Introduction
I have often said to people that the ultimate question about the universe is, “Is God a Father, and if so what sort of Father is he?” The Bible clearly says that “God is love” (1 John 4:8, 16). This is a wonderful message welcomed by almost everyone. But if God the Father is a God of love can he also be, to use the older English expression, a “God of wrath” i.e. an angry God? This is a painfully difficult question I would prefer not to talk about. It is important however because it goes to the very identity of who God is, but it is also difficult because if we believe that God is by nature an angry God only those with a perfect conscience will be able to get close enough to God to know him as he really is. It almost seems natural for people across the world who believe in a god, gods or spirits, to think they have an angry side. Let me state at the beginning at this teaching that you will not find the expression “wrathful Father” in the Bible. If the Bible never speaks of the Father as angry neither should we. In this study I am more concerned with how the divine anger affects the Lord, rather than how it affects us e.g. hell. The book which will help us most in seeing the wrath of God from a heavenly perspective is the book Revelation. From the perspective of Revelation the wrath of God is about establishing his justice and faithfulness in creation. Or, as one author put it, “Saving God’s Reputation”. Whilst the book of Revelation is a testimony that the comfortable churches of the world either avoid, or use for some bizarre form of entertainment, its witness is of great help to believers who are suffering for their faithfulness to Jesus (Rev 12:17; 14:12).
Propitiating the Deity
People across the world seem to have an expectation of divine punishment by a father figure. The story goes of a group of natives in Africa moving the tribal idol which slipped out of their hands. One of them shouted, “Quick, look away lest we look on the face of our father and die.” Some years ago my wife Donna was teaching a group of girls that kept on misbehaving; eventually she sent then off to be disciplined by the head of the school. After she did this some of the other girls in class protested, “Miss how could you do that?” It turned out that one of the girls had the principal as her father. Most of the religions of the world have employed ways of turning away the anger of gods or supernatural powers. One of the favourite holiday spots for Australians is Bali, and the streets of Bali are covered with little offerings of food and flowers to the supernatural forces to ensure family safety and prosperity. An outstanding example of this procedure of given offerings to divine beings to turn away their anger is found in the Old Testament in 2 Kings 3. The king of Moab is surrounded in battle and resorts to a desperate action to turn the wrath of his god, Chemosh, against the Israelite army, “Then he took his oldest son who was to reign in his place and offered him for a burnt offering on the wall. And there came great wrath against Israel. And they withdrew from him and returned to their own land.” (2 Ki 3:27).
The horrible practice of child sacrifice was common amongst the Canaanites who were to be destroyed as Israel advanced into the Promised Land. The Lord found such idolatrous practices particularly revolting; “Because the people have forsaken me and have profaned this place by making offerings in it to other gods whom neither they nor their fathers nor the kings of Judah have known; and because they have filled this place with the blood of innocents, 5 and have built the high places of Baal to burn their sons in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal, which I did not command or decree, nor did it come into my mind” (Jer 19:4-5. Cf. 7:31; 32:35). How is it that Israel’s image of their God and Saviour had become so corrupted that they thought he could tolerate child sacrifice (Lev 20:2-5; Deut 12:31; 18:9-12; 2 Ki 16:3)? The heart of idolatry however is not in what we do, but in how we think about the Lord. The height of idolatry is to think that it is natural for God/Father to be angry.
Fear in the Garden
One of the more profound texts on the subject of God’s judgement in scripture is 1 John 4:17-18; “By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.”
This passage teaches us that from a biblical perspective fear not simply a sign of the anticipation of suffering but suffering as sign of punishment by God, a punishment which will climax on the Day of Judgement. The remedy for this fear is the confidence that the love of God has placed us in the same position as Jesus, “as he/Jesus is so also are we in this world.” God could no more punish us than he could punish Jesus. The world’s problem however is that it has rejected the true revelation of God, a rejection that begins in Eden. In the New Testament Peter says of God, “you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds” (1 Pet 1:17). In sinning in Eden however the knowledge of God as Judge was separated from the revelation of God as Father.
The original command, ““of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”” was given by a loving Father to prevent his children falling into sin and judgement (Gen 2:17; Luke 3:38). If the first couple had remained centred in God’s Word they would have no cause to fear a day of judgement. But after they sinned they “hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.” (Gen 3:8). Their guilty consciences witnessed to them that the Lord was still their Judge, but any notion that he was a glorious loving Father had been lost (Rom 3:23). All the ways lost men and women think of God’s anger are deeply confused; only a thorough search of the scriptures can teach us the truth about divine wrath.
A Strange Anger
In eternity there never was a reason why the Father could be angry with the Son; so God is not essentially or eternally angry. God is not like us; he is not constantly angry. Several years ago a famous American megachurch pastor, Mark Driscoll, who once said he had two main emotional states, “angry and very angry”, was forced to resign because of bullying. Whatever gifts and graces Driscoll possessed, he plainly did not understand the nature of the wrath of God. Whereas the Bible states that “God is love” (1 John 4:8, 16) it never says “God is wrath”. In fact it states that needs to become angry (Num 11:10; Judges 10:7; 1Ki 8:46; 11:9 etc.). Since the Lord is not naturally angry he must be “provoked to anger” (Deut 32:16, 21; Judges 2:12; 1 Ki 21:22, 53; 2 Ki 21:15;23:26; Neh 4:5; Pss 78:58; 106:29; Jer 8:19 etc). There are even more powerful texts than these in the Old Testament.
In the midst of the ruins of Jerusalem we hear these deeply prophetic words, “For the Lord will not cast off forever, 32 but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love; 33 for he does not afflict from his heart or grieve the children of men.” (Lam 3:31-33). “He does not afflict from the heart” means that God doesn’t like to get angry; much as the Lord said to Ezekiel, “I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live” (Ezek 18:23, 32; 33:11). In the book of Isaiah we read of the Lord’s works of judgement in this way; “For the LORD will rise up as on Mount Perazim; as in the Valley of Gibeon he will be roused; to do his deed—strange is his deed! and to work his work—alien is his work!” (Isa 28:21).
[We might also recall when God speaks of himself in Genesis 6, “The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain.” (vv.5-6).] The cost to God of creating the world is unimaginable; but we can only have true insight into such things through Jesus.
The Final Revelation of Wrath
Whilst the message of the gospel is that Christ’s death on the cross has taken away the wrath of God against sin (Rom 3:23-25; 1 John 2:1-2 cf. Heb 2:17), the big question for our study concerns the role of the Father in the sufferings of Jesus in our place.
When Christ cries out on the cross, ““My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”” (Mark 15:34), he is drinking the cup of the wrath of God in our place (Ps 75:8; Jer 25:15-17; Hab 2:16; Mark 14:36). This means he is enduring all the strange, alien and unpleasing dimensions of what anger means to his Father. Since God is not wrathful from his heart, under the wrath of God Christ loses touch with the heart of God, which means he loses touch with God as his Father. The deepest dimension of judgement and wrath is not simply feeling abandoned by God, but in feeling abandoned so as not being able to recognise that God is truly a Father. If knowing God as a Father was always man’s highest glory, then “becoming sin” in our meant that Jesus was stripped of his experience of the glory of Sonship (2 Cor 5:21).
This does not mean however that the Father was punishing his obedient Son. Christ was taking what is called the “curse of the law” on the cross, but the Bible never says Jesus was cursed by God (Gal 3:13). Whatever the dimensions of the spiritual suffering of Jesus on the cross we know they were temporary and were over before he died. Luke tells us Jesus’ final words were, ““Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!”” (Luke 23:46). Even more boldly John testifies that the Lord’s final words were; ““It is finished.”” i.e. completed (John 19:30). If Jesus is the Word of God then God the Father has also said, “It is finished”. Jesus had “finished/completed” the work that the Father gave him to do (John 4:34; 17:4). Like the Lord God himself “finished” the work of the first creation and rested in his holiness (Gen 2:1-3) so the Son had “finished” all that needed to be done to bring in the new creation. Now he would enter into his rest and his glory
No Wrath
If the wrath of God has conclusively been taken away by Jesus death once and for all (Rom 6:10; Heb 7:27) what then are we to make of the ongoing references to God’s wrath throughout the New Testament, and especially in the book of Revelation?
Revelation is a book of apocalyptic visions which represents two perspectives on reality. It speaks of “those who dwell in heaven” (12:12; 13:6) and “those who dwell on earth” (3:10; 6:10; 8:13; 11:10; 13:8, 14:6). The residents of heaven see God as he is; the earth dwellers are idolaters who cannot see the true nature of the Lord. The churches, represented by their angels (Rev 1:20 etc.), have both an earthly and a heavenly identity and are spiritually empowered to see how the heavenly Lamb of God is ruling over all (cf. Eph 2:6; Col 3:1).
Early in Revelation Jesus testifies, “I have authority from my Father” to rule the nations with a rod of iron (2:27). This is the language of Psalm 2 where the rage of the nations is matched by the “wrath” “fury” and “anger” of the Lord and his anointed Son the Messiah (5, 9, 12 cf. Rev 11:18). The book of Revelation in many ways is an expansion of Psalm 2, and a heavenly perspective of what is happening across the world in every age. In Revelation we read of “the wrath” of “him who is seated on the throne (i.e. God)…and of the Lamb (i.e. Jesus)” (6:16-17). It is the Lamb “standing as slain”, that is, killed and resurrected, who receives authority from God to unleash his judgements on the earth (Rev 5:6). We know that Jesus is in charge of everything that happens in this world (Matt 24:2; Phil 3:20; Rev 7:14); but those who have not received the gospel can only see crisis, catastrophe and uncaring forces ruling the world. This could be called fate, the stars, karma, the inscrutable will of Allah, the natural laws of the universe and so on. All of these ways of understanding the sufferings of the world are themselves a consequence of God’s wrath on the disobedient.
Jesus prophesied, ““there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; 26 men’s hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.”” (Luke 21:25-26). People are traumatised because they are in pain and can see no purpose in their suffering. The reason why they cannot see a purpose is that from this side of the division between earth and heaven wrath carries no revelation. Christians however are seated with Christ in the heavenly places and can understand that God has purposes in judgement, to quote Revelation 11:18, “The nations were angry, and your wrath has come. The time has come for judging the dead, and for rewarding your servants the prophets and your people who revere your name, both great and small– and for destroying those who destroy the earth.”” Angry nations will receive in return the anger of God until in the end it destroys them (Matt 10:28; 1 Cor 3:17; James 4:12). When Paul says in Romans 1, “the wrath of God is revealed from heaven…” he does not mean that “those on whom his anger falls, who are destined for destruction” have a heavenly revelation (Rom 1:18; 9:22). It is only those for whom “the righteousness of God is revealed” through the gospel that can discern the nature and purpose of God’s judgements (Rom 1:16-17).There is no revelation of Fatherhood in divine wrath, only in the gospel.
The End of Wrath and Beginning of Repentance
The Bible never says that the wrath of God leads to repentance, it is the “kindness of God” (Rom 2:4) or the patience of the Lord (1 Tim 1:16; 2 Pet 3:9) or a “godly grief” that leads to repentance (2 Cor 7:9-11). Under the experience of wrath people do not turn from their idols but harden their hearts against the Lord (Rev 9:20-21). The book of Revelation is full scenes where under the divine wrath men and women either seek to flee the Lord’s presence or curse God and refuse to give him due glory (Rev 6:15-16; 16:9, 11, 21). Thankfully there is one exception to this set of events.
In Revelation 11 we read of two witnesses, which symbolically stand for the Church. These witnesses prophesy are martyred raised from the dead and ascend into heaven (1-12) .The pattern of their lives show they bear the testimony of Jesus (Rev 5:6; 19:10). After the ascension of the witnesses to heaven, “at that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.” (v.13 cf. 14:7; Josh 17:19; Jer 13:16). The message of this apocalyptic passage is that the one hope for a lost world is a suffering Church that is faithful unto death even when the wrath of God comes intensely upon the inhabitants of the earth. The faithful Church that suffers for others in the likeness of Christ is a revelation that there is a loving heavenly Father. It is a revelation through the Church of the cost of the sacrifice of the Son as an expression of the love of God that softens lost hearts to the true character of God as a Father (John 3:16 cf. Col 1:24 etc.). Suffering for others, inside and outside of the Church, as a sign that God is not a wrathful Father (Matt 5:43-48). Whatever happens; political instability, climate change, natural disaster, religious persecution, as believers in the Lamb stand without fear men and women can be set free from their godless terror of a God of wrath and confess the Jesus Christ as Son of God and Lord of all (Rom 5:2; 1 Cor 15:1; Eph 6:13; Rev 5:6).
Conclusion
The topic of the wrath of God is one of the most difficult subjects in the Bible, not because scripture is obscure but because of the idolatries of our own hearts. Contrary to our intuitions it is not us who most keenly desire to see an end of judgement but the Lord himself. In the Isaiah God says expectantly of a future day, ““I have no wrath.”” (Isa 27:4) and, ““‘Return, faithless Israel, declares the Lord. I will not look on you in anger, for I am merciful, declares the Lord; I will not be angry forever.” (Jer 3:12). Revelation also speaks of a time when “the wrath of God is finished” (Rev 15:1). When sin has been dealt with by the second death the Lord will be angry no more. Whilst the punishment for wilful rebellion may be eternal, God’s own heart will be at rest and all his children will be at peace forever (Matt 25:46). This is a wonderful future hope for us all.
In the meantime, God’s wrath continues to be poured out, never on the Church, but against the raging nations of this world. The ongoing challenge for all of us as the people of God in these difficult times is to find shelter in the joy of the Lord (Neh 8:10; Acts 16:25; James 1:2). The love, joy and peace of the lives of the children of God are called to be a revelation to the lost of who God is “on the inside”, the Father of the Son of God, Jesus Christ the Saviour of the world (Rom 14:17; Gal 5:22-23 etc.). To know the heart of the loving Father of Jesus is the reason why God created the world. Through the lives of the suffering sons of God lost men and women come to share the eternal fellowship of the Trinity and so be saved and live in God’s glory forever.