you had in life. At the great white throne will stand the small and the great; no one too small to be forgotten, no one to big to be beyond the judgment of God.
- Romans 2v12&13 - The judgment of God will be according to the light that we were given. Thus great privilege of divine light brings greater responsibility.
- Romans 2v16 - The judgment of God will be according to the secrets of men. There will be nothing hidden that will not be revealed. This goes to the thoughts and intents of the heart, and we will all be exposed as to what we really are.
- Romans 2v17-29 - The judgment of God will take no account of any special groups. In this case Jew or Gentile but the principle holds for all groups who think on earth that they are special and will therefore be given preferential treatment. Especially this applies to religious groups in the context of the verses.
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