How should we interpret the descriptions of God's wrath and retributive justice in Joshua (Josh. 23:15, 16) and elsewhere in Scripture? (See also Num. 11:33; 2 Chron. 36:16; Rev. 14:10, 19; Rev. 15:1.)
Israel already has experienced the Lord’s anger during the wilderness wanderings (Num. 11:33, Num. 12:9) as well as in the Promised Land (Josh. 7:1) and was fully aware of the consequences of provoking Yahweh’s anger by flagrantly breaking the covenant. These verses represent the climax of the severity of Joshua’s rhetoric. It is shocking to hear that the Lord will destroy Israel, as the same term has been previously used to refer to the annihilation of the Canaanites. As surely as the promises of the Lord have been faithfully fulfilled concerning Israel’s blessing, the curses of the covenant (Leviticus 26, Deuteronomy 28) also will become true if the Israelites reject the covenant. In light of the dispossession and destruction of the Canaanites, these verses demonstrate once again that Yahweh is ultimately the judge of all the earth. He declares war against sin, irrespective of where it is found. Israel was not sanctified, and did not acquire special merits, through participation in holy war any more than pagan nations did when they later became the means of Yahweh’s judgment against the chosen nation.
It lies within Israel’s power of choice to make the glorious certainties of the past the foundation for facing the future.
At first glance, the biblical teaching on God’s anger seems to be incompatible with the affirmation that God is love (John 3:16, 1 John 4:8). Yet, it is exactly in the light of God’s wrath that the biblical doctrine of God’s love becomes even more relevant. First, the Bible presents God as loving, patient, long-suffering, and ready to forgive (Exod. 34:6, Mic. 7:18). However, in the context of a world affected by sin, the wrath of the Lord is the attitude of His holiness and righteousness when confronted by sin and evil. His wrath is never an emotional, revengeful, unpredictable overreaction. The New Testament teaches that Christ became sin for us (2 Cor. 5:21), and through His death we have been reconciled with God (Rom. 5:10). Whoever believes in Him will not have to face God’s wrath (John 3:36, Eph. 2:3, 1 Thess. 1:10). The concept of the wrath of God presents God as the righteous judge of the universe and the One who upholds the cause of justice (Ps. 7:11, Ps. 50:6, 2 Tim. 4:8).
Supplemental EGW Notes
During a vision of the night, I stood on an eminence, from which I could see houses shaken like a reed in the wind. Buildings, great and small, were falling to the ground. Pleasure resorts, theaters, hotels, and the homes of the wealthy were shaken and shattered. Many lives were blotted out of existence, and the air was filled with the shrieks of the injured and the terrified.
The destroying angels of God were at work. One touch, and buildings, so thoroughly constructed that men regarded them as secure against every danger, quickly became heaps of rubbish. There was no assurance of safety in any place. . . . The awfulness of the scenes that passed before me I cannot find words to describe. It seemed that the forbearance of God was exhausted and that the judgment day had come.
The angel that stood at my side then instructed me that but few have any conception of the wickedness existing in our world today, and especially the wickedness in the large cities. He declared that the Lord has appointed a time when He will visit transgressors in wrath for persistent disregard of His law. . . . God’s supreme rulership and the sacredness of His law must be revealed to those who persistently refused to render obedience to the King of kings. Those who choose to remain disloyal must be visited in mercy with judgments, in order that, if possible, they may be aroused to a realization of the sinfulness of their course. . . . While the divine Ruler bears long with perversity, He is not deceived and will not always keep silence. His supremacy, His authority as Ruler of the universe, must finally be acknowledged and the just claims of His law vindicated.
There are limits even to the forbearance of God, and many are exceeding these boundaries. They have overrun the limits of grace, and therefore God must interfere and vindicate His own honor. . . .
When the Lord comes forth as an avenger, He will also come as a protector of all those who have preserved the faith in its purity and kept themselves unspotted from the world.—God’s Amazing Grace, p. 51.
Those who bore the discouraging report and brought discouragement to the whole camp of Israel, when opposed because of their unfaithful witness, served the satanic powers in complete rebellion. And they carried the disappointed congregation with them, in that they believed their interpretation of the land. The congregation took the wrong side, and, inspired by satanic agencies, they cried out against the faithful spies, and bade them stone Joshua and Caleb, who dared to bear the truthful representation in regard to the land.
But there is always a defense provided for those who have borne witness for the truth. What was it that saved the lives of Joshua and Caleb? “And the glory of the Lord appeared in the tabernacle of the congregation before all the children of Israel.” . . .
We have here a positive evidence that the anger of the Lord was awakened against the rebellious people—those who had been blessed with great light and precious opportunities to know the will of God, which was communicated to them by Christ Himself, their invisible Leader, enshrouded in the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night.—Christ Triumphant, p. 119.
The above quotations are taken from Ellen G. White Notes for the Sabbath School Lessons, published by Pacific Press Publishing Association. Used by permission.