A God of Wrath and Justice
(Apologies for yesterday's missed devotion and today's late devotion.
As you will see, today's devotion is a challenging topic and is going to be longer...
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Today many Christians shy away from talking about God's wrath and justice.
This is partly because we so seldom (maybe never) experience true justice or pure wrath in human expressions thereof. Our human experiences of justice and wrath are often tainted by excessive cruelty or by corruption and incompetence and often result in more injustice. We have also associated wrath, vengeance and judgment to emotion rather than to justice. We often attribute to God the crippling emotions of rage, revenge and bitterness. These are what human beings experience. Sadly, when we think of a "God of Wrath" we picture a God who is "losing his cool".
So we avoid talking and thinking about God's justice, judgment and wrath. We would prefer to do what some Christians do and only talk about the love of God and relegate judgement to the "old covenant" of the Old Testament and argue: "BUT God isn't like that anymore." But that is not a solution, it's merely a selective picture. Just because a theme is uncomfortable and hard for us to understand, it does not mean we can ignore it.
The prophet Nahum wrote about Nineveh, the capital of Assyria. The NIV Study Bible notes "Assyrians were brutally cruel, their kings often being depicted as gloating over the gruesome punishments inflicted on conquered peoples. They conducted their wars with shocking ferocity, uprooted whole populations as state policy and deported them to other parts of their empire. The leaders of conquered cities were tortured and horribly mutilated before being executed. No wonder the dread of Assyria fell on all her neighbors!"
Nahum's name means "comfort" - and this should be our first clue: God's wrath isn't about the vindictive revenge. It is about comfort:
- That wrongs aren't unobserved
- That evil will not endure forever
- That cruelty will be brought to book
- That evil will reap what it sows
Nahum makes God's nature clear.
- He is jealous (in the best sense of the word) for His Name and His people.
- He takes vengeance (in the best sense of the word). He balances the scales.
- He maintains (holy) wrath on His enemies.
- He is slow to anger - He does not lose his temper.
- He does not leave the guilty unpunished.
When we talk about God's justice we need to recognise that this happens at two levels and on two timelines.
Let's talk about the two levels first: God executes justice in terms of nations and individuals.
Sometimes nations have to experience the consequence of their rebellion against God and their cruelty towards others. God often balances these scales in the ebb and flow of history and will use one nation to break the cycle of brokenness in another nation. (Isaiah goes as far as calling Cyrus of the Persians "God's anointed" because they defeated the Babylonians who had been excessively cruel when they took a reprobate Israel into exile.) Sometimes innocent individuals get caught up in the fate of their nation and this is a sad reality of our broken world. But God also holds individuals accountable for their sin and brokenness, and, again, in their brokenness they can drag innocent people into the web of the consequences of their sin.
There are two timelines that God's justice plays out in.
In the first place, there is justice that plays out in this world. This justice is incomplete and imperfect and should really be seen as cause-and-effect consequences, but, as noted earlier, these are tainted by cruelty, corruption and incompetence. But, in the second place, there is a justice that takes place in eternity, where individuals will answer for their actions and choices in the light of eternity.
The book of Jonah is about how God sends a reluctant prophet to call the city of Nineveh to repent. They did repent and judgment was averted. Sadly their remorse was short-lived and they returned to their cruel ways. God, who is slow to anger, chooses to let them experience the consequence of their cruelty.
Whenever we struggle with wrath and justice, there is one final thought to consider: There was one moment of perfect justice that took place in this world. Ironically, this justice came about through a perfect injustice: The sinless Son of God suffered on a cross (an injustice), but He did it to carry every single facet of our brokenness on His shoulders. In a moment of perfect wrath and justice, God turned His face from His beloved but sin-laden Son and so forgiveness was obtained for you and me. And so wrath sets the stage for perfect love and grace is accomplished through justice.
Read the passage below. Note how Nahum paints a picture, not of an angry vindictive God, but a God who is just (trustworthy) and also loving.
The LORD is a jealous and avenging God;
the LORD takes vengeance and is filled with wrath.
The LORD takes vengeance on his foes
and maintains his wrath against his enemies.
The LORD is slow to anger and great in power;
the LORD will not leave the guilty unpunished.
His way is in the whirlwind and the storm,
and clouds are the dust of his feet.
He rebukes the sea and dries it up;
he makes all the rivers run dry.
Bashan and Carmel wither
and the blossoms of Lebanon fade.
The mountains quake before him
and the hills melt away.
The earth trembles at his presence,
the world and all who live in it.
Who can withstand his indignation?
Who can endure his fierce anger?
His wrath is poured out like fire;
the rocks are shattered before him.
The LORD is good,
a refuge in times of trouble.
He cares for those who trust in him,
but with an overwhelming flood
he will make an end of Nineveh;
he will pursue his foes into darkness. (Nahum1:2-8) |
