The Vengeful God

The first type I will call the Vengeful God. This is the version of God that is mighty and self-righteous. He just sits up in Heaven and looks down upon His creation. When people do well and obey Him, He rewards them with a place in Heaven and they get to be eternally happy. If they disobey Him, He waits to cast His judgement and toss the wicked sinners into the coals of hell. This view is advocated by many groups including atheists. They state that only a vengeful God would destroy mankind with a flood or destroy Egypt with plagues. 

But is this version of God really what He is like?  Rather than listening to the opinions of man, let's turn to the scriptures for clues. 

“Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, "I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life."

The Pharisees therefore said unto him, "Thou bearest record of thyself; thy record is not true."

Jesus answered and said unto them, "Though I bear record of myself, yet my record is true: for I know whence I came, and whither I go; but ye cannot tell whence I come, and whither I go.  Ye judge after the flesh; I judge no man.  And yet if I judge, my judgment is true: for I am not alone, but I and the Father that sent me.  It is also written in your law, that the testimony of two men is true.  I am one that bear witness of myself, and the Father that sent me beareth witness of me."

Then said they unto him, "Where is thy Father?" Jesus answered, "Ye neither know me, nor my Father: if ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also."”

John 8:12-19

“All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.”

Matthew 11:27

“Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.

Then answered Jesus and said unto them, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.  For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him all things that himself doeth: and he will shew him greater works than these, that ye may marvel.

For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will.

For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son: That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him.

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.  Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.

For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself; And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man. Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.

I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.”

John 5:18-30

These passages should make one thing perfectly clear. If looking a Christ's works, and seeing that He is not vengeful, spiteful, or unloving in any way, how can one then think that God is not exactly the same?

Jesus Christ states that He came to save mankind. That is God's great work also. When the priests brought a woman taken in adultery before Jesus to test Him, after they had left He told the woman to go and sin no more. Notice that He didn't say "woman you have committed a terrible sin and for that you will spend eternity in the darkest depths of burning hell."  Christ desires us to repent. It is the sin itself that keeps us away from Him. 

Back to the instance of the flood. Many will say that God destroyed mankind with this mighty flood. But is that the whole story?  God did not want to destroy them, He wanted them to repent and gave them many many opportunities to do so. But the people continued to grow increasingly wicked. In so doing they pushed God away. When the earth itself could no longer bear the wickedness of man, God could not save those who had rejected Him. 

What of the plagues upon Egypt?  Plagues, pestilence, famine, and disaster have happened all throughout history and affect the righteous and the wicked alike. But those that are faithful talk to and counsel with God and can exercise faith in Him and learn how to receive help. The wicked are determined to deal with the situation using their own wisdom and understanding and refuse to ask for help from the source.  It is not God's will that we suffer. He wants to help us, and teach us, and love us. But He cannot spare us the consequences of our choices and actions. And He cannot help us if we refuse to ask. 

Egypt once honored the God of Isreal, but they grew proud of their own achievements and forgot how God had once delivered them from a famine.  Then they began to persecute those that did honor God. Soon the Isrealites were turning away from God as well. They feared being persecuted, and they grew to enjoy the wealth and culture of the Egyptians.  It was reaching a critical point.  

I will go into it more in a future article, but I will say at this point, these things are part of a great and grand plan for mankind, a plan that we are part of. God sorrows and weeps when we choose a path that will destroy us, and He may have to stop us if our choices infringe on the rights and opportunities of others. That's where the plagues and destructions really come in. They are tools to refine and benefit us. If we persevere through these things, we become stronger, kinder, more loving, and we gain an empathy we never could have known otherwise. If we gain these things, then it doesn't matter if we lose our mortal lives because we will still live on. But if we are rebelling against God and we get caught in these plagues and destructions, it will be terrible. We will become bitter instead of better, and we will know that we are not justified.