Of course the Old Testament in particular, is filled with stories of war, judgment, and violence. What is labeled as the "wrath of God" is on display during the time of the Old Covenant.
However, very rarely is the "wrath of God" an added judgment on someone; in other words it is not an added consequence to one's actions. Rather, the "wrath of God" is the natural outcome of one's personal sin. It is the natural outcome of "cause and effect". Romans 1:28 "And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper"
Let us also point out that often times the "effect" or "consequence" of sin, (that which is seen as punishment) is sin itself. Looking at the account of Cain in Genesis 4, God not only tells Cain why he is to be punished, but also what that punishment will be and how it will be accomplished. Sinful men will "drive him out". Sinful men will no longer tolerate Cain. This is the natural law at work.
However, we are aware that the moral law, that which Christians are to operate under, tells us that we are to return good for evil! Therefore, under the moral law - Cain would not be driven out. God actually stepped in, and prevented natural law from being fully exercised - Cain was not to be touched (ie: killed).
In meting out punishment, the punishment itself is often times sin - that is how natural law works. A clear example of this is David, who is described as being a "man after God's own heart" yet was not permitted to build the temple, because David was a man of war and had blood on his hands.
For the Christian, we are bound not to the natural law, but the moral law through the Ten Commandments and the New Covenant. Therefore, as believers in Covenant with God, bound to the moral law - we are not to operate under the "natural law".
The divine wrath of God requires that man suffers the natural consequences of his sin, however the Christian is not an agent of God's wrath. That role has been passed to the State, who operates as an agent of God's wrath in carrying out the punishment under natural law.
When God acts in the Old Testament, it is because of man's response to God. War is an "effect" of man's actions - it is the outcome of the natural law of "cause and effect". Israel's fighting was a result of her sins. God's permissible will meets us at our level. While God desires us to operate and live under His moral law, we all to often to do live up to that standard and operate under the natural law.
For example, God did not desire for Israel to have an earthly King. Yet after much protest, God allowed for their to be a king, under God's permissible will. God allowed for their to be a king (keep in mind Romans 1:28 - he gives us over to our depraved mind) and the consequences that follow.
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6But the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, and it is founded on better promises.
Hebrews 8:7-13
13By calling this covenant "new," he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear.
However, very rarely is the "wrath of God" an added judgment on someone; in other words it is not an added consequence to one's actions. Rather, the "wrath of God" is the natural outcome of one's personal sin. It is the natural outcome of "cause and effect". Romans 1:28 "And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper"
Let us also point out that often times the "effect" or "consequence" of sin, (that which is seen as punishment) is sin itself. Looking at the account of Cain in Genesis 4, God not only tells Cain why he is to be punished, but also what that punishment will be and how it will be accomplished. Sinful men will "drive him out". Sinful men will no longer tolerate Cain. This is the natural law at work.
However, we are aware that the moral law, that which Christians are to operate under, tells us that we are to return good for evil! Therefore, under the moral law - Cain would not be driven out. God actually stepped in, and prevented natural law from being fully exercised - Cain was not to be touched (ie: killed).
In meting out punishment, the punishment itself is often times sin - that is how natural law works. A clear example of this is David, who is described as being a "man after God's own heart" yet was not permitted to build the temple, because David was a man of war and had blood on his hands.
For the Christian, we are bound not to the natural law, but the moral law through the Ten Commandments and the New Covenant. Therefore, as believers in Covenant with God, bound to the moral law - we are not to operate under the "natural law".
The divine wrath of God requires that man suffers the natural consequences of his sin, however the Christian is not an agent of God's wrath. That role has been passed to the State, who operates as an agent of God's wrath in carrying out the punishment under natural law.
When God acts in the Old Testament, it is because of man's response to God. War is an "effect" of man's actions - it is the outcome of the natural law of "cause and effect". Israel's fighting was a result of her sins. God's permissible will meets us at our level. While God desires us to operate and live under His moral law, we all to often to do live up to that standard and operate under the natural law.
For example, God did not desire for Israel to have an earthly King. Yet after much protest, God allowed for their to be a king, under God's permissible will. God allowed for their to be a king (keep in mind Romans 1:28 - he gives us over to our depraved mind) and the consequences that follow.
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6But the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, and it is founded on better promises.
Hebrews 8:7-13
7For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another. 8But God found fault with the people and said:
"The time is coming, declares the Lord,
when I will make a new covenant
with the house of Israel
and with the house of Judah.
9It will not be like the covenant
I made with their forefathers
when I took them by the hand
to lead them out of Egypt,
because they did not remain faithful to my covenant,
and I turned away from them, declares the Lord.
10This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel
after that time, declares the Lord.
I will put my laws in their minds
and write them on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.
11No longer will a man teach his neighbor,
or a man his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,'
because they will all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest.
12For I will forgive their wickedness
and will remember their sins no more."
13By calling this covenant "new," he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear.