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January 2025

Further Thought

Read Ellen G. White, “Idolatry at Sinai,” pp. 315–330, in Patriarchs and Prophets.

Show Compassion

While divine wrath is a “terrible” thing, it is by no means immoral or unloving. On the contrary, in the Old and New Testaments, God expresses wrath against evil because of His love. Divine wrath is terrible because of the insidious nature of evil in contrast to the pure goodness and splendor of God.

God Does Not Afflict Willingly

Throughout the Bible, God repeatedly displays His passion in favor of the downtrodden and the oppressed and His corresponding righteous indignation against the victimizers and oppressors. If there were no evil, God would not be angry. His anger is only and always against that which harms His creation.

According to Lamentations 3:32, 33, God does not afflict willingly (literally, God does not afflict “from His heart”). He does not want to bring judgment against evildoers, but love finally requires justice.

Righteous Indignation

While there are many inappropriate forms of anger, the Bible also teaches that there is “righteous indignation.”

Imagine a mother watching her three-year-old daughter playing at the playground and then, suddenly, a man attacks her daughter. Should she not be angry? Of course, she should. Anger is the proper response of love in such a circumstance. This example helps us understand God’s “righteous indignation.”

God Is Slow to Anger

God becomes angry at evil because God is love. God is so compassionate and gracious that one biblical prophet even chastised God for being too merciful!

Consider the story of Jonah and reflect on Jonah’s reaction to God’s compassionate forgiveness of the Ninevites, in Jonah 4:1–4. What does this tell us about Jonah, and about God? (See also Matt. 10:8.)

Grieved by Evil

The God of the Bible loves justice and hates evil. Sin and evil, therefore, provoke Him to passion, a passion expressed on behalf of those oppressed and abused, and even in cases in which one’s evil affects primarily oneself. God hates evil because evil always hurts His creatures, even if self-inflicted. In the biblical narratives, God is repeatedly provoked to anger by what biblical scholars refer to as the cycle of rebellion. This cycle goes as follows:

The Wrath of Divine Love

Read for This Week’s Study

Psalm 78; Jonah 4:1–4; Matt. 10:8; Matt. 21:12, 13; Jer. 51:24, 25; Rom. 12:17–21.

Memory Text:

Further Thought

Read Ellen G. White, “The Beatitudes,” pp. 6–44, in Thoughts From the Mount of Blessing.

Compassion and Passionate

The God of the Bible is compassionate and passionate, and these divine emotions are supremely exemplified in Jesus Christ. God is sympathetic (compare with Isa. 63:9, Heb. 4:15), deeply affected by the sorrows of His people (Judg. 10:16, Luke 19:41), and willing to hear, answer, and comfort (Isa. 49:10, 15; Matt. 9:36; Matt. 14:14).

Read 1 Corinthians 13:4–8. In what ways does this passage call us to reflect God’s compassionate and amazing love in our relationships with others?

A Jealous God?

The God of the Bible is the “compassionate God.” In Hebrew, God is called el raḥum (Deut. 4:31). The term “el” means “God,” and raḥum is a different form of the root for compassion (raḥum). Yet, God is called not only the compassionate God but also the jealous God, el qana’. As Deuteronomy 4:24 puts it, “ ‘The Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God [el qana’].’ ” (See Deut. 4:24, Deut. 6:15, Josh. 24:19, Nah. 1:2.)

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Sabbath School Week

Sat 17 May 2025
In the Psalms: Part 1
Sun 18 May 2025
Our High Priest
Mon 19 May 2025
On Mount Zion
Tue 20 May 2025
Law in Our Hearts
Wed 21 May 2025
Psalm 5
Thu 22 May 2025
Teach Transgressors Your Way
Fri 23 May 2025
Further Thought
Sat 24 May 2025
In the Psalms: Part 2

Sabbath School Last Week

Sat 10 May 2025
Foundations for Prophecy
Sun 11 May 2025
Here I Am, Send Me
Mon 12 May 2025
The Two Cherubim
Tue 13 May 2025
Like Burning Coals of Fire
Wed 14 May 2025
God Among His People
Thu 15 May 2025
The Fall of Lucifer
Fri 16 May 2025
Further Thought
Sat 17 May 2025
In the Psalms: Part 1

Sabbath School Next Week

Monthly archive

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