The Wrath of G-d

The Wrath of G-d                                                                                              by Herschel Raysman

A question was recently raised on the UMJC (Union of Messianic Jewish Congregations) forum: “How do we reconcile the G-d of the Tanach who in certain instances instructed Israel to utterly destroy an entire village or tribe,  with gentle Jesus, meek and mild who is the ‘fullness of the Deity in bodily form’ (Col 2:9)?

My response was as follows:

Rom 1:18 -   'For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in   unrighteousness'

Recently, on the Chabad home page, a rabbi mentioned that everything that was redeemable, came out of Egypt with Israel. All that was irredeemable remained behind and was destined for judgment and destruction. So, they came out with the wealth of Egypt and accompanied by a mixed multitude of non-Israelites. These were not destined for destruction. Of course, the wealth of Egypt was necessary to build the Mishkan. But, it can also be viewed as restitution for all their years of oppression and forced hard labour. It was pay-back time!

In 1 Sam 15:17-25, we read that Saul disobeyed the HaShem’s clear instruction to ‘go

and completely destroy those wicked people, the Amalekites; make war on them until you have wiped them out.' But King Saul disobeyed and kept some of the spoils of war under the guise that they would be used for divine purposes: vs 21 –“The soldiers took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of what was devoted to God, in order to sacrifice them to the LORD your God at Gilgal."

Everything the Amalekites touched became so defiled and so contaminated with sin that it was beyond redemption. The instruction was to utterly annihilate; however, Saul did what he thought was good. And so, the prophet Samuel responded vs 22 - 23– “Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. 23 For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has rejected you as king."

Because of the treachery of the Amalekites, they were appointed for utter destruction. Men, women, children, elderly, their animals, their gold and silver. Everything to do with the Amalekites was appointed for wrath, judgment and destruction. Nothing was redeemable. Nothing was redeemable!  

On another occasion, only the fighting men were killed but everything else was spared. Here, the animals were suitable for sacrifices and the gold and silver were spoils of war.

Now, the instructions on entering the Land were precise and specific:

Deut 31:3 - 'The LORD your God himself will cross over ahead of you. He will destroy these nations before you, and you will take possession of their land.'

The root word for ‘destroy’ here is ‘shamad’ which means ‘to make utterly desolate, to exterminate’! The danger facing this 2nd generation who entered the Land was their exposure to the cultures and the gods of the nations who occupied the Land. During their 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, Israel had proved herself to be prone to being unfaithful to their G-d. So the idolatrous nations had to be wiped out, not only to protect His people but also, because idolatry would not be tolerated in His land!

Now, when Jericho fell, they destroyed everything but kept the gold and silver for use in the LORD’S House (Josh 6:24-25). The silver and gold was redeemable.

In my understanding, the issue here is sin. Sin is terribly destructive and contagious. Sin can even cross species. Sin can so permeate every aspect of life, so as to render not only the men, women and children, but also their animals. In fact, even the soil could be beyond redemption. All had to be utterly exterminated and no village or city could be rebuilt on that land!

There comes a moment in time, where a people or a tribe crosses a threshold, a point of no return. At that point, they and everything that is theirs, is beyond redemption. It is destined for judgment and destruction! HaShem simply removes His hand of restraint and mercy. People have a choice: life or death (Deut 30). In Rev 22, the gate is closed and all those outside are destined for judgment and wrath. There is no one still sitting on the fence considering whether Yeshua is really the Messiah. They consciously chose death. However, gold and silver can be redeemed by fire, and therefore, it could be spared.

I cannot separate the mercy of G-d from the wrath of G-d, for they are one. We see Messiah hanging on the execution stake as an act of G-d’s love toward a desperate and tainted humanity.  But, it was also the act of His wrath being poured out upon the perfect, unblemished Lamb of G-d.

“…this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” 1 John 4:10

Some people struggle to accept the truth that G-d’s anger is personal, while simultaneously, they have no reservation in accepting the personal love of G-d. Still others will say that a loving God could not get angry, but a loving God is by definition required to be angry at sinners who destroy that which He loves.

The truth is that the Bible speaks of G-d’s anger, wrath, and fury more than it does about His love, grace, and mercy. But, because HaShem is loving, merciful, and kind, He has chosen to save some people – not all! Acts 13: 44-48 is a clear example of this principle.

Furthermore, salvation is defined as deliverance by G-d from His wrath (Rom. 5:9-10). And so, Yeshua averted the wrath of G-d by dying on the execution stake as a substitute for sinners.

At the end of the day, if you struggle with the wrath of G-d as revealed in the Tanach, then, to be consistent, you also have to struggle with Messiah hanging on the execution stake. You can’t have it both ways!