Tag: full of wrath

143. You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence.

1 Kings 11:9   And the Lord was angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods. But he did not keep what the Lord commanded.

Deuteronomy 3:26    But the LORD was angry with me because of you and would not listen to me. And the LORD said to me, ‘Enough from you; do not speak to me of this matter again.

Deuteronomy 9:8  Even at Horeb you provoked the LORD to wrath, and the LORD was so angry with you that he was ready to destroy you.

2 Samuel 6:7    And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzzah, and God struck him down there because of his error, and he died there beside the ark of God.

Psalms 78:58-60    For they provoked him to anger with their high places; they moved him to jealousy with their idols.  When God heard, he was full of wrath, and he utterly rejected Israel.

Psalms 90:7-8    For we are brought to an end by your anger; by your wrath we are dismayed.  You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence.

Proverbs 4:23     Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.  And the Lord said: “Because this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men,  therefore, behold, I will again do wonderful things with this people, with wonder upon wonder; and the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the discernment of their discerning men shall be hidden.”

2 Timothy 4:10    For Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me

Ben Dunson; “As the Israelites were on the verge of entering the Promised Land, Moses preached to them about what God would require of his people so that they would not be exiled from the land once they had taken possession of it. Deuteronomy, in fact, is largely comprised of Moses’ sermons expressing God’s commitment to Israel, and Israel’s necessary response of faithfulness to God. Among the many things that Israel needs to know are the qualifications for its future kings, which are laid out for us in Deut 17:14-20. The king must be an Israelite (v. 15); he “must not acquire many horses for himself or cause the people to return to Egypt in order to acquire many horses” (v. 16); he must “not acquire many wives for himself, lest his heart turn away” to idolatry (v. 17); he must not “acquire for himself excessive silver and gold” (v. 17); and finally, he must diligently and humbly keep God’s law (v. 18). In sum, Israel’s king must avoid trusting in earthly power (symbolized by horses), idolatry, resting in wealth, and neglecting God’s commands.

“Solomon had 40,000 stalls of horses for his chariots, and 12,000 horsemen” (see Deut 17:16). These large numbers are not necessarily sinful, but as Deuteronomy warns, such a large accumulation of horses will tempt Israel’s kings to trust in their own military might, rather than in the power of God to save his people.

Solomon’s love of these women violates God’s warning to his people that they should “not enter into marriage with them, for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods” 

Solomon, as a king, is very different from us, but as a sinner with divided loyalties and a propensity to turn away from God, he is all too like us today. In fact, we can see in his life many of the most pressing temptations that all believers face in every age, namely, the temptations that come along with money, power, and love, as well as the idolatry that so easily takes root in our hearts.  If our hearts are not fixed on our Lord, love for other stuff, trusting in our own wealth and power will become all-consuming, and as with Solomon, will easily lead our hearts away from God so that we too become “not wholly true to the Lord [our] God”.

We must allow the word of God to correct us in the same way we allow it to encourage us. Stay in God’s word and learn from it.  Listen to it speak to your heart.  Cling to it, believe it, rely on it, and obey it with all your heart, soul and mind.  There is nothing more precious to the soul than to be in His word and then to be led by God to repent and turn away from that which is not pleasing and honoring to Him.

You provoked the LORD to wrath

  Exodus 4:14  Then the anger of the LORD was kindled against Moses

2 Samuel 6:7    And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzzah, and God struck him down there because of his error,

1 Kings 11:9     And the LORD was angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned away from the LORD,

1 Chronicles 21:7    But God was displeased with this thing, and he struck Israel

Numbers 12:9     And the anger of the LORD was kindled against them

Deuteronomy 3:26     But the LORD was angry with me because of you and would not listen to me. And the LORD said to me, ‘Enough from you; do not speak to me of this matter again

Deuteronomy 9:8     Even at Horeb you provoked the LORD to wrath, and the LORD was so angry with you that he was ready to destroy you.

Psalms 78:58-60   For they provoked him to anger with their high places; they moved him to jealousy with their idols.  When God heard, he was full of wrath, and he utterly rejected Israel.

Philippians 2:21    For they all seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ.

2 Timothy 4:10    For Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica.

Proverbs 4:23    Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.

Anger of God.  Wrath of God.  We hear much preaching and devotionals of God’s grace, mercy, and love but do not hear that much about His anger. 

“Colin Smith” wrote an interesting devotional about this and after I read it I deleted what I wrote and shared his with you.

As peace is a truth widely loved, wrath is a truth widely loathed. Many in the history of the church has been embarrassed by God’s wrath and have wanted to revise this biblical truth.Yet, this theme of the wrath (or anger) of God toward sin and sinners is clearly and widely taught in the Bible. This truth is so interwoven with the hope of our peace with one another and with God that if we lose our grasp on the one, we lose our hope of the other.   

1. The anger of God is not like our anger.

When we speak about the wrath of God, remember that it is the wrath of God.  So everything we know about God—he is just, he is love, and he is good—needs to be poured into our understanding of his wrath.

The words “anger” and “wrath” make us think about our experience. You may have suffered because of someone who is habitually angry, loses his temper, or flies into a rage. Our anger can often be unpredictable, petty, and disproportionate.

Although these things are often true of human anger, none of them are true of the anger of God. God’s wrath is the just and measured response of his holiness toward evil.

2. God’s wrath is provoked.

The anger of God is not something that resides in him by nature; it is a response to evil. It is provoked.

The Bible says, “God is love.” That is his nature. God’s love is not provoked. He does not love us because he sees some wisdom, beauty, or goodness in us. He loves you because he loves you, and you can never get beyond that (Deuteronomy 7:7).

But God’s wrath is different, his holy response to the intrusion of evil into his world. If there was no sin in the world, there would be no wrath in God. So the Bible’s teaching about the wrath of God is different from ancient mythologies, gods who run around frustrated and fuming. God’s anger is his settled resolve that evil will not stand.

3. God is slow to anger.

Why does God allow evil to continue in the world? Why does he not wipe it out?

God holds out the offer of grace and forgiveness in Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:9). People are coming to him in faith and repentance every day, and God patiently holds open the door of grace. The day of God’s wrath will come, but God is not in a hurry to bring it because then the door of grace will be closed.

4. God’s wrath is revealed now.

How does God reveal his wrath when sinners suppress the truth about him, exchange the truth for a lie, and worship created things rather than the Creator? God gives them up (Romans 1):

  • Therefore, God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity (1:24).
  • For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions (1:26).
  • God gave them up to a debased mind (1:28).

One writer states, “Paul is not teaching that one day God will punish Roman civilization for its vice and decadence. On the contrary, the vice and decadence are themselves God’s punishment…Their punishment was their greed, envy, strife, deceit, violence and faithlessness.” [2] When we see the moral fabric of our culture being torn, then as Christian believers we should cry to God for mercy.

5. God’s wrath is stored up.

The whole Bible story leads to a day when God will deal with all evil fully, finally, and forever. This will be the day of wrath, when God will recompense every evil and bring to judgment every sin.

God will do this in perfect justice. The punishment for every sin will match the crime. When the judgment is done, every mouth will be stopped because everyone will know that God judged in righteousness and justice. Then God will usher in a new heaven and a new earth, which will be the home of righteousness.

6. God’s wrath is on sinners.

In John 3:36, he does not say, “The wrath of God will come on [the disobedient].” He says, “Whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remainson him.” It is already there. Why is it already there? By nature, we are children of wrath (Ephesians 2:3). It is the state in which we were born.

What, at the end of the day, is the greatest human problem? It is not that we are lost and need to find our way on a spiritual journey. It is not that we are wounded and need to be healed. At the core of the human problem is that we are sinners under the judgment of God, and the divine wrath hangs over us unless and until it is taken away.

How God’s Wrath Is Removed

The Bible speaks about God’s wrath being poured out at the cross: “I will soon pour out my wrath upon you, and spend my anger against you” (Ezekiel 7:8). This takes us to the heart of what happened there: The divine wrath toward sin was poured out on Jesus. He became the “propitiation” for our sins (Romans 3:25), which means that the payment for our sins was poured out on Jesus at Calvary.

Don’t ever get the idea that God loves you because Christ died for you. No, it’s the other way round. Christ died for you because God loved you! He loved you even when you were the object of his wrath! God so loved the objects of his wrath that he spent the wrath on himself at the cross.

The outpouring of God’s wrath was the greatest act of love this world has ever seen.

[Tweet “The hope for sinners is that between us and the wrath of God stands the cross of Jesus.”]

The hope for sinners is that between us and the wrath of God stands the cross of Jesus. Sin was laid on Jesus and the Divine wrath toward it was poured out, spent, and exhausted in the darkness of Calvary. And when it was done, Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “It is finished!” The wrath of God that will one day be poured out on all sin was spent at the cross with regard to all who are in him.

Then Christ rose from the dead, and he stands before you today, a living Savior! He offers to you the priceless gift of peace with God. He is ready to forgive your sins and fill you with his Spirit. He is able to save you from the wrath and reconcile you to the Father. He has opened the door of heaven, and he is able to bring you in.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

Denying pending judgement of God, denying the anger and day of wrath of God, and living as though there is no consequence to being complacent and neglectful to God, does not make it untrue or go away.  It just means your heart is of stone, your eyes are blind, and your ears are deaf to the holiness and righteousness of God and the ability to know of His grace, mercy and love.  Seek Him while He may be found.  Desire to have Him soften your heart, open your eyes and ears to knowledge and understanding of Him.

They have not know my ways

“So they said to him, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform?”

“In spite of all this, they still sinned; despite his wonders, they did not believe.”

“They are a people who go astray in their heart, and they have not known my ways.”

“And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken!”

John 20:24  Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.”  Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.”  Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.”  Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”  Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book;  but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

Psalms 78:11     They forgot his works and the wonders that he had shown them.  In the sight of their fathers he performed wonders in the land of Egypt, in the fields of Zoan.  He divided the sea and let them pass through it, and made the waters stand like a heap.  In the daytime he led them with a cloud, and all the night with a fiery light.  He split rocks in the wilderness and gave them drink abundantly as from the deep.  He made streams come out of the rock and caused waters to flow down like rivers.  Yet they sinned still more against him, rebelling against the Most High in the desert.  They tested God in their heart by demanding the food they craved.  They spoke against God, saying, “Can God spread a table in the wilderness?  He struck the rock so that water gushed out and streams overflowed. Can he also give bread or provide meat for his people?”  Therefore, when the LORD heard, he was full of wrath; a fire was kindled against Jacob; his anger rose against Israel,  because they did not believe in God and did not trust his saving power.

Hebrews 3:12     Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.

Hebrews 3:18     And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient?  So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief.

Hebrews 4:1     Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it.  For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened.

Psalms 85:8    Let me hear what God the LORD will speak, for he will speak peace to his people, to his saints; but let them not turn back to folly.

2 Peter 2:19    They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved.  For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first.  For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them.

It is not uncommon for unbelief to enter our heart and mind.  We have a sinful nature that does not want to believe in, trust in, cling to, or rely on God.  Just look at our culture and how far it has fallen away from God.  Pornography is viewed as adult entertainment.  Child pornography is at an all time high.  Domestic minor sex trafficking is climbing.  Higher education explaining and teaching there is no God.  People never being satisfied.  That which was shameful and done in secret is now a normal way of life.  It is as though people are living without a thought that there will be a day of judgement coming.  We choose to live for God, believing in Him, or we choose to deny Him.  We choose if we commit all of our heart, mind, and soul to humbly serving, honoring, following, obeying, and loving Him and His plan and purpose for our lives.  There is no middle ground.  We serve Him fully or not at all.  Our culture seems to have us believing the lie that it is possible to live in a middle place, somewhere between full commitment to God and living as though He has no place in our daily lives.  This lie tells us that we are good enough or doing good enough to receive eternal life.  The truth of his word says it is not by works or being good enough.  It is by faith alone we are saved.  The lie has us performing for that which cannot be obtained by performance.  The lie has us pretending everything is ok when in fact our heart is far from Him.  God is real.  Jesus Christ death and resurrection is real.  Salvation by faith through Him alone is real.  God’s word is truth.  A day of judgement coming is real.  Eternity is real.  Heaven is real.  Hell is real.  Saying and believing this is false does not make it false.  Denying sin is sin does not make it right.  Everything we do ought to be done in light of His word.  Our culture and our sinful nature want us to deny God fully into our lives.  Do you want purpose in your life?  Believe in Him with all your heart, mind and soul.  Trust in Him alone.  Live for Him alone.  Stay in His word.  Study His word.  Ask Him to make His word alive in you.