God's Wrath Truly Revealed

“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of people who suppress the truth by their unrighteousness, because what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world his invisible attributes—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, because they are understood through what has been made. So people are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not glorify him as God or give him thanks, but they became futile in their thoughts and their senseless hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for an image resembling mortal human beings or birds or four-footed animals or reptiles.” Romans 1:18-23 NET

The belief known as “penal substitutionary atonement” (PSA) asserts that all humanity faces God's wrath. However, this raises a crucial question: What does God's wrath signify when we consider His inherently loving nature? Can a God of profound love also express merciless anger?

Many secular scholars who analyze the biblical accounts of God's command for the extermination of specific nations during the early Jewish conquests, these scholars contend that these actions reflect divine injustice and capriciousness. However, this perspective often neglects the broader context of these nations and the rationale behind their destruction. Most, if not all, of these groups, were descended from a lineage profoundly corrupted by fallen angels, who intermarried with humanity and gave rise to fearsome hybrid giants. These angelic/human giants unleashed senseless and arbitrary violence, terrorizing and murdering innocent people without any justifiable cause. Understanding this context sheds light on the difficult decisions made during those tumultuous times.

The Book of Enoch tells us more the story of giants, also known as Nephilim, which correlates with the depictions of Genesys 6 and the Deuteronomy 32 worldview. These giants were depicted as wild, colossal beings driven by rage and insatiable appetites. Their relentless consumption of enormous quantities of food drained the vital resources essential for human survival. In their desperate hunger, some even resorted to cannibalism, illustrating the profound danger they represented to humanity. This portrayal underscores the dire threat these giants posed to mankind's very existence.

In the face of the relentless assault by the Nephilim, countless humans earnestly cried out to God for protection, appealing desperately and seeking salvation for themselves and their descendants from these fearsome hybrid killers. God empowered Israel to rise up and vanquish the giant clans in a powerful response, transforming the children of Israel into a beacon of hope and strength. Their sacred mission was to eradicate the tainted bloodlines of the Nephelim, ensuring the land would no longer be defiled by hybrid intercourse and that a pure, holy lineage would be restored once again.

To truly grasp the essence of God’s character, we must move beyond mere definitions and examine His nature from a deeper perspective. When understood in the context of His love, God's wrath reveals the depth of who He is. He does not desire to be a taskmaster but longs to be a source of unwavering love and acceptance. This longing is beautifully articulated in the Song of Solomon. Love is not what God does; more precisely, love is who He is.

God’s wrath is not a mere expression of rage intended for our destruction but a profound invitation to transformation through kindness and mercy, to remove offensive behavior that keeps us from knowing Him deeper. This transformative power of His wrath shines as a beacon of hope, revealing His unwavering desire to redeem and restore humanity with compassion rather than to punish us out of anger or inflict tyrannical suffering without reason. Thus, God's wrath transcends our initial perceptions; it embodies a character resolutely committed to loving and showing mercy to His creation, even amid rebellion and sin. If God had simply created us for punishment, He then would be unjust and tyrannical. This understanding invites us to embrace His mercy and desire transformation in our lives.

When we examine the concept of "wrath" in the Bible in relation to God, it reveals a profound idea of a "mental bent" or "impulse." This invites us to reflect deeply on what God's inclination reveals about His true character as portrayed in Scripture. Crucially, God's wrath is not a mechanism for punishing man since we, in our humanity, cannot measure up to His holy standards. Only God Himself can meet the perfection required of divine beings since we are inherently flawed.

Herein lies an extraordinary truth: Jesus is the only one who has met the demands of perfection. When we receive Him as our Savior, we experience a profound transformation, being seen as perfect in the eyes of God. This remarkable change occurs because Jesus resides within us, and we reside in Him by the power of the Holy Spirit, unlike the Nephilim who attempted to circumvent God’s plan and do it naturally through human reproduction. Embracing this powerful relationship with Jesus affirms our inherent worth and equips us with the confidence and strength to live out our faith in Christ, fully aligned with God's will and deepening our relationship with Him.

Jesus willingly endured unimaginable torture and suffering on our behalf, and it's crucial to understand the truth behind this: God did not inflict suffering upon Him; it was humanity that did. The torment and cruelty Jesus faced were not the actions of God but rather that of sinful mankind. If God is love, then what purpose does Jesus' suffering serve? Hebrews 5:8 (GNT) provides clarity: “But even though he was God’s Son, he learned through his sufferings to be obedient.” This verse illustrates the profound and transformative purpose of Jesus' suffering, emphasizing that it taught Him the invaluable lessons of obedience. Just as a son learns essential life skills (or apprenticing) from his Father through life experiences, so too did Jesus learn through His trials, reinforcing the depth of His divine relationship with His heavenly Father. It is again a matter of perspective rather than punitive substitutionary atonement. God loves because he loves, not because we earn or deserve it.

Paul powerfully asserts that God has revealed Himself through His creation since the dawn of time. God is not a distant mystery; the natural world's intricate complexity and breathtaking beauty make it abundantly clear that people are without excuse for denying Him. Before Jesus, individuals recognized God's existence through His creations but chose not to express gratitude, offer thanks, or to give Him the glory He deserves. Instead, they turned their backs on His Majesty, focusing inward and elevating themselves to the status of gods—a fruitless endeavor. This arrogance mirrors the mindset of many today, many who fail to recognize the true God as their ultimate source of life, preferring instead to worship their own self-made images or ideals.

Stephen Barnett