Lesson 5 for February 1, 2025

“But He, being full of

compassion, forgave their
iniquity, and did not destroy
them. Yes, many a time He
turned His anger away, and
did not stir up all His wrath”
Psalm 78:38, NKJV
Many think that God is an angry God in the Old
Testament, and a loving God in the New.
1
But with God “there is no variableness, neither
THE CYCLICAL
shadow of turning” (James 1:17.) Therefore, we can ANGER
find God’s love in the Old Testament, just as we can
find divine wrath in the New Testament.
Both love and wrath are inherent in God's character. 5
2
What we need to know is the true nature of God's THE
THE SLOW
wrath. So what is God's wrath? COMPASSIONATE
ANGER
ANGER

4 3
THE THE
IRREMEDIABLE RIGHTEOUS
ANGER ANGER
 THE CYCLICAL ANGER
The manifestation of divine wrath responds
to a cycle of interaction with His people: In Psalm 78, Asaph includes several examples
The people rebel of this cycle:
against God and do
horrible things God divides the sea and brings forth water
from the rock → the people ask for meat →
God is angry (v. 13, 16-18, 21-22)
God gets angry
The people follow
and withdraws
God… for a time
his protection If he killed them, they sought God →
but they rebelled again (v. 34, 38, 41)
The wrath of God is manifested
in situations of serious sin, in God gave them Canaan → the people
order to stop sin. made idols → God is angry
(v. 54-55, 58-59)
The people are
God frees his
oppressed by Shiloh was destroyed → the people
people
their enemies cried out → God freed and sent David
(v. 60-61, 65-66, 70-72)
The people cry God’s wrath is simply the appropriate response of love to evil
out to God for
and injustice. Accordingly, evil provokes God to passion in favor
deliverance
of the victims of evil and against its perpetrators.
 “He prayed to the Lord, “Isn’t this what I said, Lord, when I was still
at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I
knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and
abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity’” (Jonah 4:2)

The story of Jonah clearly shows how we understand divine wrath: we

want God to immediately burn those who harm us (without realizing that
we also harm others.)
But God's wrath is not like that. First, it does not come without warning.
Because God seeks repentance, not destruction.
On the other hand, God’s anger—as Jonah himself acknowledges—is
slow (Jonah 4:2.) Literally, God is “long-nosed.” This Hebrew expression
implies that God takes many deep breaths before becoming angry.

He is God loves us and gives us grace. But He cannot

angry tolerate or justify sin. God is angry with sin, but
with sin Love He loves the sinner. He will only show anger
the toward the sinner when this is the only way to
sinner bring him to repentance, or when the sinner has
completely rejected the call of the Holy Spirit.
THE RIGHTEOUS ANGER
When is anger justifiable? Is it right to act against another
person out of anger or indignation?
On a human level, we get angry when we see injustice, and
that anger leads us to act to prevent it.
Think, for example, of a person who is suffering a physical attack. We get angry
at the aggressor, and we act to stop the attack.
Outraged at the desecration of the Temple, Jesus became enraged and took a
whip, drove out the sellers and animals, and overturned the money-changers'
tables (Jn. 2:15.) Angry Jesus? Where is His love?
His love for God led Him to be
angry with those who dishonored Christ’s anger is
Him. His love for children made associated here with grief
Him angry with His disciples (Mark at their hardness; it is the
10:13-14.) His love for a sick person righteous anger of love,
and His sadness at the hard- just as the anger attributed
heartedness of those present filled to God in the OT is the
Jesus with anger (Mark 3:1-5.) righteous anger of love.
 “But they mocked God’s messengers, despised his words
and scoffed at his prophets until the wrath of the Lord
was aroused against his people and there was no remedy”
(2 Chronicles 36:16)

God's righteous anger is always directed against

those who harm the beings He loves. If there were no
evil, God would not be angry.
In the history of Israel, God's wrath was manifested
cyclically, always waiting for the people to repent
and return to Him.
On all these occasions, God “gave up” His people, that is,
He withdrew His protection, and the inevitable happened
(Judg. 2:13-14; Ps. 106:41-42.)

But the stakes grew higher and higher, until “there was no
remedy,” and Jerusalem was destroyed (2Chr. 36:16.)
Ultimately, God's wrath will destroy unrepentant sinners
(Ps. 21:9.) Let us not play with God's wrath, for the time will
come when it will manifest itself irremediably.
 THE COMPASSIONATE “It is mine to avenge; I will repay. In due time their
foot will slip; their day of disaster is near and their
ANGER doom rushes upon them.” (Deuteronomy 32:35 NIV )

God's wrath is terrible, and His vengeance is terrible

(Heb. 10:30-31.) But it is not immoral or contrary to love. In
fact, God expresses His wrath against evil because of love.
For this reason, God's most loving expression will be
manifested in his wrath. It is out of compassion—toward
sinners and righteous alike—that he will eradicate every
trace of evil from the universe (Rev. 20:7-9.) At that time,
anger and wrath will also disappear, because injustice and
wickedness will no longer exist.
Until that moment arrives, and although it is correct that, at
times, we express our anger to avoid a violent or sinful act
"in situ," the Bible prevents us from taking revenge for the
damage received.
We must leave vengeance to God. God's vengeance is always
just, but our vengeance is never proportional to the harm
received. Instead of taking revenge, we are encouraged to do
good to those who harm us (Rom. 12:17-21.)
“God allows men a period of probation; but there is a
point beyond which divine patience is exhausted, and
the judgments of God are sure to follow. The Lord
bears long with men, and with cities, mercifully giving
warnings to save them from divine wrath; but a time
will come when pleadings for mercy will no longer be
heard, and the rebellious element that continues to
reject the light of truth will be blotted out, in mercy to
themselves and to those who would otherwise be
influenced by their example.”
EGW (Prophets and Kings, pg. 276)