What does "You are just" reveal?
What does "You are just, O Holy One" teach about God's character?

Setting the Scene in Revelation 16

Revelation 16 describes the outpouring of the seven bowl judgments.

• Verse 5 captures the angel of the waters pausing amid judgment to worship: “You are just, O Holy One, who is and was, because You have brought these judgments.”


Key Phrase: “You are just, O Holy One”

• “Just” points to God’s perfect righteousness.

• “Holy One” underscores His absolute purity and separateness from sin.

• The angel recognizes both traits in the very moment God’s wrath is displayed.


God’s Justice—Perfect and Unquestionable

Deuteronomy 32:4 — “He is the Rock; His work is perfect, for all His ways are justice…”

Psalm 96:13 — He “comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in His faithfulness.”

Revelation 15:3 — “Righteous and true are Your ways, O King of the nations!”

• God’s justice means every verdict He renders is right, fair, and morally flawless.


God’s Holiness—Set Apart in Purity

Isaiah 6:3 — “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of Hosts; all the earth is full of His glory.”

Habakkuk 1:13 — “Your eyes are too pure to look on evil.”

• Holiness is not merely the absence of sin; it is the presence of absolute moral perfection.


The Eternal Nature of the Holy One

Revelation 16:5 adds, “who is and was,” echoing Revelation 1:8.

• His unchanging nature anchors His justice; what is righteous today was righteous yesterday and will be tomorrow.


Justice Displayed Through Judgments

Revelation 16:6 explains the reason for the bowl: “For they have poured out the blood of saints and prophets, and You have given them blood to drink; they deserve it.”

• God’s judgments are not arbitrary; they correspond directly to human rebellion and sin.

Acts 17:31 — God “has set a day when He will judge the world with justice by the Man He has appointed.”


Justice and Holiness in Harmony

• At the cross, justice and holiness met: Romans 3:25-26—God presented Christ “to demonstrate His righteousness… so that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”

Revelation 16 shows the same harmony in final judgment—sin is punished, holiness vindicated.


How This Shapes Our View of God

• We trust His decisions even when we do not grasp every detail.

• We rest in the certainty that evil will not go unaddressed.

• We marvel that the Judge is simultaneously the Holy One who provides salvation.


Living in Light of His Justice and Holiness

• Pursue personal holiness (1 Peter 1:15-16).

• Walk humbly, knowing judgment is deserved apart from grace (Titus 3:3-7).

• Share the gospel; God’s just judgment makes the message urgent (2 Corinthians 5:10-11).

How does Revelation 16:5 reveal God's justice in His judgments?
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