Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Out of [the rider's] mouth comes a sharp, two-edged sword, in order that he might strike down the nations with it. He will rule them with a rod of iron, and he will trample the winepress of The Furious Anger Of God Almighty. He has upon hig garment and upon his thigh a name written: "King of Kings and Lord of Lords." Rev. 19:15, 16.

The phrase "furious anger" is almost untraslatable. A literal reading would be "trample the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty." I'm not sure what the "fury of the wrath of God" attempts to say except that He is "really, really angry."

The book of Revelation takes us on a tour of the vocabulary of anger. The original Greek has expressions for such words as "anger," "angry," "wrath," and "fury." We are not surprised that the dragon is angry(Rev. 12:12, 17) or that prostitute Babylon is full of wrath(Rev. 14:8; 18:3). The bad guys in most stories tend to be types who can't control their feelings.

What does surprise us is how often the book portrays God as angry, furious, or wrathful(Rev. 11:18 and 14:10, for example). When we encountered the seven last plagues, the book told us that they are the full and final outpouring of God's wrath(Rev. 15:1). Naturally we had hoped that by the time we had gotten to Revelation 19 we would have been done with this troubling side to the divine presonality.

One way to deal with this is to note that the Old Testament often depicts God as angry or wrathful. It is as if Jesus and the Old Testament God portray two dueling sides to the divine character. But Revelation does not allow us this illusion. It makes very clear that the Lamb also gets angry(Rev. 6:16, 17) and that He is approvingly present at the torment of those who accepted the mark of the beast(Rev. 14:10). Evidently anger can be a healthy thing or an unhealthy thing, depending on the circumstances and the motivation behind it.

The key, I think, is that the wrath of God is not an emotional thing-it is a judicial one. God isn't throwing a hissy fit. His wrath is a settle disapproval of anything that disturbs the happiness and tranquillity of the universe. He is the defender of victims and the rescuer of the oppressed. We shouldn't judge this language on the basis of our own dysfunctional emotions.

It reminds me of a speeding ticket I got in New Jersey a few decades ago. Written on it were the words: "The people of the state of New Jersey against Jon Paulien." Boy did I feel rejected! That really hurt-I mean, 8.6million people upset at me! Then I realized no one was really angry with me, not even the police officer. I had just broken a small piece of the social contract that holds New Jersey together. The "wrath" of New Jersey has been a good motivator ever since.

Lord, I am thankful to know that You are there wherever injustice occurs. Help me to trust that You will set everything right in Your name.

Jesus pointed His hearers to the Ruler of the universe, under the new name, "Our Father." He would have them understand how tenderly the heart of God yearned over them. He teaches that God cares for every lost soul; that "like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear Him." Psalm 103:13. (TFMB 74).