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“That Troublesome Old Testament God - IV”
For some, the wrath and anger of God as described in the OT specifically is a problem. How can we reconcile a loving, merciful, long-suffering God with a God who can be filled with wrath?
In Fretheim’s discussion of this, he made some helpful points that may be an aid to those who cannot reconcile these diverse portraits of God. One thing to realize is that in the OT, most of God’s wrath is directed at his own people, Israel. God had called them into a special covenant relationship and thus they had special responsibilities before God. The idea that the children of Israel developed down through the ages that their election meant privilege rather than service was their error, not God’s.
The anger of God is also a sign that God cares – that he is involved in this world and that he takes things seriously. He has not set the world in motion and then withdrawn himself from it, and is now aloof. Rather, he works on this world from the inside-out. How would we feel about a God that did not care about suffering and violence and injustice? Our God cares about these issues.
One of the most helpful points made by Fretheim was that God’s anger is always accompanied by tears. Think first of the story of the Flood in Genesis 6-8. Genesis 6:6 says that wickedness of the world “grieved him to his heart” – those are tears, in essence. Tears come before punishment (verse 7).
Another text to consider here would be from the “weeping prophet” Jeremiah. In Jeremiah 9:10 and following consider these words:
"I will take up weeping and wailing for the mountains, and a lamentation for the pastures of the wilderness, because they are laid waste so that no one passes through, and the lowing of cattle is not heard; both the birds of the air and the beasts have fled and are gone. I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins, a lair of jackals, and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant."
Tears precede wrath. And what calls forth the wrath of God? Sin. If there were no sin, there would be no wrath.
Next time we will consider some thoughts about the judgment of God.
