Draw near, O nations, to hear; and listen, O peoples!
Let the earth and all it contains hear, and the world and all that springs from it.
2 For the Lord’s indignation is against all the nations,
And His wrath against all their armies;
He has utterly destroyed them,
He has given them over to slaughter. (34:1-2).
The contrast was glaring, and I confess, I wasn’t really in the mood (sounds awful I know, but that’s where I was). To go from considering the King in His Beauty to being jolted and confronted with His Indignation, left me weak in the knees, and heartbroken. And I heard my exasperation seep out, why can’t we just stay focused on Beauty?
And as I thought of the total devastation coming upon His creation, I was reminded once again of the lengths He went to in order to spare us. But because His justice is perfect in righteousness, sin must be judged. While our understanding of wrath is tainted because of our sin, His wrath is altogether just and holy and His Indignation flows from His righteousness.
And as heartbreaking as the thought of His Indignation is to us, I was struck with how much more it must be to Him Who Gave His Perfect Gift to save us from His Indignation.
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life,” (John 3:16).
And there’s the rub, how on earth do we reconcile His love with His Indignation? Because let’s be honest; we really don’t like to think about God as being angry. We’d much prefer to camp on His Beauty demonstrated in His love. But it hit me hard this morning; before His Beauty, there must come His Indignation to eradicate that which corrupts and mars the beauty of His creation.
And if we neglect His Indignation, we shun His full truth. Yes He Is Love, and He is Gracious and Merciful; but He Is also Holy, Righteous and Just.
But the truth is, we do not adequately or accurately understand His Holiness, and that is why we are so desperate to see His Truth as revealed in His Word. But as we consider His Indignation unleashed and the desolation that will be left in its aftermath, we will once again come face to face with the magnitude of His Holiness and the depth and gravity of our sin.
Consider His Indignation
The opening of this chapter calls all the earth to come near, to hear and listen, and then emphasizes His coming Indignation using two different words.
Draw near, O nations, to hear; and listen, O peoples!
Let the earth and all it contains hear, and the world and all that springs from it.
2 For the Lord’s indignation is against all the nations,
And His wrath against all their armies;
He has utterly destroyed them,
He has given them over to slaughter. (34:1-2 emphasis added).
From Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance:
Indignation: “7110. קֶצֶף qeṣep̱: A masculine noun meaning wrath. The word refers to anger aroused by someone’s failure to do a duty…”
Wrath: 2534. חֵמָה ḥēmāh, חֵמָא ḥēmāʾ: A noun meaning wrath, heat… Figuratively, it can signify anger, hot displeasure, indignation, poison, or rage. This noun describes the great fury that kings of the North executed in their utter destruction… and God’s intense anger against Israel and those who practiced idolatry…”
Although two different Hebrew words are used, both words repeat a truth about His wrath. While one emphasizes the cause of wrath, the other is focused on the heat and intensity in which His wrath would be executed. And perhaps He repeated this warning to magnify the sad reality that the whole earth had rejected Him, repeatedly. At any rate, this much we know, when God repeats Himself, we must pay attention.
- His Indignation does not come without repeated warnings, so that we are all without excuse.
- It shall come about if you ever forget the Lord your God and go after other gods and serve them and worship them, I testify against you today that you will surely perish. 20 Like the nations that the Lord makes to perish before you, so you shall perish; because you would not listen to the voice of the Lord your God, (Deuteronomy 8:19-20).
- So he [John the Baptist] began saying to the crowds who were going out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Therefore bear fruits in keeping with repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father,’ for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham. 9 Indeed the axe is already laid at the root of the trees; so every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire,” (Luke 3:7-9).
- For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse, (Romans 1:18-20).
- His Indignation does not bring Him pleasure; He is patient in His desire that we would turn to Him in repentance.
- Do I have any pleasure in the death of the wicked,” declares the Lord God, “rather than that he should turn from his ways and live?” (Ezekiel 18:23).
- Say to them, ‘As I live!’ declares the Lord God, ‘I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways! Why then will you die, O house of Israel?’ (Ezekiel 33:11).
- The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance, (2 Peter 3:)9.
- His Indignation reveals how grievously heinous sin is to Holy God, expressing the magnitude of His Holiness and Justice in His decreed punishment that always fits the crime.
- A jealous and avenging God is the Lord;
The Lord is avenging and wrathful.
The Lord takes vengeance on His adversaries,
And He reserves wrath for His enemies.
3 The Lord is slow to anger and great in power,
And the Lord will by no means leave the guilty unpunished… (Nahum 1:2-3). - He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him,” (John 3:36).
- And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire, (Revelation 20:15).
- A jealous and avenging God is the Lord;
- His Indignation fully fell on His Son Who took the punishment we deserve, that if we would only believe we would be spared.
- But He was pierced through for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our iniquities;
The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him,
And by His scourging we are healed.
6 All of us like sheep have gone astray,
Each of us has turned to his own way;
But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all
To fall on Him, (Isaiah 53:5-6) - “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life,” (John 3:16).
- For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, (1 Thessalonians 5:9).
- But He was pierced through for our transgressions,
How do we respond to His Indignation?
Because we live in a world so marred by sin, a world so often hideously filled with sorrow and suffering, it can be tempting to just bury our heads in the sand, just think happy thoughts, just dwell on the Beauty He has so blessed us with in Christ; and just refuse to be jolted and confronted with His Indignation. But it is imperative that we shake the sand from our ears and eyes to see the world around us.
His repeated warnings are meant to cause us to go weak in the knees and to break our hearts with what breaks His. Oh, that we would allow Him to break our hearts with the thought of those who are perishing in their sin, that we would take seriously the mission to share the gospel message of faith in Christ; for truly His Indignation is serious, and truly His Indignation is coming.
Let us ask Him to grow us in our commitment, our boldness and our intercession for the lost that we would seek to always be about His work as His ambassadors, eager to share the hope we have in Christ, that others would also be reconciled to God, that they too would escape His Indignation.
Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God, (2 Corinthians 5:20).