God, Are You Angry?

I’ve been fighting with the lexicon and our interpretations of Scripture, this week, because that totally makes sense in the midst of a time when I have almost no wiggle room in my schedule…  Typical L…

Jeremiah 30:22-24:

“‘So you will be my people,
    and I will be your God.’

See, the storm of the Lord
    will burst out in wrath,
a driving wind swirling down
    on the heads of the wicked.
The fierce anger of the Lord will not turn back
    until he fully accomplishes
    the purposes of his heart.
In days to come
    you will understand this” (NIV).

Just in case you didn’t know (because I sure didn’t), the word we translate here to “wrath,” is actually closer to “heat.”  Maybe that doesn’t make a difference, at all, but I think it might.  Maybe instead of a vengeful God, we have a passionate one who relentlessly works until “he fully accomplishes the purposes of his heart…” which might be lovingly forming us into God’s people.

In reading this passage, anew; I certainly think God is frustrated—perhaps even angry—but I’m not convinced that translates to punishment, death, and destruction!  Sometimes aggravation precedes realization.  Maybe it translates to prevenient grace, persuasion, and redemption (because all of that stuff looks like a raging storm, too).  Or maybe I haven’t reached the day when I understand this, at all.  It could go either way.

L.