Auxano Ministry
By the grace of God I am what I am:
1 Cor. 15:10a
God’s Gospel
God’s Gospel the Foundation
Part III
The Wrath of God - I
Romans 1:18
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;
The fourth reason Paul is ready to preach the gospel of God is because it reveals the wrath of God against all ungodliness and unrighteousness. Verse eighteen begins with the word “for,” gar in the Greek. By now I trust you have seen the use of the word gar in other verses we have gone to where I have not pointed out its use. Observing where and when gar is used can be enlightening.
On the other hand, Christianity has a few concepts that are greatly misunderstood, while explanations only magnify the confusion. Then these explanations bring about misuse and abuse of the subject due to elevating tradition over study of God’s Word. Among these topics are, God’s foreknowledge, the usage of figures of speech, God’s gift of holy spirit in every administration, and the wrath of God.
Today we want to consider the wrath of God, in light of these other areas.
There are always complaints about God, we tend to complain and act in fear when we encounter things we do not understand. One of the most misunderstood aspects of life as a human is God. One of the more consistent complaints about God is Him being called a God of love when He seems so angry all the time.
The Greek word for “wrath” is orge and it is defined as anger, punishment, impulse, and a violent emotion. Not surprisingly I disagree with all of these, and the many other negative words used in Lexicon’s and Concordances to define this Greek word in relationship to God. The wrath of God is the verdict rendered by a Righteous and Just judge in accordance with His foreknowledge and wisdom to protect the seed of the woman and the righteous ones who trust in this prophecy.
There are certain aspects of God’s Word we must consider and acquire a knowledge of to help us better understand the term, “wrath of God.” All these aspects that we will look at we have studied or considered in previous teachings except for one. The figure of speech anthropopatheia. “This figure is used of the ascription of human passions, action, or attributes to God.”
The other aspects are God’s foreknowledge and the usage of figures of speech in the Bible, especially idioma of the verb, by permission. Also, God’s enemy and the influence he exerts in this world. Then, God’s gift of holy spirit upon individuals in the Old Testament.
Man does not see into the next minute. We have no idea what is coming or when it will come. A loved one dies, a war breaks out, a pandemic sweeps across the globe. Everything is moving along and suddenly…
On the other hand, God sees and knows everything. Every detail about today, tomorrow, and even beyond time into eternity. God sees and knows every detail.
Isaiah 46:10
Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, my counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:
God knows the end before a thing has begun. This is a tremendous Truth about God we should commit to the heart. If we truly believe God knows all things, it should be easy to take Him at His word, to trust all that He has said. Remember the book of Numbers, God is not a man that He should lie.
God is omniscient.
Dictionary.com defines omniscient as, “having complete or unlimited knowledge, awareness, or understanding; perceiving all things.”
Merriam-Webster dictionary defines omniscient as, “having infinite awareness, understanding, and insight; possessed of universal or complete knowledge.”
Christianity.com declares, “God’s knowledge is unlimited. Knowing that God is omniscient should allow us to trust His will, His Word, and His timing. Though we don’t know all the answers, God does.”
Psalm 139:16
Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.
New International Version
Psalm 139:16
Your eyes saw my unformed body; all my days were written in Your book and ordained for me before one of them came to be.
Berean Standard Bible
Before you were formed in the womb, God knew your entire life, and it has not altered His love for all of humanity, His care for you, His desire to spend eternity together with you has been His heart since before Genesis 1:1. Remember Timothy, God’s desire is for ALL people to be saved and to have a knowledge of the Truth.
But because God knows all things, He knows He will not receive His desire of ALL being saved. The first person born after Adam and Eve leave the Garden in Eden becomes, by his choice, a child of the Devil.
1 John 3:12
Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous.
“Of that wicked one” is a genitive of relation showing the relationship between the Adversary, (the wicked one), and Cain as one of a child.
Genesis 4:13
And Cain said unto the LORD, my punishment is greater than I can bear.
“Punishment “is the Hebrew word aon and means iniquity.
“Greater” is the Hebrew word gadol and means more than or greater.
“I can bear” is the Hebrew word nasa and means can be forgiven.
A literal for this verse would read, “My iniquity (or sin) is more (or greater) than can be forgiven.
To become a child of the Adversary is the only unforgiveable sin in God’s Word. Cain committed that sin. Yet our God is so into life that He still allowed Cain to live his physical life. Cain had no opportunity for salvation, yet God, in His mercy, and compassion, and grace allowed Cain a physical life, which at that time lasted about 900 years.
The first point I want to consider is the foreknowledge of God. Before Genesis 1:1 God saw Revelation 22:21 and beyond Revelation 22:21 into eternity. God’s foreknowledge is perfect. Let’s look at two accounts spread out over a few years. God, in His foreknowledge, saw these two accounts and acted to protect the seed of the woman and those who believed God’s prophecy of Genesis 3:15.
When Saul was King of Israel God ordered the destruction of the Amalekites under King Agag.
1 Samuel 15:3
Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.
This is a command that Saul failed to obey, and it had consequences. Immediate consequences for Saul and consequences in the future for Israel. But why would a God of love order such a horrible thing? Even today when men fight wars the women and children are spared. Are we not being more humane than God? Only a fool would think this thought and far too many think they are better than the God of the Bible.
1 Samuel 15:13-14
And Samuel came to Saul: and Saul said unto him, Blessed be thou of the LORD: I have performed the commandment of the LORD.
14 And Samuel said, what meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?
Saul did not carry out the will of God. Like some today, he felt he improved God’s plan for the Amalekites. In truth, Saul perverted the will of God because of greed.
Acts 13:10
And said, O full of all subtilty and all mischief, thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord?
This is how the Adversary, and his children operate. Their only job in life is to distract, confuse, harm, and injure, those who believe God and to turn away any others who might believe God.
1 Samuel 16:14
But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD troubled him.
Ultimately, this is Saul’s spiritual problem. Like Adam, and others before Saul, he rejected God’s gift of holy spirit through disobedience. But why did God give Saul an evil spirit? God is only adding to Saul’s problem.
James 1:17
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
God is not capable of giving an evil spirit for He is Holy and Righteous and there is no evil in Him. First Samuel chapter sixteen is the figure of speech idioma of the verb by permission. Read Dr. Bullinger’s definition of this figure of speech once again. “Active verbs were used by the Hebrews to express, not the doing of the thing, but the permission of the thing which the agent is said to do.”
God did not give Saul the evil spirit, the Adversary gave it to him, but he did it with God’s permission. Why did God give His permission? Because Adam gave the Adversary the right and privilege when he placed all of humanity in slavery to the Adversary.
It was Adam’s right to decide, and he decided to serve the Adversary. Now, as a Just God, God must honor the decision of Adam. Yet God knows, if you will trust His words, if you will obey, then Adam’s mistake will be corrected.
Over five hundred years after Saul was the King of Israel, the nation of Israel, was in captivity. They had been conquered by Babylon and taken away captive because they had disobeyed the law of the Sabbath of the land.
The next point is God’s Law to Israel concerning the land.
Leviticus 25:1-4
And the LORD spake unto Moses in mount Sinai, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye come into the land which I give you, then shall the land keep a sabbath unto the LORD. Six years thou shalt sow thy field, and six years thou shalt prune thy vineyard, and gather in the fruit thereof; But in the seventh year shall be a sabbath of rest unto the land, a sabbath for the LORD: thou shalt neither sow thy field, nor prune thy vineyard.
God gave Israel a Sabbath for the land. If you do not give the land a break, let the land lay fallow, you run the risk of burning up the soil, thus making a famine. Esther and Mordecai are in Persia because this Sabbath was broken.
Every seventh year Israel was to neither sow nor reap. They were to allow the land to rest. Then as you continue on in Leviticus 25 you learn God also had established a Jubilee year every fifty years.
It is Israel’s disobedience to the Sabbath of the land that led Israel to be taken away captive by the nation of Babylon. Israel had disobeyed God’s Word concerning the Sabbath of the land for four hundred and ninety years. Therefore, God sent them into captivity for 70 years, during which time, the land would receive its rest.
2 Chronicles 36:21
To fulfil the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths: for as long as she lay desolate, she kept sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years.
When it came to the seven-year Sabbath God had promised Israel He would have the land produce two years’ worth of food to cover the year of Sabbath. For the Jubilee year God said the land would produce three years of food in year six.
When Babylon was under the rule of Nebuchadnezzar’s grandson, it was overthrown by the Persia and Media empire. This empire was so vast that as you see this situation unfold you will begin to realize just how devastating the Adversary’s plan, if executed, would have been to Israel and the world. For the seed of the woman, now called the Messiah, was coming to save the world, not only Israel.
Ester 1:1
Now it came to pass in the days of Ahasuerus, (this is Ahasuerus which reigned, from India even unto Ethiopia, over an hundred and seven and twenty provinces:)
From India across to Ethiopia, and even Asia Minor. (See Empire map) How many inhabitants of the nation of Israel would be left if Haman had carried out his plan? Haman is the one walking with the Adversary in this account. To erase Israel from the world is to erase the Messiah for he is coming through Israel.
Esther 1:2-4
That in those days, when the king Ahasuerus sat on the throne of his kingdom, which was in Shushan the palace,
3 In the third year of his reign, he made a feast unto all his princes and his servants; the power of Persia and Media, the nobles and princes of the provinces, being before him:
4 When he shewed the riches of his glorious kingdom and the honour of his excellent majesty many days, even an hundred and fourscore days.
When this feast of 180 days was completed King Ahasuerus threw a second feast and to this second feast the King summoned Queen Vashti, but she refused to come.
Esther 1:12
But the queen Vashti refused to come at the king's commandment by his chamberlains: therefore was the king very wroth, and his anger burned in him.
Because Vashti refused the King, the King removed her from being queen and began a search for a new queen.
Esther 2:2-4
Then said the king's servants that ministered unto him, Let there be fair young virgins sought for the king:
3 And let the king appoint officers in all the provinces of his kingdom, that they may gather together all the fair young virgins unto Shushan the palace, to the house of the women, unto the custody of Hege the king's chamberlain, keeper of the women; and let their things for purification be given them:
4 And let the maiden which pleaseth the king be queen instead of Vashti. And the thing pleased the king; and he did so.
During this search of all the young virgins in the kingdom Esther was taken to the palace to the house of the women. Esther was taken as one of these virgins to possibly become the new queen.
Esther 2:5-7
Now in Shushan the palace there was a certain Jew, whose name was Mordecai, the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite;
6 Who had been carried away from Jerusalem with the captivity which had been carried away with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away.
7 And he brought up Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle's daughter: for she had neither father nor mother, and the maid was fair and beautiful; whom Mordecai, when her father and mother were dead, took for his own daughter.
Esther’s Hebrew name was Hadassah, but Mordecai gave her the Gentile name of Esther to keep her hidden, to keep her ethnicity hidden. She lived in the house of Mordecai while Mordecai lived in the palace as one of the King’s advisors. Mordecai and Esther were cousins, but Esther, whose parents had died, was raised by Mordecai.
As I said a moment ago, the evil person in this account is Haman who has come up with a plan to eliminate all Jewish people in all one hundred and twenty-seven provinces.
Esther 3:8-9
And Haman said unto king Ahasuerus, there is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the people in all the provinces of thy kingdom; and their laws are diverse from all people; neither keep they the king's laws: therefore, it is not for the king's profit to suffer them.
9 If it please the king, let it be written that they may be destroyed: and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver to the hands of those that have the charge of the business, to bring it into the king's treasuries.
With the King’s agreement the letters were written and sent to all the provinces.
Ester 3:12-13
Then were the king's scribes called on the thirteenth day of the first month, and there was written according to all that Haman had commanded unto the king's lieutenants, and to the governors that were over every province, and to the rulers of every people of every province according to the writing thereof, and to every people after their language; in the name of king Ahasuerus was it written, and sealed with the king's ring.
13 And the letters were sent by posts into all the king's provinces, to destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish, all Jews, both young and old, little children and women, in one day, even upon the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, and to take the spoil of them for a prey.
Every man, woman, and child were to be killed. A complete elimination of all that was left of the nation of Israel and all hope of the coming of the Messiah.
Now you ask, what does this have to do with God’s foreknowledge?
Esther 3:1
After these things did king Ahasuerus promote Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and advanced him, and set his seat above all the princes that were with him.
Esther 3:10
And the king took his ring from his hand and gave it unto Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the Jews' enemy.
Five hundred plus years earlier God told Saul to completely destroy the Amalekites and their King, Agag. Saul disobeyed and now Israel faces complete annihilation due to the disobedience of Saul.
Haman is a descendant of King Agag, an Agagite. Not only had Saul allowed Agag to live, he allowed a male child of Agag to live also. Had Saul obeyed, Esther, and Mordecai, and the rest of Judaism would not be facing this annihilation from Haman. They would still be captives in Persia, but the Adversary would not have Haman to use against Israel.
God knows the end before the beginning. God commanded Saul to destroy all the Amalekites, not because He is blood thirsty or violent, but to prevent this attack by the Adversary on the nation of Israel and the Messiah. God saw this coming from the very beginning.
The Adversary works through his children to fill the world with lies about God and His Word. I can hear the Adversary’s whispering, can you? Do your own works of righteousness, show God how good you are. Be inclusive with those who do not believe God, they have good qualities, they also have something to add. And so many other lies.
John 8:44
Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
Jesus is speaking to the religious leaders when he makes this statement. The ones responsible to teach Israel about God and His Word were children of the Devil! As children of the Devil these leaders would have the same goals, we just read in Acts 13. No wonder the people of Israel became confused about obeying God. No wonder people become confused today. Not all of today’s Christian leaders are children of God.
It is easy to attack the character of God when you only have some information about God. Some attack God from hearsay, never having worked or studied God’s Word. This would be an attack born in and cultivated in ignorance. Ignorance can be overcome with accurate knowledge and a humble mind.
Psalm 121:1-8
I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
where does my help come from?
my help comes from the LORD,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot slip—
he who watches over you will not slumber;
indeed, he who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
The LORD watches over you—
the LORD is your shade at your right hand;
the sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.
The LORD will keep you from all harm—
he will watch over your life;
the LORD will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore.
New International Version
I did not change the words of this Psalm, but I rearranged its layout to show more clearly the help of God proclaimed and then God’s help promised to Israel. A full pause should be held after each first line.
The next aspect we need to consider is God’s gift of holy spirit upon individuals in the Old Testament. When Adam sins in Genesis chapter 3, God’s gift of holy spirit is gone. God does not place His gift of holy spirit upon another individual until we see it in the life of Joseph. You can see the imprint of God’s likeness in the character of Joseph. His faithfulness and honesty as he served Potiphar, and his godly ethic as he refused Potiphar’s wife as a sin against God. The character of Jospeh is also on display when he is thrown into prison yet keeps within himself a heart that is focused on God.
But other actions of Joseph can only be attributed to God’s gift of holy spirit.
Genesis 40:2-3
And Pharaoh was wroth against two of his officers, against the chief of the butlers, and against the chief of the bakers.
3 And he put them in ward in the house of the captain of the guard, into the prison, the place where Joseph was bound.
These two men were put in the prison and Joseph was told to care for them.
Genesis 40:6-8
And Joseph came in unto them in the morning, and looked upon them, and behold, they were sad.
7 And he asked Pharaoh's officers that were with him in the ward of his lord's house, saying, wherefore look ye so sadly today?
8 And they said unto him, we have dreamed a dream, and there is no interpreter of it. And Joseph said unto them, do not interpretations belong to God? tell me them, I pray you.
Joseph interprets the dreams of the two men; the butler will be restored to his former position and the baker will lose his head. But take notice how Joseph interprets the dreams.
Genesis 40:12a
And Joseph said unto him, this is the interpretation of it…
Joseph does not dream the interpretation, he does not pray for God to give him the interpretation, he has the interpretation, immediately. This is revelation, a word of knowledge and a word of wisdom. The word of wisdom in this situation was the request Joseph made to the butler.
Genesis 40:14
But think on me when it shall be well with thee, and shew kindness, I pray thee, unto me, and make mention of me unto Pharaoh, and bring me out of this house:
The butler does forget Joseph until, two years later when Pharaoh has a dream that none of Pharaoh’s wise men or magicians could interpret. So, Pharaoh sent for Joseph.
Genesis 41:14
Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon: and he shaved himself, and changed his raiment, and came in unto Pharaoh.
As Joseph stands before Pharaoh, he is given credit, by Pharaoh, as an interpreter of dreams, but without hesitation, the response of Joseph gives the glory to God.
Genesis 41:16
And Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, it is not in me: God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace.
Pharaoh then tells Joseph both of his dreams and Joseph immediately gives Pharaoh the interpretation and the solution to the problem the dreams present.
Genesis 41:25-36
And Joseph said unto Pharaoh, the dream of Pharaoh is one: God hath shewed Pharaoh what he is about to do.
26 The seven good kine are seven years; and the seven good ears are seven years: the dream is one.
27 And the seven thin and ill favoured kine that came up after them are seven years; and the seven empty ears blasted with the east wind shall be seven years of famine.
28 This is the thing which I have spoken unto Pharaoh: What God is about to do he sheweth unto Pharaoh.
29 Behold, there come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt:
30 And there shall arise after them seven years of famine; and all the plenty shall be forgotten in the land of Egypt; and the famine shall consume the land;
31 And the plenty shall not be known in the land by reason of that famine following; for it shall be very grievous.
32 And for that the dream was doubled unto Pharaoh twice; it is because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass.
33 Now therefore let Pharaoh look out a man discreet and wise, and set him over the land of Egypt.
34 Let Pharaoh do this, and let him appoint officers over the land, and take up the fifth part of the land of Egypt in the seven plenteous years.
35 And let them gather all the food of those good years that come, and lay up corn under the hand of Pharaoh, and let them keep food in the cities.
36 And that food shall be for store to the land against the seven years of famine, which shall be in the land of Egypt; that the land perish not through the famine.
Not only does Joseph have the interpretation of the dreams, but he also has the solution of how to oversee the seven years of plenty and the seven years of famine. This is God’s gift of holy spirit in operation in Joseph. But in the words of Joseph, we also see part of the problem with God’s gift of holy spirit in the Old Testament.
Genesis 41:25b
… God hath shewed Pharaoh what he is about to do.
Genesis 41:32b
… because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass.
It is the Adversary that is going to bring the famine in yet another attempt to kill off the seed of the woman. Even with the spirit of God men in the Old Testament had a limited spiritual understanding. It is not until Jesus comes that the world can see the true heart of God and the true heart of God’s enemy.
When the famine is attributed to God, we once again have an example of idioma of the verb by permission. This famine is an attack of the Adversary against the seed of the woman.
Genesis 45:3-9
And Joseph said unto his brethren, I am Joseph; doth my father yet live? And his brethren could not answer him; for they were troubled at his presence.
4 And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt.
5 Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life.
6 For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest.
7 And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.
8 So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.
9 Haste ye, and go up to my father, and say unto him, thus saith thy son Joseph, God hath made me lord of all Egypt: come down unto me, tarry not:
God sent Joseph to Egypt to bring deliverance, to preserve life. God brought the seven years of plenty, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above…” But the famine is from the Adversary, “He was a murderer from the beginning…”
If you search out the powerful men of God in the Old Testament, men like Joseph, Moses, Elijah. David, Solomon, you will not find them casting out devil spirits because they did not have that authority. They all encountered devil spirits. Once Elijah killed hundreds of those men with the edge of the sword. Authority over the Adversary’s spiritual kingdom was not available in the Old Testament. That authority comes with Jesus Christ.
Matthew 28:18
And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
The word power is the Greek word exousia, which means authority. Jesus gave this authority to the twelve in the Revealing Administration. After this, those with God’s gift of holy spirit in our administration have authority over the kingdom of the Adversary, in the name of Jesus Christ.
So, what is the point?
The point is simply this, if you cannot remove the devil spirit from the man, you need to remove the man who is mentally ready and willing to receive a devil spirit. God had no choice to protect Israel other than to allow them, and even to instruct them, to kill the person willing to walk with the Adversary. But that means God is condemning people when they could change their minds later. Remember, He knows the end from the beginning. He knows everyone’s full and entire life.
So many of the penalties of the Law resulted in death because God was trying to teach Israel there were only two ways to travel through life. One way gave you life and the other gave you death. There is no in-between way.
Deuteronomy 30:18
I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore, choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live.
God first shared this Truth with Adam, the tree of life or the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God shared this Truth with Cain, and God shared this Truth with Israel.
You need to understand Israel is like a small child spiritually. God, like a good parent, has taken Israel by the hand to lead them forward. But Israel, like every small child, keeps letting go of God’s hand to run after something in the world that sparkles.
Consider God’s directions to Israel as they enter the Promised Land.
Deuteronomy 20:10-14
When thou comest nigh unto a city to fight against it, then proclaim peace unto it.
11 And it shall be, if it make thee answer of peace, and open unto thee, then it shall be, that all the people that is found therein shall be tributaries unto thee, and they shall serve thee.
12 And if it will make no peace with thee, but will make war against thee, then thou shalt besiege it:
13 And when the LORD thy God hath delivered it into thine hands, thou shalt smite every male thereof with the edge of the sword:
14 But the women, and the little ones, and the cattle, and all that is in the city, even all the spoil thereof, shalt thou take unto thyself; and thou shalt eat the spoil of thine enemies, which the LORD thy God hath given thee.
Notice the first thing Israel is commanded to do is offer peace. Then, if peace is refused, they are only to slay the males. God is not in favor of war nor of death. However, He will use both war and death to protect the prophecy of the seed of the woman and those who trust and believe in that prophecy.
We have already seen that genuine righteousness only comes from God. All other “righteousness” is a counterfeit and accurately identified as unrighteousness. But what is ungodliness? The Greek word translated godliness is eusebeia. Eu, from the root eus means good or well. Sebeia comes from the root word sebo which means reverence, respect. Eusebeia is having a good respect, a reverence toward God. Consider what it means to have reverence or respect for God.
I said at the beginning of this teaching that one of the things we would consider would be the figure of speech anthropopatheia. Remember its definition? “This figure is used of the ascription of human passions, action, or attributes to God.”
Romans 12:19
Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.
Vengeance is the figure of speech anthropopatheia. There is no vengeance in God’s heart.
Romans 1:18
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;
Wrath is the figure of speech anthropopatheia. God does not get angry or have wrath.
Now some will say this negates God’s declaration of love for you, as it also is a feeling. Humanity does indeed feel love, it is one of our greatest passions. But the love of God, agape in the Greek, is not a feeling it is a decision. God made the decision to love the inhabitants of the world.
Isaiah 55:9-11
For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
10 For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:
11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
We have seen God’s foreknowledge and should Trust Him when He says righteousness from Him is the only way to enjoy eternity with Him. We have seen how figures of speech are used to keep the actions of the Adversary from appearing on every page of the Old Testament. We have seen some of the limitations of God’s gift of holy spirit in the Old Testament. We are beginning to see that God does not have feelings like we do.
Now, with this added insight, let’s consider what Romans has to say to us concerning the wrath of God.
Part IV
© Auxano Ministry 2023
God's Gospel
