THE PURPOSE OF GOD'S WRATH

The word "wrath" appears 198 times in 194 verses of the King James Bible.  It appears that prior to the Book of Revelation, whenever the word is used in reference to the wrath of God, it is a warning of pending consequences for sin.  For example, in John 16:8-11, Jesus tells His disciples that a great part of the Comforter's work will be to warn the world to repent of their sin; to inform them of the covering of righteousness which is offered through faith in Jesus Christ (see Isa. 61:10; Mt. 22:10-12; 2 Cor. 5:21); and of the certainty that they will be judged of God for rejecting Christ's offer of salvation.

Perhaps the best way to understand the reason for God's wrath, is to look at the thirteen times it is mentioned in Revelation.  The book is divided into three sections (Rev. 1:19):  that which John had already witnessed (Ch. 1); that which John was presently experiencing (Ch. 2-3); and those things which he would see concerning the future of mankind (Ch. 4-22).  The last of these sections begins with Revelation 4:1, which is a picture or type for the Rapture of the Church at the end of the Church Age.  That event will be followed by the Tribulation, also known as the Time of Jacob's Trouble (Jer. 30:7), and Daniel's Seventieth Week (Dan. 9:27). 

The Tribulation is described in Chapters 6 - 18, with Chapters 11 - 13 being descriptive of the sudden change which occurs as pertaining to the treatment of Israel.  The relatively peaceful three and one half years of their seven-year peace agreement with the Antichrist dramatically shifts to that of being hunted and killed (Dan. 9:27; Mt. 24:15; Rev. 13).  It is interesting that twelve of the thirteen times "wrath" appears, is in Chapters 6:16 - 18:3!  That is because it tells us that God will still be doing all that He can to bring mankind to repentance, before He must judge them and sentence them to the Lake of Fire (Rev. 20:11-15).  The word "repentance" appears in Revelation 9:20, 21; 16:9, 11.  But, God's effort to bring mankind to repentance, sadly to say, fails for the vast majority of the remaining population. 

By the time of God's ultimate judgment of those who reject His offer of salvation in Christ, man will have experienced everything from a perfect environment (Eden), to absolute chaos during the Tribulation.  He will have observed the testimony of God as seen in His creative works, and purposely rejected Him (Rom. 1:18-32).  He will have heard the Gospel preached through the Law of Israel (Gal. 3:24-25), by the preaching of the Church (Mt. 28:19-20), by the testimony of the two witnesses and their resurrection (Rev. 11:3-12), and the angel's proclamation during the Tribulation (Rev. 14:6)!

God's wrath is meant to bring man to repentance.

When all have been warned, then comes His judgment!