CHILDREN AND THE “WRATH OF GOD”- BY GREG ELKAN

_“…rightly dividing the word of truth.”_ – 2Ti 2:15  

_“Much more then, being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.”_ – Rom 5:9

The natural consequence of the Old Testament presentation of sin as an act that makes God angry is the Old Testament concept of divine judgment or the so-called “Wrath of God.” 

As anyone who has dealt with children would concur, it is typically more effective to deter bad behaviour through direct threats of dire consequences than with long-winded explanations of why it is wrong. 

Growing up, pieces of bread, fish, and meat laced with poison were often scattered around our house to curb rat infestations. In order not to stop me from eating the pieces of food scattered all around, my parents had two options. 

ONE: explain to me that those morsels contained zinc phosphide which – if ingested – would release toxic phosphine gas in my system, causing severe damage to my stomach, internal bleeding, and potential complications like organ failure and respiratory issues. 

TWO: threaten to beat the hell out of me if I ever picked up any piece of food that I found lying on the ground. 

You can guess which option they chose. 

As an adult, I now know that the threats of beatings were not because my parents hated me, or because they didn’t want me to have fun, or because they just wanted to _lord_ over me because they gave me life. But at that age, that was the _language_ I could understand. 

As with the physical, so with the spiritual. The God that, according to Psalms 7:11, is _“…angry with the wicked every day,”_ (see also Psa 18:7; 76:7; 78:21, 62; 79:5; 80:4; 85:5; 89:38; etc.) is the same God that Romans 5:8  says died for us _“while we were yet sinners.”_

Trying to reconcile the character of these two “Gods” without considering the character of the two different audiences will lead to doctrinal confusion at best or heresy at worst.

AMEN

More Blessings await you today; you’ll not miss them in Jesus’ Name.

GREG ELKAN

- Nigeria