Rethinking the Wrath of God

Would you rather be living in the Old or New Testament?

Who would be the first person you want to see in heaven? (Jesus? Why not the Father?)

Sometimes we think that Jesus is gentle but God is harsh, but this isn’t the case.

We will see that God is exactly like Jesus and does everything the way He did on earth.

Wrath According to Babylon

Daniel 3:1 NLT

1 King Nebuchadnezzar made a gold statue ninety feet tall and nine feet wide and set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon.

Daniel 3:4–6 (NLT)

4 Then a herald shouted out, “People of all races and nations and languages, listen to the king’s command! 5 When you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes, and other musical instruments, bow to the ground to worship King Nebuchadnezzar’s gold statue. 6 Anyone who refuses to obey will immediately be thrown into a blazing furnace.”

Is God’s wrath comparable to sinful man’s wrath?

Isaiah 55:9 AV 1873

9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are my ways higher than your ways, And my thoughts than your thoughts.

James 1:19–20 (AV 1873)

19 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: 20 for the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.

Who is God’s Wrath Against?

Ezra 8:22 (AV 1873)

22 … The hand of our God is upon all them for good that seek him; but his power and his wrath is against all them that forsake him.

2 Chronicles 15:1–2 (AV 1873)

1 And the spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded: 2 and he went out to meet Asa, and said unto him, Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin; The Lord is with you, while ye be with him; and if ye seek him, he will be found of you; but if ye forsake him, he will forsake you.

The Wrath of the Lamb

What did Jesus do when man forsook and rejected Him?

Did He respond like Nebuchadnezzar?

Luke 9:53–56 (AV 1873)

53 And they did not receive him, because his face was as though he would go to Jerusalem. 54 And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did?

55 But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. 56 For the Son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them. And they went to another village.

God could have destroyed Satan and all his sympathizers as easily as one can pick up a pebble and cast it to the earth. But by so doing he would have given a precedent for the exercise of force. All the compelling power is found only under Satan's government. The Lord's principles are not of this order. He would not work on this line… This principle is wholly of Satan's creation. RH, September 7, 1897 par. 7

So what did He do when rejected?

Matthew 12:14–15 (AV 1873)

14 Then the Pharisees went out, and held a council against him, how they might destroy him. 15 But when Jesus knew it, he withdrew himself from thence: and great multitudes followed him, and he healed them all,

John 8:58–59 (AV 1873)

58 Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. 59 Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.

After pleading with a hostile and unbelieving crowd:

John 12:36 (AV 1873)

36 While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light. These things spake Jesus, and departed, and did hide himself from them.

Matthew 8:34–9:1 NLT

34 Then the entire town came out to meet Jesus, but they begged him to go away and leave them alone. 1 Jesus climbed into a boat and went back across the lake to his own town.

When rejected, Christ withdrew Himself from them and/or “hid Himself.”

God Looks Just Like Gentle Jesus

Jesus is described as:

The brightness of God’s glory and the express image of His person (Heb. 1:3)

“the image of the invisible God” (Col. 1:15)

“the image of God” (2 Cor. 4:4)

John 14:6–10 (AV 1873)

6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. 7 If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.

8 Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us. 9 Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father? 10 Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you, I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.

The whole character of God was revealed in his Son, the whole range of the possibilities of heaven is displayed for the acceptance of man in the Son of the Infinite One. The way for man's return to God and heaven has no barriers. ST December 30, 1889, par. 6

God is love. This was the great truth that Christ came to the world to reveal. Satan had so misrepresented the character of God to the world, that man stood remote from God; but Christ came to display to the world the Father’s attributes, to represent the express image of his person. “As the Father gave me commandment, even so I do.” “This commandment have I received of my Father.” The object of Christ’s mission to the world was to reveal the Father. ST, April 11, 1895 par. 2

All that man needs to know or can know of God has been revealed in the life and character of His Son. 8T 286

Wrath According to the Dragon

Revelation 12:17 (AV 1873)

17 And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

Revelation 13:15 (AV 1873)

15 And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.

Satan’s wrath is against those who are loyal to God.

Satan’s wrath is manifested in him killing those who disobey him.

God’s wrath is stepping back and allowing those who disobey Him to hurt themselves.

Satan’s wrath is stepping in and killing those who disobey him.

Wrath According to Paul

Romans 1:18 (AV 1873)

18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;

Romans 1:24–26 (AV 1873)

24 Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves…

26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:

Romans 1:27 (AV 1873)

27 and likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one towards another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.

In other words…

Romans 1:27 (ISV)

27 … Males committed indecent acts with males, and received within themselves the appropriate penalty for their perversion.

Partaking in same-sex relations carries its own intrinsic penalties for breaking God’s law.

“The Gay Lesbian Medical Association (GLMA) web site describes the following detrimental effects associated with same-sex sexual practice: higher rates of HIV/AIDS, substance abuse, depression/anxiety, hepatitis, sexually transmitted illnesses (anal papilloma/HPV, gonorrhea, syphilis, and chlamydia), certain cancers, alcohol abuse, tobacco use, eating disorders, and (in subsets) obesity.”

Instead of viewing these people as law-breakers who need to be punished by God, see them as God’s prodigal children who are suffering from a spiritual sickness that is killing them.

God’s Wrath = Giving us up to the consequences of our sins and allowing us to reap what we sow.

Reconsidering Wrath in the Old Testament

Did God act one way in the Old Testament and another way in the New?

Malachi 3:6 (AV 1873)

6 For I am the Lord, I change not…

Hebrews 13:8 AV 1873

8 Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.

If God was harsh in the Old Testament but nice in the New, that would be favoritism.

But the Bible says that…

Romans 2:11 AV 1873

11 for there is no respect of persons with God.

In other words…

Romans 2:11 NLT

11 For God does not show favoritism.

Wrath According to Isaiah

Isaiah 57:17 (AV 1873)

17 For the iniquity of his covetousness was I wroth, and smote him: I hid me, and was wroth…

Isaiah 54:7–8 (AV 1873)

7 For a small moment have I forsaken thee; But with great mercies will I gather thee. 8 In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; But with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, Saith the Lord thy redeemer.

Isaiah 5:3–5 (NLT)

3 Now, you people of Jerusalem and Judah, you judge between me and my vineyard. 4 What more could I have done for my vineyard that I have not already done? When I expected sweet grapes, why did my vineyard give me bitter grapes?

5 Now let me tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will tear down its hedges and let it be destroyed. I will break down its walls and let the animals trample it.

Wrath According to Jeremiah

Jeremiah 7:29 (AV 1873)

29 Cut off thine hair, O Jerusalem, and cast it away, and take up a lamentation on high places; for the Lord hath rejected and forsaken the generation of his wrath.

Wrath According to Ezekiel

Ezekiel 22:31 (AV 1873)

31 Therefore have I poured out mine indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath: their own way have I recompensed upon their heads, saith the Lord God.

Ezekiel 39:21–24 (AV 1873)

21 And I will set my glory among the heathen, and all the heathen shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid upon them. 22 So the house of Israel shall know that I am the Lord their God from that day and forward.

23 And the heathen shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity: because they trespassed against me, therefore hid I my face from them, and gave them into the hand of their enemies: so fell they all by the sword. 24 According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions have I done unto them, and hid my face from them.

Wrath According to Moses

Deuteronomy 31:16–18 (AV 1873)

16 And the Lord said unto Moses, Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers; and this people will rise up, and go a whoring after the gods of the strangers of the land, whither they go to be amongst them, and will forsake me, and break my covenant which I have made with them.

17 Then my anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide my face from them, and they shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall befall them; so that they will say in that day, Are not these evils come upon us, because our God is not amongst us? 18 And I will surely hide my face in that day for all the evils which they shall have wrought, in that they are turned unto other gods.

How does He turn His face? Because He is weeping.

Wrath According to the Psalmist

Psalm 89:46 (AV 1873)

46 How long, Lord? wilt thou hide thyself, for ever? Shall thy wrath burn like fire?

Psalm 78:58–62 (AV 1873)

58 For they provoked him to anger with their high places, And moved him to jealousy with their graven images. 59 When God heard this, he was wroth, And greatly abhorred Israel: 60 So that he forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh, The tent which he placed among men;

61 And delivered his strength into captivity, And his glory into the enemy’s hand. 62 He gave his people over also unto the sword; And was wroth with his inheritance.

Psalm 106:40–42 (AV 1873)

40 Therefore was the wrath of the Lord kindled against his people, Insomuch that he abhorred his own inheritance. 41 And he gave them into the hand of the heathen; And they that hated them ruled over them. 42 Their enemies also oppressed them, And they were brought into subjection under their hand.

How is God’s wrath defined here? Giving the wicked over to their enemies.

More Examples of God’s Wrath in Action

Quail

(For SDA’s)

Numbers 11:4–6 AV 1873

4 And the mixt multitude that was among them fell a lusting: and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat? 5 We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick: 6 but now our soul is dried away: there is nothing at all, beside this manna, before our eyes.

They wanted the luxuries from Egypt (old sinful life).

Numbers 11:31–33 (AV 1873)

31 And there went forth a wind from the Lord, and brought quails from the sea, and let them fall by the camp, as it were a day’s journey on this side, and as it were a day’s journey on the other side, round about the camp, and as it were two cubits high upon the face of the earth.

32 And the people stood up all that day, and all that night, and all the next day, and they gathered the quails: he that gathered least gathered ten homers: and they spread them all abroad for themselves round about the camp. 33 And while the flesh was yet between their teeth, ere it was chewed, the wrath of the Lord was kindled against the people, and the Lord smote the people with a very great plague.

This sounds like God got angry and supernaturally killed the people, but what does the Psalmist say?

Psalm 78:26–31 (AV 1873)

26 He caused an east wind to blow in the heaven: And by his power he brought in the south wind. 27 He rained flesh also upon them as dust, And feathered fowls like as the sand of the sea: 28 And he let it fall in the midst of their camp, Round about their habitations.

29 So they did eat, and were well filled: For he gave them their own desire; 30 They were not estranged from their lust. But while their meat was yet in their mouths, 31 The wrath of God came upon them, And slew the fattest of them, And smote down the chosen men of Israel.

God’s wrath = Giving them their own self-destructive way.

Ellen White comments on how God “smote” Israel in His “wrath”:

God granted their desire, giving them flesh, and leaving them to eat till their gluttony produced a plague, from which many of them died. CD 148.3

Wrath on Miriam

Numbers 12:9–10 (AV 1873)

9 And the anger of the Lord was kindled against them; and he departed. 10 And the cloud departed from off the tabernacle; and behold, Miriam became leprous, white as snow: and Aaron looked upon Miriam, and behold, she was leprous.

The Plagues of Egypt

Psalm 78:48–50 (AV 1873)

48 He gave up their cattle also to the hail, And their flocks to hot thunderbolts [resheph].

The word for “hot thunderbolts” is resheph (H7565), which was the name of an Egyptian and Canaanite god…

“Resheph was a belligerent, aggressive god who used diseases to attack people, but who could also heal. In Egypt, Resheph was originally venerated as the deity who supported the Pharaoh in battles, but then he was summoned mainly because of illness and everyday needs.”

ADD RESHEPH BOOK COVER TO QUOTE ABOVE

49 He cast upon them the fierceness of his anger, Wrath, and indignation, and trouble, By sending evil angels among them.

50 He made a way to his anger; He spared not their soul from death, But gave their life over to the pestilence [deber];

Deber was the name of the demon of pestilence.

Satan brings pestilence (GC 590), as he has power to control the elements of nature and use them to destroy (BEcho July 15, 1893, par. 2; GC 589.2-3)

But what about how it says that God “sent” these evil angels?

Here is the word for “sent”:

A Concise Dictionary of the Words in the Greek Testament and The Hebrew Bible (4917. מִשְׁלַחַת)

4917. מִשְׁלַחַת mishlachath, mish-lakh´-ath; fem. of 4916; a mission, i.e. (abstr. and favorable) release, or (concr. and unfavorable) an army:—discharge, sending.

God “sent” evil angels among them by “releasing” them.

God is always at work holding back the Satanic forces of destruction:

Revelation 7:1 (AV 1873)

1 And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree.

But when men reject God, He is forced to let leave them to their own devices, because God will not force people to be in a relationship with Him.

If we reject Life (Christ) and choose Death (Satan), God must allow us the freedom to walk the path we choose…

Hosea 4:17 (AV 1873)

17 Ephraim is joined to idols: Let him alone.

Hosea 13:9 (AV 1873)

9 O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself; but in me is thine help.

Jeremiah 2:17–19 (NLT)

17 And you have brought this upon yourselves by rebelling against the Lord your God, even though he was leading you on the way! 18 “What have you gained by your alliances with Egypt and your covenants with Assyria? What good to you are the streams of the Nile or the waters of the Euphrates River?

19 Your wickedness will bring its own punishment. Your turning from me will shame you. You will see what an evil, bitter thing it is to abandon the Lord your God and not to fear him. I, the Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, have spoken!

Revelation 9:14–15 (AV 1873)

14 saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates. 15 And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men.

Destruction of Jerusalem

Luke 21:20–24 (AV 1873)

20 And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. 21 Then let them which are in Judea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto.

22 For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. 23 But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days, for there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people.

24 And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.

Matthew 23:37–38 (NLT)

37 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones God’s messengers! How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen protects her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn’t let me. 38 And now, look, your house is abandoned and desolate.

“The Jews had forged their own fetters; they had filled for themselves the cup of vengeance. In the utter destruction that befell them as a nation, and in all the woes that followed them in their dispersion, they were but reaping the harvest which their own hands had sown. Says the prophet: “O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself;” “for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity.” Hosea 13:9; 14:1.

“Their sufferings are often represented as a punishment visited upon them by the direct decree of God. It is thus that the great deceiver seeks to conceal his own work. By stubborn rejection of divine love and mercy, the Jews had caused the protection of God to be withdrawn from them, and Satan was permitted to rule them according to his will. The horrible cruelties enacted in the destruction of Jerusalem are a demonstration of Satan's vindictive power over those who yield to his control.” GC 35.3

“We cannot know how much we owe to Christ for the peace and protection which we enjoy. It is the restraining power of God that prevents mankind from passing fully under the control of Satan. The disobedient and unthankful have great reason for gratitude for God's mercy and long-suffering in holding in check the cruel, malignant power of the evil one. But when men pass the limits of divine forbearance, that restraint is removed.

God does not stand toward the sinner as an executioner of the sentence against transgression; but He leaves the rejectors of His mercy to themselves, to reap that which they have sown. Every ray of light rejected, every warning despised or unheeded, every passion indulged, every transgression of the law of God, is a seed sown which yields its unfailing harvest. The Spirit of God, persistently resisted, is at last withdrawn from the sinner, and then there is left no power to control the evil passions of the soul, and no protection from the malice and enmity of Satan.” GC 36.1

But God will protect those who stay with Him.

Deuteronomy 30:19–20 (AV 1873)

19 I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:

20 that thou mayest love the Lord thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the Lord sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.