We are bearing witness to extreme anger and indignation in the world. This extreme anger aims to erase and forget memories that are too painful. This anger targets retribution for the past kaleidoscope of promises, failures, victories and embarrassments. When enough is enough, anger can turn into wrath and wrath is a DEADLY sin.
As years pass, unpleasant memories can fade, but there IS a time to remember…and now is one of those times. Mistakes should not be repeated, commitments should be fulfilled and the memory of the past can encourage us and spur us to action. Statues, monuments and the leaders who came before us can serve to remind us of past successes AND failures. Without these reminders, future generations will not know where they came from and risk repeating the history they wish to erase. When wrath replaces patience mankind does not exhibit the love, mercy and graciousness needed to live in community together.
Wrath is unmistakable. Peaceful protests turn into riots destroying property and killing innocent people. Politicians discard compromise that benefits ALL people and become partisan at any cost. Movements target dismantling democracy and replacing it with fascism and Marxism. Wrath doesn’t restrict itself to one race, party or nationality. Wrath has no boundary and can claim the guilty and innocent. Wrath is God’s domain and not mankind’s. Wrath is a sin for men who want to play god.
When we don’t speak and act against the sin we see, we are complicit in the sin. If you know that a friend is cheating on their spouse, embezzling money from an employer or has committed a crime and you do not speak out, you are complicit. Therefore, I will not support movements whose purpose is to dismantle American democracy under the banner of our country being a systemic failure. I will not be complicit by giving my viewing attention and time to Leagues and Associations (NBA,NFL,MLB) that align themselves with those who believe America needs to be torn down and rebuilt. This is the time to make a stand for truth and righteousness, not wrathful indignation.
I believe everything happening in the world is a manifestation of the spiritual. In other words, the wrath we see on the news has an origin in the heavens. Therefore, the battles we see are representative of the battles we don’t see. Remember, wrath and the mantra that ‘enough is enough’ originated in the Bible. To better understand the current events, now is the time to remember the Bible and the God of the Bible.
God’s wrath has been around since creation. Since this IS a time to remember, let’s do a quick refresher on the God of the Old Testament. ‘In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.’ Genesis 1:1. Remember, the God of creation MADE the heavens and the Earth therefore they are HIS creation to use. We know God by His ‘name’ but He is known by many names in the Old Testament. The name I want to focus on is a good one to remember. This name is found in the book of Exodus. ‘…for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.’ Exodus 34:14.
In fact, listen to his own words. ‘ “..for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God.” ‘ Exodus 20:5. Those who actually encountered God put it this way. ‘For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.’ Deuteronomy 4:24. Most pastors and priests remind us that God is a ‘ “compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin.” ‘ Exodus 34:7. Since this is a time to remember, let’s accurately remember history and the God who created EVERYTHING by reading the rest of that popular verse. ‘ “Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sins of the parents to the third and fourth generation.” Exodus 34:7. We can’t forget how God operates.
Part of the issue these days is that history is not remembered accurately or in the context of the time. Truth is being replaced with a lie when we see statues being torn down, founding fathers of the country misrepresented and our nation and it’s government labeled as systemically evil. When man’s wrath takes center stage, it can be too late for mercy, kindness and reason. When God’s wrath is exhibited it can be too late as well. ‘ “That is enough,” the Lord said, “Do not speak to me anymore about this matter.” ‘ Deuteronomy 3:26.
God’s wrath makes man’s current display of wrath look like child’s play. Let’s remember the scripture many pastors leave out because of the e-mails they will get on Sunday afternoon. When God says ‘enough is enough’, there is nowhere to hide. In the Old testament, when God had enough of His people being maligned and mistreated by the Amalekites He instructed Saul as follows. ‘This is what the Lord Almighty says: “I will punish the Amalekites for what they did to Israel when they waylaid them as they came up from Egypt. Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy all that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.” ‘ 1 Samuel 15:2-3. In other words, enough is enough.
Most everyone is familiar with some of God’s more high profile clips of wrath when ‘enough is enough’ but they don’t get many ‘views’ or ‘likes’. To correctly remember the record, He burns cities to the ground…’Then the Lord rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah-from the Lord out of the heavens.’ Genesis 19:24. He sends floods…’ “I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish.” ‘ Genesis 6:17. He uses nature, HIS creation, to express His wrath.
If we don’t know or remember God’s ways we don’t recognize them when we see them. The God who created the heavens and the Earth commands them and history shows how He does it. What about today? Anyone notice the record wildfires in California, Oregon and Washington? If you call that climate change you might say the same about Sodom and Gomorrah. Record floods last year in the Midwest and Southeastern United States. Data compiled by the US government’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows that the number of earthquakes per year has seen significant variation, but the overall trend shows an increasing frequency. So far, the fierce 2020 hurricane system has formed 23 storms, almost double the average for an entire season. Could this be God’s wrath?
God is speaking but are we listening? ‘The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what is known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.’ Romans 1:18. In America, the truth is plain and we know the truth. We should not suppress our failures but remember AND remind each other.
‘But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgement will be revealed.’ Romans 2:5. We can avoid God’s wrath by repenting of our wrongs and not stubbornly holding onto wrong ideologies and actions. I have wronged other people, our country has wronged others…EVERY ONE OF US has hurt another. We need to let go of any pride, envy, greed, lust, gluttony (overindulgence) and slothfulness (laziness) in our personal and national past. These are the deadly sins and we must repent (another word for being sorry and remorseful). We can repent to each other AND to God.
God does not forget His promises nor is He slow in keeping them. God is patient but there is a limit to His patience. Don’t believe everything is a conspiracy theory and don’t let God’s history, The Bible, be revised or forgotten. Prophecy is not a conspiracy theory. Prophecy predicts and history reveals what has been in God’s mind for all time. This is a time to remember, hopefully not a time when ‘enough is enough’.
God is full of mercy, compassion and grace but His wrath comes when he says ‘enough is enough’. In the meantime, God sent Jesus in place of His wrath, but don’t miss the last book in the Bible, it’s a doozy. God’s wrath is still alive and the time is coming when it will be released again, if it’s not already. The book of Revelation tells about God’s last show of wrath, His last ‘enough is enough’. ‘I saw in heaven another great and marvelous sign: seven angels with the last seven plagues-last, because with them God’s wrath is completed.’ Revelation 15:1. If we remember how God has acted in the past we might see some things differently today.
This is a heavy subject that reminds some people of the hell-fire and brimstone they want to forget. Yes, the just suffer with the unjust when we tolerate and become complicit with what we KNOW is wrong. Let’s remember we are a creation, not an evolution. Let’s repent and change our ways. Hopefully this is a time to remember, not a time when enough is enough.