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The Justice and Wrath of God
The Lord is a zealous and avenging God;
the Lord is avenging and very angry.
The Lord takes vengeance against his foes;
he sustains his rage against his enemies.
The Lord is slow to anger but great in power;
the Lord will certainly not allow the wicked to go unpunished.
He marches out in the whirlwind and the raging storm;
dark storm clouds billow like dust under his feet.
He shouts a battle cry against the sea and makes it dry up;
he makes all the rivers run dry. Bashan and Carmel wither;
the blossom of Lebanon withers.
The mountains tremble before him, the hills convulse;
the earth is laid waste before him,
the world and all its inhabitants are laid waste.
No one can withstand his indignation!
No one can resist his fierce anger!
His wrath is poured out like volcanic fire,
boulders are broken up as he approaches.
Nahum 1:2-6 NET
Wow! What an opening to one of the shorter books of the Bible. We can’t deny that the Judge of the Universe is frightful. We don’t hear this kind of passage quoted much. Our times like to focus on other attributes of God. Certainly His fierce jealousy and anger are not the full extent of His character. But if we overlook his terrifying justice we miss a big part of who God is. God’s Justice and “Wrath” is different than what you might think.
First off - it is perfect. One of the reasons we humans keep having to cycle back over and over to our deficient justice systems is because no one human system or judge can get it right. Not even the collective can handle it sufficiently. Until the end of time we will always call out for better justice. But with God - the Maker - He has no such limits. His wisdom is infinite; His knowledge of situations is infinite; His understanding of our reasoning is infinite. What this means for us is that when the Bible uses harsh judgment language from the perfect Judge, our gut reaction needs to be to trust His decisions on the matter. From our limitations we can be too quick to arrive at our own conclusions of what justice should look like. But once we give the Maker His infinite reasoning and capability, then we have to stay humble when he makes a decision that doesn’t line up with our imperfect ideas.
The second difference from our ideas is His “Wrath”. I put it in quotes because it’s so different from our natural inclination. When humans get angry, we tend to fall short in the following areas: quick temper, rash outbursts, short-sighted decisions, bold action we regret later, desire to hurt somebody, desire to get our own way, arrogance, cold-heartedness, no mercy. These are human (fleshly) temptations. When we cave to these pressures in our wrath/anger, it produces injustice and unholiness. But God does not employ any of these in His wrath. His wrath is perfect. It is regulated by His perfect Love and Kindness. It is driven by His perfect Justice.
When God marches against Nineveh in the book of Nahum we can know two things to be true: This is a measured statement proportional to their crimes, and God’s emotions are fitting and tempered to be appropriate to the circumstance. After all, if we want justice against evil, then we must allow for the evil to be called out and punished at the right time. He needs no permission to feel this way or mete out this sentence. It is in keeping with His mercy and kindness that He even delivers this message. Nahum’s prophecy is one final warning and chance for individuals left at Nineveh to repent and escape. It is a warning to the Hebrews to avoid their same end. And while it is not required of Him, God still does give us pointers as to why this is happening. They “device wicked plans” 1:11, they amassed idols 1:14, they abused and stole from others 1:15, they kill, lie, and rob everyone they can 3:1, they mislead people by witchcraft 3:4, they grow arrogant in their economy 3:16, their leaders failed to guard and protect their people 3:18. Finally, the last statement of the prophesy sums it up “Who has not felt your endless cruelty?”
So while it is easy to pick up portions of the scripture and use these snippets to get offended at the “Wrath” of God, I encourage you to consult the greater picture. First, the greater picture of God’s perfection and position as Judge of the universe. Second, the greater picture of scripture which guides us to the solution to all sin - peace in Jesus Christ! Thirdly, the acknowledgement of the need for true Justice when people really do deserve it. And in the case of Nineveh, their wound was incurable, it was their time. Let God be the Judge. Let God save the righteous. Let God use His perfect anger, unshared by any human, to restore balance and peace to His Holy plan.
Read the rest of Nahum - it's not a long book! - in the link below:
https://netbible.org/bible/Nahum+1
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