The Wrath of God

Can this be reconciled with His love?

Before Covid 19 had even come onto the scene, I had been meditating on the judgement of God. I’ve been going through Isaiah and Jeremiah and it is filled with all sorts of dire pronouncements of what God will do to a disobedient people.

Of course, it means that God, who is righteous in all His ways will not tolerate evil, and must judge it. For a good explanation of this, see https://www.christianity.com/wiki/god/what-is-the-biblical-understanding-of-the-wrath-of-god.html . However, this can still make God seem like a harsh judge, when He says “I will pour out my wrath and such and such (all of the most terrible things) will happen to you.”

The perfection of God’s laws

I was struggling to reconcile this with the nature of God as portrayed by Jesus, until I started meditating on God’s laws. Psalm 19, after talking about the way the heavens declare God’s glory, waxes eloquent on the laws of God: His law is perfect, reviving the soul, His statutes are trustworthy, His precepts are right, His commands are radiant and His ordinances are sure.

Then I looked around me and marveled at the way God’s laws of nature keep everything in perfect balance. No one law contradicts another. The laws of gravity, friction, certrifugal force, expansion of gases etc, all work together in harmony to produce the wonderful world in which we live. His mathematical precision is such that all of creation is based on one constant, which gives us the pattern of construction for everything from molecules to galaxies.

There are physical consequences for breaking a physical law

Yet if a law is to be a law, there must be consequences in defying it. If one tries to defy the law of gravity, saying “It does not apply to me,” and steps out of a fourth story window, there will be fatal consequences. And because God made the law in the first place, one could say God caused the person to fall to his death. Similarly, if one tried to apply the law of friction to a frozen pond, one could end up with a bruised bottom and a deflated ego. Again, because God created the law, He must also be responsible for the consequences of defying it.

This must also apply to God’s spiritual laws

Because we understand this about physical laws, we don’t blame God for being heartless and vindictive when these things happen. However, God’s spiritual laws must also have consequences if they are defied, otherwise they would not be laws. As I read Isaiah and Jeremiah, I thought I had an insight into the heart of God, who was desperately warning His people of the consequences of disobedience. He is taking responsibility for the consequences, and so we read passages like Jeremiah 17:4 “Through your own fault you will lose the inheritance I gave you. I will enslave you to your enemies in a land you do not know for you have kindled My anger and it will burn forever.” He takes responsibiity for the consequences they will suffer, though it is not His desire for them.

I have heard people say, God will never bring judgement on men, for He is a God of love. Yet, as the One who has created the universe with such perfect laws, He must design consequences for defying those laws, otherwise they would not be perfect laws. Imagine if the law of gravity worked sometimes and at other times did not. Of necessity this consistency must also apply to the spiritual world.

God desperately does not want us to suffer the consequences of disobedience

Yet, although God takes responsibility for implementing the consequences of defying His laws, it is the last thing He wants for His creation.

“‘As surely as I live,’ declares the Lord, ‘I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they should turn from their wickedness and live.” (Ezekiel 33:11)

“Therefore I wail over Moab, for all Moab, I cry out. I moan for the men of Kir Hareseth. I weep for you as Jazer weeps, oh vines of Sibmah.” (Jeremiah48: 31,32)

There are ways we can lessen the effects of disobedience

Taking this further, there are ways in which something can mitigate the effects of defying a law. A powerful upward draft or a soft landing surface, for example can lessen the disastrous consequences of a fall. Likewise, it seems God has designed certain activities to mitigate the effects of His judgement. Repentance can actually reverse the judgement, as was so spectacularly shown in Ninevah as a result of Jonah’s preaching. See also the quote from Ezekiel above.

Other than that, the main activity God has designed to lessen the consequences of disobedience is prayer. This is vividly portrayed in His heartfelt exclamation, “I looked for a man who would…. stand before Me on behalf of the land, so I would not have to destroy it, but I found none. So I will pour out My wrath on them …” (Ezekiel 22:30)

So whether we believe Covid 19 to be the judgement of God or sent by Satan, the response is the same. We need to pray. Let’s unite in prayer, confident that this is the response God longs to see from us.