Listening to the Word

  Zechariah 7-9; Luke 13   “Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilot had mixed with their sacrifices. Jesus answered, ‘Do you think that those Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way?...I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.’” Luke 13:1, 2, 5 We could ask Jesus the same question today about the suffering of the Syrians, or the Egyptians. Are they getting their punishment for rejecting Christ? Jesus’ response is a reminder to Christians that it is repentance, not what country you live in, that influences your standing before God. He didn’t say that he loved all people the same way, or that there were towers that fell every day on the ‘good’ and the ‘bad’. Jesus calls us to repentance. Our destiny, because of sin is death. Only repentance and faith in Christ can change our eternal destiny. “Lord Jesus, you are my life. I repent for living for myself, and...

  Zechariah 4-6; Luke 12 “…This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty…‘Who despises the day of small things?’…” Zechariah 4:6, 10 What does it mean to build with the Spirit? The contrast is to build our own might or power. To build with the Spirit, we must first yield to the Spirit. The yielding, or surrendering, of our stubborn self-will is the key to living with God’s strength and not our own. The Lord Almighty, the Creator of all things, can handle our questions, our concerns, and our projects. The Lord Almighty invites us to surrender to his Spirit and actively cooperate with his Spirit in accomplishing his work. If the Spirit is the architect, building supervisor, and chief engineer, our job is to daily seek his direction, counsel, strength, and vision, especially when our current outlook seems small and our prospects insignificant. Don’t be discouraged or despise the day of small things. Like the tiny must...

  Zechariah 1-3; Luke 11   “Then he showed me Joshua, the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right side to accuse him. The Lord said to Satan, ‘The Lord rebuke you, Satan!...Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire?’…The angel said to those who were standing before him. ‘Take off his filthy clothes…See, I have taken away your sin, and I will put rich garments on you.’” Zechariah 3:1, 2, 4 Our filthy clothes represent sin in our lives that invites the accusations of Satan. Satan accuses us before God, but we overcome him by the blood of the Lamb, and through the word of our testimony as we love not our lives unto death (Revelation 12:11). The choice is ours. We either are overcome by sin and accusations, or we overcome sin and accusations through the blood of Christ who paid the penalty for our sin. In Christ we receive robes of righteousness, God’s righteousness, to replace our sin and self-righteousness. Only Christ can ...

  Haggai 1-2; Psalms 129; Luke 10   “…the whole remnant of the people obeyed the voice of the Lord their God and the message of the prophet Haggai, because the Lord their God had sent him. And the people feared the Lord. Then Haggai, the Lord’s messenger, gave this message of the Lord to the people: ‘I am with you,’ declares the Lord.” Haggai 1:12, 13 The reason people received the simple message of the Lord God, “I am with you” through his messenger Haggai, was because they could see and hear that God was with Haggai. If we are to be effective in sharing the Word of the Lord, we must live under God’s authority, carry his presence in our lives, and understand that we are his sent messengers. When we fear the Lord, those we are reaching and serving and leading will also choose to fear the Lord and receive his Word. The messenger is the message! “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us…” in the form of Jesus the Messiah (John 1:14). God is still empowering his serva...

  Ezra 4; Psalms 113, 127; Luke 9   “When the enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the exiles were building a temple for the Lord…they came to Zerubbabel…and said, ‘Let us help you build’…Then the peoples around them set out to discourage the people of Judah and make them afraid to go on building…they lodged an accusation against the people of Judah and Jerusalem.” Ezra 4:1, 2, 4, 6 When we give ourselves to the work of Christ’s mission and live for his glory, we will face opposition. The temple represented the presence of God in Jerusalem. The rebuilding of the temple and the restoration of God’s glory were costly. The enemies of Judah began by offering to help in the rebuilding. Their offer concealed hearts that were filled with malice and jealousy. When this was exposed, the enemies of Judah set out to discourage God’s people and sow fear among them. They accused God’s people of rebellion and appealed to the king of Persia. Today, not all offers of support for God’s kin...

  Ezra 2-3; Luke 8 “…the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop…My mother and brothers are those who hear God’s word and put it into practice.” Luke 8:15, 21 Spiritual maturity and growth don’t just happen. They develop through disciplines and attitudes that value what God values. Spiritual growth and fruit in our lives are connected with listening to the Word, not merely reading it. To listen to God’s Word with our hearts, we must be attentive to the Holy Spirit. Hearing is then combined with holding onto that Word, or retaining it. We write down and reflect, we memorize, and we meditate on God’s Word to us. ‘Holding on’ must be combined with ‘hanging in there’, or persevering, in the application of God’s Word, even when we don’t see immediate results. Hearing, holding on, and hanging in there are the marks of an attentive, Word-centered, Spirit-led, fruitful life in Christ’s kingdom. “Lord Je...

Ezra 1; Psalms 84-85; Luke 7   “How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord Almighty…Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage. As they pass through the Valley of Baca, they make it a place of springs;…They go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion.” Psalm 84:1, 5, 6, 7 Life is a pilgrimage for those who know the Lord Almighty. We are on a journey that will end in the courts of the Lord - that will end in heaven. This pilgrimage includes dry places like the valley of Baca, where we can become discouraged and depleted. However, those who know the presence of the Lord are filled with his Spirit, the river of life. It is God’s presence that transforms the dry seasons of life into a place of blessing for us as well as for others. Our strength and endurance increase as we walk in God’s presence and surrender our hard places to him. Let us keep walking, this journey is worth it. “Lord Jesus, fill me with your Spirit and pre...

Daniel 11-12; Luke 6   “But I tell you who hear me; Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you…Do to others as you would have them do to you.” Luke 6:27, 28, 31 Our love for our enemies is an expression of how our Father in heaven treated us before we knew him. The evidence that we are sons and daughters of the living God is not that we attend religious services or pray, but that we love others, including our enemies, as the Father loves us. The ethics of God’s kingdom are summed up in the one command of Jesus that we do to others as we would have them do to us. This simple step of cognitive empathy, of putting ourselves in another person’s shoes and considering how we would want to be treated by them is probably how they would want to be treated by us and thus changes the power dynamics of relationships into opportunities to love, forgive, and serve. “Lord Jesus, fill me with your love so that I can love like you.”

  Daniel 9-10; Psalms 123; Luke 5   “…‘Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.’ When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break… ‘Don’t’ be afraid; from now on you will catch men.’” Luke 5:5, 6, 10 After a fruitless night of fishing, the disciples were discouraged. Jesus’ request to put out into deep water and lower their nets was a call to obedience and submission.   If Jesus can command a school of fish to enter the nets of his disciples, why would the disciples, or we, doubt his leadership when we fish for men? Are we listening to his voice concerning where, when, and whether to “let down the nets” in relation to our outreach and evangelism strategies? Is Jesus leading, or are we? Working hard is not enough; we are called to catch men. Are we doing this? “Lord Jesus, you are my leader on this mission to catch men. You alone know the when, where, and ...

Daniel 7-8; Psalms 137; Luke 4   “Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry. The devil said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.’ Jesus answered, ‘It is written: Man does not live on bread alone.’” Luke 4:1-4 We are all hungry - hungry for love, for acceptance, for recognition, for purpose, for meaning, and hungry for life. Jesus was tempted by the devil to meet his physical needs before his spiritual hunger. Jesus had deliberately inverted the order of needs to focus on his spiritual hunger, then his soul, and finally his body. The devil would tempt us to invert that order and ignore the hunger of our spirit and soul. Before Jesus entered a full life of ministry to people, he was tested regarding his source of life. Would his source for life be in the approval, provision, and ...

  Daniel 5-6; Psalms 130; Luke 3   “But when his heart became arrogant and hardened with pride, he was deposed from his royal throne and stripped of his glory…until he acknowledged that the Most High God is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and sets over them anyone he wishes. But you his son, O Belshazzar, have not humbled yourself, though you knew all this. Instead, you have set yourself up against the Lord of heaven…” Daniel 5:20-23 It’s humility that draws the presence of God. Nebuchadnezzar’s very public humiliation was a message, not just to him and his family, but to the leadership of Babylon. This message was a call to humility before the Lord God Almighty. The greatest kingdom on earth at the time was Babylon, known for its impregnable walls, its learning and knowledge, its beauty and wonders, but not for its humility. Belshazzar watched his father learn about humility, but he (Belshazzar) didn’t apply that lesson to his life. More than that, he mocked God and set hi...

Ezekiel 47-48; Luke 2   “The man brought me back to the entrance to the temple, and I saw water coming out from under the threshold of the temple toward the east…now it was a river that I could not cross…He asked me, ‘Son of man, do you see this?’…so where the river flows everything will live.” Ezekiel 47:1, 5, 6, 9 This river of life is also described in Revelation 22 as being the source of life for the residents of the New Jerusalem. The river of the water of life is God’s Spirit which Jesus promised would flow from the inner beings of those who would later believe in him. Our bodies, rather like a brick and mortar building, have become the temples of God’s presence. Out of our lives will (should) flow the river of God’s Spirit. Wherever the Spirit of God flows, there is life - life in relationships, life-giving vision, and life-filled families and communities. Beside the river of life grows the tree of life, whose leaves are for the healing of the nations. Those filled to overfl...

  Ezekiel 45-46; Luke 1   “…for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him, to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace!” Luke 1:76-79 Those who are like John the Baptist, anointed with the Holy Spirit, give others the knowledge of salvation, pointing them to the light of God’s presence. The ministry of the Holy Spirit is to bring conviction of sin, righteousness (in Christ), and judgment, so that people can leave the way of destruction and begin living on God’s pathway of peace. Like John the Baptist, we too are preparing the way of the Lord for his second coming. We too are called to preach the gospel of the kingdom and the message of repentance. We too must be willing to lay down our lives as overcomers for the sake of this ...

Ezekiel 42-44; Revelations 22   “Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city.” Revelation 22:14 There is no more beautiful, more glorious, and more peaceful place than the city of God, the New Jerusalem. Its residents live forever, with access to the tree of life. The river of life flows through the center of the city. Most importantly, the Lord God Almighty will be in the city, filling the city with the light and glory of his presence. The only way through the gates to this city is for our robes to be clean. These robes symbolize our lives and the state of our hearts. God offers us clean, new robes of righteousness. His righteousness is a gift we receive in response to our repentance for sin and our prayer of faith. No one will be in this city who does not choose to be there, nor whom the King does not choose to be there. Our retirement plans are incomplete if they don’t factor in eternity. The...

  Ezekiel 40-41; Psalms 128; Revelations 21 “Then he measured the length and width of the gate facing north, leading into the outer court…It was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide.” [75 feet x 37.5 feet] Ezekiel 40:20, 21 The gates of the new temple were designed to be very large in order to facilitate the passage of many worshippers. God’s purpose for the place was that people from many nations would learn of his ways and experience the forgiveness of their sins. God’s salvation purposes still include the nations, and his gates are still large and open. The transition from that which is unclear to that which is sacred occurred through those gates as worshippers entered the courts of the Lord. We enter God’s presence today through the blood of Christ. Jesus is the gate to the Father. Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Jesus was clear when he said, “I am the gate!” (John 10:9). His salvation is for all nations; there is room for whoever will come. “Lord Jesus, tha...

Ezekiel 38-39; Psalms 145; Revelations 20   “…In days to come, O Gog, I will bring you against my land, so that the nations may know me when I show myself holy through you before their eyes…I will make known my holy name among my people Israel. I will no longer let my Holy Name be profaned, and the nations will know that I the Lord am the Holy One of Israel…This is the day I have spoken of.” Ezekiel 38:16; 39:7, 8 “Hallowed be thy name!” we pray in the prayer that Jesus taught his disciples. God declared through Ezekiel that he would bring the nation of Russia against Israel to reveal his Holy Name. God used the nations of the world to reveal the holiness of his name, his nature, and his character. Israel and the Church have been the two great covenants that God made with peoples throughout history. The consummation of God’s salvation plan for the world could bring together these two covenant peoples into a confrontation with the powers of darkness (Ezekiel 39, Revelation 20), so t...

  Ezekiel 36-37; Psalms 110; Revelations 19   “After this I heard what sounded like the roar of a great multitude in heaven shouting: ‘Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, for true and just are his judgments…He has avenged on her the blood of his servants…Hallelujah! The smoke from her goes up for ever and ever!” Revelation 19:1-3 Heaven will be an expression of what is true in our hearts now. The zealous, ‘full-throttle’ worship of God for his judgments on earth will only be shouted in eternity by servants who have lived for God’s glory and kingdom mission while on earth.   Have we so identified with God’s kingdom, his mission, and his glory, that we can declare God’s judgments are true and just on earth today? Or have we created a god in our image? - A god whose name is blasphemed with impunity, whose kingdom is secondary to our national flags and triumphs.   Those who shout, “Hallelujah” in eternity are shouting it now. Those who shout, “ju...

  Ezekiel 33-35, Revelations 18   “…he sees the sword coming against the land and blows the trumpet to warn the people…I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me…I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn!...” Ezekiel 33:3, 7, 11   What distinguishes watchmen from others? They are willing to see and to hear what God is doing and saying, and then share that with whomever God directs them to warn or alert, regardless of the cost. Watchmen are more concerned with the urgency of the message than with their own personal safety or comfort. They recognize the eternal consequences of sin and God’s prescribed path to freedom from sin through repentance and the cross. To turn is to repent. Watchmen call people to turn around and go to a better way in life. Watchmen are alert, they are courageous, and they communicate the Word of the Lord. We need watchmen in ...

Daniel 3- 4; Psalms 81; Revelations 17   “…O peoples, nations and men of every language: As soon as you hear the sound of the horn…you must fall down and worship the image of gold that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up.” Daniel 3:4, 5 “Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because everything he does is right and all his ways are just. And those who walk in pride he is able to humble.” Daniel 4:37 The spirit of Babylon still calls out for worship from the kings of the earth and from the peoples from every nation and language. The seduction of Babylon is self-indulgence, materialism, and immorality – the lust of the flesh, lust of the eye, and the pride of life. Just as God confronted this spirit in Nebuchadnezzar’s life and humbled him, so also God Almighty desires to release all his servants from the hold of a seductive spirit and prideful bondage. Those of us who live in the West must be aware of which gods we are worshipping. Pride is the doorway to...

  Daniel 1-2; Revelations 16   “But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine…To these four young men, God gave knowledge and understanding…During the night the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision. Then Daniel praised the God of heaven…” Daniel 1:8, 17; 2:19 Daniel’s resolve to not be defiled had a direct impact on his capacity to hear from God, and God’s revelation in his life. Is it possible to live life with self-indulgence and self-will, and still consistently hear from God? Probably not. The revelation of God’s purposes in each generation is shared with seekers who have surrendered, not just their sins, but their wills to God Is there anything more valuable for a prisoner of war than the royal food and wine? Yes, it’s the presence of God.   What price will we pay to walk in the presence of the living God? The fruit of walking with God and his revelation is not just for our benefit; it’s meant to bless our community, our nation, and the...

  Lamentations 3-5; Revelations 15   “…my soul is downcast within me. Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, ‘The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.’” Lamentations 3:20-24 If we reject the false security of Christendom for the suffering, resurrected Savior, we too will live in exile. Our lament is shared by Christ’s followers around the world who are still waiting for their home. We have said the Lord is our portion, he is enough. We too will wait on the Lord. We value God’s love, his great love, and his compassion. We value God’s great faithfulness. We too find our hope in the Lord rather than in the fleeting peace of this world with its false security. What promises and experiences with God, or what memories do we need to call to mind today? Our home is in heaven and God’s presence today rem...

Lamentations 1- 2; Obadiah; Revelations 14   “Then I saw another angel flying in midair, and he had the eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth – to every nation, tribe, language and people. He said in a loud voice, ‘Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water.’” Revelation 14:6, 7 Christ’s call to his disciples to go and make disciples of all nations is not something we do alone. God has assigned angels to support his disciples in this mission. We proclaim a gospel which God is confirming in the hearts of people around the world every day. This gospel is worth listening to because it tells the only way to survive God’s judgment of sin. Accepting Christ’s gift of forgiveness and sacrifice for sin on our behalf is the only reasonable response to this eternal gospel. When we receive this gift and give our life to God and his mission as our grateful response, our...

  Jeremiah 42-44; Psalms 48; Revelations 13   “We will not listen to the message you have spoken to us in the name of the Lord! We will certainly do everything we said we would: We will burn incense to the Queen of Heaven and pour out drink offerings to her…” Jeremiah 44:16, 17 The survivors of Jerusalem asked Jeremiah for guidance and prayer, and committed themselves to obey whatever God asked. As God told them to stay in Judah, these same survivors decided to reject the word of the Lord and continue serving their idols. Their hearts were set on Egypt regardless of what God said to them.   Are there mind-sets that we have that filter or reject what God is saying to us? Are there idols that we worship at the expense of the living God? When we stop listening to God’s Spirit and Word, we stop growing, we stop bringing glory to God, and we stop experiencing the blessing of God in our lives. Listen and our souls will live. “Lord Jesus, you are my leader and I will listen to y...

2 Kings 25; 2 Chronicles 36; Jeremiah 40-41; Revelations 12   “The word came to Jeremiah from the Lord after Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard had released him at Ramah. He found Jeremiah bound in chains…‘The Lord your God decreed this disaster for this place. And now the Lord has brought it about…All this happened because you people sinned against the Lord and did not obey him. But today I am freeing you from the chains on your wrists…’” Jeremiah 40:1-4 Can God speak to us through people who don’t know God as we do? Jeremiah had been calling the people of Jerusalem and Judah to hear the word of the Lord and obey him. A foreign commander, Judah’s enemy, spoke the same word of the Lord. God used an army commander to speak to his people.   In our lives, who is God using to speak to us? Perhaps he is using someone we wouldn’t normally listen to, or who would seem to have nothing of value to say to us. Jeremiah found freedom at the hands of a Babylonian officer. Perhaps ...

  Ezekiel 29-32; Revelations 11   “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever…The nations were angry; and your wrath has come. The time has come for judging the dead, and for rewarding your servants…” Revelation 11:15, 18 The age of grace and mercy will not last forever. The kingdom of this world will not endure. The anger of the nations against the Lord of heaven and earth will culminate in God’s final judgment of rebellion, pride, and the rejection of his Son. The Lord Jesus Christ will reign. The time will come to avenge all wrongs and to judge the living and the dead. The time will come to reward the servants of God who live for his glory now. For now we are resistance fighters behind enemy lines. We resist the world, the flesh, and the devil, and all that wars against the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ. One day he will return and the victory will be fully realized. The victory on the cross over sin ...

  Ezekiel 25-28, Revelations 10   “…Son of man, say to the ruler of Tyre, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: ‘In the pride of your heart you say, ‘I am a god; I sit on the throne of a god…’ But you are a man and not a god…‘Son of man, take up this lament concerning the King of Tyre…You were the model of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God…You were appointed as a guardian cherub, for so I ordained you…Through your wide-spread trade you were filled with violence, and you sinned. So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God…so I threw you to the earth…” Ezekiel 28:1, 2, 12-14, 16, 17 This prophecy is an interesting window into the interplay between the dimensions of men in power (ruler of Tyre), and the spiritual powers behind them (king of Tyre). The king of Tyre was a fallen angel who once walked on the mount of God and in his presence. His rebellion against God resulted in his banishment to earth. The ruler of Tyre was ...

  Ezekiel 22-24; Revelations 9   “I looked for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found none.” Ezekiel 22:30 God’s heart desire in confronting sin is that there would be intercession, atonement, and repentance. As God confronted the idolatry, murder, and rebellion of his people in Jerusalem, he looked for someone who would stand in the gap between his holiness and presence, and man’s sinfulness. He looked for someone who would build up the spiritual wall of obedience to his commandments and who was listening to his voice. The spiritual walls of obedience and intimacy with God serve as protection for our life from the enemy of our soul. When that wall breaks down in a life, a family, a community, or a nation, the enemy takes ground. While God’s heart is to restore, we will not leave sin unpunished. Sin has its own destructive consequences. God is looking for “gap standers” in...

  Ezekiel 20-21, Psalms 111; Revelations 8   “Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne. The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of the saints, went up before God…Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came…an earthquake.” Revelation 8:3-5 In what ways do the prayers of the saints contribute to the judgments of God upon the earth? God has limited himself to cooperating with the prayers of his people. Yet it is God himself who guides and inspires these prayers of intercession so that they reflect his will. However, for us to fully cooperate with God’s purposes and kingdom mission on earth, our prayers must be refined from the dross of selfish, self-centered values.   Would we be able to so cooperate with God’s purposes that our prayers would confront the idolatr...

  Ezekiel I7-19; Revelations 7   “Then I saw another angel…having the seal of the living God…‘Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God’…his servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.” Revelation 7:2, 3; 22:3, 4   The seal of salvation on the foreheads of God’s people signifies God’s ownership and our identity in Christ with the authority to represent his kingdom. As servants, we are set apart for God’s kingdom mission and glory, sealed to serve. Perhaps our view of salvation is focused on our eternal destiny and avoidance of hell. However, we’ve been sealed and set apart to serve our King. If we serve the King now, we will serve him later. Living for his mission includes sharing his eternal gospel and calling the nations to repent, to turn from their sinful ways and serve the living God. If those words seem harsh or judgmental or archaic, we’re probably servi...

Ezekiel 15-16; Psalms 70; Revelations 6   “I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. Then I heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice like thunder, ‘Come!’ I looked and there before me was a site horse!...a fiery red one…a black horse!...a pale horse!…They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague and by the wild beasts of the earth…‘How long…until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?’” Revelation 6:1-5, 7, 8, 10 In our age of tolerance, individual rights, and freedoms, there is growing intolerance for the exclusive claims of Christ. The judgment of nations and peoples for their persecution and martyrdom of Christ’s followers is jarring. The blood of the martyrs is noticed and justice will be done by the Almighty. Our view of God as a benevolent grandfather doesn’t fit with heaven’s plan amidst the killing of many millions of people. God’s wrath against sin was focused on Jesus. At Christ’s s...