The Wrath of God Illuminated by the Word of God
In my experience and based on my research on the Internet (the oracle of all truth) the wrath of God is not a popular topic in churches in the west these days; maybe it never was. People love hearing about the love of God. But to truly understand the depth of God’s love for each of us we need to come to a deeper understanding of God’s wrath and its implications for our lives. Until we do, we cannot fully grasp the depth, breadth, and height of God’s amazing love for His children. I introduced God’s wrath in my previous post “The Uncomfortable Truth About The Wrath of God” and set God’s wrath within the context of a loving God, as strange as that sounds to some.
In this post I go deeper into the doctrine of the wrath of God illuminated by Scripture. What does God say about His wrath?
In the post following this one I will examine how God’s wrath is the inevitable consequence of the holiness of God and the foundation of the Good News for all believers.
The best source for a deeper understanding of God’s wrath is God’s word – really, God Himself. What does Scripture say about God’s wrath? Here are selected passages from Psalms to Revelation.
“Now therefore, be wise, O Kings; be instructed, you judges of the earth, serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish in the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him” (Psalm 2: 10 –13 NKJV).
“How long, Lord? Will You hide Yourself forever? Will Your wrath burn like fire? Remember how short my time is; for what futility have You created all the children of men? What man can live and not see death? Can he deliver his life from the power of the grave? “(Psalm 89: 46 – 48 NKJV).
“For we have been consumed by Your anger, and by Your wrath we are terrified. You have set our iniquities before You, our secret sins in the light of Your countenance. For all our days have passed away in Your wrath; we finish our days like a sigh” (Psalm 90: 7 – 9 NKJV).
Next is a lengthy quote from 2 Kings. I believe that this Scripture is a classic illustration of what triggers God’s wrath, how God responds to the objects of His wrath, and what the consequences of disobeying God can be. Also, I believe that what happened to the Northern Kingdom of Israel in 2 Kings is not too different from what is happening in America today.
Here is some context for the 2 Kings Scripture. Beginning with Joash and continuing for 13 more kings (spanning hundreds of years?) Scripture says each king did one of two things: either they “did right in the eyes of the Lord”. But, “the high places were not removed; the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense there” or they “did evil in the eyes of the Lord”, which entailed the worship of idols like Baal and infanticide. OK, with this background here are the passages, somewhat excerpted:
“They did wicked things that provoked the Lord to anger (obviously, His wrath). They worshiped idols, though the Lord said, “you shall not do this”. The Lord warned Israel and Judah through all His prophets and seers: “Turn away from your evil ways” . . . But they would not listen and were as stiff-necked as their fathers, who did not trust in the Lord their God. They rejected His decrees and their covenant He had made with their fathers and the warnings He had given them. They followed worthless idols and themselves became worthless . . . They forsook all the commands of the Lord and made for themselves two idols cast in the shape of calves (Really? Golden Calves? Short memory! History repeats itself) and an Asherah pole. They bowed down to all the starry hosts, and they worshiped Baal. They sacrificed their sons and daughters in the fire. They practiced divination and sorcery and sold themselves to do evil in the eyes of the Lord, provoking Him to anger.”
“So the Lord was very angry with Israel and removed them from His presence . . . Therefore the Lord rejected all the people of Israel; He afflicted them all and gave them into the hands of plunderers, until He thrust them away from His presence” (2 Kings 17: 11 – 20 NIV).
This next passage is from Ezekiel, also excerpted here. It tells us several things about God’s wrath: 1) it is directed against God’s people primarily because of their worship of idols, rather than God. Their idol worship also involves detestable practices – most likely sacrifice of first-born infants in a large metal oven shaped like an idol. They are giving the glory only God deserves to pieces of wood, stone, and metal, and they are doing detestable things expressly prohibited by God; 2) God’s wrath involves withdrawing His favor and protection from Israel, allowing the forces of evil to come against Israel that He would normally protect them against.
“This is what the Sovereign Lord says: This is Jerusalem, which I have set in the center of the nations, with countries all around her. Yet in her wickedness she has rebelled against my laws and decrees more than the nations and countries around her. She has rejected my laws and has not followed my decrees . . . I myself am against you, Jerusalem, and I will inflict punishment on you in the sight of the nations. Because of all your detestable idols, I will do to you what I have never done before and will never do again . . . because you have defiled my sanctuary with all your vile images and detestable practices, I myself will withdraw my favor; I will not look on you with pity or spare you . . . Then my anger will cease and my wrath against them will subside, and I will be avenged. And when I have spent my wrath upon them, they will know that I the Lord have spoken in my zeal” (Ezekiel 5: 5 – 13 NIV).
This next passage is from the book of Zephaniah. Very depressing. Probably most people ascribe this kind of language to the Old Testament and think “thank goodness we live under the new covenant in the New Testament where the wrath of God is satisfied” or as I said above, some might think the wrath of God does not exist now that “God is love”. It is true that the wrath of God was satisfied on the cross, which is very good news indeed. But as we shall also see God’s wrath is just as real a concern for us today as it was for the nation of Israel in the time of Zephaniah and the consequences just as scary.
“The great day of the Lord is near – near and coming quickly. Listen! The cry on the day of the Lord will be bitter, the shouting of the warrior there. That day will be a day of wrath, a day of distress and anguish, a day of trouble and ruin, a day of darkness and gloom . . . I will bring distress on the people and they will walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the Lord” (Zephaniah 1: 14 – 17 NIV).
Now we move into the New Testament and see that God’s wrath is present here as well. I begin with two troubling passages from Matthew and a similar passage in Luke. These passages do not use the word ‘wrath’, but wrath is implied in the judgment, condemnation, and punishment of these people. Who are the people in these passages. Are they Christians who lost their salvation, which is a radical idea? Are they Jews who rejected the Messiah? Or are they people who supposed themselves Christians, but in fact were never really saved? Like many other passages that address God’s wrath, the people in these passages from Matthew and Luke are denied by Jesus, are thrown out of His presence, or commanded to depart from Him. The result is the same. The wrath of God typically manifests in exile — eternal separation from God. Hell is a real place!
“But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with Him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut. Later the others also came. ‘Sir! Sir!’ they said. ‘Open the door for us.’ But He replied ‘I tell you the truth, I don’t know you.’ Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour” (Matthew 25: 10 – 13 NIV).
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord’, shall enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Men will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name. And then I will declare to them ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness’” (Matthew 7: 21 – 23 NKJV).
The NIV translates the last sentence as “Away from Me, you evildoers” and the Amplified Bible as “Depart from Me, you who act wickedly – disregarding my commands”. Is Jesus speaking to men and women who believed themselves Christians, but who actually were never saved? This passage refers to false prophets, so in their minds, they probably professed Christ as their Savior, but then continued to live in their own power and for their own purposes. This is a troubling passage on another level. These were not Kingdom people, yet they had power to cast out demons and perform many wonders. Where did that power come from?
Here are some more passages:
“Sir, open the door for us. But He will answer ‘I don’t know you or where you come from’. Then you will say, ‘We ate and drank with you, and you taught us in our streets.’ But He will reply, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers!’ There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the Kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out” (Luke 13: 25 – 28 NIV).
“The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in His hands. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him” (John 3: 36 NIV).
“The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – His eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse” (Romans 1: 18 – 20 NIV).
“But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when His righteous judgment will be revealed. God will give to each person according to what he has done. To those who by persistence in doing good, seek glory, honor, and immortality, He will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger” (Romans 2: 5 – 8 NIV).
In this last passage from Revelation, the sickle harvesting the grapes is a symbol of judgment. The grapes are interpreted by many commentators to represent unbelievers on earth. The winepress also appears in Revelation 19: 15: “He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty” (NIV). In this passage, God is instructing His angel, called by some the ‘Grim Reaper’.
“Take your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of grapes from the earth’s vine, because its grapes are ripe. The angel swung his sickle on the earth, gathered its grapes and threw them into the great winepress of God’s wrath. They were trampled in the winepress outside the city and blood flowed out of the press, rising as high as the horses’ bridles for a distance of 1,600 stadia” (Revelation 14: 18 – 20 NIV).
We learn a lot about the wrath of God from these passages, and of course, Scripture contains hundreds more passages just like these:
God’s wrath is real. We find it in the Old Testament, where it is focused on people and places; and we find it in the New Testament, where it is more focused on eternal consequences.
God hates idolatry, for sure. Idol worship will provoke God every time. And as we all know, you don’t have to have an Asherah pole or a phallic statue of Baal in your living room to be an idolater.
But God’s wrath is also kindled by unbelief, wickedness and godlessness; self-seekers – those who refuse to “give up the right to themselves”, stubbornness or stiff-neckedness, unrepentance, rebellion, and disobedience. In other words, anything that devalues God, and anytime we set our affections and loyalties on something other than Him, which for most of us is our selves.
God is long-suffering. He puts up with a lot for a long time. He is patient and slow to anger. He desires for all to be saved. He weeps over the lost, as Jesus wept over Jerusalem.
In spite of His wrath, God’s essential nature is love; He is merciful and compassionate. “The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love. The Lord is good to all; He has compassion on all He has made” (Psalm 145: 8, 9 NIV).
But when His wrath is released it begins with judgment, followed by condemnation, and then punishment.
God’s punishment generally takes the form of God removing Himself or the objects of His wrath from His presence. God “withdraws His favor”, “removes them from His presence”, “thrusts them away from His presence”, “hides Himself from their eyes”, banishes them from His presence (i.e. Garden of Eden), or throws them out, as in ‘throws them out of the Kingdom of God’, which is similar to being kicked out of the Garden of Eden; demands they leave, commands them to depart, or God gives them over to the natural inclinations of their flesh (Romans 1: 26). God’s wrath manifests as exile.
In some of the New Testament passages, Jesus is commanding those who suppose themselves His followers – those who suppose themselves Christians – to depart from Him. These passages in Matthew and Luke have always struck me as inconsistent with the theology I grew up with. What is Jesus telling us? Whatever He is saying, it is important for us who call ourselves Christians to reflect on His words. I’ll look into this more closely in a later post.
When God removes His presence in the form of His Holy Spirit, He removes His power, mercy, protection, and His hope, joy, and supernatural peace. All of it is gone, and we are left to fend for ourselves. Then we are vulnerable to the attacks from the enemy that God’s presence protected us from in the world.
It is terrifying to have God’s presence removed from our lives, or at least it should be. The irony is that most people are too self-absorbed to realize that His presence is no longer with them. In the case of Israel in 2 Kings, when God’s presence left them, He afflicted them, and gave them into the hands of plunderers. The Assyrians, who epitomize evil and darkness, ultimately conquered them. When God removes His presence from our lives, the light goes out and we are plunged into darkness.
When Scripture tells us “God removes His presence” it means that the person God is punishing must initially have had God’s presence in their life. What does that mean? I know that God was “with me” even when I was rebelling against Him. If my rebellion had continued, if I hadn’t walked through a door into His Kingdom to become a ‘new creation’, would I have gotten to a place in my life where God removed His presence from me? Scripture is telling me ‘Yes”! But I was not a believer. What about Christians? Can we get to a place in our life where God removes His presence from us? And then were we really Christians or did we just suppose we were? Paul tells us that nothing can separate us from the love of God. What about God’s wrath, which can be independent from God’s love? Maybe the best way to answer these questions is to say “a true believer can never lose their salvation”. If you find out that you are not saved, as these passages describe, then you were never a Christian, even though you thought you were. Confusing and troubling questions for me.
Sometimes when God punishes, He can release destruction like in Sodom and Gomorrah, a plague, or a whole bunch of poisonous snakes. At times like these, His wrath is unmistakable.
As I wrote is the previous post, God’s wrath is the necessary, deliberate response of a holy God to sin in His creation. God’s holiness demands God’s wrath. OK. But why? That question is an important one, because just based on these passages of Scripture, God looks like a really bad guy. But God’s wrath is not something that God chooses for His children, it is something He has to do. Where there is no sin, there will be no wrath. God’s wrath is the natural and inevitable consequence of God’s holiness. And God can no more deny His holiness than we can deny our DNA. The good news is then when we come to understand the seriousness of God’s wrath, we can more clearly understand the depth of God’s love for us on the cross.
I will attempt to answer questions about the wrath of God and the holiness of God in my next post.
Grace and peace,
John