THE WRATH OF GOD

by Gary Cottongim

Here we have just seen a few examples from God’s Word that deal with the subject of "wrath." Go over those verses again and try to determine whether or not there is some sort of a double standard at work here. You will have to admit that, at least on the surface, it sure seems that way. For on the one hand, God tells us to avoid angry, wrathful feelings, while on the other hand seems to be immersed in hostility Himself. So what gives? Is our heavenly Father really some sort of a two-faced hypocrite? I will assure you that He is not! In this brief synopsis we will examine the reason why most people do not understand God’s Word. We will also attempt to explain this concept of God’s "wrath" with an understanding that our loving, gracious, and merciful heavenly Father always has the best interests of the sinner at heart!

A SEALED BOOK

If you gave 100 average people a Bible, told them all to read it and then explain to you what it meant to them, chances are very good that they would come back to you with 100 different explanations. The chances are even better that most would not even be able to get completely through it, for they would find the reading too tedious. But why is this? I think the apostle Paul explains it best:

Spiritual words can only be deciphered with spiritual "eyes and ears." Our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Word of God, told Peter that he was blessed in this manner:

In The Revelation of Jesus Christ John is given a vision:

The scroll is symbolic of the Word of God, Jesus Christ (John 1:1,14), who now sits at the right hand of the Father (Psalm 110:1; Mark 14:62; Acts 7:55; etc.). You will notice that this scroll is sealed with seven seals. The number "seven" is used all throughout the Bible to denote "perfection" or "completeness," and here indicates that the very precious words of God, which bring life, are totally, or completely sealed in such a way that nobody can understand them.

John realizes the gravity of the situation, which causes him to weep bitterly. But then he is assured that there is indeed One who has been found worthy to open the seals.

Now where else in the Bible is the concept of a "sealed book" mentioned?

Although even Daniel himself did not understand the things he had heard (v. 8), he is assured that as the time of the end draws near, the seals would be loosed (v. 9). Or in other words, knowledge, or understanding of God’s precious Word would increase. Even Jesus’ disciples didn’t "get it" until after they were endowed with power from above (Acts 2). And so it is today. It is God who chooses to reveal the deeper things of the Spirit to those whom He will, and for His purposes. And Daniel is assured that:

As knowledge increases, "the wise" shall be given understanding, and will be purified, made white, and refined.

If you are being made righteous during this present wicked age, then you will be made to walk in the ways of the LORD (see Philippians 1:6). If you are not being made to walk in His ways, then you will stumble as a transgressor.

One of the most difficult truths for the average person to accept is the fact that God is in control of our destiny, not us. We do not choose Him via some "sinner’s prayer" or any other act of religious service or devotion. He chooses us. Period.

Before we can truly come to Christ, we must dethrone the "beast" (our idol of "self will and self determination") from the temple of God (We are the temple of God - I Corinthians 3:16) and come to Him with a broken and contrite spirit (Psalm 34:18). All others, whose names are not written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, will continue in their pride and arrogance to worship this beast, this idol of self (Revelation 13:8).

RIGHTLY DIVIDING HIS WORD OF TRUTH

Like I have repeatedly pointed out in other articles, Christ spoke parables to the multitudes for the purpose of keeping the truth from them! Why?

Much of God’s Word is a parable. It was intentionally written in such a way so that the average person would not understand it. For example, God’s Word clearly tells us that adulterers, homosexuals, and idolaters, etc. will not inherit the kingdom of God (I Corinthians 6:9,10; Galatians 5:19-21). However, if it is God’s plan to save all of humanity, then we know that this verse of Scripture cannot be taken at face value. Instead, we know that this "kingdom of God" of which the apostle Paul is referring is the way of life via the first resurrection. How can we know this? Because God has blessed us (those who have been given spiritual "eyes to see" spiritual truths) with the ability (in many, but not all instances) to "rightly divide His Word of Truth." Paul’s exhortations in these passages are spoken to those who are being "called" to be saints. Fundamental Christianity, on the other hand, wrongfully uses verses like these to condemn the unbeliever to "hell," causing that person to blaspheme the Name of God (Romans 2:24). They believe that they are doing God a service (John 16:2), but in reality are twisting the Scriptures to their own destruction (II Peter 3:16).

Once again, we can see that it is God Himself who has appointed these transgressors to blindly stumble at His Word, and in so doing, they lead the sheep astray (Jeremiah 50:6) during this present wicked age, all according to God’s divine plan.

God has already predetermined who will be saved, or attain to the way of life via the first resurrection, during this present wicked age. There is nothing even remotely resembling man’s "free will" or "self-determination" at work here.

God has already declared the end from the beginning (Isaiah 44:6-8; 46:10; 48:3). He has set a wonderful plan into motion that will eventually bring blessing to the whole of creation (Romans 8:21). Those of us who have faith in Him will trust that His plan is perfect, regardless of which resurrection we will partake.

GOD’S "PUNISHMENT" AND THE KING JAMES BIBLE

Some time ago I decided to do an Old Testament search of the word "punishment" on my e-sword, and was amazed at how many times I found this word in italicized print. Now whenever you see an italicized word in your Bible, it means that there is no Hebrew or Greek word in the original text that corresponds with this word. In other words, it appears to me as though the King James (Authorized Version) translators inserted this word into the text in order to portray our LORD as this angry, wrathful, and punishing God. By doing so, this helped to support the prevailing, state-approved doctrine of the day; that is, the "eternal punishment in hell" doctrine. In my opinion, it’s quite possible, even probable, that the committee, which was authorized by King James of England himself, was operating under specific guidelines that would prove to further state control via the politics of fear. If you think this is some far-fetched conspiracy theory, need I remind you of the earlier testimonies? And I think that by the time you are finished reading this section, it should become apparent that the AV translation was definitely slanted toward this viewpoint.

According to my dictionary, the word "punish" was derived from the Latin word punire/poena, and implies a penalty - more at PAIN. 1) To impose a penalty on for a fault, offense, or violation 2) to inflict a penalty for the commission of an offense in retribution or retaliation 3) to deal with roughly or harshly 4) to inflict injury on: HURT. In the original Hebrew language, however, the word rendered as "punish" (Strong’s #H6485) more accurately denotes "a visitation," and has nothing to do with inflicting pain upon an individual as an act of retribution or retaliation.

The word "punish" can be found in the KJV of the Old Testament a total of 31 times. I find it extremely interesting that Dr. Robert Young, in his Literal Translation, did not see it needful to use the word "punish" even once! Instead, he most often uses phrases such as "see after" or "lay a charge on (or against)." There’s a big difference between charging someone for an offence, as opposed to punishing the individual for that offence. Here are a few examples:

Leviticus 26:18 (KJV): "...I will punish you seven times more for your sins."

(YLT): "...I have added to chastise you seven times for your sins."

In the above example, the word chastise obviously implies corrective discipline as opposed to vengeful retaliation.

Isaiah 10:12 (KJV): "...when the LORD hath performed his whole work upon mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the King of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks." [QUESTION: How do you punish fruit?]

(YLT): "...when the LORD doth fulfil all His work In mount Zion and in Jerusalem, I see concerning the fruit of the greatness Of the heart of the King of Asshur. And concerning the glory of the height of his eyes."

Isaiah 13:11 (KJV): "And I will punish the world for their evil..."

(YLT): "And I have appointed on the world evil..."

In this example, Young accurately affirms the little-understood truth that it is the LORD Himself who has appointed evil upon the world! (See Isaiah 45:7; Amos 3:6)

Isaiah 24:21 (KJV): "...the LORD shall punish the host of the high ones..."

(YLT): "...Jehovah layeth a charge on the host of the high place..."

Jeremiah 11:22 (KJV): "...Behold, I will punish them..."

(YLT): "...Lo, I am seeing after them..."

Anyway, you get the point. Now here are some examples of how different translations have (or have not) used the word "punishment." The first verse will be taken from the King James Version (KJV), which was written from an "eternal punishment in hell" perspective. The second verse will be taken from Jehovah’s Witnesses’ New World Translation (NWT), which was written from the perspective that the "unsaved" will be annihilated. And the third verse will be taken from the Concordant Literal Version (CLV), written from the perspective that all men will eventually be saved.

Genesis 4:13

"And Cain said unto the LORD, my punishment is greater than I can bear." (KJV)

"At this Cain said to Jehovah, my punishment for error is too great to carry." (NWT)

"And saying is Cain to [the LORD], too great is my depravity to bear." (CLV)

I Samuel 28:10

"As the LORD liveth, there shall no punishment happen to thee for this thing." (KJV)

"As Jehovah is alive, guilt for error will not befall you in this matter!" (NWT)

"As Yahweh lives, assuredly no depravity shall befall you in this matter." (CLV)

Job 31:3

"Is not destruction to the wicked? and a strange punishment to the workers of iniquity? (KJV)

"Is there not disaster for a wrongdoer, and misfortune for those practicing what is hurtful?" (NWT)

"Should not calamity be for the iniquitous, and disaster for contrivers of lawlessness?" (CLV)

Proverbs 19:19

"A man of great wrath shall suffer punishment..." (KJV)

"He that is of great rage will be bearing the fine..." (NWT)

"A man of great fury incurs a fine..." (CLV)

Ezekiel 14:10

"And they shall bear the punishment of their iniquity; the punishment of the prophet shall be even as the punishment of him that seeketh unto him." (KJV)

"And they will have to bear their error. The error of the inquirer will prove to be just the same as the error of the prophet." (NWT)

"And they bear their depravity: as the depravity of the inquirer, so the depravity of the prophet shall be." (CLV)

Amos 1:3,6,9,11,13; 2:1,4,6

"For three transgressions... and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof." (KJV)

"On account of three revolts... and on account of four, I shall not turn it back." (NWT)

"Due to three transgressions... and due to four, I will not turn it back." (CLV)

In all eight verses here, a word meaning "punishment" (KJV) is nowhere to be found in the Hebrew; hence both the NWT and the CLV are more accurate by completely leaving this word out of the text. Now why do you suppose the Authorized Version translators would take liberty by inserting this word into the text when there was no Hebrew equivalent that would justify their doing so? Hmmm...

Zechariah 14:19

"This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all nations..." (KJV)

"This itself will prove to be the [punishment for the] sin of Egypt, and the sin of all the nations..." (NWT)

"This shall be the sin of Egypt, and the sin of all the nations..." (CLV)

Anyway, it should be apparent for all to see that there is quite a difference between the various translations that have been cited in this section. And it should be equally obvious to all that the KJV is unparalleled in its effort to promote fear.

NEW TESTAMENT EXAMPLES

The King James Version of the Bible renders four different Greek words by the word "punishment." There are only four instances where the word "punishment" is used throughout the New Testament.

In this instance the English word "punishment" is derived from the Greek word kolasis (G#2851), which, according to Strong’s Concordance, was derived from the word kolazomai (G#2849), meaning "to curtail" or "chastise." According to Young’s Concordance, this word means "restraint." A Pocket Lexicon to the Greek New Testament (Oxford University Press - 1916) tells us that this word is used "perhaps with the idea of deprivation." So the logical question that comes to mind is this: What exactly are the "goats" being chastised for, restrained from, or deprived of? Are we really to believe that it is here where they will be tossed away into "everlasting" fire, with no hope of ever getting out? This would contradict the clear meaning of the word "chastise," which implies a corrective discipline! And this is exactly what the prophet Isaiah envisioned some 2500 years ago:

The Spirit clearly tells us through the prophet Isaiah that there is a purpose for God’s judgments. And that purpose is so that men may learn righteousness!

It is obvious that the word "everlasting" is what misleads people to believe that God’s discipline is "eternal" and without remedy. My Pocket Lexicon describes the word aionios (G#166) as follows: a) age-long, and, therefore, practically eternal, unending; b) partaking of the character of that which lasts for an age, as contrasted with that which is brief and fleeting. (Emphasis has been added to the word "practically").

Here are three much better translations of Matthew 25:46:

Admittedly, not nearly as poetic as the Authorized Version, but technically accurate. So what are the "goats" being restrained from, or deprived of? Matthew 25:34 gives us the answer:

Once again, we can see that God’s hand has been upon His "elect," His "chosen ones," or His "sheep" that know His voice. They will receive the Kingdom of God as joint-heirs, and will rule and reign with Him for "a thousand years" [which does not necessarily imply that this will be a "literal" thousand-year reign]. The "goats" upon His left will be deprived of this special inheritance, but will have their Day to rejoice as well:

This is the real good news of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who will one day "take away the sin of the world" (John 1:29). It is unfortunate that many who have failed to "study to show themselves approved unto God" (II Timothy 2:15) have been misled by the doctrines and commandments of men, and will end up being "ashamed" on their Day of judgment.

In this instance the word that was rendered as "punishment" by the AV translation committee is the Greek word epitimia (Strong’s G#2009), and properly means esteem, i.e. citizenship, and is used (in the sense of #2008) of a penalty. According to Vine’s Concise Dictionary of Bible Words, epitimia "originally signified the enjoyment of the rights and privileges of citizenship; then it became used of the estimate (time) fixed by a judge on the infringement of such rights, and hence, in general, a "penalty." In today’s society a judge can give a life sentence, or even a death sentence to a criminal, depending upon the severity of the crime committed. From our perspective, this can seem like an "everlasting" sentence. But man’s punishment is temporary, while God, who is the ultimate Judge, will have the last word. And it is not His will that any perish, but that ALL come to repentance (II Peter 3:9).

The way this passage is worded, it is admittedly difficult to understand. In order to see what the Spirit is trying to say to us, I prefer to cite a more modern version:

Do I really need to remind anyone of who it really is that treats the cleansing blood of our Lord Jesus in this manner? It surely isn’t the heathen - they could care less about spiritual things. It surely isn’t all of the pagans around the world who are worshipping other gods in other religious systems. No, it must be the Christians, the very people who are called by His name, who are doing this. They are the ones who make the blood of Christ a common thing by insisting that its cleansing power is dependent upon man, and his ability of his own "free will" to either choose Christ or to reject Him. In other words, God is no longer in control of our destiny, we are! We have indeed become gods. On Judgment Day, God will shatter this illusion, to the disgrace of many. It is little wonder, then, that the strongest sense of the word "punishment" is used here, and comes from the Greek word timoria (Strong’s G#5098), which literally means vindication. How ironic that the LORD Himself will have to vindicate (avenge) His good Name in the sight of many who have spent a lifetime misrepresenting Him.

This passage speaks of our governing bodies who have been granted divine authority to punish lawbreakers (see also Romans 13). The Greek word used here (ekdikeesis G#1557) can be found a total of 9 times in the New Testament. In every other case a word denoting "vengeance" is used in the KJV, the most notable of which can be found in Paul’s second epistle to the Thessalonians:

The fundamentalist often uses these verses as a cross-reference to Matthew 25:46, which in his mind offers irrefutable evidence that God’s punishment is eternal. The apostle Paul wrote the following concerning the Day of the Lord:

For many years I was led to believe that the ones upon whom sudden destruction comes is speaking exclusively of the heathen. But who is it really that talks about "peace and safety?"

Thus says the LORD of hosts:

Please notice that it is the "prophets" who say: "no evil shall come upon you." Now to whom are they speaking? It surely cannot be the heathen, for they are constantly being told that unless they turn to Jesus, they are going to hell. No, it is "born-again" Christians who are continuously told these lies. They have been guaranteed an instant evacuation plan via some supposed "rapture" before any evil befalls them. Sadly, at the end of the ages, when they are awakened from their graves in the second resurrection, they will suddenly realize that they have missed it:

Despite the mass delusion that has overtaken the majority who have been called to be saints, the apostle Paul continues with these encouraging words for the true saints:

God’s elect are not appointed to suffer His wrath in the lake of fire (Revelation 2:11), for they will have been partakers of the first resurrection. All others, those who have not suffered God’s judgment while yet in the flesh, will have to suffer His judgment in the spirit.

THE PURPOSE FOR GOD’S WRATH

The apostle Paul has clearly told us that the brethren (the elect) are not appointed to wrath (in the lake of fire), but have been chosen to obtain salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord. But God’s Word also tells us that it is through much suffering, tribulation, etc. that they obtain this special salvation (Luke 21:16-19; John 15:18-20, 16:33; I Thessalonians 3:1-4; II Thessalonians 1:3-5; II Timothy 3:10-12; etc.).

Everything in the book of Revelation is symbolic, so why should God’s "wrath" be any different? Just as in the case of the two ways (the narrow road and the wide road) into God’s kingdom, there are also two separate administrations of God’s wrath. According to Origen, God's wrath is apparent, not real. There is no passion on His part. What we call "wrath" is just another name for His disciplinary process. God would not tell us to put away anger, wrath (Origen says), and then be guilty Himself of what He prohibits of us.

I believe that many people have this misconception that God is going to really let all of His wayward children have it! Like He’s going to have to take them out back to the woodshed and really tan their hides good until they eventually submit. But God’s ways have always been (and always will be) to overcome evil with goodness:

I believe that this passage of Scripture accurately describes the method by which God will implement His fiery, tormenting judgment upon all that are called "enemies of the cross of Christ." Repaying evil with goodness, love and mercy will be the "fire" that shall melt the many hearts of stone and consume all that separates the sinner from their Creator. Sure, the multitudes will weep, wail, and gnash their teeth, but only because they are now able to see the sheer goodness of God! Their torment (in the presence of a gentle Lamb) will come from within, not from without.

If Origen is correct, and I believe that he is, then ALL of God’s children must endure a "type" of God’s wrath, which is His disciplinary process for molding the individual into the image of His Son - nothing more, nothing less. The only difference is this: God’s elect get to experience that (partial) transformation process now (which will not be complete until this corruptible flesh has been done away with - I Corinthians 15:50-54). The rest will get the "crash course" in the lake of fire. The elect must experience a "type" of second death while yet in the flesh by keeping the words of the prophecy (Revelation 1:3). God’s elect benefit from being blessed with the spiritual "eyes that see" Him now as He really is. They have already tasted of the goodness of God (which is leading them to repentance now - Romans 2:4), and as a result will not be harmed by the "fire" of the second death (Daniel 3:25; Revelation 2:11). The idolaters, heretics, and all of the indifferent heathens will have never endured God’s refining process before their earthly lives come to an end. They will be hurt by "reality" of the second death when they are suddenly and completely overwhelmed by the love of God! Once they are made to taste of His goodness (in the lake of fire), then they will willingly submit (to the glory of God). Remember the old car mechanic’s commercial? You can pay me now, or you can pay me later. God’s elect pay now (preventative maintenance); the rest will suffer a major breakdown, and pay a heavier cost later.

The consummation of God’s wonderful plan of the ages will bring a bountiful blessing to all of His creation, where God will be all in all (I Corinthians 15:28).

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