Rev 16:1-11 is the reading assigned for the day. In that reading we see the third of seven cycles start – the bowls of the wrath of God. Two textual notes of interest. During the 1st cycle (trumpets) the plagues only effected 1/3rd of anything where with the bowls that limitation is removed. Also, the trumpets were preceded by the prayers of the saints (rev 8:3-6). The plagues that followed the trumpets can be seen as the answer to the prayers of the saints. The bowls are God’s initiation alone. The voice from the temple tells them to go. The only voice from the temple is God.
Enlightenment thought made God (if he existed) to be the galactic watchmaker. God became high above it all. He created the rules and then more or less phased himself out. If anyone is an Anne Rice Vampire fan the God of the Enlightenment resembles the vampire queen – like an marble statue. The beauty and latent power are present, but the rules so complete that no movement is necessary. The ancient greeks ended up at the same place – Aristotle’s unmoved mover. That is not the God the bible portrays. The God of the Bible is scarier. He is personal. He has attributes not like the God of the philosophers attributes of immutible or beyond suffering and physicality. The God of the bible gets angry. Is jealous. He compares himself constantly with a cuckolded husband. He also describes himself as someone who loves that unfaithful spouse so much as to buy them back out of prostitution (go read Hosea, its a short book).
Even in the midst of passages like today’s when the wrath of God is poured out, the goal is to bring people back to himself. But the refrain is – they did not repent of their deeds. This personal God wants to be in a relationship with humanity. He wants his people. But, they do not want Him. The impersonal God in a box is better. He doesn’t interfere with my plans, or I can discern His ways and control them. This personal God wants change. He wants us to repent. He wants to welcome us back. Going home after years away is scary. Letting someone else help chart your course is scary. But that is what the God of the Bible is after.
