God’s wrath isn’t a popular subject. A lot of people think God is angry. He is angry with me, you, and with the whole world! Belief in an angry god reminds us of what ancient people thought of the Greek pantheon. Some believe recent natural disasters support such a claim. Is God really mad at us? Can a loving God also be wrathful?
Global Catrastraphies in 2020
Although the Coronavirus has captured the attention of the news, there have been many storms, fires, earthquakes, and other disasters, around the world, that claimed hundreds of lives. Australia and Turkey had wildfires that cost thousands of lives. In November, Manila experienced one of its deadliest typhoons killing forty-two people. A Philippines volcano eruption killed thirty-nine people. Turkey experienced a 6.8 magnitude earthquake that killed forty-one people. Flash floods, Hurricane Laura, Cyclone Amphan, a Tsunami in Greece and Turkey, and Hurricane Eta each claimed hundreds of lives.
Is an angry God judging the earth with indiscriminate destruction and loss of life? Either God is angry or has chosen to be uninvolved because it appearts he doesn’t care about the world. If God did care, then he would stop catastrophes. Such logic claims to prove that God is unjust, wrathful, and not worthy of worship.
Even Christians occasionally jumped aboard this train of blame. Some attribute calamities to the vengeful God of the Old Testament. Whereas, the God of the New Testament, Jesus, is a God of love. By love, we often refer to a god who tolerates sin. However, Jesus is the God of both the Old and New Testaments. He is indeed loving and righteous. Divine love displays itself in his patience toward disobedience. His righteousness is evident in that the consequences of sinful action eventually overpower us.
God’s Wrath and Human Anger
To clear up misunderstandings of what it means for God to be wrathful, we can’t associate divine wrath with human expressions of anger. Our anger enflames when hurt, abused, or bring taken advantage of occurs. Rather than seeking a righteous response, we voice anger, become antagonistic, resentful, or seek revenge. God’s wrath is different from human anger.
The Greek word for wrath is “orge” and, similar to human anger, is defined as a passionate expression of anger. But God’s wrath is not the result of him being injured. God’s wrath comes from his holy character and is thus a just anger. His wrath is a response to ungodly or unrighteous actions. God’s wrath is his reply to violations of his law and the denial of his Lordship. Rejecting God as Redeemer and Creator brings about his divine wrath.
Divine Wrath Limits Evil
God’s wrath is commonly associated with the end of the world. Like the Greek gods, he is thought to be fed up with humans and punishes them by making life miserable. Does God really imposes strict rules and then in anger want to destroy us? The book of Revelation indeed speaks of a global judgment, the moon turning blood red, and the earth consumed by fire (Rev 6:12-17), but the Bible focuses more on God rewarding rather than punishing. Acts of divine love, kindness, and patience outnumber acts of punishment and judgment.
We often think calamitiesare judgments that prove our generation is more wicked than previous societies. That claim is not necessarily accurate. Every generation experiences God’s love and wrath. From Adam to Noah, from Abraham to Moses, and even during the earthly life and ministry of Jesus, people felt God’s love and wrath. Divine wrath isn’t proof God is hateful. Rather, the result of human rebellion confronted by divine holiness is wrath. Ultimately, breaking his laws and rejecting his sovereign rule brings negative consequences. Fortunately, God does not allow sins to last indefinitely. If he did, we would be awfully corrupt, overwhelmingly violent, and endlessly angry with no future hope of resolution or peace.
Popular Proverbs
Human anger is regularly irrational and overreactive. We exaggerate our hurts and attack others due to feelings of disappointments and pain. In light of trying to deal with anger, we try to calm ourselves, or justify our tempers, by using proverbs that take the seriousness of rage and fury lightly. Here are a few of them.
- Anger is one letter short of danger.
- Don’t get mad, get even.
- Every time you give someone a piece of your mind, your head is a little emptier.
- Hell has no fury like a woman scorned.
- Patience strengthens the spirit, sweetens the temper, stifles anger, subdues pride, and bridles the tongue.
- The greatest remedy for anger is delay.
- The size of a person is measured by the size of the thing that makes him angry.
- When you see a married couple walking down the street, it is the one who is two or three steps ahead of the other who is mad.
- If angry count to ten; when very angry count to one hundred.
Biblical Proverbs
Human proverbs include a bit of wisdom, especially when they align with biblical proverbs. Applying patience before exploding in anger, to some degree, is a reflection of how God expresses his wrath. And the Bible encourages patience when angered. Here are some biblical proverbs regarding anger.
- “Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger” (Eph 4:26-27 ESV).
- “A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger” (Pr 15:1 ESV).
- “Let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness that God requires” (James 1:20 ESV).
- “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord” (Eph 6:4 ESV).
The Psalms include proverbs too. Here is a proverb that relates God’s wrath to his mercy. “The LORD is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. The LORD is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made” (Ps 145:8-9 ESV). The devil wants us to think God hates us, displays unjust wrath, and cares nothing for our future. Yet, Scripture clearly teaches us by divine example how to manage anger.
What Exactly is Divine Wrath?
Paul’s unifying theme in the book of Romans is the story of God’s righteousness and how we can enjoy life with a righteous God. Divine wrath is connected to God being righteous. God’s wrath manifests his holiness. God is not irrationally mad or impersonal with his anger. He is not vindictive or malicious. Rather, God’s wrath is a response to violating his laws (2 Cor 4:1-6).
The problem with accepting that God can be wrathful doesn’t come from him being unjust or dispensing punishments unfairly. The problem with believing in a wrathful God relates to us. We have trouble acknowledging we are “by nature children of wrath” (Eph 2:3). God’s wrath is related to us deserving punishment. Yet, God is first and foremost merciful and patient toward us when we sin.
Let’s compare two forms of divine judgments. One is called punishment; the other chastisement. God allows the results of our sinful actions to be felt in time and space. Experiencing the consequences of sin is punishment. Sinful results happen in this life and affect our eternity because God punishes evil. We feel the temporal negative consequences of rejecting God’s Lordship as well as face eternal penalties for denying him through disobedience and disloyalty.
Divine Wrath as Punishment
Truly, God hates sin because he is righteous. Sin displays a lack of or desire to conform to God’s holy character. We sin when we violate his moral laws, commands, and imperatives found in the Bible. Few would deny they have broken the Ten Commandments or have not lived up to the imperatives found in the Sermon on the Mount. Additionally, through God’s two forms of revelation, special (the written Bible) and natural (his character seen in creation), we know what God expects of us.
God’s attributes, namely, that he is all-powerful and unique as the only divine One, are clearly communicated through order seen in creation. “The Heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge” (Ps 19:1-2 ESV). We are without excuse when God accuses us of being unfaithful to him. So, the problem with God’s wrath is not that we are accused unjustly. The concern is that we chose poorly. We refuse to honor him as the Redeemer Creator.
The Results of Sinning
Rejecting God darkens our thinking so, we look to material things to satisfy us. Mentally darkenness and spiritualblindness are symptomes of harboring sin. We can’t see God in nature or trust in his words because we rejected the idea of his existence. Paul states it this way, “God gave them up” (Rom 1:24, 26, 28). Three times Paul reiterates that God’s wrath takes place when he gives up a person to their selfish desires. Sin blinds and brings about negative consequences.
The result of God revealing his wrath is that unbelievers continue dishonorable things. They allow evil passions to drive them to do what they know is wrong. Lusts become a life-dominating force. Material and limited things replace the truths about God. Natural relations are perverted, distorted, and aberrant behavior becomes the new norm under the guise of progressivism. Culture accepts and expects lying. Spiritual blindness filters down to everyday occurrences such as: being full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness, gossiping, slandering, hating God, insolence, haughtiness, boasting, inventing evil, disobedience to parents, foolishness, heartlessness, and ruthlessness (Rom 1:29-31). The list is overwhelming!
Unrighteousness has consequences. God gives people up to their sins as punishment for sinning. He allows individuals who want to live in sin to do so. The Lord is not complacent about sin. Rather, he permits our sin to judge us. Sin festers in those who want it and becomes a testament to its enslavement and destruction. Self-ruin is the judgment against loving evil.
Divine Chastisement as Discipline
Divine chastisement is unlike divine punishment. Chastisement doesn’t include wrath. We may grieve the Spirit of God and disappoint the Lord. We may even do wicked things that deserve divine wrath. But God never rejects his adopted sons or daughters. He chastises those he loves (Rev 3:19), meaning he disciplines through trials because he loves us. “And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? ‘My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.’ It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline?” (Heb 12:4-7 ESV).
Being chastised by God is a form of love in that its goal is for us to develop positive and good qualities he wants us to enjoy. God never accuses or condemns his children. Instead, he strengthens and makes us whole people through training us in righteousness. In the long run, fatherly discipline trains us to be like Jesus.
The Value of Divine Chastisement
The Prophet Isaiah knew well the value of God’s chastisement. “But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isa 53:5-6 ESV).
Isaiah described Israel’s suffering servant. We know this refers to Jesus Christ. Jesus was wounded for our transgressions. The Hebrew word for wound commonly refers to a fatal blow by the sword. One the cross, Jesus had a sword pierce him as proof of his death.
Our iniquities crushed him. This Hebrew word for crush refers to being humbled (Jer 44:10). As Jesus took on our punishment, the cross both physically and emotionally humbled him, even though he was righteous and innocent.
The third word sounds strange when applied to Jesus. It describes the suffering servant’s experience on behalf of his people. The Hebrew word for chastisement describes a father correcting his child. The word refers to an educational context. What could Jesus learn from his death? From the fatal thrust of the sword to his physical and emotional humbling, he learned sin’s personal cost to us when we disobey God. He experienced suffering and triumphed over death and fully understands the reality of separation from God. He paid for our sins so the terrible consequences of human disobedience would not bleed over into our eternal state.
Jesus Experienced Chastisement for Us
Jesus, the perfect sacrifice, brings us peace with God. The Hebrew word used for this benefit is “Shalom” and it means peace in the sense of wholeness. It’s a restorative word. Jesus’ death, his chastisement, benefits us with peace with God. His payment allows us to enjoy uninterrupted fellowship with his Heavenly Father. His death assures our adopted by God. Truly God desires ethical behavior from us. However, he wants more. He wants to capture our hearts by loving and chastises those he loves. Jesus substituted his life for us so we would be free from unrighteousness (Rom 1:29).
Divine chastisement is proof we belong to him. A father disciplines his children (Heb 12:7). In addition, chastisement conforms us to the image of Jesus and allows us to participate in the process of holiness.
Likewise, God’s wrath is a revealing, not of uncontrolled anger, but of great mercy toward sinners. He won’t allow sin to damn us for eternity. His love is eternal–not sin. Therefore, if we are found in Christ, that is, under his substitutional atonement, we no longer fear divine punishment, anger, or condemnation.
“But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness” (Rom 6:17-18 ESV).
Picture attributions: Angry God from Pixabay. com, Forest fire from Pexel.com, Mad guy from Unsplash.com, Man with hands over his face from Unsplash.com, Father and child from Unsplash.com, Shalom from Pinterest.com.
