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AN INCOMPREHENSIBLE GOD:

Grasping for an Understanding

 

A God of Wrath

Lesson #11

Victor M. Eskew

 

INTRODUCTION

 

A.    When the Bible speaks to man about wrath,

1.      It is an evil thing (Prov. 27:4; Gal. 5:20).

 

Wrath is cruel…

 

2.      And, we are to put it away from us (Eph. 4:31).

 

Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice.

 

B.      God, however, is said to be a God of wrath (Nah. 1:2).

 

God is jealous, and the Lord revengeth; the Lord revengeth, and is furious; the Lord will take vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserveth wrath for his enemies.

 

1.      The fury of His wrath (Job. 20:23)

2.      The rage of His wrath (Job 40:11)

3.      Fierce wrath (Ps. 88:16)

4.      Wrath that burns like fire (Ps. 89:46)

5.      Cruel wrath (Isa. 13:9)

6.      The fire of my wrath (Ezek. 21:31).

 

C.     Why is God allowed to be a God of wrath, but man is commanded to put wrath away from himself? 

 

D.    In this lesson, we will consider this God of wrath.

 

I.                   THE DEFINITION OF WRATH

 

A.    Old Testament:  charon

1.      Strong (2740):  a burning of anger

2.      BDB:  anger, heat, burning (of anger)  always used of God

 

B.      New Testament:  orge

1.      Strong (3709):  justifiable abhorrence

2.      Thayer:  anger, wrath, indignation, anger exhibited in punishment

3.      A.T. Robertson:  God’s anger (thumos) is his vehement fury or boiling rage. His wrath (orge) is his settled indignation or his settled anger. In other words, in God’s anger the emphasis falls on the emotional, boiling intensity of it. And in God’s wrath the emphasis falls on the controlled, settled, considered direction and focus of its application. But we dare not draw a hard line between them. God’s anger is never out of the control of his wisdom and righteousness, and his wrath is never cool or indifferent, but is always a wisely directed fury. The wrath of God is never less than a perfect judicial decree, but is always more than a perfect judicial decree because it is always full of right and fitting fury.”

4.      Let’s look at two verses.  The first says that we are to give place unto wrath.  The second states that God’s wrath will come upon the children of disobedience.  The Greek words for wrath are both “orge.”

a.      Romans 12:19

 

Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath.

 

b.      Ephesians 5:6

 

Let no man deceive you with vain words:  for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.

 

5.      Again, we ask, why can God act in wrath when He counsels us not to be involved in wrath?

 

II.                UNDERSTANDING GOD’S WRATH

 

A.    God’s wrath is always just.

1.      Proverbs 24:12

 

If thou sayest, Behold, we knew it not; doth not he that pondereth the heart consider it?  And he that keepeth thy soul, doth not he know it?  And shall not he render to every man according to his works?

 

a.      God knows all the facts.

b.      God knows the understanding of man.

c.       God knows the will of man.

d.      God knows the motives.

e.       God knows the emotions.

f.        God knows the circumstances.

 

2.      Romans 2:5

 

But after thy hardness and impenitent heart, treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.

 

3.      J.I. Packer:  “God’s wrath in the Bible is never the capricious, self-indulgent, irritable, morally ignoble thing that human anger so often is. It is, instead, a right and necessary reaction to objective moral evil” (Knowing God, p. 151).

 

B.      Before God exhibits His wrath there is:

1.      God’s holiness

a.      God is completely holy (Rev. 15:4).   There is nothing that pollutes or taints Him at all.

b.      We have difficulty appreciating God’s holiness because we live in the midst of sin and we have committed sin.  We have a tolerance for it and often an affinity for it.

2.      Man’s sin

a.      Man’s sin is the transgression of God’s law (I John 3:4).

b.      Man sins separate him from the God of holiness (Isa. 59:1-2).  In fact, they make him an enemy of God (Rom. 5:10).

c.       Sins of the past that have brought the wrath of God upon man.

1)      Serving other gods (II Chron. 24:18)

2)      Heart lifted up with pride (II Chron. 32:25)

3)      Forsaking God (Ezra 8:22)

4)      Taking strange wives (Ezra 10:14)

5)      Profaning the Sabbath (Neh. 13:18)

6)      Hypocrisy (Job 26:13)

7)      Not speaking the right thing (Job 42:7)

8)      Do not know or call upon God (Ps. 79:6)

9)      Hard hearts (Zech. 12:2; Rom. 2:5).

10)  Being contentious and not obeying the truth (Rom. 2:8)

11)  Immorality (Col. 3:5-6)

3.      God’s warnings (Jer. 25:4-9)

 

And the Lord hath sent unto you all his servants the prophets, rising early and sending them; but ye have not hearkened, nor inclined your ear to hear.  They said, Turn ye again now every one from his evil way, and from the evil of your doings, and dwell in the land that the Lord hath given unto you and to your fathers for ever and ever:  and go not after other gods to serve them, and to worship them, and provoke me not to anger with the works of your hands; and I will do you no hurt.  Yet ye have not hearkened unto me, saith the Lord; that ye might provoke me to anger with the works of your hands to your own hurt.  Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts, Because ye have not heard my words, behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith the Lord, and Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and a hissing, and perpetual desolations.

 

4.      Man’s impenitent heart (Matt. 23:37-38).

 

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!  Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.

 

5.      God’s grief (Gen. 6:5-6; Eph. 4:30).

 

And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.  And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.

 

C.     Illustrations:

1.      Sometimes we think that God just decided to destroy the world with a flood in days of Noah because men we evil and violent.  Not so.

a.      Noah was a preacher of righteousness (II Pet. 2:4).

b.      The longsuffering of God waited (I Pet. 3:20).

 

Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.

 

2.      God told Abraham that he would eventually possess all of the land of Canaan.  It would not transpire, however, until Israel was taken into Egyptian captivity.  Part of the justification for not immediately giving the land was because the iniquity of the Amorites was not full. (Gen. 15:16).

 

But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again:  for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.

 

3.      Six times Abraham pled with God about the fate of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.  Eventually, the Lord agreed that He would not destroy the city if ten righteous souls could be found therein (Gen. 18:32).

 

And he said, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak yet but this once:  Peradvanture ten shall be found there.  And he said, I will not destroy it for ten’s sake.

 

4.      Before God carried the Northern and Southern Kingdoms into captivity, He sent unto them prophets who exhorted them to repent and warned of the coming destruction (Jer. 18-7-11).

 

At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it.  If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them.  And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it; if it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good wherewith I said I would benefit them.  Now therefore go to, speak to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the Lord; Behold, I frame evil against you, and devise a device against you:  return ye now every one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good.

 

5.      Even now, God withholds His Son in order to give mankind time repent (II Pet. 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.

 

D.    Eventually, God’s longsuffering comes to an end.  His wrath grows hot.  After His wrath, there is judgment and punishment.

1.      Job 19:29

 

Be ye afraid of the sword:  for wrath bringeth the punishments of the sword, that ye may know there is a judgment.

 

2.      Romans 2:5-11

 

But after thy hardness and impenitent heart, treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.  Who will render to every man according to his deeds:  to them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life:  but unto them that are contentious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil; of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile;  But glory, and honour, and peace; to every man that worketh good; to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile:  for there is no respect of persons with God.

 

E.      The results of God’s wrath have been documented.

1.      There are numerous texts that document the results of God’s wrath.

2.      Here are a few (Deut. 29:23, 28 Josh. 22:20; II Kings 22:13; II Chron. 19:2; Lam. 2:2; Zeph. 1:15).

 

And that the whole land thereof is brimstone, and salt, and burning, that it is not sown, nor beareth, nor any grass growth therein, like the overthrow of Sodom, and Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim, which the Lord overthrew in his anger, and in his wrath.

 

3.      One has said:  “God’s wrath is His love in action against sin.”

 

III.             OTHER POINTS ABOUT GOD’S WRATH

 

A.    There are some who believe that in the Old Testament, God is a God of wrath.  His wrath is consistent in both the Old Testament and New Testament.

1.      Old Testament (Jer. 30:23-24; Nah. 1:2)

 

Behold, the whirlwind of the Lord goeth forth with fury, a continuing whirlwind:  it shall fall with pain upon the head of the wicked.  The fierce anger of the Lord shall not return, until he have done it, and until he have performed the intents of his heart:  in the latter days ye shall consider it.

 

2.      New Testament (Rom. 1:18; Heb. 12:29; Rev. 19:15)

 

And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations:  and he shall rule them with a rod of iron:  and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.

 

B.      Sometimes God uses man to execute His wrath.

1.      I Samuel 28:18

 

Because thou obeyest not the voice of the Lord, nor executedst his fierce wrath upon Amalek, therefore hath the Lord done this thing unto thee this day.

 

2.      Romans 13:4

 

For he is the minister of God to thee for good.  But if thou to that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain; for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.

 

C.     Man should fear the wrath of God.

1.      Matthew 10:28

 

And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul:  but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

 

2.      I Peter 1:17

 

And if ye call on the Father who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man’s work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear.

 

D.    God’s wrath has been turned away from man in the past

1.      II Chron. 12:7, 12; 30:8; Ps. 2:12; 78:38; 106:23; Prov. 11:4

2.      There are things that man can do to assist in staying the wrath of God.

a.      Humility (II Chron. 12:7)

b.      Yielding to the Lord (II Chron. 30:8)

c.       Obedience (Ezra 5:12)

d.      Reverence (Ps. 2:12)

e.       Intercession by another (Ps. 106:23)

f.        Righteousness (Prov. 11:4)

 

IV.             GOD’S WRATH IS SATISFIED IN CHRIST

 

A.    It is man’s sin that ignites the wrath of God.

 

B.      Jesus’ sacrifice on Calvary paid the price for sin and saves man from the wrath of God.

1.      Romans 5:9

 

Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.

 

2.      I Thessalonians 1:10

 

And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.

 

3.      I Thessalonians 5:9

 

For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

CONCLUSION

 

A.    It is extremely difficult for us to understand and appreciate the wrath of God that has been, can be, and will be poured out against sin.

 

B.      Moses said that he was fearful of it when Israel sinned at the foot of Sinai (Deut. 9:19).

 

For I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure, wherewith the Lord was wroth against you to destroy you…

 

C.     We just cannot imagine the wrath of God that will be poured out on the Day of Wrath (Rom. 2:5).

 

D.    The writer of Revelation makes a bold declaration about the wrath of God in Revelation 6:17.

 

For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A God of Wrath

Lesson #11

Homework

Victor M. Eskew

 

1.      Why is man commanded to put away wrath?

 

2.      T – F    God is a God of fierce wrath.

 

3.      How does A.T. Robertson distinguish God’s anger from His wrath?

 

4.      Could individuals question why man is told to put away wrath and, yet, God is allowed to display wrath?

 

5.      What does it mean when we say:  “God’s wrath is always just”?

 

6.      J.I. Packer tells us that God’s wrath is a “______________________ and ____________________ reaction to objective moral ____________________”.

 

7.      What five things come before the demonstration of God’s wrath?

 

A.

 

B.

 

C.

 

D.

 

E.

 

8.      Which illustration showing that God is willing to withhold His wrath impresses you the most?

 

9.      What things proceed once God’s wrath is ignited?

 

A.                                                                      B.

 

10.  T – F    God’s wrath leads to devastation and destruction.

 

11.  Is God as much a God wrath today as He was in the Old Testament?  Please explain answer.

 

12.  Do you believe that God still uses men to execute His wrath?

 

13.  Why don’t men fear the wrath of God?

 

14.  God will turn away from His wrath if man does what type of things?

 

15.  Is it a blessing to know that Jesus’ sacrifice can save us from God’s wrath?

 

16.  T – F    Man can fully comprehend the wrath of God.

 

17.  Do you fear the wrath of God?