Blaspheming God (Speaking Irreverently about Him)
Meditation for the week of January 18, 2009
Revelation 16:21
And great hail from heaven fell upon men, each hailstone about the weight of a talent. Men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, since that plague was exceedingly great.
Armageddon is a term that inspires fear and awe in people. If you want to sell a book, make sure it has Armageddon someplace in its name. Armageddon is the last great battle between good and evil. The first Beast of Revelation 13 likely leads the charge of those who are against Israel. According to Zechariah 12:3, ultimately all other nations will be gathered against Jerusalem. Whether this is a part of the battle of Armageddon or subsequent to it is hard to know. At some point, if the Unites States still exists, it will have turned its back on the nation of Israel and will be fighting against it.
This battle will be the culmination of all the judgments of the tribulation period. We know that all those going into the tribulation period will be unbelievers since the believers will be caught up to be with the Lord and to be spared from this day of God’s wrath. I personally believe that anyone who has not rejected the sacrifice of Christ at the cross will be safe even though they are not saved. They also will go to be with the Lord. That will leave those who could have been saved but who have rejected the Lord to be deceived by the great deception that will take place at that time. They didn’t believe the truth so they will believe the Liar (2 Thessalonians 2:11).
This period of time will involve natural disasters, chemical and biological warfare, as well as nuclear warfare. Every instrument of death that man has ever invented will be unleashed in that day. But God is also going to unleash the weapons of his arsenal. I believe that Israel would lose this last great battle if they were left to themselves. But the Lord will come on the white horse (Revelation 19) and the remnant of Israel will turn to the Lord in true repentance saying, “Why He was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, with His stripes we are healed (Isiah 53:5).†The Lord will then save them physically for His kingdom and He will destroy those trying to destroy them. One of the means that He uses is 100 pound hailstones.
In the past, when natural disasters occurred or if we got sick or if the economy failed, we all asked if God was judging us and we confessed our sins and in many cases came to trust in the Lord for salvation. But this time it will not work that way. Apart from the nation of Israel, people will blaspheme God. They will not question the reality of God or His judgment, they just won’t submit to Him. They will be like Pharaoh who knew not the Lord (Exodus 5:2) and whose heart was hardened every time the Lord showed His power in the plagues that were poured out on Egypt.
I have noticed that in our present day there are many people like this. They are people who realize that God is speaking to them and even judging them, but they don’t care. They shake their fist in face of God and blame Him for judging them for living a life that denies the Lord who died to save them. I don’t understand this logic, but it is going to be the thinking of many in the coming tribulation period and it is the thinking of many today.
Better thinking would be to recognize that God is in control and that He has the ability to save to the uttermost those who come to God through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. It is one thing to believe that there is no God and to assume time and chance accounts for things that happen that are predicted in the Bible. But to blaspheme God when He is judging sin and sinful nations is absolutely unreasonable thinking. Why would anyone blaspheme God unless they were convinced He actually exists? And if He actually exists, do they think that they are going to be able to resist Him and get by with it?
God is always the final winner, and He always has the last word. We need to trust Him, not blaspheme Him.
Bruce Collins