The bloodbath in Edom. By Kai Mester

Reading time: 10 minutes

Anyone who reads the following passage of text from the prophet Isaiah will feel as if they have arrived in the Old Testament. But is it possible that everyone first reads him through the lens of his own experience with angry people? Through the lens of his own fears?

Who is he that comes from Edom in red robes from Bozrah, so adorned in his robes, walking in his great strength? "It is I who speak in righteousness, and am mighty to help." Why is your robe so red, are your clothes like those of a wine presser? »I entered the wine press alone, and there was no one among the nations with me. I crushed them in my anger and trampled them in my wrath. Her blood spattered on my clothes, and I soiled my whole robe. Because I had planned a day of revenge; the year to redeem mine had come. And I looked around, but there was no helper, and I was dismayed that no one was helping me. Then my arm had to help me, and my anger helped me. And I have trampled the nations in my anger and made them drunk in my wrath, and poured out their blood on the earth.« (Isaiah 63,1:5-XNUMX)

Is this the angry God that most people have turned their backs on? Some have become atheists or agnostics. Others focus their worship on Jesus as the gentle God of the New Testament, or Mary as the compassionate mother who, according to church tradition, is still alive and receiving the prayers of the faithful.

But what does the New Testament say about this passage?

I saw heaven opened; and behold a white horse. And the one who sat on it was called Faithful and True, and he judges and fights with justice. And his eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many crowns; and he had a name written which no one knew but himself. And he was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and its name is: The Word of God. And the armies in heaven followed him on white horses, clothed in white pure silk. And out of his mouth went a sharp sword to strike the nations with; and he will rule them with a rod of iron; and he treads the winepress full of the wine of God's fierce wrath, the Almighty, and has a name written on his robe and on his thigh: King of kings and Lord of lords. (Revelation 19,11:16-XNUMX)

And the angel put his pruning knife on the ground and cut the grapes from the vine of the ground and threw them into the great winepress of the wrath of God. And the winepress was trodden outside the city, and blood flowed from the wine press to the bridles of the horses, a thousand six hundred stadia (about 300 kilometers). (Revelation 14,19:20-XNUMX)

Two scenes described in connection with the Messiah's approaching return to our planet. So God's wrath is very actual and God actually kicks the wine press through his Messiah himself.

But is there perhaps something much deeper and purer at stake here than thoughts of revenge? For many people, anger means hate, loss of control, excess, cruelty. The angry one torments his victim and takes satisfaction in doing so.

Jacob's prophecy about Judah is quite different: »The scepter of Judah will not depart, nor the ruler's staff from his feet, until he who owns it comes, and the peoples will cling to him. He will tie his donkey to the vine, and his colts to the noble vine. He will wash his robe in wine and his cloak in the blood of grapes.« (Genesis 1:49,10-11) Sounds very positive!

I found some statements from Ellen White about Jesus treading the winepress alone. I would like to see them with you now:

Jesus trod the winepress when he was a child

»Through childhood, adolescence and manhood the Messiah went alone. In its purity, in its fidelity entered he alone the wine press of suffering; and among the people there was no one with him. But now we are blessed to play a part in the work and commission of the Anointed One. We can bear the yoke with him and work together with God.« (Signs of the Times, August 6, 1896, paragraph 12)

Jesus told us: »Whoever sees me sees the Father.« (John 14,9:XNUMX) God's angry treading on the wine seems to have more to do with suffering than hatred. Jesus suffered from the sins of his fellow men - and not only because they rejected, laughed at and oppressed him, but because he sympathized with them as if he were in their skin and had committed their sins himself. He took their guilt upon himself and worked for their liberation.

...when he began his ministry

»He fasted for forty days and forty nights and endured the fiercest attacks of the powers of darkness. He trod the 'press alone, and there was no man with him (Isaiah 63,3:XNUMX). Not for yourself but so he could break the chain, which binds men as slaves to Satan. (Amazing Grace, 179.3)

God will not shrink from self-denial and self-sacrifice to overcome evil with good. So is God's wrath his passionate zeal, his hot love, which wants to save every human being from sinners and sinners and suffers unbelievably where the human being cannot be saved?

Jesus trod the winepress in Gethsemane

'Our Redeemer entered the wine press alone, and of all people there was none with him. The angels, who had done the will of the anointed in heaven, would like to comfort him. But what can they do? Such sadness, such agony are beyond their ability to alleviate. You never have felt the sins of a lost world, and with astonishment they see their beloved master thrown down by grief." (Bible Echo, August 1, 1892, para. 16)

So is God's wrath deep sorrow, deep torment, deepest compassion like Jesus experienced in Gethsemane? But such depression does not make God listless, withdrawn, self-pitying, unable to act. Up to the last moment, he gives the sinners a permanent breath of life, lets their hearts beat, their brains work, gives them sight, speech, muscle strength, tries to motivate them to turn around, even if they use everything against each other in the worst cruelty and it leads to a bloodbath comes. He himself "bleeds" first and most.

"Prophecy had proclaimed that the 'Mighty One,' the Saint of Mount Paran, tread the wine press alone; 'there was none of the people' with him. With his own arm he brought salvation; he was ready for the sacrifice. The terrifying crisis was over. The Torment that only God could endure, the Messiah had borne [in Gethsemane].« (Signs of the Times, December 9, 1897, para. 3)

Wrath of God is willingness to make sacrifices, the superhuman enduring of torments that Jesus felt in Gethsemane, but which broke his heart on the cross. »The wrath of man does not do what is right in the eyes of God.« (James 1,19:9,4) God will seal only those people as his own who »sigh and lament for all abominations« (Ezekiel XNUMX:XNUMX), those in Jerusalem - his community, yes his world - happen. For they are filled with His Spirit, experience divine wrath, are one with God's sentiments: only compassion, only passionate selfless savior love.

... and on Calvary

»He kicked the wine press all by himself. None of the people stood by him. While the soldiers did their terrible work and he suffered the greatest anguish, he prayed for his enemies: 'Father, forgive them; for they know not what they are doing!' (Luke 23,34:XNUMX) That request for his enemies encompassed the whole world and shut up every sinner until the end of time a." (story of redemption, 211.1)

No one has shown us God's forgiveness more clearly than Jesus, His Word made flesh, His Thought made audible. In his heart, God has forgiven every sinner because that is his nature. His willingness to forgive does not stop. Its limit is only reached where the sinner wants nothing to do with it or seeks an acquittal that does not change his heart. And it is precisely such a willingness to forgive that suffers the most, spurring on the highest level of rescue efforts, as if someone were to direct increasingly deadly masses of water into such channels that those willing to rescue are protected and so many rescuersunwilling as possible to be rescued after all. God does this at great sacrifice.

“As Adam and Eve were banished from Eden for breaking God's law, so the Messiah was to suffer outside the confines of the sanctuary. He died outside the camp where criminals and murderers were executed. There he entered the winepress of suffering alone, bore the penaltythat should have fallen on the sinner. How profound and significant are the words, 'Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, by becoming a curse unto us.' He went out outside the camp, showing that he his life not only for the Jewish nation, but for the whole world gave (Youth Instructor, June 28, 1900).« (Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, 934.21)

Calvary was God's greatest sacrifice. In his son, the father suffered the fate of the godless first hand, so to speak. No sinner can rightly claim to be in a more pitiable position before God. On the contrary: No creature - not even Satan - is able to measure and feel the consequences of all individual sins in all facets in his limited mind. Only the almighty, omniscient and omnipresent God can do this.

'The Redeemer entered the winepress of suffering alone, and among all the people there was none with him. And yet he was not alone. He had said: 'I and my father are one.' God suffered with his son. Man cannot comprehend the sacrifice that the infinite God made in delivering his Son to shame, torment and death. This is proof for the boundless love of the Father for people.” (Spirit of Prophecy 3, 100.1)

Boundless love, unbelievable suffering. These are the main characteristics of God's wrath. A willingness to respect his creatures' choices and let them run in their doom, even channeling their cruelty in ways that further enhance his rescue plan. All of this is God's wrath.

To wrap up, a paraphrase of our introductory section:

Who comes from the field of battle, in red robes from Bozra, so adorned in his robes, walking in his great strength? "It is I who speak in righteousness, and have power to save." “I make a bloody sacrifice that no man can make. I went with the people through deep suffering in my passionate rescuer love, sent my son to them, let him experience the deepest suffering himself, in order to reveal myself to them on an equal footing. Either they were freed from their old selves in this wine press by “my blood” or their attitude of denial will kill them. In any case, their blood is mine too, all too clearly revealed in my son's blood. It has splashed on the clothes of my heart, and I have soiled my whole soul with this happening. Because I had resolved to finally solve the problem through my complete devotion; the year to set mine free had come. And I looked around, but there was no helper, and I was dismayed that no one was helping me. My arm had to help me, and my passionate determination stood by me. I have often let people feel the consequences of their distance from God to the bitter end, I was so agitated and let them slide into the bloodbath that was the logical consequence of their decisions. Because I long for some to wake up and be saved and for the tragic chapter of sin to finally come to an end.« (Paraphrase of Isaiah 63,1:5-XNUMX)

Let's become part of the movement through which God wants to give people this glimpse into his heart today, so that they fall in love with his merciful and almighty nature.