I've been reading through the books by minor prophets from the Bible and was upset about the overemphasis on God's wrath. Throughout my whole life I've been told about God's love and compassion and how he doesn't want us to suffer, yadda yadda... I was upset about the sins of the Israelites and how they always turned away from God. Through the Old Testament, it talks about how God will cause the downfall of the Israelites and how he'll lead them into bondage by different nations. And I wondered to myself, what happened to God's love?
Now, after taking notes on what the Bible has to say about God I re-discovered a few attributes about God. (Taken from Nahum 1 -- which aptly summarizes it)
1. God is a jealous God; avenging, vengeful, and filled with wrath.
2. God is slow to anger and great in power. However, he will not leave the guilty unpunished.
3. The Lord is good; a refuge in times of trouble.
Take note that the whole book of Nahum is about the downfall of Ninevah -- the same city that God saved and showed mercy through his prophet Jonah.
The previous book, Micah, says," I will bear the Lord's wrath, until he pleads my case and establishes my right." God is just, he must punish us for our sins. But God doesn't want to punish us because of his love and mercy. That's why he never fully destroys the Israelites. Fortunately we have the New Testament where God fulfills his covenant and sends his son Jesus to be the ultimate sacrifice; the atonement for our sins. Thus God portrayed one of his greatest attributes: his Love.
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