Have you ever sensed an impending sense of doom? Much like when you have done something wrong and you know the punishment will just be terrible. I remember that once getting in trouble at Church and I knew my Dad was furious. I was on the front seat playing with a friend. He was breaking my hot A-Team van and I was pretty upset. In a moment I forgot I was in an assembly and my Dad was preaching. I guess me and this kid got into a type of tussle on the front row and my Dad stopped preaching and told me to go sit with my Mom and he would deal with me after church. I remember walking in embarrassment to the seat my Mom was sitting in and it felt like that as I walked I was floating. I knew it was bad and I was in big trouble. I remember my Dad was in the back greeting people after church and I thought I would just slip by. I thought that if I could just get to the foyer of the church I would make it free. I got up a head of steam and started to run down the aisle. There were steps that went down from the auditorium to the foyer of the church and I wanted to run and jump down into the foyer and by pass my dad shaking hands. Well in mid leap he caught me in the air and quickly took me in the bathroom and beat the snot out of me and then walked right out and kept shaking hands like nothing happened. That experience burned into my memory and I never acted up in Church again. I deserved that beating and probably deserved more. I was guilty and I knew I was wrong. I deserved punishment.
There is something inside all of us that makes us feel guilty when we do something bad. It sticks with us and we know that there is something bigger than us. Something that is greater than all. When we sin we offend God, the Creator of the Universe.
Scripture tells us that sin is an affront to God. God is Holy, God is Just and sin cannot be tolerated in any way.
Our sin is a serious problem.
Scripture tells us that there will be a day in which God will come in judgment. He will come and put this world to rights and people will answer for the deeds that they did in the body.
People long to KNOW GOD – People want to know God so that they can seek Him for salvation.
2 Thessalonians 1: 5-8
5 This is a plain indication of God's righteous judgment so that you will be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which indeed you are suffering. 6 For after all it is only just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, 7 and to give relief to you who are afflicted and to us as well when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, 8 dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus
Paul is speaking to a group that is being persecuted for the faith and is letting them know that there will be retribution. God can put the world to rights and will bring Justice.
God will come and take retribution to those that do not know God.
Paul is talking about a cosmic collision course that the world is on to God. We are all going to stand before God.
All tongues will confess and every knee will bow, it will be done in this life or the life to come.
There are two types of KNOWING GOD that the Bible talks about and we all have to deal with that fact.
There is a knowing God that is positive and brings hope and assurance of salvation.
There is another type that deals with falling in the wrath of a God that will deal retribution in His JUSTICE on all that do not KNOW HIM through Jesus His Son.
Two types of KNOWING GOD we will look at this morning.
Also, we will look at two attributes of God that people have such a hard time holding together and hopefully we can make sense of them.
1) God’s Justice and Holy Nature
2) God’s infinite Love and Mercy
How can we hold together a Just God and a Loving and Merciful God at the same time?
There is a case in the OT that proves as an example of what this is like and the character of God.
Our story finds Israel crying out to God for help in slavery in Egypt. God hears their cry and sends Moses.
We read.
“And the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring the Israelites out of it" (Exodus 7:5).
Yadah is translated as 'will know,' but can better be described as experiencing intimately.
It is not as much a story of freedom for Israelites as it is a story of confrontation between two great powers.
God is going to visit Egypt in His Just wrath because of their sin. God is going to let the Egyptians KNOW HIM.
This type of Knowing is knowing of His Justice and Holiness.
The Just HOLY God of Israel will come in judgment of Egypt.
Egypt had made an Empire of the backs of the Hebrew Slaves and God’s anger was hot against Egypt for what they had done. The warfare that God brings against Egypt is against all the gods of Egypt. Each plague was a particular attack on an Egyptian God.
This warfare of God against Egypt – this visitation – this getting to know God will be intense.
God declares war on the gods of Egypt.
– Each plague specifically targets an Egyptian god:
– Water to blood—Osiris
– Frogs—Heqet
– Gnats (lice)--Geb
– Flies (swarms)--Nepthys
– Plague on Livestock— Apis
– Boils—Thoth
– Hail—Isis
– Grasshoppers—Min
– Darkness—Amun Ra
With all the plagues that come upon Egypt we read that Pharaoh hardened his heart and eventually God Himself would harden Pharaoh’s heart.
Cavid is 'hardened,' or more accurately 'made heavy' —something God did to Pharaoh.
Egyptians believed that there was a scale as you approached the afterlife.
Your heart needed to be lighter than a feather in order to pass. Egyptians thought that sin (primarily doing something to offend the gods) made a person's heart heavy.
They believed that the only sinless person in Egypt was Pharaoh, and he was never to be judged.
Pharaoh's heart was made heavy by his stubbornness. The power of Pharaoh is undermined if he is a sinner.
IN THIS STORY OF THE EXODUS GOD IS TEACHING US THAT EVEN THE MOST POWERFUL LEADER IN THE WORLD IS UNDER THE JUDGMENT OF GOD.
HIS HEART WAS HEAVY AND GOD CAN SEE RIGHT THROUGH A PERSON’S OUTWARD TO SEE THEIR HEART.
PHARAOH’S HEART WAS HARDENED TO GLORIFY GOD IN THE BRINGING OF THE FINAL PLAGUE OF ULTIMATE JUDGMENT.
GOD’S JUDGMENT WAS BROUGHT AGAINST EGYPT WITH THE DEATH OF THE FIRSTBORN BUT ISRAEL WOULD BE SAVED FROM THIS PLAGUE.
The Final Plague will be the one that really shows God’s Just Final back breaking judgment of Egypt.
“On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn—both men and animals—and I will bring judgement on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord” (Exodus 12:12).
They were to put the blood of the Lamb on the doorposts of their house that night of Passover.
The first Passover was a deliverance from the wrath of God.
If you had the blood on the door posts of the house you would be passed over by the death angel. Imagine the suspense but there is more to the story.
All of the 1st 9 plagues Israel had been an innocent bystander but the 10th plague would require Israel to be part of this plague.
God tells Israel to go get a lamb or ram and tie it up outside their house for 4 days and then on the 5th day they would sacrifice the lamb and roast it so that everyone in Egypt could smell the roasting Lamb.
There is one problem with this. Killing a lamb in Egypt was illegal.
They saw the Lamb as a protector of Pharaoh. Engravings in Ancient Egypt show Pharaoh under a lamb and the lamb acting as a protector.
Aman-RA, the chief god of Egypt, was symbolized by a lamb.
To kill a lamb, to tie one up in front of your house, to roast it so the entire city would smell it would require some guts and faith.
It break it down and make it simple God is saying this to Israel:
MY WRATH IS COMING – GET READY – PUT YOUR FAITH IN ME, FAITH THAT IS SO ALIVE THAT IT WILL RISK EVERYTHING AND YOU WILL BE SAVED.
ISRAEL IS REQUIRED TO DO THIS ACT OF FAITH TO BE SAVED.
WOULD THEY HAVE FAITH THAT TRUSTS TOTALLY IN GOD OR WILL THEY COWER IN FEAR OF THE EGYPTIANS?
We know this story – the Death Angel comes and passes over the houses of the Israelites with the blood on the doorposts.
God shows his gracious love to Israel but shows Justice to Egypt.
Israel knows God as a Redeemer but Egypt knows God as a God that takes retribution on those that do not do His will.
But this story goes further. It goes to the very ritual of Passover.
The Jews would celebrate this feast for many years to come.
Every year the Israelites would celebrate their deliverance from Egypt and would do so by sacrificing a Lamb, eating bitter herbs, unleavened bread, and cups of wine.
The ceremony at one point in Israel’s history was very concise. It had four cups of wine that would be celebrated.
There came to be a fifth cup that Israel would celebrate in this ceremony. This fifth cup would be set off on a Table to the side but would not be drunk from.
This cup would be called the cup of Elijah. The 5th cup of Passover or the cup of Elijah was the cup of God’s vengeance on the world. Just as God poured out His wrath on the Egyptians, the Jews believed that God would one day pour out His wrath on all the nations.
Malachi the Prophet foretells of this time when Elijah would return before the Day of the Lord.
Malachi 4:5
"Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the LORD.
The great Prophet Elijah would return right before this event. The cup of wrath would come when Elijah came back.
If you remember Jesus tells us that in the ministry of John the Baptist Elijah the prophet had returned to Israel. The Messiah would be coming soon and God’s wrath would come against the nations.
This cup of wrath would be identified with Messianic times.
Jeremiah the prophet speaks of this wrath to come against the nations that have rejected God.
Jeremiah’s prophecy was against Judah, the surrounding nations, and also Babylon.
Except for a couple of points of interest, this passage reads like a typical judgment chapter in the Old Testament prophets, so it is tempting to pass on its significance.
First of all, it goes to great lengths to describe not only God’s heavy judgment, but the depth of sin as well. We learn, through the weight of the judgment how weighty sin is: the punishment fits the crime, so to speak.
It is a lesson throughout the book of Jeremiah that judgment is neither arbitrary nor pleasant for God. It is always the just response to rebellion after God has pleaded with His people over and over to repent.
Secondly, Jeremiah uses the image of a cup of wrath.
A fairly common image for the Old Testament prophets, it is designed to give us an image of a goblet filled to the brim and overflowing with wine.
Jeremiah is vivid in his description of this cup.
Jeremiah 25: 13-16
13 'I will bring upon that land all My words which I have pronounced against it, all that is written in this book which Jeremiah has prophesied against all the nations. 14 '(For many nations and great kings will make slaves of them, even them; and I will recompense them according to their deeds and according to the work of their hands.)' " 15 For thus the LORD, the God of Israel, says to me, "Take this cup of the wine of wrath from My hand and cause all the nations to whom I send you to drink it. 16 "They will drink and stagger and go mad because of the sword that I will send among them."
27 "You shall say to them, 'Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, "Drink, be drunk, vomit, fall and rise no more because of the sword which I will send among you."' 28 "And it will be, if they refuse to take the cup from your hand to drink, then you will say to them, 'Thus says the LORD of hosts : "You shall surely drink !
These are images, not of someone who has had “one too many,” but of something akin to alcohol poisoning.
The rebellious decisions made by these people have destroyed them.
This, however, is not all there is to be said about this cup or wrath.
Isaiah 51:17-23 also describes this time in history for Judah with the same image. But near the end something drastic and unexpected is recorded.
Isaiah 51: 22
22 Thus says you Lord, the Lord, your God who pleads the cause of his people: “Behold, I have taken from your hand the cup of staggering; the bowl of my wrath you shall drink no more…”
How is it the cup is simply taken away from sinful and rebellious people?
The answer lies in a prayer spoken by Jesus moments before his trial and crucifixion.
Remember that Jesus accomplishes His Atonement at Passover.
It was at Passover that the mystery of the 5th cup of Wrath was celebrated. They wanted to know about this Cup.
There was a mystery to the Cup, how would it be given to the nations but not to Israel? In the prophets the wrath of God’s judgment was promised to all that were disobedient.
Then answer is found in Matthew’s Gospel.
In Matthew 26:39 He prays, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”
You see, Jesus saw this cup of wrath, being poured out on Him, and shook.
At this part of the Passover ceremony, the door is opened, and the head of household says, “Pour out your wrath on the world!”
In the traditional ceremony, this cup is filled but not drunk — not until the coming of Elijah. But Jesus drank the cup.
Jesus has not only taken away this cup of wrath, He has provided a cup of a new relationship, the one provided by his blood shed on the cross.
Jesus drank the cup of God’s wrath against the nations
What we see in the passion of Jesus is the wrath of God that was reserved for the nations poured out on Jesus. Jesus willfully accepted the separation from God the Father by taking on that wrath that we deserve.
Jesus became sin on our behalf.
2 Corinthians 5: 21
21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
The imagery from the story of the Exodus comes to its fruition in Jesus. Jesus takes on the wrath of God.
We talked earlier about two types of Knowing and two ways to look at God.
Scripture promises that there are two ways we are going to know God. We can KNOW GOD’s Wrath or we can know GOD’s Deliverance.
We can be like Pharaoh and have a hard heart and experience God in a way that lets us know that He is the living Just God of Israel.
We can be like the Israelites and step out in faith and believe in God’s deliverance and know him in a different way.
In Jesus we see the true LOVE of God. God is perfect and Just and out of His love He has provided a way to escape the wrath of our sin.
Jesus allowed that wrath to come crashing down on HIM.
Romans 2: 5
But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God,
Romans 5: 7-9
7 For one will hardly die for a righteous man ; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him
Paul tells us the beautiful message of the Gospel that Jesus takes on the wrath so that through HIS blood we can be cleansed.
Without the blood of Jesus covering us, we will experience the wrath that we deserve.
On that final day we will fall into the hands of the living God either saved or lost.
1 Thessalonians 1: 9-10
you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God, 10 and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come.
We can be rescued or we can turn our back on the loving sacrifice of Jesus.
John 3: 35-36
35 "The Father loves the Son and has given all things into His hand. 36 "He who believes in the Son has eternal life ; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him."
Just as Israel was given a chance, we are given a chance.
The wrath of God will come on one great day. It can be a day of vindication for Christians or a day of wrath and destruction for those that do not know Jesus.
There is a way that you can have confidence and assurance that you are in fellowship with God.
Satan would like nothing more than dog you and accuse you of sin. Satan knows that his time is limited and would love nothing more than to take as many with him as he can.
One of the names of Satan is ACCUSER – He is the one that stands and accuses us against God. We see this in the book of Job and the book of Zechariah- Satan accuses God’s elect.
In the 14th century, Robert Bruce of Scotland was leading his men in a battle to gain independence from England. Near the end of the conflict, the English wanted to capture Bruce to keep him from the Scottish crown. So they put his own bloodhounds on his trail. When the bloodhounds got close, Bruce could hear their baying. His attendant said, 'We are done for. They are on your trail, and they will reveal your hiding place."
Bruce replied, 'It's all right." Then he headed for a stream that flowed through the forest. He plunged in and waded upstream a short distance. When he came out on the other bank, he was in the depths of the forest. Within minutes, the hounds, tracing their master's steps, came to the bank. They went no farther. The English soldiers urged them on, but the trail was broken. The stream had carried the scent away. A short time later, the crown of Scotland rested on the head of Robert Bruce.
The memory of our sins, prodded on by Satan, can be like those baying dogs,but a stream flows, red with the blood of God's own Son.
By grace through faith we are safe. No sin-hound can touch us. The trail is broken by the precious blood of Christ.
'The purpose of the cross," someone observed, 'is to repair the irreparable."
Today, put on Christ if you haven’t. Put your trust and faith in Him and put him on in Baptism being cleansed in His blood.
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