The Wrath of God

Doc Ryan and Matt Mouzakis with Expedition 44 look at the wrath of God.

We just finished a series on hell and sometimes when we think of Hell we think of divine wrath. We are also doing a series on Tough Topics in the Bible at our church and did an installment on divine violence and wrath came up in our conversation pertaining to that. When we think of God’s wrath it is sometime in the context of an angry dad who “flies off the handle” without a moment’s notice. If we already think of God as a distant, all-powerful sovereign, then his anger will seem more like a dangerous and volatile expression of a deeply angry being. But if we already think of God as a generous, creative father, then his anger will seem measured, fair, and a reasonable expression of his justice and fairness. So, what we need to do is clear the deck and trace the development of God’s anger through the storyline of the Bible.

The character of God

We need to start with the way God describes himself: Exodus 34:6-7 6 And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, 7 maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.”

o Here God describes himself as slow to anger. It literally means “long of nose”. When someone gets angry their face or nose (burning nose) gets red so when the biblical authors say that God has a long nose it means that it takes him a long time to get angry.

God’s anger

God’s hot anger and wrath in the Bible are a major reason why many people struggle to read the Bible. These words are fairly common in the Hebrew Bible, and they depict God in ways that make many people uncomfortable.

Conclusions from the Portrait of God’s Anger and Judgment in the Torah

God’s anger is his just and measured response to the covenant betrayal of his own people. It is not a volatile or unpredictable explosion of abusive violence.

o The most consistent response of God’s anger is to give people what they have chosen, even if it leads to self-destruction.

o This anger is expressed either as exile from God’s presence or in the hiding of God’s face and the removal of his protective and or- der-creating power.

God is slow to anger, which means:

o God will put up with people’s betrayal for much longer than is reasonable.

o God will always accept people who turn to him with soft hearts and genuine humility, no matter what they’ve done.

Jesus, God’s Kingdom and Judgment, and Divine Anger

When Jesus came onto the scene announcing the arrival of God’s Kingdom, part of his announcement was warning about the coming destruction of Jerusalem. Much like the Old Testament prophets, Jesus warned of God’s coming judgement if Israel did not accept his offer of the Kingdom.

o God’s wrath is not abusive anger but a protective anger. God is not a rage-a-holic

o God’s wrath is passive at times. Taking his hand off and allowing the natural consequences to happen

o God is slow to anger, which means:

 God will put up with people’s betrayal for much longer than is reasonable.

 God will always accept people who turn to him with soft hearts and genuine humility, no matter what they’ve done.

o God’s wrath is not an eternal attribute of God but rather a response to injustice.