The Wrath of a Holy God
74
Thoughts on End Times
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Gerard Van Groningen, author of Messianic Revelation in the Old Testament observes:
Holiness is a distinctively religious term and is used exclusively in relation to God Himself or to what has been sanctified by Him. But supremely, it is God who is holy. There is no holiness unassociated with Him. It is not a natural human quality and it is not an impersonal concept. Its divine Source is everywhere insisted on in the Old Testament.
Perhaps Hosea gives us the clearest declaration of God’s holiness: “For I am God, and not man--the Holy One among you” (11:9b).
In many Old Testament passages, God is described as the Holy One of Israel. He is the holy and kind God who has chosen Israel and has mercy on His people. Holiness is not only an attribute of God but it is God. It is His nature, His essence, His existence, as is love. When He swears by His holiness He is swearing by Himself.
The Sovereign LORD has sworn by his holiness: “The time will surely come when you will be taken away with hooks, the last of you with fishhooks. Amos 4:2
The Sovereign LORD has sworn by himself--the LORD God Almighty declares: “I abhor the pride of Jacob and detest his fortresses; I will deliver up the city and everything in it.”Amos 6:8
Since God is indeed holy, He is unique and incomparable. He is different from angels, from pagan gods, and from man. His holiness is an inherent aspect of His sovereignty and sets Him above and beyond all other beings. He is free of all considerations and conditions, absolutely free master of His own will, of His feelings, even of His wrath. He is almighty not requiring any justification, exalted over all, blessed forever. He is Lord absolutely of His resolutions and decisions and therefore He is to be absolutely reverend and feared.
Since God is absolutely holy, He totally and completely distances Himself from sin, evil, corruption. He maintains His purity and rejects, fights against, and destroys that which would offend, attack, or seek to taint His holiness. God’s holiness abhors sin and has an intense aversion to it. As a God of faithfulness and without sin, He is always concerned for His holiness and absolutely will not tolerate iniquity in any way, shape or form from His own creatures.
Hence, God’s anger must always be seen in relation to His maintaining and defending His nature of love and holiness, as well as His righteousness and justice. The passion that moves God to demanding His rights as deity is expressed by the terms “displeasure,” “indignation,” “anger, “ and “wrath.” A consequence of His wrath is vengeance, punishment, and death.
Paul in his letter to the Ephesians declared: “All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath.” Thus, we areall under divine wrath, and our only hope of escape, which will certainly be full and ferocious on judgment day, is to believe in Jesus Christ who bore the curse of the covenant and endured the anger of God on Calvary. This same Christ-Man who was executed will Himself execute divine wrath and vengeance to its maximal degree on that “Great Day”
They called to the mountains and the rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?" Revelation 6:16-17.
Thus, we see the obvious connection between God’s holiness and divine justice. A holy God who detests sin can do no other than punish it. As the Psalmist said, God is not One “who takes pleasure in evil; with You the wicked cannot dwell.” All non-believers and believers who dare desecrate God’s holiness must expect His reaction. “The LORD examines the righteous, but the wicked and those who love violence his soul hates.”
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Joshua warned the people that because God was a holy God He would not forgive their transgressions while they forsook Him and served idols. When the fire came out from the presence of the Lord to devour Nadab and Abihu in their impiety, Moses explained to Aaron: "This is what the LORD spoke of when he said: "'Among those who approach me I will show myself holy; in the sight of all the people I will be honored.'"
And similarly, Korah and his band of Levites perished because they had despised the Lord by violating His holiness. “But if the LORD brings about something totally new, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them, with everything that belongs to them, and they go down alive into the grave, then you will know that these men have treated the LORD with contempt."
Understand too, that God’s wrath, like His jealousy, is of a totally different nature and definition than that experienced by man. The distinction is too great to define. Suffice it to say human wrath is subject to the creation laws of God. God’s wrath has no such limitations. To blaspheme God’s sovereignty through resistance to His revealed will, the Law, His messengers and the Bible is to incur His wrath.
In the New Testament the wrath of God is understood as presented in the Old Testament but with an entirely new emphasis. The emphasis is on obedience and submission to Christ Jesus. The anger of the final judgment is the anger of Christ. We note that the nationalistic protection of the Jewish nation by threats of divine wrath is totally absent from the Gospel narratives.
The expression of the wrath of God is terrible in the New Testament because it has in view the soul’s destruction and eternal punishment of the wicked:
And if your hand offend you, cut it off: it is better for you to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where their worm dies not, and the fire is not quenched. And if your foot offend you, cut it off: it is better for you to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: And if your eye offend you, pluck it out: it is better for you to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire: where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. Mark 9:43-48. (AKJV)
Unlike the Old Testament, there are no terms used in the New Testament describing the wrath of God in anthropopathic (attributing to God human emotions) terms. Many of Jesus’ parables deal directly with the wrath of God and portray it as the recompense for rejection of the Messiah. (Matthew 7). Only in a few contexts are the judgments of God’s wrath associated with physical or natural disaster as is common in the Old Testament. The teaching of Jesus is explicit in warning not so much of physical retribution but of the punishment of the soul.
We know that Christ plays a dual role in the operation of the divine wrath. He is simultaneously the Judge and Sinner (substituting for us). It is in His role as Judge that He is introduced by John the Baptist.
"His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire." Matthew 3:12.
His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire." Luke 3:16.
In His parables, Jesus repeats the description of the Lord of heaven as a Judge. The particular threat of this future violence culminating in the coming of the Son of man He applies to Himself in the twenty-ninth chapter of Matthews.
The Book of Revelation provides the most complex and involved prophecy of the end times. What the scene of horror illustrates is that the once slain Messiah rules over the final culmination of God’s wrath.
May God help us to not neglect so great a salvation! We pray for the authentic repentance of all unbelievers and that they put their trust in Your Son who suffered Your wrath for every believer. This we pray in His name and for His sake, Amen.
Acknowledgements
Gerard Van Groningen, Messianic Revelation in the Old Testament
Anthony T. Hanson, The Wrath of the Lamb
James Gray, The Wrath of God in Hebrew Literature
John Murray, The Epistle to the Romans
R. V. G. Tasker, The Biblical Doctrine of the Wrath of God
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Hi Pam,
Well, people have been saying since the apostolic days that the end was near and yet here were are two millenniums later predicting the same. One thing for sure, we are closer than ever.
But, regardless of whether end times will be sooner or later, we humans only have a short time to make our decision as to where we want to spend eternity.
Thanks for the visit Pam and your thought provoking comment.
Peace in Him,
Forever His
I love this. Thanks for the hub, RevLady. Rated UP.
As usual, an indepth and well laid out provision of God's wrath and the differences between that which we recognize and that which God abides in. There is but one definition and source of Holiness and it is He. Therefore, it behooves us to maintain an intimate relationship IN the spirit so as to acclimate ourselves with true and pure holiness as opposed to mankind's variables. Pastor, ya done did it again! Praise the Lord!
Brenda, UG,
Thank you both for your precious comments affirming the faith. God is holy and worthy of our honor. All glory to His name.
Peace and joy in Him,
Forever His
This is a beautiful and so appropriate sermon about God's Holiness and His Divine Nature, and by necessity, His wrath.
God doesn't want any to be destroyed (because He is love), but the unrepentant wicked must be brought to the justice of the Lord (because God's Holiness is offended by their despot nature) thus the wrath of God will be meted out upon them by Christ himself--the very one they refuse to "come to" for their salvation.
You tell us so much in this hub! It is the Perfect message on Sunday morning RevLady! God Bless you!
Rev Lady, what is the the end times? but the day ones mortal life ends upon the earth? As one dies so their judgement is sealed either in Christ/worthy or out side of the Kingdom in sin? I don't think many think of it that way, but what other way can it be seen? Those waiting on a tremendous sign like the Apocalypse, will be late to the decision.
A great hub with deep issues to be taken to heart.
Much Peace,Blessings and love, Dusty
I believe you are right ExJW,
God is Love and it is sad that so many reject this love. But God would not have put Christ through the horror of crucifixion and abandoned Him for a time, if sin was not such a monumental evil against His Love.
We hear our brothers and sisters all the time talk about justice. Most recently with Osama bin Laden. Well, what about God? He demands and will get justice against all who dare defy Him by rejecting His Son (His Love) and abusing the freedom He allotted us.
I rejoice in all the saints who adore Him and worship Him for He is worthy of more than we can ever give. Yet, He counts it as satisfying. All glory to God!
Love my dear sister who chose to take a stand for Christ. I admire your courage and your faith.
Dusty,
As you said, all kinds of people have all kinds of thoughts about the end times. For me, what I know is that there is a clear distinction between what awaits the saved and unsaved; eternal bliss, eternal torment.
Love you my dear brother and I keep you where it matters most, in my prayers and heart.
Forever His
I agree, we are closer than we were! I always tell my clients not to worry about when the Lord is coming, but to get prepared for HIM! GREAT HUB!!! Voted-UP!
That IS the most important Drpastor. Bless you dear heart.
Forever His
AMEN! Great hub you hit it on the head with the holiness of God. I have noticed to very distinct things these days in our pulpits ! sin is not preached on as it used to be preachers afraid of offending and driving people away ( the itching ears) 2 The true awesome holiness of God is very rarely preached anymore, pastors ignoring to preach on it for the same reasons all ready stated. If people see the awesomeness of God in His Holiness then they feel they are way too bad to ever be forgiven so pastors compromise their messages to oh God is love and we all want love. EXCELLENT HUB!
2 Peter 3:9 says "The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance." People want God to be warm and fuzzy and "nice" all the time. How often do we hear, How can a God of love send people to hell? Their focus is completely skewed. How much more love could God show than to send His own precious Son to die a hideous death on the cross for all of mankind, in our place so to speak, so that we do not have to experience his wrath and go to hell. All one needs to do is reach out and take that gift. God is a just God. He does have wrath over sin. And yes, there is a punishment that needs to be paid. Again, here is the love folks--Jesus already did it for us. No one needs to worry about being subjected to God's wrath and going to hell if they receive God's gift of salvation, grace, and forgiveness. I would ask anyone reading this to look at the 2 Peter verse again carefully. He has been patient thousands of years, not wanting anyone to perish (and go to hell) and desires passionately that all come to repentance. There is a choice.
I have a serious concern about the Emergent Church movement where they try to sweeten up, soften up, water down, and misrepresent the gospel. One of their leaders, Rob Bell, has just come out with a new book called Love Wins. It's a book on heaven and hell. He throws out questions and suggestions about hell that are so far from what the scriptures teach. It can cause lots of people to go astray and rest on their Laurels thinking that they will get another chance to repent on the other side and down below. The emergent leaders try to dance around when you try to pin them down about essential Christian doctrines. I just read an article by Albert Mohler and he pegged their tactics quite well:
"Rather than make a clear theological or doctrinal assertion, emerging figures generally raise questions and offer suggestive comments. Influenced by postmodern narrative theories, most within the movement lean into story rather than formal argument. Nevertheless, the general direction seemed clear enough. The leading emerging church figures appeared to be pushing Protestant Liberalism –just about a century late."
I love my pastor dearly, but he is reading all the books and writings of these leaders of the emergent movement (Rob Bell, Brian McLaren, Doug Pagitt etc.) and he made some startling assertions about hell and judgement a month or so ago. "Hell is not eternal" he said. "No where in the Bible does it say that hell is eternal." He then shared what the common doctrines about hell that are moving around in the world today and most of it was quite shocking. At the end he said, "these are just some of the doctrines that are going on out there today, perhaps there is truth in all of them." Some of the doctrines he spoke about were universalism (everyone goes to heaven) and having another chance to repent when people go to hell. He asked the question, "So are we supposed to believe that 99.9% of the people are going to hell and the few that are left are going to heaven?" He took all the scriptures he knew we would counter with and twisted them into what he wanted to say. I was grieved. For his message would say to anyone in church that day who did not know Christ, that hell is "nothing to worry about. If you go there, God just might give you another chance. And it's not eternal after all. Don't sweat it." I asked some people after church what their thoughts were on what the pastor said about Hell. I got answers like, "I don't even like to think about hell. I don't care what he said." Or, "All I know is that I don't want to go there." I agree. But no one but a handful of us were concerned. It is imperative that unbelievers know about hell as well as heaven, that they know about God's wrath, not just His love. God sent His Son Jesus to die in our place. We don't have to go to hell. If you go there it is your choice. He loves us all. Choose Jesus, and you'll never have to worry about hell and wrath. Again, that's love!
Thank you RevLady, I will step down from the pulpit now and hand it back to you.
Much love and blessings.
MA,
Many of us have noticed the same thing. I think it is part of the backlash from former days when hell and damnation was overemphasized and less stress put on the love of God. We are seeing the swing of the pendulum now where the overemphasis is on the love of God. I suspect the Christian community will find the medium in future generations when again the pendulum swings.
LS,
Believers interpret Scripture in different ways which depends upon their underlying theological assumptions. The problem with our system of interpretation is that we approach the Bible with a certain bias. Therefore, we come with our mental baggage that is packed with previous involvement with Scripture which prejudice our reaction to the biblical passages under consideration. The result is, oftentimes, only an interpretation that mirrors our biases. All interpretations, whether liberal or conservative, have both strengths and weaknesses.
We increase our ability to interpret more accurately if we have the benefit of good hermeneutical and exegetical skills. Hermeneutics is necessary because it closes many of the historical, linguistic, cultural, philosophical and theological gaps that otherwise hinder precision in Biblical understanding.
That being said, I also believe true understanding is a process of discovery as revealed to us by the Holy Spirit according to our ability to comprehend at any given time.
Thank you dear friends for sharing your thoughts. It is of great value to our continued growth and development in the faith.
Love, peace and joy in Him
Forever His
Rev Lady: beautifully written. God indeed does have wrath and it is directed against sin, and thank God it is so. More than earthquakes, or tidal waves or hurricanes or tornadoes or anyother natural disaster, God's wrath and his hatred of sin and how he deals with it makes these natural disasters seem like a tickle or a a breeze.
This will become apparent when the "Great Tribulation" and Armegeddon are witnessed.
AMEN!. My brother was just saying that people don't know what real disaster is but the unsaved will when God's fury is unleashed.
Bless you dear brother in Christ who is coming again soon!
Forever His
I too feel that people do not know what real tribulation is or will be. The disasters we have today in my humble opinion is not God's wrath nut rather the whole earth groaning out for its maker. Nature itself knows the God that created it and as His hand is loosening from this world as the end days usher in the very earth is groaning for His touch. There is more to come, not to be putting out a doom and gloom message but yes, the earth is crying out.
Interesting comment MA which may very well be. Of course, natural disasters has occurred all through history since ancient times. The entire universe was infected with sin due to the fall and yes, perhaps does yearn for its former state.
I also agree with you and do not associate natural disasters with God's wrath. This is our time for His grace. But the "Great Day" is coming.
Thought provoking. Thanks MA
I have often thought of how frightening God's wrath can be, particularly in the Old Testament. However, I believe I came to understand His right over our lives when I stopped to consider how He is our creator.
We, and everything on earth and around it, are His creations. Like an artist who can manipulate His canvas and hold expectation for His work, we are what He has expectations for: "God’s anger must always be seen in relation to His maintaining and defending His nature of love and holiness."
There is an order to how He wants our lives lived, which is for the good of our future, as well as those around us. If punishments, such as death, seem extreme for our sins, then it is only because people fail to remember that life on earth is only a short part of our journey that He has planned for us.
Thank you for such a thought-provoking Hub, RevLady.
Actually, I loved your summary. I thought I was in Sunday School for a minute. Thanks dear friend of mine.
Love and peace in Him, who is our peace.
Forever His
RevLady, Excellent exegesis on the “Wrath of A Holy God!” Powerful and true statement: “Holiness is not only an attribute of God but it is God. It is His nature, His essence, His existence, as is love. When He swears by His holiness He is swearing by Himself” Amen! Amen!! & AMEN!!! As you well stated: “there is nothing “comparable!” God just is! He is the Great “I AM!” The Lord wants to be a part of every area of our lives!
THANK GOD for JESUS CHRIST and HIS precious HOLY SPIRIT!
Wonderful spirit led heartfelt prayer that causes us to take heed to where we stand with the LORD! “Jesus is coming soon!” Thank you as always for sharing and encouraging us to draw nearer to the Lord! In HIS Love, Grace, Joy, Peace, & Blessings! God Bless YOU!!
One of the great blessings here at hubpages is our invisible church where we rejoice and praise and glorify our God, Jesus, Holy Spirit.
While we thank God for the gift of life, we thank Him also for keeping us ever mindful of the reality of dying and where our permanent home shall be.
Thank you DeBorrah, for the generosity of your comment and support. All glory to God!
Forever His
An awesome wonderful hub of so much important knowledge. God Bless You Precious Heart, And Your Dear Family.
All glory to Him Stars and thank you for feeding my spirit with your words of encouragement.
Love and peace,
Forever His
Hello Reverend Lady,
Gee, after reading some of this beautiful comments, I am left speechless. Smile!
I particularly like what Ama had to say... It was expressed so eloquently, so much from the heart. Smile!
My father always reminded us to live each day as if we knew to expect our Lord's coming that very next moment. I pray that I am ready, because I so wish to be.
A great and wonderful hub, RevLady!
Love and BIG hugs to you, in Christ Jesus,
~Virginia
Terrific hub! I have a feeling that we will be seeing more of God's wrath in the upcoming days. Now is the time to seek God. Thanks for sharing this powerful message.
Your affirmation is well taken and hopefully beneficial to others who read this hub.
Peace and joy in Him,
Forever His
Saundra, I think there is a great deal we can learn about the Lord when we look at His will to be wrathful. At times, in human life, the act or actions of a person or people might stay His anger and discover His mercy. But this mercy was still temporal and restricted to life now. People still had sin and still died. But in Christ we have an advocate that speaks to His eternal mercy, to His ability to stay His anger against us not only now but forever. That amazes me and humbles me. Peace
What a great commentary AW. God is indeed amazing and when I think about His love staying His wrath, as you said, it is truly humbling. What a mighty God we serve!
Forever His
Great hub which presents great truths to consider in life. Thank you for sharing these timeless truths in the light of God's Word. Remain blessed always. Best regards.
Thank you Cristina for the pleasure of your visit and the inspiration of your encouragement.
Peace and joy in Him,
Forever His
Awesome hub in every way. I always learn something knew from your work. Thank you for being a great teacher , and educator. God Bless You Precious Heart, and Your Precious Loved Ones.
I always welcome your comments dear Stars. Your love for God and His Word is obvious and your ongoing support of my efforts here on hubpages is very much appreciated.
Peace and joy,
Forever His
So filled with wisdom and truth. You have culminated the facts of God's wrath with the hope of his mercy & grace. Blessings to you.
All glory to God!! I appreciate your comment Psalmist4M and thank you for posting it. Be blessed!
Forever His
Pamela99 Level 7 Commenter 12 months ago
Rev Lady, This is an excellent article as usual explaining the nature of God and the price of sin. I wonder if we are not moving rapidly towards the end times. God Bless.