God wrath is judicial. Think of an old English judge who wears a white wig. As for jealousy, If your child were under attack, what would you do? That (imperfect) surge of protection that you feel comes close to the biblical definition of (perfect) jealousy in God. It’s about his protection over you.

Let’s begin.

I. Wrath

A. Brief Intro.

God’s wrath is not like this:

(Source)

But like this:

(Source)

This picture of an English judge in full regalia is an (imperfect) representation of God in judgment, showing his protective wrath and love over his people.

B. What do the theologians teach?

I’m not Catholic, but Thomas Aquinas was a super-genius thinker. He is completely right about this:

The attribute is communicable or “transferrable” to us humans because we are made in his image, but we do not always express wrath as he does! We lose our temper. God is slow and systematic and acts as the Ultimate Judge. We can best express our wrath today in society by the law and courts. On a personal level, we can express our anger by calm reflection on injustice and disciplining ourselves and children according to the standards of righteousness and justice.

God’s wrath is combined with his love? Really? Of course. He intensely hates sin because it harms his highest creation: You. What kind of society would we live in if the law and law enforcement and judges did not exist? We would descend into chaos and violence, which is the very opposite of love. A distant, uncaring God who did not implement justice would be an unloving God. He established law to protect people, and protection speaks of love. Wrath and love go together.

Justice is also related to the attribute of wrath because he requires righteousness and law-keeping on a social level, so we can have protection and enjoy the liberty to live in peace.

C. Quick definition.

This attribute or perfection of God means that out of his love and justice combined, he judges and punishes consistent and regular law-breaking and destructive sin.

D. What do the Scriptures teach?

1.. God’s wrath in the Old Testament

God expressing wrath is not like a human losing his temper. God does not flash with anger and throw an unsuspecting, nearby angel across the universe before God can think straight. “Sorry, I lost my temper! I reacted without thinking!” No, he does not lash out. This is clunky literalism and human-centered thinking.

Instead, there’s a logic and consistency to it. He gave people moral law outside of the Sinai Covenant (Exod. 19), and he gave laws in the Sinai Covenant. Laws were in place. People violated them. They had to suffer the consequences, sometimes quickly when major and sacred transitions were happening in Israel’s long history (2 Sam 6:3-7; cf. Exod. 25:12-15; Num. 4:5-6, 17; and 2 Kings 2:23-25; cf. Lev. 26:21-22), but mostly they underwent wrath only after centuries of lawbreaking. Punishment for lawbreaking is called the wrath of God – his judicial or covenant wrath.

God would not be the God of justice if he let wrongs slide by undealt with, just like a parent would be derelict if she let her children get away with everything. Her giving them a timeout or even a spanking without losing her temper is a (weak) equivalent to God’s perfect, unmistakable, error-free wrath.

God’s wrath is never mysterious, irrational, malicious, spiteful, or vindictive. It is predictable because it is aroused by injustice, lawbreaking, and evil – and those things alone.

This is why he shows wrath, to punish wrong and evil:

The Lord is slow to anger and great in power;

the Lord will not leave the guilty unpunished. (Nah. 1:3)

I will discipline you but only with justice;

I will not let you go entirely unpunished. (Jer. 30:11)

2. God’s Wrath in the New Testament

God never shows wrath towards his Spirit-filled, blood-bought church as a whole, who lives in the New Covenant. This is not true for the ancient people of his Old Covenant, for he did show wrath at their egregious sins, as a whole.

So a big shift has happened.

The main and most common way that God shows wrath today is by the authorities, both law enforcement and the courtroom – the legal system – when it’s functioning properly. Once again, wrath is connected to law and judgment. If (God forbid) a Christian commits a crime, God’s wrath will fall on him. This can happen when a Christian gets a ticket for speeding, for example. But typically the legal system is for unbelievers, or so we hope.

3 Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. 4 For he is God’s servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God’s servant, an agent of wrath [orgê] to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment [orgê] but also because of conscience. (Rom. 13:3-5)

The next time a police officer gives you a ticket for speeding, tell him, “Thanks for being an agent of God’s wrath. I deserve this ticket.” Nowadays, cameras at intersections might get you a ticket. Call it photographic judgment-wrath. Better still, you (the lawbreaker) are undergoing God’s special love-wrath while you are being fined (Heb. 12:5-11).

So wrath and love are connected and are two sides of the same coin, down here on earth in its current sinful state.

The difference is the law that the people of the Old Covenant lived under, contrasted with the eternal once-and-for-all sacrifice of Christ and Pentecost that we live in. We walk in the fullness of the Spirit – or we’re supposed to.

18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. … 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law. (Gal. 5:18, Gal. 5:22-23)

Even still, we need a bigger biblical perspective on the OT and NT.

Remember, the NT is a lot smaller than the OT. In the NT those same words and their various forms about love and forgiveness and mercy appear 673 times, the vast majority of which are also used of God. And yes, God’s people are called to show those positive traits as well. The various words for wrath occur only 42 times when used of God (see the two addenda, below).

Clearly, the God of the entire Bible is more interested in favoring, loving, redeeming, forgiving, saving, and being merciful and compassionate to people than he is in evaluating their sins and rendering his verdict after a careful sifting and weighing of all the evidence.

E. Bigger historical and biblical perspective

We must look at God’s wrath in the larger historical and biblical perspective.

As noted, covenant is tied to law and justice in the OT. Two parties voluntarily entered into an agreement. The privileged partner (God) promised to keep them safe and bless their agricultural life, their resources. He also instituted the priesthood to teach them how to keep the law, and he set up the sacrificial system administered by the priests for when the people sinned. The righteous party (God) forgave their sins over and over again, for centuries. He sent prophets to warn them and remind them of their agreement.

But sometimes the human party to the covenant went very far in their bad faith, they broke the law so egregiously for centuries, the aggrieved party (God) took action. He judged and punished them, but not in his full wrath and not to destroy them. And after this painful judicial process – painful to him – he still forgave and loved them. He was merciful to his chosen lawbreakers. This is the perfect blend of love and justice. This is the story of God’s wrath in the OT, in a nutshell.

Thus, God’s wrath is linked to his judgment over a long history.  He systemaaaaaaaatically and methoooooooodically and slooooooooowly gathers the evidence, and after sifting and weighing the evidence, he then renders his verdict,. What kind of human judge would it be if he simply let the guilty go without paying a fine or spending time in prison? God instituted justice – including punishment against lawbreakers – down here on earth because it reflects his just character.

However, God is very, very willing to forgive people when they repent and ask for mercy and forgiveness. While it is true that the Hebrew words for wrath appeared 448 times against the people of the covenant, this verse is repeated again and again in the OT:

But you, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness. (Ps. 86:15; cf. Exod. 34:6; Num. 14:18; Neh. 9:17; Ps 103:4; Ps. 145:8; Joel 2:12; Jonah 4:2; Nah. 1:3)

Though those verses do not appear as often as wrath does, they are a pound of gold compared to one hundred pounds of iron.

Additionally, the word counts in the OT for favor (grace), love, salvation, forgiveness, redemption, mercy, and compassion (and their various forms) add up to about 1220 times, the vast majority of which are used of God (his wrath occurs 499). See the First Addendum, below.

For example, these verses talk about God’s mercy and forgiveness and his restraining his anger against his disobedient, law-breaking people:

Yet he was merciful;

he forgave their iniquities

and did not destroy them.

Time after time he restrained his anger

and did not stir up his full wrath.

He remembered that they were but flesh,

a passing breeze that does not return. (Ps. 78:38-39)

Wrath is a response to something outside of himself in the world; his love always is. Before he created the heavens and the earth and perfect humans who fell and continue to do wrong, he was always love in eternity past. And he will always be love in eternity future, in a new heaven and new earth, when evil has been wiped out, and he no longer must pour out his wrath on it (i.e. punish it). That’s the more accurate biblical picture that must be taken into account.

F. So how does this post help me grow closer to God?

That study was not so hard, after all. I didn’t feel emotionally warm while doing it, but it was necessary. I’m glad I did it because I learned a lot.

Here’s a simple formula to summarize this brief study:

Judgment and punishment against injustice and evil = divine wrath

However, God is more than a judge.

He is love (1 John 4:8, 16)

As noted, before he created the heavens and the earth and perfect humans (who fell and continued to do wrong and break the law for centuries), he was always love in eternity past. And he will always be love in eternity future, in a new heaven and new earth, when evil has been wiped out, and he no longer must pour his wrath on it (i.e. judge and punish it).

On the cross, Jesus took our deserved, earned, and merited wrath. And now he shows and showers us with God’s love and grace, which for our part is undeserved, unearned, and unmerited.

Therefore God does not think of you with anger in his heart. Thanks to Jesus, you do not have a deficit or are in a hole, with shackles on your legs. He lifts you out of it and takes them off so you can begin again, in and with him. He thinks about you with love in his heart.

God loves you. Always has. Always will.

Addendum: Is Wrath of God on Jesus on the Cross Divine Child Abuse?

See my post here:

Christ’s Death on Cross = Cosmic Child Abuse?

II. Jealousy

A. What do theologians say?

In Hebrew the noun is qin’ah and means jealousy, envy, zeal, so the context determines the meaning, whether positive or negative.

In the New Testament, the noun is zēlos, where we get the word zeal, and means the same as in the Old Testament. In classical Greek, long before the New Testament was written, the word carried a positive sense: eager striving, enthusiasm or praise, and sometimes a negative sense: ill will or envy (Mounce, p. 366). This can carry over into the New Testament.

It is clear from the verses below that the context is about God’s protection of his people and his land in a covenant. But protection from what?

Reformed theologian Michael Horton writes:

It is God’s jealousy for his people, in fact, that underscores his love and eventuates in their salvation. In us, jealousy is a form of coveting—claiming that which is not ours. In God, jealousy is a form of protecting—guarding that which is precious to God, both his character and his covenanted people. (p. 272)

The word character in the last clause means that God not only protects us, but also his good name. One addition to what Prof. Horton wrote: we can have righteous jealousy, which is different from envy or claiming things that don’t belong to us. Think again of a mother’s zeal to protect her child from an attack. That is not envy or covetousness, but appropriate zeal or jealousy.

B. Quick definition:

This attribute or perfection of God means that he is prompted to show loving zeal and a righteous sense of urgency to protect his people and his covenant.

C. What do the Scriptures say?

All the verses below speak of God’s protection over his people and the covenant of love he made with them.

The first time God’s jealousy is mentioned is in the Ten Commandments. In the day of bloodthirsty and sexually loose gods in and around the ancient Israelites, God had to protect his people from degradation:

You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God. (Ex. 20:4-5)

Once again, the context is worshiping bloodthirsty and pornographic and animalistic gods. So God boldly says what his name is:

Do not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God. (Ex. 34:14)

Fire is a symbol of the Spirit that burns away the impurities and false gods in our lives:

For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God. (Deut. 4:24; cf. 5:9, 6:15)

God purposes to protect his chosen people from diabolical spirits that lurk behind these gods—are indeed these actual gods:

They made him jealous with their foreign gods and angered him with their detestable idols. (Deut. 32:16, cf. v. 21)

This Psalm repeats a history of ancient Israel, so that the current Israelites would learn a lesson in their own days; don’t follow after the pagan gods, as follows:

They angered him with their high places; they aroused his jealousy with their idols. (Ps. 78:58)

In the next verse God protected his promised land by showing mercy on the people whom he called to occupy it:

Then the Lord was jealous for his land and took pity on his people. (Joel 2:18)

An angel was sent to proclaim God’s zealous protection over his chosen city:

Then the angel who was speaking to me said, “Proclaim this word: This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘I am very jealous for Jerusalem and Zion.” (Zech. 1:14; cf. 8:2)

The context of the next verse is Paul’s zeal to protect believers in Jesus from evil spirits. Paul writes: “The sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to be participants with demons” (1 Cor. 10:20). Now the target verse is clear:

Are we trying to arouse the Lord’s jealousy? Are we stronger than he? (1 Cor. 10:22)

The context of the next verse is cozying up to the world and its darkness. God wants to protect his people from it:

Or do you think Scripture says without reason that he jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in us? (James 4:5)

D. How do I know God better?

God’s jealousy is of a completely different order and quality from our imperfect version. He knows everything about the universe and about you personally. He knows what is best for you. He “intensely desires” or “feels the zeal”—those are phrases for jealousy—to help and protect you from yourself and demonic spirits. In both the Old and New Testaments, as seen above, worshiping false gods can be traced to bowing before demonic spirits. Very awful and unholy.

If you have a relationship with God already, you understand his jealousy, but if you do not have one, then you might misunderstand it. But even just an average unbeliever can understand righteous jealousy in a wife and mother when she acts to protect her marriage and her children from harm and dissolution. The zeal she feels is akin to God’s protection or jealousy.

I once heard a younger preacher on international TV humorously claim that God’s protection and his watching over you is like a human stalking you. “God, you watch me when I sleep?” He affected his voice: “That’s a little creepy.” (Laughter from the audience.) Despite the preacher’s good intentions, and all joking aside, he ultimately defamed God’s character because he lowered God to being a “groupie” or “stalker.”

You can get to know God better by not listening to the world’s definition of jealousy. Think of a jealous boyfriend with whom you have not made of covenant of love in marriage. He is possessive of you and claims you when you belong to God. He is irrationally jealous. He flies into a fit of rage. And even in a marriage covenant, your former boyfriend and now husband can display unholy and unrighteous jealousy.

It is unfair to transfer our imperfect jealousy to the image of God. It is not a two-way street, God to us and back to him again. It is a one-way street: God to us. Let’s not create God in our own image.

The bottom line is that God loves you and wishes to protect you. He made a covenant relationship with you and you with him, and he intends to care for it and you. That’s what it means to be a jealous God. This attribute or perfection is a blessing to us.

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Works Cited