The Lord's Anger

"Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD and served the Baals. They forsook the LORD, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of Egypt. They followed and worshiped various gods of the peoples around them. They provoked the LORD to anger." Judges 2:11-12 


Many have a false perception of God. A God made in their own image. One who is never angry, one who has a human kind of love. One that is nice and sweet and gentle(and therefore never acting in truth). Or the other extreme of thinking God is hateful and spiteful, just waiting for someone to mess up. Judges 2 shows us that neither of these perceptions about God are true.  Even in His anger He does what is best.

God hates sin. And God's wrath is something we tend to avoid. Until of course someone has hurt us, then we want God to "get em". But without a proper understanding of God's anger and His wrath poured out on sin, the cross of Christ can only be seen as a decoration on a wall.

Joy and comfort can be found in God's wrath. Check this out, "After this I heard what sounded like the roar of a great multitude in heaven shouting: 'Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, for true and just are his judgments. He has condemned the great prostitute who corrupted the earth by her adulteries. He has avenged on her the blood of his servants." Rev. 19:1-2  Oh man I understand this! If I get to be there for that (if the rapture happens before this point or if I die before then) I am going to be joyfully jumping up and down crying and screaming my head off. Shouting because God will destroy evil. He will destroy not only the One who corrupted but also death, the effects of the corruption. Jesus, with His sword of truth from His mouth coming on a white horse to fight for His people, will destroy the One who corrupted the hearts and minds of men who rape young children. The One who corrupts minds and hearts to keep them from understanding the God who is able to Save them from hell. That is more than a deep satisfaction, that is a joy so great that it demands a 'roar of a great multitude'!

If you've been reading my blog for long you've probably noticed a few themes I love to talk about. Things like relying on God's Spirit to live His life through us, His Word, His character (too many to link-hopefully this is part of every post I write) and heaven. I LOVE to think about heaven. Have you ever read Heaven by Randy Alcorn? So good!  It is a common misconception that heaven is a place where we float on clouds and sing all day long. I believe that is a distortion from the Enemy to keep us from wanting to go there. Why live in light of eternity if you think it's going to be boring? And really how can you even live in light of eternity if you don't have a vision of what it will be like? God wants us to have a little understanding a little vision of heaven. That is why like the scene described in the Revelation verse above as well and the many others are in the Bible.  Hear this friend, "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him"-- but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit." That last part is the shocker huh. Often the part left off of this oh so familiar verse. God has revealed to us what heaven will be like. Not all of it, but He has given us a picture, described for us scenes and such. 

So though singing will not be all we do in heaven, it will be something we do in heaven. But it will be a response not an activity:

"Holy, holy, holy Is God our Master, Sovereign-Strong, The Was, The Is, The Coming. Every time the Animals gave glory and honor and thanks to the One Seated on the Throne - the age-after-age Living One - the Twenty-four Elders would fall prostrate before the One Seated on the Throne. They worshiped the age-after-age Living One. They threw their crowns at the foot of the Throne, chanting, Worthy, O Master! Yes, our God! Take the glory! the honor! the power! You created it all; It was created because you wanted it." Rev. 4:8-11 Crowns were laid down with singing because they got a glimpse of God's character. 

Revelation 5 shows how they worshipped in song because they saw what Jesus was worthy of and the effects.

Singing will not be a boring pull out your song sheet and sing your best.We will have such a deep ah-ha moment of what God is like that singing and shouting will be the only appropriate response. And get this, even a deep understanding of God's anger, His wrath poured out on sin will ignite us to this type of exultation.

Pick and attribute of God. Ask God to give you a glimpse of His glory and spend some time thinking about that specific attribute today. (There is a list of some of the unending attributes under the Resources tab).

If you lived like you trusted/relied on God as __(add the attribute you're reflecting on here)___, what would it look like practically? And what about your life would change?

I hope the Glimpse of Glory in Judges Series; A Bible study devotional through the book of Judges, has been a blessing to you so far. And I hope you will come by each weekday to get a glimpse of God's heart and character from the book of Judges. 

Chapter One
{Day One} Delighting in God as the Know-er of All Things
{Day Two} Reliance 
{Day Three} Bigger Picture 
{Day Four} Prepare for Battle
{Day Five} No More 

Chapter 2
{Day Six} Revealer 

Will you take 20 seconds to share the url in your facebook status or share with your peeps on twitter so they can be encouraged too? 

And don't forget to subscribe below so you don't miss any of the Glimpses of Glory in Judges.

And btw, if you are looking for an in debth Bible study to do with a group in 2012, will you consider Beholding Him, Becoming Missional; Awakening to the Mission Through the Study of First Samuel? Or, perhaps it would make for a good Christmas present for a friend?

Here are some reviews:
If you like Beth Moore, you'll love Krokos 
Great Study
Likened to Beth Moore 
Tons of Testimonies 


In my journey toward 1000 gifts with Ann Voskamp:
#287 Free blogging#288 Our wonderful, beautiful fireplace#289 Being able to adopt#290 Being able to homeschool#291 Ideas, ideas, ideas!I'm linking up with A Holy Experience, A Pause on the Path, The Beauty in His Grip, Nebraska Graceful, The Wellspring