[Page Name: PR4]

PR4: God's Wrath, What is it?

Definition of God's Wrath

pr216» What is God's wrath? The Bible speaks about "the great day of his wrath," "the wrath of the Lamb," and "the wrath of God," and so forth (Rev 6:16-17; 15:1). People picture in their minds after reading the book of Revelation a God pouring out fire and damnation on the people of the earth. They read about the seven seals, the seven trumpets, and the seven plagues of Revelation and see a wrathful God getting even for man's wrongs. What is God's wrath? By only reading the book of Revelation can you know what the Bible means when it speaks of God's wrath?

"For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says the Lord" ( Isa 55:9, 8).

pr217» God's ways and thoughts are not man's ways and thoughts. Man's heart is "deceitful above all things" ( Jer 17:9). What man thinks about God is many times quite different from what the truth is. What man does is to project his own ideas onto God. When God says through the Bible that there is a "wrath of God," man thinks of man's wrath and projects this onto God's behavior. But "the wrath of man works not the righteousness of God" ( James 1:20). God's ways are not like man's ways (Isa 55:8-9). God's wrath isn't what the deceitful heart of man (Jer 17:9) thinks it is.

pr218» Man teaches as the true doctrines the commandments of men (Mark 7:7), not the commandments of God. Man teaches as true the precepts of men (Isa 29:13) as opposed to the precepts of God. Man teaches what comes "out of their own hearts" as "the word of the Lord" ( Ezek 13:2).

pr219» For example, God says "their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men" ( Isa 29:13). Remember God's thoughts and ways are not like man's (Isa 55:8-9). Then what is the fear of God? The Bible interprets itself:

"The fear of the Lord is to hate evil: pride and arrogance, and the evil way" ( Prov 8:13).

pr220» The fear of God is to hate the wrong ways. Not to hate those who do evil, for nothing of itself is evil (Rom 14:14), but to hate the wrong ways of man. This is the fear of God. We hate evil behavior, for it is what harms us, not the God. Isn't this almost opposite to what many teach as the fear of the Lord? Man thinks it means fearing God as one fears to be killed.

pr221» What we are saying here is that God's ways and thoughts are not like man's. What some verses of the Bible at first glance seem to say is on more research quite different. The Bible uses many metaphorical expressions to describe God. More than some of the Old Testament is poetry. To find out the Spiritual essence you must have the New Mind or New Spirit.

Does this mean that God has purposely made the Bible difficult?

pr222» No, for in the places where God through his word has come right out and said something, man has changed the meaning of the words used in order to suit man's own motives. For example, there are words in over 400 verses in the Bible that mean "agelasting" which has evolved through misusage to be wrongly translated as "eternal." This twisting of the scriptures has caused much misunderstanding of the Bible. Thus, when God comes right out and says something, man changes the meaning of the words. So God has used symbolism, not necessarily to hide, but more correctly to preserve the truth for the latter days.

pr223» Most people have read God's word without the New Mind. When people speak of God's wrath, they think of it as if it were man's wrath. They make God out to be a hypocrite, for God has told us to give good for evil (Rom 12:21, and to love our enemies (Matt 5:44). What does it mean to love our enemies? Does this mean pouring fire over their heads as some picture God doing at his return to the physical dimension? If we can know what love is, we know how to love our enemies. What is love?

pr224» Love Is. "Love is patient; love is kind and envies no one. Love is never boastful, nor conceited, nor rude; never selfish, not quick to take offense. Love keeps no score of wrongs; does not gloat over other men's sins, but delights in the truth. There is nothing love cannot face; there is no limit to its faith, its hope, and its endurance. Love never comes to an end" ( 1 Cor 13:4-8, NEB).

pr225» Now if God is love as the Bible pictures him (1 John 4:8), then will God lose his patience with his enemies and kill them with fire at the end of the age? Remember, God is the almighty, the All Powerful. God created the whole heaven and earth by his words. All God has to do to correct his enemies is to change them. All He has to do is give them the New Mind, and instead of being bad, they will be good. Will God lose his patience? Will God be angry with his enemies? In other words is God's wrath like man's wrath? If it is, then God is like us, a hypocrite. He tells us to love our enemies, he tells us to give good for evil, then at the end he does what we shouldn't do, at least this is what many say God will do.

Will God come to destroy his enemies, or will he come to do good, to love his enemies? Let's let God, through his word, answer.

Christ Comes to Save Mankind

pr226» One of Jesus Christ's names means savior or Jehovah's savior (Jesus): "the Father sent the Son to be the savior of the world" ( 1 John 4:14). And, "you shall call his name Jesus [savior]: for he shall save his people from their sins" ( Matt 1:21). And, "except those days ['the last days'] should be shortened, there would be no flesh saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened" ( Matt 24:22). "And except that the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh would be saved: but for the elect's sake, whom he has chosen, He [God] has shortened the days" ( Mark 13:20). Does this sound like God is coming to destroy?

pr227» When some didn't receive Christ the disciples asked, "do you wish that we command fire to come down from heaven and consume them even as Elijah did? But he [Christ] turned, and rebuked them, and said, You know not what manner of spirit you are of [at that time the disciples hadn't yet received the Spirit of God]. For the son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them" ( Luke 9:54-56).

pr228» God through Jesus Christ will come to save mankind from destroying himself as these scriptures show. Then what is God's wrath? What does the Bible mean by God's wrath?

Righteous Judgment

pr229» The day of wrath is also called a day of trouble, of distress, of desolation, of darkness (Zeph 1:15), and further called a day or hour of judgment (Joel 3:12; Rev 14:7; 18:8, 10). God's wrath is the judgment on the society that the other-mind (Satan's influence) has created on earth. It is the appointed day of righteous judgment (Act 17:31). Paul calls the day of wrath, "the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God" ( Rom 2:5). And, "the Lord: for he comes, for he comes to judge the earth: he shall judge the world with righteousness" ( Psa 96:13; 98:9; 1 Chron 16:33). "And in righteousness he does judge and make war" ( Rev 19:11).

pr230» Notice God comes to judge the world righteously. God's wrath, God's judgment is righteous, not unrighteous like man's wrath (see James 1:20). What is righteous wrath or judgment? "For all your commandments are righteousness" ( Psa 119:172). Righteous wrath, righteous judgment does not include direct mass killing of inherently weak human beings by the all-powerful God as some accuse God of planning for the end of this age. Evil will be punished. But not in the manner projected by many. What is God's wrath, or God's judgment at his return to the physical dimension?

"The Lord is known by the judgment which he executes: the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands" ( Psa 9:16).

pr231» That is a Biblical definition. In other words the wicked judge their own self, they are snared in the works of their own hands.

Again, "the heathen are sunk in the pit that they made: in the net which they hid is their own taken" ( Psa 9:15).

"The wicked in his pride does persecute the poor: let them be taken in the devices that they have imagined" ( Psa 10:2).

The "transgressors shall be taken in their own naughtiness" ( Prov 11:6).

"The wicked is snared by the transgression of his lips" ( Prov 12:13).

"Woe unto the wicked it shall be ill with them: for the reward of his hands shall be given him" ( Isa 3:11).

"According to their deeds, accordingly he will repay" ( Isa 59:18).

How Will God Repay Their Deeds?

pr232» "Will you render me a recompense [reward]? and if you recompense me, swiftly and speedily will I return your recompense upon your own head ... For the day of the Lord is near upon all the heathen: as you have done, it shall be done unto you: your reward shall return upon your own head" ( Joel 3:4; Obad 1:15; check context).

pr233» When one comes to understand that at Christ's coming all the peoples of the world will try to destroy Christ and his people (Rev 17:14, "and they that are with him;" Rev 19:14, 8, "his army" clothed in white; see Matt 25:40), then one understands God's "wrath." As we will prove in the notes and in PR4 and PR5, the world will go mad through the other-mind's (Satan's) influence, which man agrees with, and through circumstances (Rev 16:13-16; 12:4, 13; Jer 51:7; 25:15, 16) the world will be burning up because an instant super-war will have begun. At that time God will save mankind from their madness, or thus from their sins (Matt 1:21). Man will be in the process of destroying the world, and their own deeds (use of war weapons) are blowing them off the earth when Christ comes to save (cf Isa 29:6; Matt 24:22; John 3:17). Their own deeds (war, nuclear bombs, etc.) are returning on their own heads, for all nations will go mad at that time, as the Bible emphatically manifests, and will be committing cosmocide.

pr234» Thus, "the Lord is known by the judgment which he executes: the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands" ( Psa 9:16). God comes to save, for He is love. The transgression of the built-in law of the universe (cause and effect) will destroy the transgressors of that law, or will destroy them, if God doesn't come to save. How is God's "wrath" poured out on the earth? It is poured out by man himself against himself.

pr235» We will now show you many verses in the Bible where it describes nations and peoples destroying each other during the Last War. When read in the higher sense (see "Duality Paper" [BP4]) the following verses are in context at the day of the Lord:

"Violence in the land, ruler against ruler" ( Jer 51:46).

"Evil shall go forth from nation to nation" ( Jer 25:32).

"The Egyptians against the Egyptians: and they shall fight every one against his brother, and every one against his neighbor; city against city, and kingdom against kingdom" ( Isa 19:2).

"For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom" ( Matt 24:7).

"Every man's sword shall be against his brother" ( Ezek 38:21).

"By the swords of the mighty will I cause your multitude to fall" ( Ezek 32:12).

"And the horses and their riders shall come down, every one by the sword of his brother" ( Hag 2:22).

"They shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbor, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbor" ( Zech 14:13).

"And the ten horns which you saw upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire" ( Rev 17:16).

pr236» The horns of the beast destroy the whore (the woman of Rev 17:1, 4). And who is the woman? The woman is the great city (Rev 17:18). And what is the great city? The great city is Babylon (Rev 14:8). Since the "Beast" represents spiritual Babylon, then in other words, the Beast of Revelation destroys itself.

pr237» Now why will mankind begin to destroy themselves? "And in the latter time of their kingdom [man's kingdom], when the transgressors are come to the full..." ( Dan 8:23). At the End transgression will be full. The ultimate end of transgression of the built-in laws of the universe is death. Mankind has chosen death and will die, or more correctly will die if the Spiritual Jesus (the SAVIOR) does not come to save the world (Matt 24:22).

pr238» What is God's Wrath? It is man's own transgression of God's built-in laws. If some of mankind kill, some of mankind will be killed. If some lie, then some will be lied to. And so on and so forth. See the "Freedom & Law Paper" [NM 17].

pr239» God himself does not have the "freedom" to be wrathful towards man, as man thinks of wrath. God's "wrath" is not like man's wrath (James 1:20). God's wrath is to let the built-in laws of the universe deal with man's misbehavior (Psa 9:16). When man goes against God's built-in laws, they are in fact following the ways of destruction. And it is the ways of destruction that destroy man. The laws of God, in and of themselves, do not destroy. But when one goes against them, they are in fact following the way of death and destruction. There is actually a law of sin or a way of destruction (Rom 7:23, 25). And it is the following of this law of sin that destroys man.

pr240» Man does not sin against God when they sin, but against themselves (Prov 8:36). Each sin is a transgression of the built-in laws of the universe. And each transgression of these laws is "rewarded" by an effect. And the effects of these transgressions are all around us today. The misery of life was/is/will-be caused by the transgression of the universe's built-in laws. And as we have noted the transgression of these laws, is in reality, the positive doing of the law/way of destruction, the law of sin.

Spiritual Influence

pr241» As we noted so far that mankind will begin to destroy itself in the Last War. What is the reason man will perform this madness? As we've shown in the "Old Mind Paper" [NM 21], mankind is now being misled by enemy spirits in their minds. Not only is the present age the age of man, but it is also the age of Satan who is the enemy of mankind. The present age is the age of man/Satan. It is the wrath or madness of satanic spirits at the time of the Last War that will mislead man into beginning to destroy themselves. Notice the following Biblical verses for the proof that it is the satanic spiritual power (the other-mind) that is behind man's madness:

Now, why will Egypt fight against itself, and its neighbors; city against city, and kingdom against kingdom? (Isa 19:2; Matt 24:7) [The antitypical Egypt is Satan's kingdom, see PR5]

Because the SPIRIT of Egypt (Satan) is a perverse spirit and has "caused Egypt to err in every work thereof" ( Isa 19:14, 13).

Notice that the wrath against typical Egypt, when God led typical Israel out of Egypt, was caused by "evil angels" ( Psa 78:49, 43-51). Thus, from the antitypical Egypt (Satan's kingdom) the antitypical Israel (the Church, Gal 6:16) will be saved from the wrath of the satanic spirits, or the wrath of the devil (Rev 12:12).

pr242» Wine. Notice further proof that the Last War's madness is caused by the satanic spiritual influence in man's mind that man now agrees with:

"Babylon [Satan's kingdom, see the Beast Papers] is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication [spiritual fornication]" ( Rev 14:8).

"Babylon has been a golden cup in the Lord's hand, that made all the earth drunken [of Babylon's cup]: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad" ( Jer 51:7).

pr243» What is this wine that the nations are drunk on that makes them mad and causes them to fall? (Rev 14:8-10; Jer 51:7-8)

"Stay yourselves, and wonder; cry you out, and cry: they are drunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink. For the Lord has poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and has closed your eyes" ( Isa 29:9-10).

pr244» This spirit of deep sleep is the satanic spirit that God gave to man (see "Old Mind Paper" [NM 21]). It is the mad Satanic spirit that man is drunk on. This is the opposite wine (spirit) from which God's children drink, the new wine (Zech 9:17; Luke 5:37). Notice once again: It is "the spirit of the kings of the Medes" that is raised up against Babylon for the "vengeance of his [God's] temple" ( Jer 51:11).

pr245» On the day of the wrath besides great madness there will be great fear (Rev 6:15-16; Ezek 32:10, 7-9) because of the cruel angels that are sent through Egypt (Satan's kingdom) (see Ezek 30:2-3, 9; Prov 17:11, "angel" is translated "messenger" in the KJV). Also note and compare with the previously mentioned examples, Revelation 16:12-16.

pr246» Now we have shown you one more dimension of the cause of the wrath of Satan (God's "Wrath"): The satanic influence of Satan's spirits that are misleading mankind (Rev 12:9). Now let's show another facet concerning the question as to why man destroys himself. That is, man will destroy himself, if there is not a Jesus (Savior) to save mankind from his own madness.

Pride

pr247» At the End of the old age will come "the son of perdition," (2 Thes 2:3) or the "false prophet" (Rev 19:20; 13:11-18), or the "little horn" ( Dan 7:8, 20, 24-25; 8:9-12, 23-25). If you will read the verses quoted you will see that this antichrist has one obnoxious quality -- pride. This false prophet is not only one person, but he epitomizes mankind as a whole at the end of the age -- filled with pride of self. Notice how God describes mankind at the end of the old age: "in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves ... proud ... heady, high-minded" ( 2 Tim 3:1, 2, 4). And what is pride a shadow of?

pr248» "How art you fallen from heaven, O Lucifer ['O wail'], son of the morning! ['son of darkness'] how are you cut down to the ground, which did weaken the nations! For you have said in your heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High" ( Isa 14:12-14). Lucifer is another name for Satan. Notice how he wants to become "the most High," and notice how much pride he manifests in these verses.

Why is false pride destroying mankind?

when pride, then shame (Prov 11:2)

the way of a fool is right in his own eyes (Prov 12:15)

contention comes through pride (Prov 13:10)

pride before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall (Prov 16:18)

before destruction a haughty man (Prov 18:11-12)

high looks, and a proud heart is transgression (Prov 21:4)

pr249» Why are pride and high looks wrong?

"For who makes you to differ from another? and what have you that you did not receive? now if you did receive it, why do you boast, as if you had not received it?" (1 Cor 4:7)

pr250» In other words, all of us have received what we have mentally, physically, and spiritually from the outside -- from our parents (genes, training), from our teachers, or from our spiritual fathers (God, Rom 8:14, 16; or Satan, John 8:44).

pr251» Why is pride wrong? It is wrong because man receives all from outside of him. Even man's life has nothing to do with him, it comes from outside of him. The trouble with mankind's pride is that man is lying to himself, if he has pride in himself, because everything that mankind is comes from outside of man. Mankind is lying to himself when he has pride in himself. And the problem with lying to oneself is that one loses reality. Reality is what is real, or true. Because mankind has false pride, he has lost contact with reality -- the true or real. In other words, man has lost contact with God (the truth) because of his false pride in himself. Man has lost contact with the ways of happiness (God's law of love), thus, he is in confusion. Mankind is confused when it comes to finding happiness because he has lost the truth (God). And because mankind is in confusion, he is destroying himself. Another name for God's law is harmony. Another name for confusion is disharmony. Because man has false pride, he has lied to himself concerning the truth (God). Because mankind has lied concerning the truth, he has not found the truth (God). Because he has not found the truth, he is in disharmony. Because man is in disharmony, he is destroying himself.

Destruction Comes From God Himself?

pr252» Now some verses in the Bible seem to say that fire comes from God, instead of from man/Satan's kingdom fighting against itself. Let's examine some of these verses in question:

"Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence, a fire shall devour before [immediately preceding; he comes to save mankind from that fire] him" ( Psa 50:3).

Now notice one mistranslation:

"And fire came down from God and devoured them" ( Rev 20:9).

Some translators thought they were clarifying this verse by saying the fire came from God, for they knew not about the super weapons of the latter days. But that phrase ('from God') is not in most old Greek texts of the New Testament. But even if the phrase 'from God' does belong here it means that because God has predestinated all things that are now happening, in a sense the fire does come from God (see "Predestination Paper" [NM 8]).

Anger of the Lord

pr253» Now in this part we showed you how God is a person of love. And a person of love is a person who loves even his enemies. But the Bible speaks of the ANGER of God.:

"The Lord will not spare him, but then the anger of the Lord and his jealousy shall smoke against that man, and all the curses that are written in this book shall lie upon him" ( Deut 29:20).

pr254» What is the anger of God that destroys? Is the True God a destroyer? Notice 2 Samuel 24:1:

"and again the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he moved David against them to say, Go, number Israel and Judah." But this verse is qualified by 1 Chronicle 21:1 which points out that the "he" of 2 Samuel 24:1 is Satan. Thus, by comparing we see that the "anger of the Lord" is Satan -- not the True God. The anger of God is Satan as we proved by comparing the just mentioned verses. Hence, each time one sees the "anger of the Lord" in the Bible he knows the Bible speaks of Satan. (See the God Papers for a deeper understanding of the anger of the God.)

pr255» Notice how Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed (read Gen 19:24-29). Now did God destroy these cities? Is God a destroyer? (In a sense the God is somehow or someway a destroyer and a creator of evil. [Deut 32:39; Isa 45:7] But in this age it is true to say that Satan is the destroyer and the true God the healer.) It was God's "anger" and "wrath" that overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah: "like the overthrow of Sodom, and Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim, which the Lord overthrew in his anger, and in his wrath" ( Deut 29:23). As we have just shown you the "anger" of the Lord is Satan. And in God's Wrath we showed you that God's "wrath" is in reality Satan's wrath.

pr256» Since in some sense God's power is everywhere, everything that exists is of God. This is one reason the Bible speaks of the anger of God, the wrath of God, and so forth. But the Bible qualifies this, and tells us that the true God only uses his power for good. It is Satan who is the destroyer. Since Satan is a spirit being who came into being from God, then Satan is also of God (see the God Papers).

pr257» The writers of the Bible wrote as if they knew that everything was of God. Thus, the writers of the Bible told their readers that God destroyed Sodom, and so forth without qualifying that it was Satan that did the destroying. This cannot be understood in the fullest sense unless you have read and understood the God Papers.