Revelation 16:21

God’s eschatological and eternal wrath is inevitable; no one can prevent or hinder it from coming (Isa. Isa. 43:13). But there is a way to escape it, because “there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom. Rom. 8:1). Those who by faith trust in Christ alone for salvation will escape both God’s eschatological wrath (Rev. Rev. 3:10+) and His eternal wrath (1Th. 1Th. 1:10). They will not face judgment, because their sins were judged when Jesus died in their place on the cross (2Cor. 2Cor. 5:21; 1Pe. 1Pe. 2:24). In light of the inevitable judgment to come, the warning to all unrepentant sinners is “Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts” (Heb. Heb. 4:7).¹⁰

Has your conscience never smitten you, and made your sleep uneasy, and tinged your thinking with bitterness, for the sort of life you have been leading? Is there not some conscious shame and sense of wretchedness going along with the indulgence even of those darling lusts and dislike of sacred things which you allow to have place in your heart? And what is all this but the premonitory drops of that wrath of God which must presently come in great deluging showers? O child of man, give heed, and turn, and fly, before the threatening avalanche of the Almighty’s judgments comes!¹¹

Notes

¹ Concerning hailstones from God: Ex. Ex. 9:23-25; Jos. Jos. 10:11; Job Job 38:22; Ps. Ps. 18:12; Ps. 78:47; Ps. 105:32; Ps. 147:17; Ps. 148:8; Isa. Isa. 28:2, Isa. 28:17; Isa. 30:30; Isa. 32:19; Eze. Eze. 13:11; Eze. 38:22; Hag. Hag. 2:17; Rev. Rev. 8:7+; Rev. 11:19+; Rev. 16:21+.

² E. W. Bullinger, Commentary On Revelation (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 1984, 1935), Rev. 16:21.

³ Frederick William Danker and Walter Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 803.

⁴ Donald Grey Barnhouse, Revelation (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1971), 309.

⁵ Larry Spargimino, “How Preterists Misuse History to Advance their View of Prophecy,” in Tim LaHaye and Thomas Ice, eds., The End Times Controversy (Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers, 2003), 217.

⁶ Flavius Josephus, The Complete Works of Josephus (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 1981), s.v. “Wars V, vi, 3.”

⁷ [Steve Gregg, Revelation Four Views: A Parallel Commentary (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 1997), 394], [David Chilton, The Days of Vengeance (Tyler, TX: Dominion Press, 1987), 417].

⁸ Barnhouse, Revelation, 310.

⁹ The terminal velocity of ice. [Monty S. Mills, Revelations: An Exegetical Study of the Revelation to John (Dallas, TX: 3E Ministries, 1987), Rev. 16:18]

¹⁰ John MacArthur, Revelation 12-22 : The MacArthur New Testament Commentary (Chicago, IL: Moody Press, 2000), Rev. 16:21.

¹¹ J. A. Seiss, The Apocalypse: Lectures on the Book of Revelation (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1966), 375.