I’m chewing on the phrase this morning not because I particularly like dwelling on judgment, but because I’m reminded that our God is a full-dimensional God. That to pick and choose what attributes of God we want to be the attributes of God is really just to create a God after our own liking. But our God is a multi-faceted God and we don’t get to select the facets. He is the perfect, eternal, source — and thus definition — of all that comprises the nature of a living being (save for sin, that one’s on us alone). And honestly, these multi-facets sometimes create a holy dissonance. Case in point? The phrase I’m chewing on: The wrath of the Lamb.

Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”

(Revelation 6:15-17 ESV)

The sixth seal has been opened (Rev. 6:12). A cataclysmic, world-wide earthquake occurs creating indescribable meteorological and geological upheaval. And everyone on earth — everyone, from king to slave, from the rich and powerful to the poor and weak — hides as they scramble for cover under the displaced mountains for refuge. Refuge from what? From the holy face of Him who is seated on the throne. And, from the wrath of the Lamb.

The Lamb? Yeah, the Lamb. The Lamb that came in flesh to offer Himself as a once for all sacrifice for the sins of mankind? Yes, Him. The One pictured in Isaiah, the suffering Servant who like a lamb was “led to the slaughter and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth” (Isa. 53:7), that Lamb? Yup. We’re talking the meek and lowly Jesus here, right? Right.

The Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, between the throne and the four living creatures and elders (Rev. 5:6). The Lamb recognized by those in heaven as “the Lion of the tribe of Judah” (Rev. 5:5). The sacrificial Lamb also the sovereign Lion. The Lamb who gave Himself fully, one day requiring all to give an account fully. For those who by faith are the ransomed — those resting as the people of God under the cover provided at Calvary — their plea will be the blood of the Lamb. For those who refused Him, they’ll cry out to be covered by “mountains and rocks” as they try to hide from the wrath of the Lamb.

Behold our God in His fullness. Just as God is love, so He is wrath. Just as His love is holy and perfect, so too His wrath. Hard to wrap your head around, nevertheless true. It’s the stuff that overloads the brain, overwhelms the heart, and compels those who see the Lamb to fall to their knees.

Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!”

(Revelation 5:11-12 ESV)

Amen.

Behold the Lamb.

By His grace. For His glory.