Wrath Revealed

3/12/07

Rom 1:18--

The wrath of God is revealed...

Wrath is translated from the Greek word orge which comes from the word oregomai. Orge is defined in Strong's as: properly, desire (as a reaching forth or excitement of the mind), i.e. (by analogy), violent passion (ire, or (justifiable) abhorrence); by implication punishment:--anger, indignation, vengeance, wrath.

Oregomai is defined as – to stretch oneself, to reach out after (long for):--covet after, desire.

I believe that it can be clear to anyone that this word can be understood as intense passion, desire, even deep longing. Of course there are many who are stuck in prejudice entrenched in their determination to only believe that God has “a dark side” so to speak, though they fail to use those words. This springs from our penchant to see God through the filter of our own fallen passions and desiring to justify our desires for revenge and our natural feelings of hatefulness. We define God's “passion” (orge) based on how we feel toward those who abuse us and use us.

But the Bible is explicitly clear.

“This you know, my beloved brethren. But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God.” (James 1:19-20)

“'For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,' declares the LORD. 'For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts.'” (Isaiah 55:8-9)

So why does the “wrath” of God appear to so many to look strikingly like our anger and wrath? It is in the principle of the reflector. Consider what happens when you shine a very bright, intense white light at a colored roadside reflector. Does the reflector appear white? No, it appears very much the color that is built into it when it was made. Does that mean that the light shining on it is to be understood as being the color of the reflector? No again. The reflector appears that color because that is all it can “see” in the light shining on it.

On the other hand, if you were to put a mirror that is unbiased by any color in front of that light you would see more perfectly reflected what the original light really looks like without bias. In other words, the built-in bias of the reflecting instrument dramatically alters the appearance and perception of what might be believed about the original source of light if you don't see the light directly but only the reflection.

This is a very simple illustration but I believe it significantly underscores an important concept in how we perceive God. Maybe an even better illustration might be the lenses that we use as filters through which we view light. As the light comes through a colored lens we might be tempted to believe that the original light is that color if we are not aware that the lens has a color bias.

In Romans 1 you find two verses back to back that talk about God being revealed. This is very important to look at and understand if we to get at the truth about God. When God says something about revealing Himself it is probably a good place to investigate if we desire to discover a more unbiased truth about Him than we typically get from “religious” professors and propounders. Verse 17 says that the “righteousness of God is revealed” and verse 18 says the “wrath of God is revealed.” By spending some time carefully analyzing the context around these verses I believe we can arrive at a far more accurate picture of God than what is typically accepted by most people.