The Purpose and Nature of God’s Wrath
For by now I could have put out my hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, and you would have been cut off from the earth. But for this purpose I have raised you up, to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth. You are still exalting yourself against my people and will not let them go. Behold, about this time tomorrow I will cause very heavy hail to fall, such as never has been in Egypt from the day it was founded until now. Now therefore send, get your livestock and all that you have in the field into safe shelter, for every man and beast that is in the field and is not brought home will die when the hail falls on them.
-Exodus 9:15-19, ESV
Last time, we discussed how the coming wrath of God is great comfort for Christians, enabling us to rest in the hope of God’s promises rather than seek vengeance. While we often think primarily of the eternal wrath of God, we also discussed how God often dispenses wrath in this life. Now, we need to examine God’s wrath a bit more closely, ultimately finding that it manifests in surprising ways and even displays His incredible mercy and patience.
The Passive Wrath of God
In addition to conquest by armies, God’s wrath is seen through natural means like famine and pestilence, but also by miraculous means such as the Flood and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. The fire that consumed Nadab and Abihu (Leviticus 10) was certainly the wrath of God, as was the earth opening up and swallowing the cohort of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram (Numbers 16). These are all active methods, in which God intervenes to judge people. But God’s wrath can also be passive, where He judges people by not intervening, instead letting them continue in sin and face the natural consequences of that sin. This is the form of wrath we see against all mankind for suppressing the universally-known truth about God and dishonoring Him by turning to idolatry (Romans 1:18-23)—God “gave them up” to their sin. In response to their idolatry He “gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves” (Romans 1:24). When people dishonor God, they dishonor His image bearers. It was the godless Nazis, Communists, and the like—i.e. those who worship man—who made the Twentieth Century the bloodiest in history, only to be joined today by those who worship false gods that likewise devalue human life. We see it in violence in our streets and at our border; we see it whenever critical theory, racism, sexism, classism, and intersectionality reduce individual image-bearers to worthless categories; and we see it in the unholy dehumanizing trinity of abortion, human trafficking, and pornography.[1] People dishonor themselves as well. We see this in the abominable bodily mutilation of transgenderism and in grotesque piercings and other extreme body modifications. These deface God’s image in mankind, making abhorrent what God created as lovely. The idolatry of the Canaanites included such disfigurement, so God outlawed it along with sexual immorality and child sacrifice (Leviticus 19:28). We also see this bodily dishonor through addiction to destructive substances and in promiscuity that reduces a person to a commodity. And we see it in lives destroyed by the pursuit of pleasure. All of these are signs that God has given our culture over to our fleshly lusts to suffer the due consequences, but the spiral of dishonor continues:
For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.
-Romans 1:27-28, ESV
When people exchange the distinctness of God for the sameness of creatures in idolatry, it naturally follows that they give up sexual distinctiveness for sameness. Like the idolatry that spawns it, homosexuality is a cheap imitation that denigrates its adherents.[2] Homosexuality is not the ultimate sin or the primary cause of God’s wrath, but one of many sins that stem from the root sin of idolatry. Paul continues:
And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.
-Romans 1:28-32, ESV
Exchanging the truth about God for a lie denigrates our minds too, resulting in all manner of sins. Our society is full of envy producing murder and strife, ranging from critical theory and cultural Marxism to materialism and fame. Deceit is prolific online. Gossip and slander are celebrated—even in our churches! Our culture has exalted being haughty and boastful. We have lost all honor of parents, so disobedient children are often celebrated. Finally, the ultimate sign of the denigrated idolatrous mind is to approve of those who practice these. It is sinful to approve of abortion, homosexuality, and transgenderism just as it is to practice it. It is sinful to tolerate gossip, slander, and pride just as it is to display them. It is sinful to approve of parents abdicating their responsibilities to godless schools and children disobeying their parents just as it is to do these things. If all of these are signs of the passive wrath of God, then we can easily conclude that the wrath of God is not coming upon America…it’s already here!
Patience and Mercy in Wrath
Since our nation and our churches are in the midst of the passive wrath of God, does that mean that God is pouring out His wrath on believers as well as unbelievers? After all, Jesus saves us from God’s wrath (Romans 5:9, 1 Thessalonians 5:9). All who place their trust in Christ are saved from God’s eternal wrath, but in this fallen world we often experience the effects of His current wrath. Last time, we noted that many generations often pass before God judges the wicked, which often means generations of God’s people suffer under the oppression of the wicked before God’s judgment comes. Why doesn’t God either bring His judgment more swiftly or remove us beforehand? Because God works all things for our good (Romans 8:28) we can be confident that at the very least He causes us to endure suffering because it is part of His plan for our sanctification. He also delays judgment for the express purpose of not consuming the righteous along with the wicked, as Jesus made clear in the parable of the weeds (Matthew 13:24-43). God works over many generationsand can bring about faith and repentance in the descendants of the wicked, so He withholds judgment so that those elect descendants can be born. Additionally, God withholds His wrath because He is incredibly patient: “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). In discussion God’s sovereignty and election, Paul says this after referring to God loving Jacob but hating Esau:
What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means! For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.
-Romans 9:14-18, ESV
People often accuse God of being unjust for choosing some for salvation and others for damnation, but Paul dismisses that charge by quoting God’s words to Moses: “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion”. Thus God declares his sovereign election right after not destroying Israel for the golden calf. In order to illustrate God’s sovereignty over everyone, I would expect to see a contrast between mercy and wrath. Instead, God uses similar rather than opposing terms. We often forget that our default is not neutral, as if we are on a ledge and God pushes us off to heaven or hell. Our default is sin leading to damnation, so it is the grace of God to show mercy and compassion to some when He would be perfectly justified in damning all. God then hardens the rest by keeping them in spiritual blindness and rebellion against Him: “Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed” (Romans 2:4-5). Many in our day presume on God’s kindness and patience, thus storing up more wrath against themselves. They are following Pharoah, whose heart was continually hardened as God inflicted the plagues on Egypt. Paul quotes God’s statement to Pharoah before the sixth plague to illustrate this. God tells Pharoah that He could have wiped him out long ago (Exodus 9:15), “But for this purpose I have raised you up, to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth” (Exodus 9:16). In an abundance of grace, God then warns Pharoah to bring every person and animal into safety from the hail (Exodus 9:19). God is showing Pharoah and the surrounding nations His power with the plagues. God pours out wrath on some in order to make them an example to motivate others to turn to Him and away from evil. We see the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah as well as the Canaanite conquest used in this capacity, and throughout the prophets we see warnings that God will do the same to Israel and Judah. Therefore, God’s limited wrath now is a great mercy to everyone who observes it, restraining evil and calling all to turn to Him and thereby save themselves from His eternal wrath.
Wrath’s Purpose for the Saints
God’s wrath not only displays His power to unbelievers but also to the saints. In addition to giving a small dose of justice now, God’s wrath serves as a powerful tool to help us. The reason Pharoah existed was so that God could show His power in him not to him. God’s display of power in the ten plagues was not primarily for Pharoah but for others to see God’s power:
Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory—even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles?
-Romans 9:21-24, ESV
Though God creates people to be objects of His wrath, He displays incredible patience by letting them like Pharoah live their lives and oppress His people before He destroys them. The reason for this is remarkable: “in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy”. The audience of this object lesson was Israel. After four centuries of oppression by pagan kings worshipping pagan gods, the Israelites had doubts about the power of God. So rather than wiping out the Egyptians instantly, God displayed His sovereignty over the Egyptian gods in ten separate plagues, knocking out each god individually to drive home that He is God and there is no other. And since Paul starts this thought with “what if”, this is just one of many ways God uses “vessels of wrath” to aid in our salvation and sanctification. Conforming us to the image of Christ is so important to God that He even creates these vessels of wrath for that purpose, such as the concentration camp guards of Corrie ten Boom or the Japanese prison guards of Doolittle Raider Jacob DeShazer. But even some of those who seem to be vessels of wrath turn out to be vessels of mercy, as was true of some of Corrie ten Boom’s former Nazi guards. It was also true of Pearl Harbor attack leader Mitsuo Fuchida who ultimately came to faith through DeShazer’s ministry. And of course Paul himself was well aware that he should have been an object of wrath but was instead by God’s grace an object of mercy. Therefore, observing God’s wrath also reminds us that we are equally deserving of that wrath but for God’s grace to us in Christ:
Then you will say, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through faith. So do not become proud, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you. Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off.
-Romans 11:19-22, ESV
God’s wrath reminds us of His kindness and severity, which should drive us to fear and thanksgiving. Paul gives the same warning to the Corinthians after reminding them of God’s judgment on the Israelites during the exodus: “Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come. Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall” (1 Corinthians 10:11-12). We see similar warnings throughout Hebrews as well, so God’s wrath serves as a warning for the church today to avoid falling into the same sins that brought about that wrath.
Purge the Evil from Among You
The church in Corinth had definitely fallen into those sins. They had imported the sins of their culture in many ways, so Paul rebukes them throughout 1 Corinthians. When addressing a case in which they not only tolerated but celebrated sexual immorality that was even worse than their city that was infamous for immorality, Paul says:
But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? God judges those outside. “Purge the evil person from among you.”
-1 Corinthians 5:11-13, ESV
Since we see many of the Romans 1 sins in our churches, we must likewise start by purging the evil from among us—judgment must begin with the house of God (1 Peter 4:17). Any who claim to be Christians but persist in sexual immorality, greed, idolatry, disrespect, drunkenness, or swindling should be placed under church discipline. God has given pastors and elders the responsibility and requisite authority to judge their congregations and purge the evil from their churches through biblical church discipline. He has also charged all Christians to engage in the early stages of church discipline with each other, so let us not shy away from this duty but perform it with all courage and diligence. And let us submit to and pray for our pastors and elders as they take on this very important but very difficult task so that we will not be consumed by God’s wrath on earth even while His grace to us in Christ has saved us from His wrath in heaven.
“For I the LORD do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed. From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the LORD of hosts. But you say, ‘How shall we return?’
-Malachi 3:6-7, ESV
NOTES:
[1] Douglas Wilson, Fidelity: How to Be a One-Woman Man, Moscow, ID: Canon Press: 2012: 21-38.
[2] Douglas Wilson, Fidelity: How to Be a One-Woman Man, Moscow, ID: Canon Press: 2012: 101-110.
