Beyond Comprehension
by Dennis Lee
“The temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from His power, and no one was able to enter the temple till the seven plagues of the seven angels were completed.” (Revelation 15:8)
In God’s future judgment He’s going to pour out His longsuffering wrath upon humanity’s transgressions. And while God promised He would never again destroy the earth with a flood (Genesis 9:15), He never meant that He would never do so again in some other way, nor would He put up with humanity’s disobedience forever.
Up to this point in history God has used everything in His arsenal to get us to repent, to get us to turn away from our sin and back unto Him. Weapons like His love, mercy, grace, forgiveness, and compassion, along with judgment, trials, and tribulations. In fact, God pulled out His greatest weapon of all, which is His greatest gift, and that is the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ, who died upon the cross so that our sins can be forgiven so we can come back into a right relationship with Him.
But at this juncture in human history known as the seven bowl judgments, God’s longsuffering towards humanity’s sin has ended, and the fullness of His wrath is about to be poured out upon the whole earth.
What caught my attention at this point was that no one, not His angels or the living creatures that surround the throne, nor the elders who sit before His throne could enter in before Him or abide in His presence.
I have several speculations as to the possible reason.
First, there is still that aspect of God that’s unapproachable. It would seem that God’s power and wrath are so great that no created being, redeemed or not, can abide in His presence at this time.
The second may be that the Lord is irreconcilable in His judgment, and He wants there to be no rejoicing or praise in His presence when His judgments are being poured out.
Finally, there’s the possibility that God is in His temple weeping and mourning, and He wishes to grieve amongst Himself, that is, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, because no one else could possibly understand what He’s going through to its fullest extent.
What I do know, however, is that no one will ever know, because no one is in His presence, and God nowhere has revealed what He is doing.
What I have come to learn is that there will be many such moments, not only in my own life but also in human history where I simply will not have all the answers to some of life’s difficult moments. But what I have come to learn is that instead of pondering the unanswerable, I need to move forward with what I do know and live my life with the revelation God has given to me, most of which is found within the Bible.
Now, this doesn’t mean I should never ask, ponder, or search out God in these areas of life, but when no answer comes, when all seems silent in heaven; then I should continue doing what God has given for me to accomplish, and leave the unanswerable in God’s capable hands.
Dennis Lee is Senior Pastor at Living Waters Fellowship, Mesquite, Nevada. He presently has two books, “From Here to There: A Journey to Spiritual Transformation,” and “Wells of Living Waters,” He also writes a religious column for a local newspaper entitled, “Rediscover the Bible for Life,” along with daily devotionals and thoughts that he posts on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Living Waters Fellowship’s Website
Feature Image by 3D Animation Production Company from Pixabay
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