The Wrath Of God Satisfied
The Need For Propitiation
In the Old Testament. More than twenty different words occurring about 580 times express the wrath of God in the Old Testament (2 Kings 13:3; 23:26; Job 21:20; Jer. 21:12; Ezek. 8:18; 16:38; 23:25; 24:13). Everywhere sin constitutes the reason for God’s wrath. Idolatry especially aroused His wrath (Deut. 6:14; Josh. 23:16; Ps. 78:21; Isa. 66:15–17). The effects of God’s wrath included general affliction (Ps. 88:7), pestilence (Ezek. 14:19), slaughter (9:8), destruction (5:15), being delivered to enemies (2 Chron. 28:9), drought (Deut. 11:17), plagues (2 Sam. 24:1), leprosy (Num. 12:10), and exile (2 Kings 23:26–27; Ezek. 19:12).
The Provision For Propitiation
We are not called upon to do something in order to placate an angry God. On the contrary, God in His wondrous grace has provided the expiation, the atonement, and the propitiation in the person and work of His Son. Thus, the words used for “propitiation” point to the ground upon which God shows mercy to the guilty, namely, the finished work of Christ. The Lord Jesus is both the propitiator and the propitiation.