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Every so often you come across something in the Bible which is controversial, but really shouldn't be. God's wrath is the perfect example of this.

Two Gods in two testaments

I had a conversation with someone recently who said they couldn't be a Christian because the God in the Old Testament was inconsistent with the God of the New Testament. Is the New Testament God of mercy consistent with the Old Testament God of wrath? Well, I disagree with my friend's thinking. I think the God of the New Testament is just as much a God of wrath as the God of the Old Testament. Everyone knows that Jesus got so angry in the temple that he made a whip and caused an entire marketplace to go into a panic, and who can forget his rants in which he called the respected priests a 'brood of vipers', 'whitewashed tombs', and 'hypocrites'? Jesus' parables end just a little too often with a reminder that those who are not God's people are cast 'into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth'. Let us also not forget that the book of Revelation gives a stark reminder that those whose names are not in the Book of Life are cast into 'the lake that burns with fire and sulfur' (Revelation 21:8), which is the same place that even death and hades is cast (Revelation 20:13-15).

Mercy

But God is a God of mercy. Let's not forget that despite the fact that Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit that carried the penalty of death, God did not kill them by his mercy. Even when the population of the earth had reached utter depravity (just read the description found in Genesis 6:5), God could not bring himself to kill everyone, and saved Noah and his family by his mercy. Even when the people of the earth had gathered at Babel to try to become like God again, God scattered them for their protection by his mercy. When the Israelites were enslaved by Egypt God redeemed them out of slavery by his mercy. When they were disrespectful and were worshipping golden calves instead of the one true God, he still led his people into the Promised Land by his mercy. Even when they appointed their own kings who turned bad and brought destruction upon Israel he brought them to Persian slavery by his mercy, and then sent them back into Jerusalem at the expense of the Persians by his mercy.

And even after remaining silent for 400 years, by his mercy he sent his own son to die and be resurrected in our place so that we can be with him.

Don't let anyone ever tell you that God is not a God of mercy.

The importance of wrath

But God is also a God of wrath, and we must not lose this important truth. In each of the examples we just went through, God showed mercy when it was not required. In fact, in some instances it seems like he went against his own will for the sake of showing mercy. If God were not a God of wrath, the horrific sins committed by humankind throughout the ages which climaxed at the crucifixion of God's own son could never meet their just punishment, and God would therefore not be just. And God must be just.

Scripture tells us clearly that their are consequences for our actions. We watch the news that a doctor has been killing newborn babies by cutting their spinal cords using scissors, and our heart bleeds. It simply somehow doesn't make sense that God would give us a desire for justice and not have any himself. The wages for sin is death, and that penalty of death must be paid.

Of course, the cross is where wrath and mercy meet. The Father poured out the cup of his wrath on his only son (cf. e.g. Isaiah 51:17 with Luke 22:42), and in so doing punished him for my sin! Even the wonderful hymn Amazing Grace doesn't seem to show the wonderful mercy shown on the cross, and we simply cannot understand God's mercy without understanding his wrath first.

Don't let anyone tell you that God is not a God of wrath.

"Today's Little Lift" from Jim Bullington

Mercy and not Sacrifice (Sept. 30, 2010)