DELIVERANCE FROM GOD’S WRATH/ANGER

WHAT IS WRATH?

Wrath is an emotion or passions that moves God to indignation, anger with vindictive motives and more than displeasure because of human evil nature and provokes God to bring divine chastisement or a retributory punishment of an offense, because of disobedience, sin or crime. It can be summarized as strong vengeful hatred or resentment. The Bible refers many times to the anger or “wrath” of God which is aroused because of the sins of human race. Jesus became very hungry when He saw hurting defenseless people being treated cruelly or when He saw God’s house of prayer turned into a house of dishonesty and disregard.  The good news is that, God’s anger is designed to restore the display of His anger and must be viewed under the umbrella of His endless love. Those who trust in Jesus do not need to fear the day of wrath when God will punish those who have resisted His grace. Humans also experience anger frequently, sometimes with just cause and sometimes out of selfishness, as a natural emotion reaction to an unpleasant or difficult situation. But God wants us to control our anger, leaving revenge and justice to Him.

JUDGMENT

Hear this O priest! Take heed O house of Israel! Give ear O house of the king! For yours is the judgment, because you have been a snare at Mizpah and a net spread on Tabor” (Hos. 5:1). God is judge of all the earth, and His judgment is always right, begun with man’s first sin. Because none of us lives up to God’s righteous standards, judgment always hangs over our head. The Bible tells us that God expressed His anger in judgment in order to punish sin, to reveal Himself as God, to drive His people to repentance and to purify us.  Yet God’s judgments always include elements of both justice and grace “Remember! Do not forget how you provoked the Lord your God to wrath in the wilderness. From the day that you departed from the land of Egypt until you came to this place, you have been rebellious against the Lord” (Deut. 9:7).Beloved brethren, we must remember that judgment is not God’s last word to those who believe in Him, for mercy wins out over judgment. The Bible also speaks of God final judgment, entrusted by the Father to the Son. Some thinks the Bible refers to several judgments done by Christ in the end times; others think there will be only one. But in any case beloved, at the last judgment all will have to account and all will be judged according to what they have done in this world. Through the final judgment those rejecting Christ will be punished eternally, and believers will be saved, though some will suffer a loss of reward. “If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire” (1 Cor. 3:15). See the book of Genesis, God, before His wrath fell on Sodom and Gomorrah, “Far be it from You to do such a thing as this, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be as the wicked; far be it from You! Shall not the judge of all the earth do right?” (Gen. 18:25). This should be enough evidence and assurance that should God be angry with His people, He will by no means destroy the righteous together with the wicked but though He brings His wrath, the righteous will be preserved.  When Christ will return as judge this is what will happen according to Matthew, “For the Son of Man will return in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward  each according to His work” (Matt. 16:27). Job in all his suffering, was convinced that he would come out as pure gold because of his righteousness, “But He knows the way that I take; When He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold” (Job 23:10). But the fact and the truth beloved is that God avenges sin and no one will ever escape this, “Vengeance is Mine and recompense; their foot shall slip in due time; for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things to come hasten upon them” (Deut. 32:35).

CHARACTERISTICS OF ETERNAL PUNISHMENT

Because of the sins of His people, God is coming in judgment and wrath “Behold, it is written before Me; I will not keep silence, but will repay- even repay into their bosom.” (Isa, 65:6)  A “day of the Lord” awaits those who rebel; “Wail, for the day of the Lord is at hand! It will come as destruction from the Almighty; behold, the day of the Lord comes, cruel, with both wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate; And He will destroy its sinners from it” (Isa. 13:6,9), a time of sorrow is coming,(Isa. 29:1-12) God as His manner will use other nations as His tool of judgment, but He will also judge those same nations for their sins and wickedness (Isa. 10:12-19): Assyria, Babylon, Philistia, Moab, Syria, Cush, Egypt, Tyre, Edom- in fact, the whole earth, “Woe to you who plunder, though you have not been plundered; And you who deal treacherously, though they have not dealt treacherously with you! When you cease plundering, you will be plundered; when you make an end of dealing treacherously, they will deal treacherously with you; At the noise of your tumult the people shall flee; when You lift up Yourself up, the nations shall be scattered” (Isa. 33:1,3). This message may never be muted; sin result in the inescapable judgment of God. These are the characteristics and the manner of God’s wrath to those who strive with Him, to worship idols. “And they shall go forth and look upon the corpses of the men who have transgressed against Me. For their worm does not die, and their fire is not quenched. They shall be abhorrence to all flesh” (Isa.66:24). See also, “but you have done more evil than all who were before you, for you have gone and made for yourself other gods and molded images to provoke Me to anger, and have cast Me behind your back.  “For the Lord will strike Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water. He will uproot Israel from this good land which He gave to their fathers, and will scatter them beyond the River, because they have made their wooden images, provoking the Lord to anger. “Now Judah did evil in the sight of the Lord, and they provoked Him to jealousy with their sins which they committed, more than all that their fathers had done” (1 Kgs. 14:9, 15, 22).  The Children of Israel kept on sinning and rebelling against their God, “Remember! Do not forget how you provoked the Lord Your God to wrath in the wilderness. From the day that you departed from the land of Egypt until you came to this place, you have been rebellious against the Lord” (Deut. 9:7). Had it not been for the righteous king Josiah, the wrath of the Lord would have fallen in all Judah and its inhabitant, “Go, inquire of the Lord for me, for the people and for all Judah, concerning the wrath of this book that has been found; for great is the wrath of the Lord that is aroused against us, because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us” (2. Kgs. 22:13). Apostle Paul is not left behind to add to this, “For the wrath is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteous of men, who suppress the truth in righteousness” (Rom.1:18).

Unbelief is another characteristic of eternal punishment, “Therefore the Lord had this and was furious; so a fire was kindled against Jacob, and anger also came up against Israel, because they did not believe in God, and did not trust in His salvation” (Ps. 78:21-22). And John had this to say, “He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and He who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him” (Jn. 3:36). When we unjustly treat others especially; the poor and needy, the orphans, the widows and the strangers, we cannot escape His eternal punishment, “Woe to those who decree unrighteous decrees, who write misfortune, which they have prescribed to rob the needy of justice, and to take what is right from the poor of My people, that widows may be their prey, and that they may rob the fatherless. What will you do in the day of punishment, and in the desolation which will come from afar? To whom will you flee for help? And where will you leave your glory? Without Me they shall bow down among the prisoners, and they shall fall among the slain” (Isa. 10:1-4). Amos adds thus, Thus says the Lord: “For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not turn away its punishment, because they sell the righteous for silver, and the poor for a pair of sandals. They pant after the dust of the earth which is on the head of the poor, and pervert the way of the humble. A man and his father go into the same girl. To defile My holy name” (Amos 2:6-7). And when people sin and refuse to repent, they become the prey of God’s wrath, “For the people do not turn to Him who strikes them, nor do they seek the Lord of hosts; therefore the Lord will have no joy in their young men, nor have mercy on their fatherless and widows; for everyone is an hypocrite and an evildoer, and every mouth speaks folly” (Isa. 9:13, 17a, b). Apostle Paul adds thus, “But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God” (Rom. 2:5).

DELIVERENCE FROM GOD’S WRATH/ANGER

Now after seeing the manner of God’s wrath, the reasons that makes Him angry and the characteristics of His eternal punishment, let us now see how He delivers us. In the book of Isaiah above He states, “For all this His anger is not turned away, but His hand is stretched out still” (Isa. 9:17c). Jesus conducted the greatest rescue operation in history when He “delivered us from the wrath to come” (1 Thess. 1:10). The inevitability of divine anger being visited upon confirmed evildoers should serve as deterrent to sin. See, “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God” (Rom. 5:1-2). God our Father is indeed merciful, “For the Lord your God is a merciful God. He will not forsake you nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which He swore to them” (Deut. 4:31). The psalmist said, “For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for life; weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning” (Ps. 30:5). “With a little wrath I hid My face from you for a moment; but everlasting kindness I will have mercy on you,” Says the Lord your Redeemer” (Isa. 54:8). “How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand over Israel? How can I make you Like Admah? How can I set you like Zeboiim? My heart churns within Me; My sympathy is stirred. I will not execute the fierceness of My anger; I will not again destroy Ephraim, for I am God and not man, the Holy One in your midst; and I will not come with terror. They shall walk after the Lord. He will roar like a lion. When He roars,  then His sons shall come trembling from the west; they shall come trembling  like a bird from Egypt, like a dove from the land of Assyria, and I will let them dwell in their house,” Says the Lord.

God turns away from His anger, “But He being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, and did not destroy them. Yes many a time He turned His anger away, and did not stir up all his wrath” (Ps. 78:38); “For My name’s sake I will defer My anger, And for praise, I will restrain it from you, so that I do not cut you off” (Isa. 48:9). And Daniels prayer, “O Lord, according to all righteousness, I pray, let Your anger and Your fury be turned away from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain; because of our sins, and the iniquities of our Fathers, Jerusalem and Your people are a reproach to all those around us” (Dan. 9:16).

Beloved, may you meditate upon this verse my beloved brethren, “If we humbly ourselves to our God and Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, pray to God and seek His face and turn from our wicked ways, then God from heaven will hear us, answer our pray and heal our land. Not only the land, but all manner of affliction or wrath that He had struck us with previously” (2 Chr. 7:14).

“Grace to you and Favor from our God and Father and the Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen and Amen and Amen.”