Anger of God

The nature of God’s anger

It is fearsome

Nahum 1:6 NIV

Who can withstand his indignation? Who can endure his fierce anger? His wrath is poured out like fire; the rocks are shattered before him.

See also Jos 7:26; Eze 38:18

It is reluctant and short-lived

Exodus 34:6 NIV

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,

See also Is 54:7–8; Ne 9:16–18

It is consistant with his righteous and merciful character

Psalm 7:11 NIV

God is a righteous judge, a God who displays his wrath every day.

See also Hab 3:2

It fulfils God’s purposes

Jeremiah 23:20 NIV

The anger of the Lord will not turn back until he fully accomplishes the purposes of his heart. In days to come you will understand it clearly.

See also Je 30:24

The causes of God’s anger

Idolatry and unbelief

Numbers 25:3 NIV

So Israel yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor. And the Lord’s anger burned against them.

See also Ex 32:8–10; Dt 8:19; Jdg 2:10–14; 1 Ki 14:9; 1 Ki 16:32–33; 1 Ki 22:53; 2 Ki 23:19 Josiah removes idolatrous shrines; 2 Ch 28:25; 2 Ch 34:25; Je 8:19; Je 32:29; Je 44:3; Jn 3:36 the unbelief of rejecting the Son of God; Ro 1:18–23; Ro 2:8

Disobedience and disloyalty

Joshua 7:1 NIV

But the Israelites were unfaithful in regard to the devoted things; Achan son of Karmi, the son of Zimri, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of them. So the Lord’s anger burned against Israel.

See also Dt 9:7; 2 Ki 22:13; 1 Ch 13:10; Ps 106:29; Je 32:32; Zec 7:13; Eph 5:6

Ungodly living

God’s judgment against the ungodly is a sign of his anger against actions that contradict his righteous character and purposes:

2 Ti 3:1–9; Jud 14–16

Pride, arrogance and hypocrisy

Matthew 23:27–28 NIV

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.

See also 2 Ch 32:25; Pr 3:34; Pr 8:13; Is 13:11; Ho 12:14; Mal 4:1

Complaints against, and opposition to, God’s purposes

Numbers 11:1 NIV

Now the people complained about their hardships in the hearing of the Lord, and when he heard them his anger was aroused. Then fire from the Lord burned among them and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp.

See also Nu 14:27; Nu 21:5

Injustice

Zechariah 7:9–12 NIV

“This is what the Lord Almighty said: ‘Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor. Do not plot evil against each other.’ “But they refused to pay attention; stubbornly they turned their backs and covered their ears. They made their hearts as hard as flint and would not listen to the law or to the words that the Lord Almighty had sent by his Spirit through the earlier prophets. So the Lord Almighty was very angry.

See also 2 Ch 19:7; Je 22:13; Eze 9:9; Mal 3:5; Mt 23:23

The rejection of God’s servants

Hebrews 10:29–31 NIV

How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” and again, “The Lord will judge his people.” It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

See also Dt 32:35–36; Ps 135:14; Ne 9:26; Zec 7:12; Mt 21:33–41; Ac 7:35–37

God reveals his anger

In present times

Romans 1:18 NIV

The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness,

See also Je 10:10

On a future “day of wrath” which is anticipated

Romans 2:5 NIV

But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed.

See also Is 13:9; Is 13:13; Eze 7:19; Zep 1:15; Zep 1:18; Zep 2:2

The consequences of God’s anger

God allows those who reject righteousness to remain in their sin

Romans 1:18–32 NIV

The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, 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 people are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles. Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen. Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error. Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.

See also 1 Ki 14:16; 2 Ch 12:5; Ne 9:28; Is 54:7–8; Je 7:27–29; Je 12:7–8

Punishment will be experienced by rebellious people

Deuteronomy 8:19 NIV

If you ever forget the Lord your God and follow other gods and worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely be destroyed.

See also Is 59:18; Je 21:14; Mt 18:34–35; Mt 25:28–30

Punishment of death:

Ex 12:12; Nu 32:13; Jos 7:25–26; Is 13:9–13; Da 5:30; Ac 5:5; Ac 5:10

Punishment of exile:

1 Ki 14:15; Je 15:13–14; Je 25:7–11

Destruction of the whole nation of Israel:

La 2:1–9; Eze 38:19–21

God will be feared as his holiness and greatness are revealed

Isaiah 59:18–19 NIV

According to what they have done, so will he repay wrath to his enemies and retribution to his foes; he will repay the islands their due. From the west, people will fear the name of the Lord, and from the rising of the sun, they will revere his glory. For he will come like a pent-up flood that the breath of the Lord drives along.

See also Eze 38:22–23

Ultimately God will purify and restore his people for service

Malachi 3:2–4 NIV

But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the Lord will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness, and the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the Lord, as in days gone by, as in former years.

See also Je 15:19–21