Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, in the day of trial in the wilderness, where your fathers tested Me, tried Me, and saw My works forty years. Therefore, I was angry with that generation and said, ‘They always go astray in their heart, and they have not known My ways.’ So I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter my rest.'” (Hebrews 3:7-11)

God Got Angry

It is easy to think of the Lord God as a kind, benevolent old man with white hair sitting on a white throne, smiling at the world and passing out harps to little angels circling His throne. Everything known about God is found in the Bible, yet the imagination of human wisdom has recreated God into an image of the totem of human wisdom. The Bible is full of the love of God, His mercy and grace, and His benevolent spirit. There is no doubt about the goodness of the Lord. What is often overlooked for purposes of denying the truth of God’s character is the truth that God can get angry and punish His creation.

The reason the severity of God is not accepted is that it makes men accountable for their actions. If God is only a God of love, man can do whatever he wants to do, and God will love him and accept him. Nothing is further from the truth. It does not matter how a person lives; everyone goes to heaven. Men struggle with the notion that God would send anyone to a place of eternal torment because that is beyond the wisdom of human reasoning. How could a God so full of love be so cruel to damn a soul to perdition? A loving God can never become so angry He would destroy His creation.

Human wisdom cannot accept the anger of God because men refuse to accept the Bible as the divine word. The history of Israel is preserved in scripture to lay bare the failure of human wisdom and make clear the demonstrative anger of the Lord against those who oppose Him. Blame does not begin with God but with Israel. It was the nation of Israel that hardened their hearts in rebellion. The people of God tested the Lord, tried His patience, and refused to obey His word. God is the one who parted the Red Sea and rescued the Hebrews. It was by the power of God the Amalekites were defeated. Israel never lost a battle in the forty years of wandering, except when Israel made a futile attempt to invade Canaan at Hormah. God provided food, water, and clothing for forty years. Israel still rebelled with all the signs God gave them.

God was angry. The Hebrew writer testifies to the word of the Holy Spirit that God became angry with Israel and made a decision that would change the people forever. Israel turned their hearts away from the Lord. They refused to do what God told them, and He punished them. The Lord God swore in His wrath the rebellious would not enter the promised land, and they did not. Everyone from the age of twenty years and above died in the wilderness. The only two men who did not die were Joshua and Caleb. God was angry and punished His special people. Yes, God will punish those who do not obey His word. That judgment has not changed.

The history of Israel is left for men to read and understand the goodness and severity of God. There is much about the love of God that saves men, but there is much about the wrath of God that will destroy the disobedient. No one gets a free pass to eternal life because they are good, religious, or breathing air. The only people in heaven are those who follow the will of the Father. God’s wrath is real. There is a place called Hell. It is prepared for the devil and his angels, but it will be full of the majority of humanity because men refuse to obey God. The anger of God is real. Take note. Wake up. Jesus came to take away God’s wrath, but His sacrifice means nothing if you do not obey His word. There is a great day coming. Prepare to meet your God.