Cursing God

“They were seared by the intense heat and they cursed the name of God, who had control over these plagues, but they refused to repent and glorify Him.” Revelation 16:9
Revelation 16 tells us about the seven final judgements that God pours out on the earth, the climax of the Great Tribulation, the bowl judgements. By this point, everyone will have chosen a side – they will have either come to faith in Christ and be living in intense persecution, under the threat of death for not worshipping the Antichrist (Rev. 13:15); or they will have bowed down before the Antichrist and taken his mark. There will be nobody sitting on the fence.
Several times in the book of Revelation, we see this happen: God brings a judgement, the people know it is from Him, but they refuse to repent and instead they curse Him (Rev. 6:16, 9:20-21, 16:9, 16:11, 16:21). But this is nothing unique to the Tribulation period – people do this today!
Here’s the thing – God is always right. If anyone is in the wrong, it is us. We can get angry with God for allowing something to happen, or for not giving us what we want. This is what David felt when God struck down Uzzah for irreverently touching the ark of the covenant (2 Sam. 6:8). But his anger was quickly replaced by fear and reverence for God (2 Sam. 6:9). We need to keep a right perspective on things. God can see all things; when we get angry with Him, it’s about as becoming as a toddler throwing a tantrum.
All through the Tribulation, God is giving people chance after chance to repent. And many do – there will be a great harvest of souls during this time (Rev. 7:9, 14). But those who refuse to repent, even go so far as to curse the one who has extended His grace to them. What an affront to God. Let us never be guilty of cursing Him.