Angry God

Dear Victorious,

The Bible speaks of "the wrath of God." Do you think God is really angry? I thought He was a loving God, with tons of forgiveness and mercy. If so, how could He be so angry?

Earnest P. - Plano, TX

Dear Earnest,

None of us can really know what God's mood is. After all, the parts of God that we know are what He has chosen to reveal to us. I suspect God is considerably more complex than He has revealed to us. (His Word says we can't comprehend all of the things of God.) However, the Bible can give us some strong clues.

The Old Testament reveals a God who is both merciful and forgiving ... yet who can be angered with continued rebellion by His chosen people (that's us). I think the Old Testament is the best indication of God's nature and character. He is forgiving, merciful and slow to anger. But when He gets angry ... watch out!

The only thing standing between us and this God who cannot tolerate sin is Jesus. He atones for our sin and intervenes on our behalf with God. If not for Jesus, God might still be sending floods, locusts, armies and such to punish us (like He did in the Old Testament times).

So I suspect that God is pleased and satisfied. He put Jesus between Himself and sinful, rebellious people. Jesus wept over the broken condition of those people too. Make no mistake, God was never angry at His people. He was angry at their sin and rebellion. (Love the sinner, hate the sin.) And Jesus was broken hearted at those same behaviors.

God is forgiving and merciful. He is slow to anger. But eventually He must draw the line on sin and rebellion. It is then that people will see and experience His wrath. Those of us who make it a practice to turn from our sin and not rebel against God and His ways ... have nothing to fear. We'll not see or experience His wrath.