Most everyone struggles with the terrifying descriptions of God’s wrath in the Bible. Even the prophet Malachi bemoaned, “Who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears?” (Mal. 3:2). It is hardly necessary, when studying the later chapters of Revelation, to argue that the Bible does in fact speak of God’s angry and violent judgment on sin. This is true not only of Revelation: hundreds of references to God’s wrath are found throughout the Bible. Yet one need only read Revelation 16:1 to prove the Bible’s teaching on this subject.

With the Bible’s teaching of wrath, the question turns to the moral acceptability of divine anger. This question is also answered in the opening section of chapter 16. Not only does the angel who speaks in verses 5 and 6 defend God, but he praises God profusely for His wrath (v.5). He further explains the reason why God’s wrath is to be praised in verse 6. The doctrine of God’s wrath and judgment on all sin needs to be proclaimed by Christians today.

Verses 1-4 describes the outpouring of the bowls of God’s wrath on the earth, beginning with His command in verse 1. Chapter 15 concluded with a picture of the inner sanctuary so filled with smoke that “no one could enter the sanctuary until the seven plagues of the seven angels were finished” (15:8). This being the case, none other than God Himself could be speaking from within His temple. This inner sanctuary is the most holy place in the entirety of creation. This fact tells us the most important thing for us to know about God’s anger: It is a holy wrath that responds in terrible violence precisely because of God’s moral perfection and the morally heinous nature of sin.

The holiness of God, the wrath of God, and the health of the creation are inseparably united. God’s wrath is His utter intolerance of whatever degrades and destroys. Here, the wrath of God is linked to His love, since He does not simply walk away in disgust from His fallen creation. The world belongs to Him and was created for the display of His glory. God in His love for His own work is utterly, irreconcilably opposed to sin, is resolved to stamp it out, and through His wrathful judgment is determined to cleanse the world for its holy destiny in the glorious return to Jesus Christ (Rom. 8:19-21).

Another aspect of God’s wrath is His vengeance against His enemies. Who are the recipients of God’s vengeful wrath? They are “the people who bore the mark of the beast and worship its image (v. 2). God’s wrath falls on the unbelieving world as servants and worshipers of His supreme opponent, the dragon and his beasts. Jesus said, “Whoever is not with me is against me” (Luke 11:23). Revelation shows this by depicting all mankind as bearing either the mark of the beast in idolatry or the mark of Christ through faith (Rev. 13:17-14:1). The world on which the bowls of God’s wrath are poured is a world that rejected God in rebellious unbelief and chose instead to worship the evil powers under Satan.

When we speak of the vengeance of God’s wrath, we are noting its necessity in saving His people from the wicked. Jesus taught His disciples to pray, “Deliver us from evil” (Matt. 6:13), and it is by His wrath on the ungodly that God fully answers this prayer. Therefore, God’s vengeful wrath is also His redeeming wrath. The cataclysmic outpouring of wrath that will end the history of this age will have the result of finally delivering the people of God and granting them the victory of eternal rest.

The next feature that indicates God’s anger is the justice of His wrath (vv. 5-6). “True and just are your judgments!” adds the voice of the martyrs (v. 7). We may notice that the judgments of the seven bowls correspond closely to the previous judgments of the seven trumpets. The point for us to grasp is that these bowl judgments exact a just retribution for sin. They represent God’s justice acting in punishment for violations of God’s law. Verse 6 says that since the wicked shed the blood of God’s servants, they are given blood to drink in return. They receive in God’s wrath exactly “what they deserve” (v. 6). This is in keeping with the pattern of judgment taught all through the Bible.

One more way to see God’s wrath vindicated in these verses is to note that the testimony of the angel and the martyrs joins to rejoice in the beneficial results of God’s wrath: “Yes, Lord God the Almighty, true and just are your judgments!” (v. 7). God’s wrath is beneficial because it upholds God’s law for the well-being of all creation. The world cannot be whole, good, and at peace while evil is in play. What good news it is that God’s wrath is directed at all sin and evil so that the world will be cleansed in the end and that God’s righteousness will finally reign over all.

How blessed it is when divine judgment achieves this in history, and how completely wonderful it will be when God concludes history in a holy, vengeful, and just wrath that puts everything to rights! David anticipated this joyous achievement in Psalm 58:11: “Mankind will say, ‘Surely there is a reward for the righteous; surely there is a God who judges on earth.’” And because of the goodness of God’s wrath in judging evil, the redeemed people of God will add their voices to those of the angels in worshiping God with great praise: “Just are you, O Holy One, who is and who was, for you brought these judgments. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and you have given them blood to drink. It is what they deserve!” (vv. 5-6).

In the book of Romans, Paul started by saying that “the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men” (Rom. 1:18). He added, “None is righteous, no, not one” (Rom. 3:10). Paul summarized that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23), and that therefore all are under God’s wrath. But the good news that we need declares that God sent His Son, Jesus, to be a propitiation for our sin, that is, a sacrifice to bear the wrath of God in the place of those who receive Him in faith.

Before this statement, everything is bad news because of God’s wrath on sin. After this provision of God’s grace, everything is good news because of the saving sufficiency of Jesus Christ. Revelation 16 has answered complaints against the wrath of God by showing that it is a holy, vengeful, just, and beneficial wrath. But for sinners themselves who are under the threat of God’s wrath, the true solution is to believe in Jesus so as to be freed from the righteous judgment that our sin deserves.

Revelation 16:1-7 Study Questions:

What are each of the four bowls of wrath poured out on and what do they have in common (vv.1-9)?

What then, are the implications and significance of these four bowls?

Why does the “angel of the waters” burst out in praise when the third bowl of wrath is poured out on the rivers and springs (vv. 4-6)?

How does the picture of God we find in this chapter reshape the way we understand the nature of “love” and our idea of how God extends His love to us?