Still pursuing my rekindled love of reading theology, I have started on an article by Don Carson on the wrath of God.
I was a bit naughty and skipped to the end. He has 4 concluding practical implications:
- There is a sense in which we should be wrathful as God is wrathful (Rom 12.9: “Hate what is evil”)
- The wrath of God enhances our grasp of God’s love, it does not diminish it.
- There must be some sense in which God is praised for his wrath (rather than evoke embarrassment)
- We should shed tears. Carson tells the account of a Jewish-Christian believer on a radio panel, who was asked whether anyone could be saved apart from Christ. His ethnic background was known, and so when it was his turn to speak, the radio program host baited him by asking if he thought his fellow Jews could be saved apart from Christ. Carson tells of how “This Christian brother began to weep, and then to sob quietly, uncontrollably. After a minute or two, the host said he had never heard a more compelling reason to become a Christian.
This is all very helpful, and I’m looking forward to reading what comes first!
At the same time, I wonder whether these conclusions could be strengthened – yes, you guessed it – by reference to the way that the wrath of God is a thing to be rejoice d in precisely because it is God’s holy response to all that is evil and destructive of life.
I’m currently on a minor prophets kick in my devotions, and am up to Nahum. Cop this for the way to start a prophecy:
A jealous and avenging God is the Lord, the Lord is avenging and wrathful. The Lord takes vengeance on his adversaries, and rages against his enemies. The Lord is slow to anger, but great in power, and the Lord will by no means clear the guilty.
And Nahum goes on to speak these words of encouragement, to those who were suffering great evil at the hands of Assyria. It’s in the furnace that the wrath of God makes most sense!
That’s great stuff Katay—the wrath of God as comfort. So clear in the minor prophets, beaten down as they were by the seeming defeat of Israel.
Hey dropped in to Meriden today for the school open morning, saw your George Costanza like grin in the school annual report. Cheered us up no end.
Having watched the ABC doco ‘Long Journey Home’ tonight, I too was feeling glad of this doctrine. For exactly the reason you suggest.