Revelation 16:10-11, 21: None so blind.

10 The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was plunged into darkness. People gnawed their tongues in agony 11 and cursed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, but they refused to repent of what they had done. NIV

21 From the sky huge hailstones, each weighing about forty kilograms fell on people. And they cursed God on account of the plague of hail, because the plague was so terrible. NIV

These verses highlight the strange mystery of human rebellion against God. Even where He reveals Himself by miracle or judgment, there are many who will not turn to Him.

‘There are none so blind as those who will not see.’

We could add, there are none so stubborn and stupid as those who will not repent, when God is obviously warning them. Yet there but for His grace go we all.

This is how it was in Egypt. In spite of the many plagues, Pharaoh kept hardening his heart.

In Romans 1:18-32, Paul describes how God has clearly revealed Himself in nature, but many people respond by stifling and suppressing the truth about God. They opt for a lie instead. They swap the real God for false gods who don’t mind how they live, and who will leave them be as they pursue a lifestyle of sin. This passage In Romans also shows that there is a working out of God’s judgment that occurs now in the lives of those who give God up.

We have already seen something of this process in Revelation. As Tom Wright says: ‘…he will let evil take its course and bring its own nemesis; and, at a moment which only he is in any position to judge, he will bring the necessary closure on the world’s wrongs.’ ‘Revelation for Everyone’, p.143.