A Troubling Aspect of God.
Further thoughts on Rev 19:15-16.
The phrase “furious anger” is (apparently) almost untranslatable. A literal reading would be “trample the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty.” I’m not sure what the “fury of the wrath of God” is designed to say except that He is “really, really, REALLY mad.”
Revelation takes us on a tour of the vocabulary of anger. We are not surprised that the dragon is angry (12:17) or that prostitute Babylon is full of wrath (14:8; 18:3). The bad guys in most stories tend to be angry types who can’t control their feelings.
What does surprise us is how often God is portrayed as angry, furious, or wrathful in this book (e.g.,11:18, 14:10). When we are introduced to the seven last plagues, we are told they are the full and final outpouring of God’s wrath (15:1). We hope that by the time we have gotten to Revelation 19 we are done with this apparent troubling side to God’s personality.
One way to deal with this is to note that the God of the Old Testament is often portrayed as angry or wrathful. It is as if Jesus and the Old Testament God portray two duelling sides to God’s character. But Revelation does not allow us this illusion. It makes it very clear that the Lamb also gets angry (6:16-17) and that He is approvingly present at the torment of those who accepted the mark of the beast (14:10). Evidently, anger can be a healthy thing or an unhealthy thing, depending on the circumstances and the motivation.
The key is this. The wrath of God is not an emotional thing; it is a judicial one.
God isn’t throwing a hissy fit; His wrath is settled disapproval of anything that disturbs the happiness and tranquillity of the universe. He is the defender of victims and the rescuer of the oppressed. The gospel from both Testaments describes a God who is full of grace, patience, and forgiveness. We shouldn’t judge this language on the basis of our own dysfunctional emotions. God must be seen by the universe to be dealing with sin.
Paul talks about the “wrath of God” as an integral part of the Gospel. Wrath is what happens when perfect good meets pure evil! As long as God is God, he cannot overlook sin. As long as God is God, he cannot stand by indifferently while his creation is destroyed. As long as God is God, he cannot dismiss lightly those who trample his holy will. As long as God is God, he cannot wink when men mock his name.
The clearest passage in the Bible on God’s wrath—Romans 1:18-32. “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness.” Romans 1:18. This passage pronounces God’s judgment on the whole human race. And it comes in response to man’s rejection. The truth is, we’ve got the problem—not God. First man rebels and then God responds with his wrath. God must deal with sin, and that He has done at the cross when Jesus took the curse of sin upon Himself. (Gal 3:13). Jesus experienced the wrath of God against sin on our behalf. He took the curse of death that was due to us. This is liberating! It gets us off the treadmill of works and looking to ourselves as a means of salvation. Our salvation is outside of ourselves – it is “looking unto Jesus who is the author and finisher of our faith.” Hebrews 12:2.
IN Romans 1 Paul says all the gentile world is lost because of sin and comes under the wrath of God, In chapter 2 He says the Jewish world is in the same state , then in Chapter 3 he makes it clear that the entire world is lost – without Christ. And then that monumental, climactic passage “Obviously, the law applies to those to whom it was given, for its purpose is to keep people from having excuses, and to show that the entire world is guilty before God. For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are. But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago. We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are. For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he makes sinners right in his sight when they believe in Jesus.” – Romans 3:19-26 PTL