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Friday, March 02, 2012

Let There Be Wrath

And there was wrath. Lots of wrath. Serious wrath. It has been said that "A study of the concordance will show that there are more references in Scripture to the anger, fury, and wrath of God, than there are to His love and tenderness" (The Attributes of God, The Wrath of God, A.W. Pink). "Yeah, yeah," some will try to tell you, "that Old Testament God was a pretty angry fellow, but Jesus wasn't like that." Really? When asked about some Galileans murdered by Pilate, He said, "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish" (Luke 13:2-5). Our most vivid images of Hell -- a place of eternal fire (Matt 5:22; Mark 9:43), eaten by worms (Mark 9:48), torment (Luke 16:23), that sort of thing -- come from Jesus. It is the Revelation of Jesus Christ that gives us "the lake of fire" (Rev 20:14-15), the place of final judgment. And it was Jesus who on at least one occasion went into the Temple with a whip to drive out the money changers (John 2; Matt 21). Beyond Jesus Himself, the New Testament retains this warning. A quick sampling:
Whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him (John 3:36).

He said therefore to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?" (Luke 3:7).

The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth (Rom 1:18).

Because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed (Rom 2:5).

Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming (Col 3:5-6).
Wrath, then, is a necessary component of God. That Romans 2:5 verse indicates why: "God's righteous judgment". Righteous judgment of our sin demands wrath. You see, the vastness of sin into which we've fallen is not minimized by the phrase, "fall short of the glory of God" (Rom 3:23). It's actually huge. In fact, part of God's purpose in making our universe was "to show His wrath and to make known His power" (Rom 9:22).

This, of course, doesn't fly in today's world. God is a warm, cuddly, friendly grandfather figure in the sky. He's the original "Mr. Nice Guy". He's our spiritual butler obligated, out of His great love for us, to give us anything that we desire. His failure to do so makes some question His very existence. And no one thinks that "fire and brimstone" is a good method of preaching today. No, no, that just won't work. God is just not that kind of God, you see.

Enter theodicy. It is the science of defending the goodness of God in the face of the evil we see around us. It is the product, however, of this twisted perspective that God is "all-loving and omnibenevolent", so evil, either unpleasantness or immorality, shouldn't exist, right? And that's right ... as long as you don't allow God to define Himself. Because He claims both light and calamity for Himself (Isa 45:7). He claims to have made everything including the wicked (Prov 16:4). The Bible always maintains this position, that God is both kind and angry. Paul wrote, "Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God's kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off" (Rom 11:22). Kindness and severity.

John ends his first epistle simply and shortly: "Little children, keep yourselves from idols" (1 John 5:21). What is an idol? It's anything worshiped in the place of God. There are, in fact, only two religions. We either worship God or we serve the creature (Rom 1:25). The latter occurs obviously when nature is worshiped, less obviously when we worship ourselves, and almost invisibly when we substitute for God something that is not God. A God without wrath is not God. A God without judgment is not God. A God without severity is not God. While we maintain God's love and goodness and kindness and grace and mercy and all those warm, friendly attributes in our thoughts of God, let's not forget His hatred of sin and just condemnation of it. "Little children, keep yourselves from idols."

2 comments:

Marshal Art said...

God's wrath is so abundantly displayed in those OT stories that one particular person prefers to see as "epic storytelling", or some type of metaphor for something not quite explained.

To borrow a non-Christian notion, there is a yin and yang so clear in the Bible regarding God's nature. It makes no sense that His love can be regarded as so vast and comprehensive, while at the same time, He just shrugs His shoulders at wrongdoing? I don't think so. To totally destroy entire nations, indeed, the whole world (Great Flood), does indeed give us some indication of just how wrathful He is capable of being. And it is entirely irrelevant how we, as human beings, think of it. It doesn't matter that someone might not think that is "Godly". It simply isn't logical that His justice wouldn't swing equally in each direction.

Stan said...

"He just shrugs His shoulders at wrongdoing?"

The picture is really mind-bending, isn't it? Imagine a human judge like that. "Your honor, we have presented irrefutable evidence that the defendant has maimed and murdered 23 children. The defendant admits to the crime. The jury finds him guilty. What is your judgment?" "Oh, I just love everybody. Let's not get too judgmental, here. Let him go." Just doesn't work, does it? A judge without justice, who doesn't recognize and rightly respond to sin, is not a righteous judge at all.