God’s wrath (or anger) communicates God’s strong disapproval and judgment of human sin and disobedience, but God’s wrath (unlike human anger) has no irrationality or imbalance. God is omniscient and omnipotent. His intelligence, awareness, understanding, and foresight are vastly superior to us humans. In contrast, we humans are emotional creatures, characterized by strong and intense feelings. In order to impart information or warnings to us, God must use language that we can understand. He must use strong language – words like “wrath” – to pierce the inherent hardness of the human heart to bring understanding. However, limited by our finiteness, we cannot truly know how God actually feels or experiences His creation.
God and the Biblical authors often described God as being angry or burning with wrath. Merriam-Webster defines an “anthropopathism” as “ascribing human feelings to something that is not human.”[1] God adopts words that convey human emotions in order to communicate with humans who are emotional beings and who experience the world through a matrix of human emotions. However, it should be noted that the Biblical writers often warned against human anger. The Apostle Paul warned his students to walk by the Spirit as opposed to walking by the flesh (Gal. 5:16). Paul included anger as one of the works of the flesh (Gal. 5:20).
At Ephesians 4:31, Paul warned that all wrath and anger must be removed from us. The Greek noun thymos is defined as “passionate, explosive, anger, or rage.”[2] The Greek noun orgē is defined as “violent passion, anger, indignation, vengeance, or wrath.”[3] At Colossians 3:8, Paul warned the Colossians to rid themselves of anger (orgē) and wrath (thymos). At Ephesians 4:26, Paul wrote, “BE ANGRY, AND YET DO NOT SIN; do not let the sun go down on your anger.” From time to time, we can rightly and strongly disapprove of one thing or another, but we should not let our emotions control us and thereafter, fall into sin and disobedience.
The Old Testament writers also warned against human anger. Psalm 37:8 states, “Cease from anger and abandon wrath; do not get upset; it only leads to evildoing.” Examples of imbalanced and irrational human anger include: (1) Saul’s jealous anger against David (1 Sam. 18:8); (2) Jonah’s anger at Nineveh for repenting (Jon. 3:10-4:1); and (3) David’s brother Eliab’s anger at David for leaving the sheep to fight Goliath (1 Sam. 17:28). At Isaiah 45:24, we learn that all who are angry with the Lord will be put to shame.
The story of Cain and Abel was the Bible’s first story to mention the dangers associated with human anger. After the Lord rejected Cain’s offering, Cain became very angry (Gen. 4:5). The Hebrew word mᵊ’ōḏ means “exceedingly or very.”[4] The Hebrew ḥārâ is defined as “angry or hot.”[5] The root word ḥārar literally means to burn and figuratively means to be angry.[6] We should note the connection between the idea of being angry and the human experience of feeling hot when we are angry. Being in a state of anger, Cain murdered his brother Abel.
The Hebrew noun ‘ap̄ is another Old Testament word most commonly translated as anger or wrath. The Blue Letter Bible notes that the noun “ap” has a connection with the human experience of breathing rapidly through the nose when we are in a state of anger.[7] Again, the human experience of anger and wrath is connected to our strong passions, emotions, and physiological responses experienced in the human body. When we think about God being angry or wrathful, we should focus on the idea of God’s strong disapproval or displeasure, stripped of human irrationality and imbalance. God’s disapproval of human sin and disobedience is completely rational and logical.
The Bible provides various examples of human behavior which provokes God’s wrath. Some examples include: (1) oppressing the widow or orphan (Exod. 22:22-24); (2) worshipping and serving false gods (Exod. 32:10; Deut. 29:26,7:4; Num. 25:3); (3) a lack of appreciation for God’s provision of manna (Num. 11:33); (4) irreverence towards God (2 Sam. 6:7); (5) complaining against and not trusting in God (Ps. 106:32; Num. 11:1); (6) those who call evil “good” and good “evil” (Isa. 5:20); (7) arrogance (Isa. 5:21); (8) those who declare the wicked innocent for a bribe (Isa. 5:23); (9) rejecting the law and Word of God (Isa. 5:24-25; Deut. 6:1-15); and (10) destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (Deut. 29:23).
On many occasions, the Bible authors noted that the Lord is “compassionate and merciful, slow to anger; and abounding in faithfulness and truth” (Exod. 34:6). In fact, on about ten occasions, the Bible mentions that the Lord is “slow to anger.” I am sure that we have all observed and experienced that God is “slow to anger.” Interestingly, Numbers 14:18 reminds us that the Lord is “slow to anger,” but we are also told that God “will by no means leave the guilty unpunished.” We will be held accountable for and are culpable for our arrogance and disobedience.
It is very interesting to note that the Fall of Mankind did not trigger any mention of God’s wrath. At Genesis 2:16-17, the Lord instructed the man and woman to not eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and evil. Later, the man and woman disobeyed God’s instruction. Thereafter, the Lord questioned the man and woman regarding their act of disobedience. Then the Lord simply announced the consequences for their act of disobedience. There was no expression of wrath or even any kind of emotion.
The Bible writers report various types of consequences for human disobedience to God. Some examples include: (1) disease (Ps. 106:29; Num. 11:33; Ezek. 6:12, 16:38); (2) poor harvests (Isa. 5:10; Ezek. 6:12); (3) destruction by a foreign enemy (Isa. 5:13; Ezek. 6:12); (4) death (Isa. 5:25); (5) not being allowed to go into the Promised Land (Num. 32:10-11); and (6) being plundered and enslaved by a foreign enemy (Judg. 2:14). Using more modern language and experiences, generally, the consequences of God’s wrath can be summarized by things like: (1) loss of health; (2) economic loss; (3) loss of freedom; (4) loss of blessing; and (5) death. Of course, a person can experience all these things and not be the subject of God’s wrath. The Apostle Paul experienced an impressive list of trials and tribulations during his faithful ministry for the Lord.
At Romans 1:18-19, we read:
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness [irreverence toward God] and unrighteousness of people who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them, for God made it evident to them.
The wrath of God can be directed against believers and unbelievers (Rom. 13:4). Yes, our sins are forgiven because of Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross, but there are consequences both in this life and the next life for our disobedience and unfaithfulness. Most importantly, if we are disobedient and unfaithful, we will lose out on many fantastic blessings that God wants to reward to His faithful servants.
As Jesus explained, every human will be resurrected, but for some, there will be a resurrection to judgment, and to others, there will be a resurrection to life (John 5:29). Those who committed bad deeds will receive a resurrection to judgment, and those who did good deeds will receive a resurrection to life (John 5:29). In my opinion, those who receive the resurrection to life will inherit unique blessings as the faithful sons and daughters of God. All will be resurrected. The Endstate described by the Bible is every knee bowing and every mouth praising God (Isa. 45:23; Rom. 14:11; Phil. 2:10). At Roman’s 2:8, we read, “but to those who are self-serving and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, He [God] will give wrath and indignation.” The Lord’s warning to Israel is applicable to all of us: “‘As I live,’ declares the Lord, ‘with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm and with wrath poured out, I assuredly shall be King over you’” (Ezek. 20:33).
[1] “Anthropopathism.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/anthropopathism. Accessed 5 Dec. 2023.
[2] “G2372 – thymos – Strong’s Greek Lexicon (nasb20).” Blue Letter Bible. Web. 5 Dec, 2023. <https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g2372/nasb20/mgnt/0-1/>.
[3] “G3709 – orgē – Strong’s Greek Lexicon (nasb20).” Blue Letter Bible. Web. 5 Dec, 2023. <https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g3709/nasb20/mgnt/0-1/>.
[4] “H3966 – mᵊ’ōḏ – Strong’s Hebrew Lexicon (nasb20).” Blue Letter Bible. Web. 5 Dec, 2023. <https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h3966/nasb20/wlc/0-1/>.
[5] “H2734 – ḥārâ – Strong’s Hebrew Lexicon (nasb20).” Blue Letter Bible. Web. 5 Dec, 2023. <https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h2734/nasb20/wlc/0-1/>.
[6] “H2787 – ḥārar – Strong’s Hebrew Lexicon (nasb20).” Blue Letter Bible. Web. 5 Dec, 2023. <https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h2787/nasb20/wlc/0-1/>.
[7] “H639 – ‘ap̄ – Strong’s Hebrew Lexicon (nasb20).” Blue Letter Bible. Web. 9 Dec, 2023. <https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h639/nasb20/wlc/0-1/>.
