The Wrath of God

Why Does The Bible Speak of the Wrath of God?

It might seem like a contradiction that a God who is love can also be a Good of wrath. No one should be surprised to learn that God hates some things. He created us with the capacity to both love and hate, and we acknowledge that hatred is sometimes justified, because we all naturally hate things that destroy what we love. This is part of our being created in the image of God.

The wrath of God is a fearsome and terrifying thing. When the Bible speaks of God’s hatred, the object of His hatred is sin and wickedness. Proverbs 6:16-19 lists seven things the Lord hates: pride, lying, murder, evil plots, those who love evil, false witnesses, and troublemakers. 

Notice that this passage does not include just things that God hates; it includes people as well. The reason is simple: sin cannot be separated from the sinner except by the forgiveness available in Christ alone.

The judgment of God highlights another truth about what He is like: He is a moral being. And just as there exists observable laws of nature (gravity, entropy, etc.), there are also observable laws of morality. 

Justice is one of God’s wonderful attributes and flows out of His holiness. Try to imagine a world without the prospect of perfect justice. To ever have "perfect justice" you'd need a "perfect judge." Since righteousness is the quality or character of being right or just, it is another attribute of God and incorporates both His justice and holiness; and why he must execute his wrath and vengeance on the doers of wickedness.

God’s holiness is the reason for His being often portrayed as a god of wrath, as he is against anything that is unholy. The holiness of God is that part of His nature that most separates Him from sinful man, and why we need a special pardon!

We cannot begin to understand God’s justice unless we first understand sin. Sin is lawlessness. Thus, sin is a crime against God! It is the ultimate crime against GOD!

Wrath is generally defined as “the emotional response to perceived wrong and injustice,” often translated as “anger,” “indignation,” “vexation,” or “irritation.” Both humans and God express wrath. But there is vast difference between the wrath of God and the wrath of man. God’s wrath is holy and always justified; whereas man’s anger is never holy and rarely ever justified.

In the Old Testament, the wrath of God is a divine response to human sin and disobedience. The Old Testament prophets often wrote of a day in the future, the "day of wrath". God’s wrath against sin and disobedience is perfectly justified because His plan for mankind is holy and perfect, just as God Himself is holy and perfect.

The New Testament also supports the concept of God as capable of being a God of wrath, because He is the one who ultimately judges all sin. God alone is able to avenge sin's evils because His vengeance is perfect and holy. 

Thankfully, All the wrath of God was poured out on Jesus, so that those who belong to Him, and receive his forgiveness, would not have to suffer the same fate as Satan.

Simply stated; God hates Sin! If God hated us because of our sin, He would have wiped out Adam and Eve when they disobeyed Him. But, because God had already created them with an eternal spirit such as He has, He wanted them to be with Him forever. 

So God entered their world (in the form of Jesus Christ) and did for them what they could not do for themselves—He covered their sin through the blood sacrifice of his own Son.

Darrell G. Young