Day 12/27 – Wrath or Repentance

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Thoughts from the Diary of a Desperate Man by Walter Henrichsen
Wrath or Repentance
Day Three Hundred Sixty-one

“Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.” Ecclesiastes 8:11

People through the centuries have understood the wisdom of Solomon’s words. If a criminal’s punishment is postponed or drug out, both he and those familiar with the situation lose confidence in, and their fear of, justice. The criminal, for he believes that he can avoid punishment, and the people, for they believe there is no justice.

Paul, when writing on the principles of justice says, “Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?”461 God intentionally violates His own principle of speedily executing sentence against an evil work in order to allow people to repent. If He immediately judged you when you sin, you would be damned, having no opportunity to experience His grace.

You can easily misunderstand God’s strategy in holding back on His executing judgment, thinking that either He does not care, or that there will be no accountability. Such a mistake can prove to be fatal. “These things you have done and I have been silent; you thought that I was one like yourself. But now I rebuke you, and lay the charge before you.”462 Paul continues his thought on the principles of justice with this warning: “But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for rourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.”463

461 Romans 2:4
462 Psalm 50:21
463 Romans 2:5

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Zechariah 1-4 Revelation 18 (New King James Version)

Zechariah 1-4
A Call to Repentance
1 In the eighth month of the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet, saying, 2 “The Lord has been very angry with your fathers. 3 Therefore say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Return to Me,” says the Lord of hosts, “and I will return to you,” says the Lord of hosts. 4 “Do not be like your fathers, to whom the former prophets preached, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Turn now from your evil ways and your evil deeds.” ’ But they did not hear nor heed Me,” says the Lord.
5
“Your fathers, where are they?
And the prophets, do they live forever?
6
Yet surely My words and My statutes,
Which I commanded My servants the prophets,
Did they not overtake your fathers?
“So they returned and said:
‘Just as the Lord of hosts determined to do to us,
According to our ways and according to our deeds,
So He has dealt with us.’ ” ’ ”
Vision of the Horses
7 On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, which is the month Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet: 8 I saw by night, and behold, a man riding on a red horse, and it stood among the myrtle trees in the hollow; and behind him were horses: red, sorrel, and white. 9 Then I said, “My lord, what are these?” So the angel who talked with me said to me, “I will show you what they are.”
10 And the man who stood among the myrtle trees answered and said, “These are the ones whom the Lord has sent to walk to and fro throughout the earth.”
11 So they answered the Angel of the Lord, who stood among the myrtle trees, and said, “We have walked to and fro throughout the earth, and behold, all the earth is [a]resting quietly.”
The Lord Will Comfort Zion
12 Then the Angel of the Lord answered and said, “O Lord of hosts, how long will You not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which You were angry these seventy years?”
13 And the Lord answered the angel who talked to me, with good and comforting words. 14 So the angel who spoke with me said to me, [b]“Proclaim, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts:
“I am zealous[c] for Jerusalem
And for Zion with great [d]zeal.
15
I am exceedingly angry with the nations at ease;
For I was a little angry,
And they helped—but with evil intent.”
16 ‘Therefore thus says the Lord:
“I am returning to Jerusalem with mercy;
My house shall be built in it,” says the Lord of hosts,
“And a surveyor’s line shall be stretched out over Jerusalem.” ’
17 “Again proclaim, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts:
“My cities shall again [e]spread out through prosperity;
The Lord will again comfort Zion,
And will again choose Jerusalem.” ’ ”
Vision of the Horns
18 Then I raised my eyes and looked, and there were four horns. 19 And I said to the angel who talked with me, “What are these?”
So he answered me, “These are the [f]horns that have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.”
20 Then the Lord showed me four craftsmen. 21 And I said, “What are these coming to do?”
So he said, “These are the horns that scattered Judah, so that no one could lift up his head; but [g]the craftsmen are coming to terrify them, to cast out the horns of the nations that lifted up their horn against the land of Judah to scatter it.”
Vision of the Measuring Line
2 Then I raised my eyes and looked, and behold, a man with a measuring line in his hand. 2 So I said, “Where are you going?”
And he said to me, “To measure Jerusalem, to see what is its width and what is its length.”
3 And there was the angel who talked with me, going out; and another angel was coming out to meet him, 4 who said to him, “Run, speak to this young man, saying: ‘Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns without walls, because of the multitude of men and livestock in it. 5 For I,’ says the Lord, ‘will be a wall of fire all around her, and I will be the glory in her midst.’ ”
Future Joy of Zion and Many Nations
6 “Up, up! Flee from the land of the north,” says the Lord; “for I have spread you abroad like the four winds of heaven,” says the Lord. 7 “Up, Zion! Escape, you who dwell with the daughter of Babylon.”
8 For thus says the Lord of hosts: “He sent Me after glory, to the nations which plunder you; for he who touches you touches the [h]apple of His eye. 9 For surely I will shake My hand against them, and they shall become [i]spoil for their servants. Then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent Me.
10 “Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion! For behold, I am coming and I will dwell in your midst,” says the Lord. 11 “Many nations shall be joined to the Lord in that day, and they shall become My people. And I will dwell in your midst. Then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent Me to you. 12 And the Lord will take possession of Judah as His inheritance in the Holy Land, and will again choose Jerusalem. 13 Be silent, all flesh, before the Lord, for He is aroused from His holy habitation!”
Vision of the High Priest
3 Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the Angel of the Lord, and Satan[j] standing at his right hand to oppose him. 2 And the Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you, Satan! The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?”
3 Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and was standing before the Angel.
4 Then He answered and spoke to those who stood before Him, saying, “Take away the filthy garments from him.” And to him He said, “See, I have removed your iniquity from you, and I will clothe you with rich robes.”
5 And I said, “Let them put a clean turban on his head.”
So they put a clean turban on his head, and they put the clothes on him. And the Angel of the Lord stood by.
The Coming Branch
6 Then the Angel of the Lord admonished Joshua, saying, 7 “Thus says the Lord of hosts:
‘If you will walk in My ways,
And if you will keep My command,
Then you shall also judge My house,
And likewise have charge of My courts;
I will give you places to walk
Among these who stand here.
8
‘Hear, O Joshua, the high priest,
You and your companions who sit before you,
For they are a[k] wondrous sign;
For behold, I am bringing forth My Servant the BRANCH.
9
For behold, the stone
That I have laid before Joshua:
Upon the stone are seven eyes.
Behold, I will engrave its inscription,’
Says the Lord of hosts,
‘And I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.
10
In that day,’ says the Lord of hosts,
‘Everyone will invite his neighbor
Under his vine and under his fig tree.’ ”
Vision of the Lampstand and Olive Trees
4 Now the angel who talked with me came back and wakened me, as a man who is wakened out of his sleep. 2 And he said to me, “What do you see?”
So I said, “I am looking, and there is a lampstand of solid gold with a bowl on top of it, and on the stand seven lamps with seven pipes to the seven lamps. 3 Two olive trees are by it, one at the right of the bowl and the other at its left.” 4 So I answered and spoke to the angel who talked with me, saying, “What are these, my lord?”
5 Then the angel who talked with me answered and said to me, “Do you not know what these are?”
And I said, “No, my lord.”
6 So he answered and said to me:
“This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel:
‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’
Says the Lord of hosts.
7
‘Who are you, O great mountain?
Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain!
And he shall bring forth the capstone
With shouts of “Grace, grace to it!” ’ ”
8 Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
9
“The hands of Zerubbabel
Have laid the foundation of this [l]temple;
His hands shall also finish it.
Then you will know
That the Lord of hosts has sent Me to you.
10
For who has despised the day of small things?
For these seven rejoice to see
The [m]plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel.
They are the eyes of the Lord,
Which scan to and fro throughout the whole earth.”
11 Then I answered and said to him, “What are these two olive trees—at the right of the lampstand and at its left?” 12 And I further answered and said to him, “What are these two olive branches that drip [n]into the receptacles of the two gold pipes from which the golden oil drains?”
13 Then he answered me and said, “Do you not know what these are?”
And I said, “No, my lord.”
14 So he said, “These are the two [o]anointed ones, who stand beside the Lord of the whole earth.”
Footnotes:
• Zechariah 1:11 Lit. sitting and quiet
• Zechariah 1:14 Lit. Cry out
• Zechariah 1:14 Or jealous
• Zechariah 1:14 Or jealousy
• Zechariah 1:17 Or overflow with good
• Zechariah 1:19 Kingdoms or powers
• Zechariah 1:21 Lit. these
• Zechariah 2:8 Lit. pupil
• Zechariah 2:9 booty or plunder
• Zechariah 3:1 Lit. the Adversary
• Zechariah 3:8 Lit. men of a sign or wonder
• Zechariah 4:9 Lit. house
• Zechariah 4:10 Lit. plummet stone
• Zechariah 4:12 Lit. into the hands of
• Zechariah 4:14 Lit. sons of fresh oil

Revelation 18
The Fall of Babylon the Great
18 After these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was illuminated with his glory. 2 And he cried [a]mightily with a loud voice, saying, “Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and has become a dwelling place of demons, a prison for every foul spirit, and a cage for every unclean and hated bird! 3 For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich through the [b]abundance of her luxury.”
4 And I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues. 5 For her sins [c]have reached to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities. 6 Render to her just as she rendered [d]to you, and repay her double according to her works; in the cup which she has mixed, mix double for her. 7 In the measure that she glorified herself and lived [e]luxuriously, in the same measure give her torment and sorrow; for she says in her heart, ‘I sit as queen, and am no widow, and will not see sorrow.’ 8 Therefore her plagues will come in one day—death and mourning and famine. And she will be utterly burned with fire, for strong is the Lord God who [f]judges her.
The World Mourns Babylon’s Fall
9 “The kings of the earth who committed fornication and lived luxuriously with her will weep and lament for her, when they see the smoke of her burning, 10 standing at a distance for fear of her torment, saying, ‘Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! For in one hour your judgment has come.’
11 “And the merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her, for no one buys their merchandise anymore: 12 merchandise of gold and silver, precious stones and pearls, fine linen and purple, silk and scarlet, every kind of citron wood, every kind of object of ivory, every kind of object of most precious wood, bronze, iron, and marble; 13 and cinnamon and incense, fragrant oil and frankincense, wine and oil, fine flour and wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and bodies and souls of men. 14 The fruit that your soul longed for has gone from you, and all the things which are rich and splendid have [g]gone from you, and you shall find them no more at all. 15 The merchants of these things, who became rich by her, will stand at a distance for fear of her torment, weeping and wailing, 16 and saying, ‘Alas, alas, that great city that was clothed in fine linen, purple, and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls! 17 For in one hour such great riches [h]came to nothing.’ Every shipmaster, all who travel by ship, sailors, and as many as trade on the sea, stood at a distance 18 and cried out when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, ‘What is like this great city?’
19 “They threw dust on their heads and cried out, weeping and wailing, and saying, ‘Alas, alas, that great city, in which all who had ships on the sea became rich by her wealth! For in one hour she [i]is made desolate.’
20 “Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you [j]holy apostles and prophets, for God has avenged you on her!”
Finality of Babylon’s Fall
21 Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, “Thus with violence the great city Babylon shall be thrown down, and shall not be found anymore. 22 The sound of harpists, musicians, flutists, and trumpeters shall not be heard in you anymore. No craftsman of any craft shall be found in you anymore, and the sound of a millstone shall not be heard in you anymore. 23 The light of a lamp shall not shine in you anymore, and the voice of bridegroom and bride shall not be heard in you anymore. For your merchants were the great men of the earth, for by your sorcery all the nations were deceived. 24 And in her was found the blood of prophets and saints, and of all who were slain on the earth.”
Footnotes:
• Revelation 18:2 NU, M omit mightily
• Revelation 18:3 Lit. strengths
• Revelation 18:5 NU, M have been heaped up
• Revelation 18:6 NU, M omit to you
• Revelation 18:7 sensually
• Revelation 18:8 NU, M has judged
• Revelation 18:14 NU, M been lost to you
• Revelation 18:17 have been laid waste
• Revelation 18:19 have been laid waste
• Revelation 18:20 NU, M saints and apostles