Wrath and goodness of God

Friday January 21, 2022

Wrath and goodness of God

The Eternal is a jealous God, he takes revenge. The Lord takes vengeance, he is full of fury. The Eternal takes revenge on his adversaries, he bears a grudge against his enemies. The Lord is slow to anger, he is great in his strength, but he does not leave unpunished […] The Lord is good, he is a refuge in the day of trouble. Nahum 1.2-3 and 7

Two pans of the same scale, well balanced : we can thus "schematize" who is the Eternal, according to these few verses of the prophet Nahum. You need both trays. In our life, it is difficult to keep them in balance : often, we lean too much to one side or the other, towards anger or towards kindness. But no problem for our God.

The first verses of the book of Nahum describe in a few words three main character traits of the person of God. He is love, therefore he is jealous, but slow to anger and patient. He is good, he takes care of those who trust in him ; he is their refuge, their fortress in distress.

But he is holy and cannot tolerate evil in any form, which is why he gets angry. He lets it be known that he is not happy. Like a tornado, he pursues his enemies, his anger takes everything away and destroys them (here, it is Nineveh and its inhabitants, enemies of Israel, a violent and bloodthirsty people).

However, he is just, which is why he never holds the culprit innocent. He makes evil pay, he does not leave it unpunished.

Such is our God !

Beatrice Guerche

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Proposed reading : Book of the Prophet Nahum, Chapter 1, Verses 2-8.

1.2 The Eternal is a jealous God, he takes revenge. The Eternal takes vengeance, he is full of fury. The Eternal takes revenge on his adversaries, he bears a grudge against his enemies.

1.3 The Eternal is slow to anger, he is great in his strength, but he does not leave unpunished. The Eternal walks in the storm, in the whirlwind ; the clouds are the dust of his feet.

1.4 He threatens the sea and dries it up, he dries up all the rivers. Bashan and Carmel are withered, it is withered, the flower of Lebanon.

1.5 The mountains tremble before him, and the hills crumble. The earth rises before him, the world and all its inhabitants.

1.6 Who will resist his indignation ? Who will stand against his fiery wrath ? His fury spreads like fire and the rocks shatter before him.

1.7 The Eternal is good, he is a refuge in the day of trouble, he knows those who trust in him,

1.8 but with overflowing waves he will destroy this place, and he will pursue his enemies into darkness.

Source (Live Today)