Prepared by William Earnhardt, for Sabbath School class, February 1, 2025.

Main Theme: God’s anger is always His righteous and loving response against evil and injustice. Divine wrath is righteous indignation motivated by perfect goodness and love, and it seeks the flourishing of all creation. God’s wrath is simply the appropriate response of love to evil and injustice. Accordingly, evil provokes God to passion in favor of the victims of evil and against its perpetrators. Divine wrath, then, is another expression of divine love.

Read in Class: Psalm 78:36-39, Jonah 4:1-11, and Matthew 10:8.. Define the main idea in these passages.

Study: Compare God’s response to man’s rebellion with Jonah’s response. How do these responses differ?

Apply: Have you ever failed to show mercy or grace to someone who has wronged you? How can you best remember what God has done for you so that you become more gracious to others in response to the abundant grace God has shown you? And, how do we do this, show mercy and grace, but without giving license to sin or enabling abuse or oppression?

Share: You friend says, just like with Nineveh, God may get angry, but since He is love He never destroys. What do you tell your friend? See Why I Believe God Kills Because He is Love.

Read in Class: Matthew 21:12-13, and John 2:14-15. Define the common thread of these passages.

Study: What does Jesus’ reaction to the way the temple was being used tell us about God’s getting angry at evil? What does this tell us about what it might mean to be like Jesus?

Apply: How can we be careful not to seek to justify selfish anger as “righteous indignation”? Why is that so easy to do, and how can we protect ourselves from that subtle but real trap?

Share: Your friend says, People say it is a sin to be angry but the Bible says Jesus got angry. See Mark 3:5. Your friend asks, is it possible to be angry without sinning? What do you tell your friend? See Ephesians 4:26.

Read in Class: Ezra 5:12, Jeremiah 51:24-25, 44, 2 Chronicles 36:16. Define the common thread of these passages.

Study: What does this explain about the judgment that came upon Jerusalem via the Babylonians?

Apply: How does the fact that God does not want to bring judgment against anyone affect your understanding of divine anger and wrath? If God is slow to anger, should we not be more patient and longsuffering with those around us? How can we do so while also protecting and caring for the victims of wrongdoing?

Share: Your friend asks, If God allowed wicked Babylon to hurt the Jews in order to eventually save them and bring them back, then could it be that God uses our enemies to humble us? Are all our misfortunes at the hand of an enemy? Or could it actually be God trying to get us to repent? What do you tell your friend?

Read in Class: Proverbs 20:22 and Romans 12:17-21. Define the main idea of these passages.

Study: How might these passages help us discern the difference between righteous indignation and human revenge?

Apply: In what way has Christ’s atonement upheld justice while also delivering us from wrath? Recognizing that provision had been made for you, despite your shortcomings, how much more gracious should you be to others?

Share: While wrath may be a desperate measure God in His divine love will use to bring us to repentance, Romans 2:4 says its the goodness of God that leads us to repentance. How can you share the goodness of God with someone this week who needs to be brought to repentance?