The Wrath of God
1.
Definition: “God’s wrath means that he intensely
hates all sin.”[1]
2.
God’s wrath is his just reaction to human
sinfulness.
a.
Judicial concept—it is the wrath of the Judge
administering justice.
b.
No cruelty involved—only justice.
c.
God’s wrath is not like our sinful, human wrath
“God’s wrath in the Bible is never
the capricious, self-indulgent, irritable, morally ignoble thing that human
anger so often is. It is, instead,
a right and necessary reaction to objective moral evil.”[2]
3.
Scriptural texts:
a.
Exodus 32.9-10 (cf. Deuteronomy 9.7-8; 29.23; 2
Kings 22.13)
i. Idolatry
particularly brings forth the wrath of God
ii. God’s
jealousy is closely aligned with the wrath of God against idolatry[3]
b.
Nahum 1.1-8
·
Notice the quotation of Exodus 34.6-7 in v. 3!
c.
John 3.36
d.
Ephesians 5.6; Colossians 3.5
e.
2 Thessalonians 1.6-10
f.
Hebrews 3.11
i. Quoting
Psalm 95 which references the wilderness generation
ii. Writer
of Hebrews repeatedly uses this concept throughout chapters 3 and 4—showing
relevance for the Christian community
g.
Revelation 6.16-17—“the wrath of the Lamb” (cf.
Revelation 19.15)
4.
Romans: Paul’s presentation of the gospel
presupposes God’s wrath
a.
“actually contains more explicit references to
God’s wrath than all the rest of
Paul’s letters put together.”[4]
b.
God’s wrath is his reaction to our sin: Romans
4.15 (cf. 5.20; 7.7-13)
c.
God is not unjust to inflict wrath: 3.5
d.
God is willing to demonstrate his wrath on
vessels of wrath: 9.22
e.
Timing:
i. Future:
2.5; 5.9 (cf. 1 Thessalonians 1.10)
ii. Present:
·
1.18—destructive consequences of sin
·
13.4—civil magistrate inflicting punishment on
evil-doers
5.
An attribute for which we should thank and
praise God for having and displaying:
“As with other attributes of God, this is
an attribute for which we should thank and praise God. It may not immediately appear to us how
this can be done, since wrath seems to be such a negative concept. Viewed alone, it would arouse only fear
and dread. Yet it helpful for us
to ask what God would be like if he were a God that did not hate sin. He would then be a God who either
delighted in sin or at least was not troubled by it. Such a God would not be worthy of our worship, for sin is
hateful and it is worthy of being
hated. Sin ought not to be. It is in fact a virtue to hate evil and
sin (cf. Heb. 1:9; Zech. 8:17; et al.), and we rightly imitate this attribute
of God when we feel hatred against great evil, injustice, and sin.”[5]
6.
Francis Schaeffer on the judgment of God upon
our culture:
a.
The hand of God is down into our culture in
judgment, and men are hungry. Unlike Zeus, whom men imagined hurling down
great thunderbolts, God has turned away in judgment as our generation turned
away from Him, and He is allowing cause and effect to take its course in
history.
God
can bring His judgment in one of two ways: either by direct intervention in
history or by the turning of the wheels of history. Often it
is the peripheral blessings flowing from the gospel which when freed from the
Christian base then become the things of judgment in the next generation.
Consider freedom, for example. It is the result of the Reformation
in the northern European world which have given us a balance of form and
freedom in the area of the state and society, freedom for women, freedom for
children, freedom in the area of the state under law. And yet, when once
we are away from the Christian base, it is this very freedom, now freedom
without form, that brings a judgment upon us in the turning wheels of history.[6]
b. Finally, we must
not forget that the world is on fire. We are not only losing the church,
but our entire culture as well. We live in the post-Christian world which
is under the judgment of God. I believe today that we must speak as Jeremiah
did. Some people think that just because the United States of America is
the United States of America, because Britain is Britain, they will not come
under the judgment of God. This is not so. I believe that we of
Northern Europe since the Reformation have had such light as few other have
ever possessed. We have stamped upon that light in our culture. Our
cinemas, our novels, our art museums, our schools scream out as they stamp upon
that light. And worst of all, modern theology screams out as it stamps
upon that light. Do you think God will not judge our countries simply
because they are our countries? Do you think that the holy God will not
judge?[7]
7.
A. W. Pink mentions three reasons why Christians
should often meditate on the wrath of God:[8]
a.
So that our hearts would know God’s hatred of
sin.
i. We
excuse sin and treat it lightly.
ii. We
grow comfortable with idolatry
iii. My
experience meditating on Ezekiel 16 and then seeing a blog denigrating the
portrait of God in Ezekiel 16.[9]
b.
Promotes proper fear of the Lord.
i. He
is no play-thing.
ii. He
is the holy One of Israel.
c.
Moves our heart to praise Jesus Christ for
delivering us from the wrath of God.
[3]
See my essay “The Jealousy of God.”
Available online: http://whiterosereview.blogspot.com/2014/04/the-jealousy-of-god.html.
[6]
Francis A. Schaeffer, Death in the City
[1969] in The Complete Works of Francis
A. Schaeffer: A Christian Worldview—vol. 4 (Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway, 1982),
216—bold-face added. See also my
blog post “Newtown, CT: God’s Judgment?” in which I discuss how Isaiah chapter
19 can help us understand what contemporary judgment might look like. Available online: http://whiterosereview.blogspot.com/2012/12/newtown-ct-gods-judgment.html.
[9]
See Steve Hays’ discussion of Randal Rauser for refutation of Rauser’s
disparaging portrayal of God in Ezekiel 16. Available online: http://triablogue.blogspot.com/2014/08/pygmalion.html.
