God’s anger

Call to Prayer

Title: God’s anger

By: Simon Nuhu Maina

Date: 20.10.2023

God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day. If he turn not, he will whet his sword; he hath bent his bow, and made it ready. (Psalms 7:11-12).

Through the Scriptures, we see that God actually desires that all men to be saved ( 1 Timothy 2:4), even though it takes the deliberate decision of a man to bring that to fulfillment; power of choice is given to him (Deuteronomy 30:19). God in His infinite mercy does not want a sinner/wicked to perish, neither does He derive pleasure in the death of the unrighteous (Ezekiel 18:32). Despite that God is patient, slow to wrath and greatly rich in mercy (Psalms 145:8-9); yet He is a God that judges (Ecclesiastes 12:14). Now, there are quite a lot of opinions about God’s anger that might seem to be controversial but the truth is, God gets angry! as we read in the opening text.

God indeed gets angry towards two categories of people; the first category are unbelievers/sinners which often leads to Judgement unto condemnation if they fail to repent. The second category are careless/reckless believers which is expressed by Him disciplining them. God is not happy at the unrighteous daily despite He shows His goodness towards them. The reason of His goodness and loving kindness toward them is to make them repent (Romans 2:4-5). Unfortunately, most sinners mock God’s love and longsuffering. Many of them assume that God does not punish sin or does not even exist. Because God does not speedily execute sentence of death on them through thunder, natural disaster or sudden death, they continue in their wicked ways (Ecclesiastes 8:11-13). So, God’s wrath towards the sinners at the end is eternal Judgement (Revelations 22:8).

The second category of people who God displays anger or displeasure are lukewarm, careless believers. This kind of anger comes from God’s heart of discipline. He chastises whom He truly loves (Hebrews 12:6-11). As a loving Father, He does not want His children to be irresponsible; if a father fails to correct which sometimes could be harsh then the children are not truly his. If the children who err are without chastisement, they become unguided (Proverbs 13:24). In His love He has begotten us, therefore whenever we go astray, He does not overlook us but disciplines us. It is crucial we understand that  the chastisement or scold from Him might not literally come through ” a supposed direct voice from heaven” like in the case of the Father affirming Jesus Christ (Matthew 17:5).

He chastises us through His faithful servants whom He appoints in the Church like our pastors, leaders, Apostles, group coordinators etc. They may give us strong angry face which portrays God’s displeasure, or severe words that we don’t expect. A good example is Jesus Christ chasing the people with a whip when they desecrated the house of God by turning it into a house of merchandise (John 2:15). Also, in the book of Revelation where Jesus warns the churches of Ephesus, Pergamos, Sardis and others.

Prayer point:

Let’s thank for today’s message and also ask Him to help us to accept His chastisement for our growth and maturity.