The Wrath of God

Understanding the Wrath of God -  Lesson 5

Lamentations 2:1 How hath the Lord covered the daughter of Zion with a cloud in his anger, and cast down from heaven unto earth the beauty of Israel, and remembered not his footstool in the day of his anger!

Introduction:

One day every human will meet God. Hebrews 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:  Jesus Christ Himself will be our judge. John 5:22 For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the son. Jesus is the exact image of the invisible God. Hebrews 1:3 While being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.

Mankind often has the wrong image of God. This is certainly dangerous since He, as creator and redeemer, sets the rules for judgment. He is not a kindly indulgent grandfather, but a holy, righteous, and just God who not only must punish sin, but his wrath is poured out on sin. Hebrews 12:29 For our God is a consuming fire.He is indeed a God of love and mercy, but as a just God, his wrath is directed against sin. We see a picture of both when we look at Calvary, when the wrath of God was poured out upon the sinless Son of God, who gave himself willingly to become sin for us so that we might become the righteousness of God (See 2 Corinthians 5:21)

We see an example of God’s wrath in Genesis chapter three, when Satan deceived Eve, and then Adam joined her knowing full well that he was rebelling against God’s command. My reaction was originally: Why the big deal about eating a piece of fruit? Why should mankind be condemned to die? But as we see what fruit arose from man’s rebellion, when Satan became the god of this world, we see that this punishment was indeed just. God provided a way of escape from wrath through an offering, a propitiation, where his wrath was poured out against an innocent animal as a picture of what would happen to the Son of God to redeem us.

God’s warning and wrath against Israel:

Moses gave a final warning to Israel before his death and just prior to their entering the promised land. In Deuteronomy 28, God showed what blessings he had bestowed on the people traveling through the wilderness and promised abundant blessings in the new land if they would simply obey him. However, in the following verses, he outlined the punishments which they would experience if they rejected his rule. All of the curses occurred, some of which were during the last siege of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. Just like God followed through with the punishment for Adam and Eve, although he made a way to return to him through repentance and offering, he followed through with Jerusalem’s destruction as outlined in Jeremiah. After repeatedly ignoring and rejecting God’s Word and persecuting and even killing the prophets sent to warn them, God punished the city. Lamentations outlines the punishment. Eleven times in this small book the wrath of God is specifically mentioned.

The witness of God’s wrath:

God’s wrath was clear to anyone who had eyes to see. The city was destroyed, including the walls. The temple was desecrated by heathen going into the sacred areas and then destroyed. Death was everywhere, both young persons and the elderly. Those trying to escape the famine were either captured as slaves or killed. Those in the city died of starvation or were carried off into slavery. The location of the city as a fortress on a mountain was useless when God withdrew his protection. 

God weeps!

God’s wrath is always under control. Man’s wrath usually consists of emotional outbursts often disproportionate to the sins. God grieves when we reject his provision of salvation. 2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness, but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. God does not desire us to perish, but he must punish sin. We can think of several Biblical examples in addition to Adam and Eve. Perhaps the most dramatic is the flood of Noah, where God destroyed the entire earth except for eight persons. Likewise, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah warn us especially about the sin of homosexuality. Likewise we can remember the destruction of Jerusalem.

When Jesus came to Jerusalem, he wept. He had been rejected by the Jews at his coming. John 1:11 He came unto his own (the Jews), and his own received him not. Now as Jesus looked over the city, knowing that he came to die for our sins, he wept with his body convulsing in sorrow. Luke 19:41 And when he was come near, he beheld the city and wept over it. 42. Saying, If thou hadst known even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! But now they are hid from thine eyes. 43. For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee, and keep thee on every side. 44. And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee, and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another, because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation. In 70 A.D., about 40 years after Jesus’ death, Titus came and destroyed the city and crucified thousands of Jews.

God’s provision: 

God’s provision is for all. John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. God’s provision covers God’s wrath. John 3:36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him. Thus receive him or remain under God’s wrath. 

God’s provision is specific. John 14:6 Jesus said unto him: I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. Acts 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. 

God’s gift is costly. 2 Corinthians 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. If you are still under the judgment of God, repent and receive Him as savior! #God'swrath #repentance #salvation