The Nations Raged, But Your Wrath Came

Rev. 11:14-19 (ESV)
The second woe has passed; behold, the third woe is soon to come.
[15] Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever." [16] And the twenty-four elders who sit on their thrones before God fell on their faces and worshiped God, [17] saying,

"We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty,
who is and who was,
for you have taken your great power
and begun to reign.
[18] The nations raged,
but your wrath came,
and the time for the dead to be judged,
and for rewarding your servants, the prophets and saints,
and those who fear your name,
both small and great,
and for destroying the destroyers of the earth."

[19] Then God's temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple. There were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail.

“The nations raged, but your wrath came.” The wrath of god does not normally conjure up cheery images. When contemplating the wrath of God, the words of Amos are always on my mind: Amos 5:18 (ESV)
Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord!
Why would you have the day of the Lord?
It is darkness, and not light, “
And yet at the same time we pray with these 24 elders, They kingdom come, maranatha. We have as Christians a love hate relationship with it. I think that is because God himself has a love hate relationship with it. He doesn’t want it. It pains him to think of so many going to Hell. As it pains us to think of so many family members sharing the same fate with the world.
And yet, the nations rage. And we cannot stand to be in this world. We cannot love it, they way we look forward to our heavenly home. The nations rage. The nations, this world, the devil, sin, death, make it unbearable for us to live here. Some days are great. Some days are tough to bear.
In the end the day of wrath will come. In the end God will begin to reign in earnest, no longer tolerating the evil of this world, the stench of its sin will be complete. In the meantime he extends his grace, he allows this world to continue that his grace might abound through us, and every day would be another day to share the gospel with another friend, another family member, another stranger that they too would hear the word of God, believe in Christ, and share the joys of heaven with us. God lets this world continue so that the world might know that his son died “for you” yes you, and rose to give you life.