The Forsaken Truth About the Wrath of God

99 Biblical Texts on the Wrath of God

PREFACE
The wrath of God is one of the top ten most neglected topics in the Body of Christ in our generation. There are more than 150 distinct references to the wrath of God in the scriptures. The three books of Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Revelation contain about a third of the references to God’s wrath, but the wrath of the Lord is found in the Pentateuch, Israel’s history, Psalms, Proverbs, the major and the minor prophets, the gospels, the epistles and the book of Revelation.

A robust understanding of the wrath of God will enrich our appreciation for the judgments of the Lord, the fear of the Lord, AND the tremendous mercy of the Lord.

The wrath of God is different than the judgments of the Lord. The judgments of the Lord are about reward, encouragement, correction, discipline, rebuke and punishment. The wrath of God is punishment. Often severe punishment. And many times final punishment.

None-the-less, the 21c American Church largely lives as though the wrath of God does not apply to us. This is an enormously dangerous way to live.

We have been experiencing a long season of the judgments of the Lord. (A longer season than most revivals last…) One of the reasons the Lord leads us through long seasons of patient judgment, is to forestay His Hand of wrath.

Unfortunately, our response to the judgments of the Lord has not been repentance, and surrendering ourselves to His glory. Our response to the judgments of the Lord has been to wave the bill of rights in His Face, and the faces of our enemies.

This is precisely the Biblical pattern of human behavior that invites the wrath of God upon a people.

Father! Sober us to the reality of Your judgments and Your righteous wrath! Raise up prophetic voices that will bring the Church to our knees!

Below are 99 scriptures on the wrath of God…

Leviticus 26:28
Then I will act with wrathful hostility against you, and I for My part will punish you seven times for your sins.

Numbers 1:53
But the Levites shall camp around the tabernacle of the testimony, so that there will be no divine wrath against the congregation of the sons of Israel. So the Levites shall be responsible for service to the tabernacle of the testimony.

Numbers 16:46
And Moses said to Aaron, “Take your censer and put fire in it from the altar, and place incense on it; then bring it quickly to the congregation and make atonement for them, for wrath has gone out from the Lord, the plague has begun!”

Numbers 18:5
So you shall perform the duties of the sanctuary and the duties of the altar, so that there will no longer be wrath on the sons of Israel.

Numbers 25:11
Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has averted My wrath from the sons of Israel in that he was jealous with My jealousy among them, so that I did not destroy the sons of Israel in My jealousy.

Deuteronomy 29:20
The Lord will not be willing to forgive him, but rather the anger of the Lord and His wrath will burn against that person, and every curse that is written in this book will lie upon him, and the Lord will wipe out his name from under heaven.

Joshua 22:20
Did Achan the son of Zerah not act unfaithfully in the things designated for destruction, and wrath fall on the entire congregation of Israel? So that man did not perish alone in his guilt.

2 Chronicles 34:21
Go, inquire of the Lord for me and for those who are left in Israel and Judah, concerning the words of the book which has been found; for the wrath of the Lord which has poured out on us is great, because our fathers have not kept the word of the Lord, to act in accordance with everything that is written in this book.

2 Kings 22:13
Go, inquire of the Lord for me and for the people and all Judah concerning the words of this book that has been found, for the wrath of the Lord that burns against us is great, because our fathers did not listen to the words of this book, to act in accordance with everything that is written regarding us.

2 Kings 22:17
Since they have abandoned Me and have burned incense to other gods so that they may provoke Me to anger with all the work of their hands, My wrath burns against this place, and it shall not be quenched.

2 Chronicles 12:7
When the Lord saw that they had humbled themselves, the word of the Lord came to Shemaiah, saying, “They have humbled themselves, so I will not destroy them; and I will grant them a little deliverance, and My wrath will not be poured out on Jerusalem by means of Shishak.”

2 Chronicles 19:2
And Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him and said to King Jehoshaphat, “Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the Lord, and by doing so bring wrath on yourself from the Lord?”

2 Chronicles 19:10
Whenever any dispute comes to you from your countrymen who live in their cities, between blood and blood, between law and commandment, statutes and ordinances, you shall warn them so that they will not be guilty before the Lord, and wrath will not come on you and your countrymen. This you shall do and you will not be guilty.

2 Chronicles 29:8
Therefore the wrath of the Lord was against Judah and Jerusalem, and He has made them an object of terror, of horror, and of hissing, as you see with your own eyes.

2 Chronicles 32:25
But Hezekiah did nothing in return for the benefit he received, because his heart was proud; therefore wrath came upon him and upon Judah and Jerusalem.

2 Chronicles 32:26
However, Hezekiah humbled the pride of his heart, both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the Lord did not come on them…

2 Chronicles 36:16
They continually mocked the messengers of God, despised His words, and scoffed at His prophets, until the wrath of the Lord rose against His people, until there was no remedy.

Ezra 7:23
Whatever is commanded by the God of heaven, it shall be done with zeal for the house of the God of heaven, so that there will not be wrath against the kingdom of the king and his sons.

Job 14:13
Oh that You would hide me in Sheol, that You would conceal me until Your wrath returns to You, that You would set a limit for me and remember me!

Job 19:29
Then be afraid of the sword for yourselves, for wrath brings the punishment of the sword, so that you may know there is judgment.

Job 36:18
Beware that wrath does not entice you to mockery; and do not let the greatness of the ransom turn you aside.

Psalm 2:12
Kiss the Son, that He not be angry and you perish on the way, for His wrath may be kindled quickly. How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!

Psalm 6:1
Lord, do not rebuke me in Your anger, nor discipline me in Your wrath.

Psalm 21:9
You will make them as a fiery oven in the time of your anger; the Lord will swallow them up in His wrath, and fire will devour them.

Psalm 38:1
Lord, do not rebuke me in Your wrath, and do not punish me in Your burning anger.

Psalm 59:13
Destroy them in wrath, destroy them so that they will no longer exist; so that people may know that God rules in Jacob, to the ends of the earth. Selah

Psalm 78:38
But He, being compassionate, forgave their wrongdoing and did not destroy them; and often He restrained His anger and did not stir up all His wrath.

Psalm 79:6
Pour out Your wrath upon the nations which do not know You, and upon the kingdoms which do not call upon Your Name.

Psalm 88:7
Your wrath has rested upon me, and You have afflicted me with all Your waves. Selah

Psalm 89:38
But You have rejected and refused, You have been full of wrath against Your anointed.

Psalm 89:46
How long, Lord? Will You hide Yourself forever? Will Your wrath burn like fire?

Psalm 90:7
For we have been consumed by Your anger, and we have been terrified by Your wrath.

Psalm 106:23
Therefore He said that He would destroy them, if Moses, His chosen one, had not stood in the gap before Him, to turn away His wrath from destroying them.

Psalm 110:5
The Lord is at Your right hand; He will shatter kings in the day of His wrath.

Proverbs 11:4
Riches do not benefit on the day of wrath, but righteousness rescues from death.

Proverbs 11:23
The desire of the righteous is only good, but the expectation of the wicked is wrath.

Isaiah 34:2
For the Lord’s anger is against all the nations, and His wrath against all their armies. He has utterly destroyed them, He has turned them over to slaughter.

Isaiah 48:9
For the sake of My name I delay My wrath, and for My praise I restrain it for you, in order not to cut you off.

Isaiah 51:20
Your sons have fainted, they lie helpless at the head of every street, like an antelope in a net, full of the wrath of the Lord, the rebuke of your God.

Isaiah 59:18
According to their deeds, so will He repay: Wrath to His adversaries, retribution to His enemies; to the coastlands He will deal retribution.

Isaiah 63:3
I have trodden the wine trough alone, and from the peoples there was no one with Me. I also trod them in My anger and trampled them in My wrath; and their lifeblood is sprinkled on My garments, and I stained all My clothes.

Isaiah 63:5-6
I looked, but there was no one to help, and I was astonished and there was no one to uphold; so My own arm brought salvation to Me, and My wrath upheld Me. I trampled down the peoples in My anger and made them drunk with My wrath

Jeremiah 4:4
Circumcise yourselves to the Lord and remove the foreskins of your hearts, men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, or else My wrath will spread like fire and burn with no one to quench it, because of the evil of your deeds.

Jeremiah 6:11
But I am full of the wrath of the Lord; I am weary of holding it in. Pour it out on the children in the street and on the gathering of young men together; for both husband and wife shall be taken, the old and the very old.

Jeremiah 7:20
Therefore this is what the Lord God says: “Behold, My anger and My wrath will be poured out on this place, on human and animal life, and on the trees of the field and the fruit of the ground; and it will burn and not be quenched.”

Jeremiah 7:29
Take up a song of mourning on the bare heights; for the Lord has rejected and forsaken the generation of His wrath.

Jeremiah 10:10
But the Lord is the true God; He is the living God and the everlasting King. The earth quakes at His wrath, and the nations cannot endure His indignation.

Jeremiah 18:20
Should good be repaid with evil? For they have dug a pit for me. Remember how I stood before You to speak good in their behalf, so as to turn Your wrath away from them.

Jeremiah 21:5
And I Myself will make war against you with an outstretched hand and a mighty arm, and in anger, wrath, and great indignation.

Jeremiah 21:12
House of David, this is what the Lord says: “Administer justice every morning; and save the person who has been robbed from the power of his oppressor, so that My wrath will not spread like fire and burn, with no one to extinguish it, because of the evil of their deeds.”

Jeremiah 23:19
Behold, the storm of the Lord has gone forth in wrath, even a whirling tempest; it will swirl down on the head of the wicked.

Jeremiah 32:37
Behold, I am going to gather them out of all the lands to which I have driven them in My anger, in My wrath, and in great indignation; and I will bring them back to this place and have them live in safety.

Jeremiah 36:7
Perhaps their pleading will come before the Lord, and everyone will turn from his evil way; for great is the anger and the wrath that the Lord has pronounced against this people.

Jeremiah 42:18
For this is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel says: “As My anger and wrath have gushed out on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so My wrath will gush out on you when you enter Egypt. And you will become a curse, an object of horror, an imprecation, and a disgrace; and you will not see this place again.”

Jeremiah 50:13
Because of the wrath of the Lord she will not be inhabited, but she will be completely desolate; everyone who passes by Babylon will be horrified and will hiss because of all her wounds.

Lamentations 2:2, 4
The Lord has destroyed; He has not spared all the settlements of Jacob. In His wrath He has overthrown the strongholds of the daughter of Judah, He has hurled them down to the ground; He has profaned the kingdom and its leaders… He has bent His bow like an enemy; His right hand is positioned like an adversary, and He has killed everything that was pleasant to the eye. In the tent of the daughter of Zion He has poured out His wrath like fire.

Lamentations 4:11
The Lord has expended His wrath, He has poured out His fierce anger; and He has kindled a fire in Zion, and it has consumed its foundations.

Ezekiel 5:13, 15
Then My anger will be spent and I will satisfy My wrath on them, and I will be appeased; then they will know that I, the Lord, have spoken in My zeal, when I have spent My wrath upon them… So it will be a disgrace, an object of abuse, a warning, and an object of horror to the nations that surround you when I execute judgments against you in anger, wrath, and raging reprimands. I, the Lord, have spoken.

Ezekiel 7
“This is what the Lord God says: ‘A disaster, a unique disaster, behold, it is coming! An end is coming; the end has come! It has awakened against you; behold, it has come! Your doom has come to you, you inhabitant of the land. The time has come, the day is near—panic rather than joyful shouting on the mountains. Now I will shortly pour out My wrath on you and expend My anger against you; I will judge you according to your ways and bring on you all your abominations. My eye will have no pity nor will I spare you. I will repay you according to your ways, while your abominations are in your midst; then you will know that I, the Lord, am striking. 10 ‘Behold, the day! Behold, it is coming! Your doom has gone forth; the rod has budded, arrogance has blossomed. 11 Violence has grown into a rod of wickedness. None of them shall remain, none of their people, none of their wealth, nor anything eminent among them. 12 The time has come, the day has arrived. Let neither the buyer rejoice nor the seller mourn; for wrath is against all their multitude. 13 Indeed, the seller will not regain what he sold as long as they both live; for the vision regarding all their multitude will not be averted, nor will any of them maintain his life by his wrongdoing. 14 ‘They have blown the trumpet and made everything ready, but no one is going to the battle, for My wrath is against all their multitude. 15 The sword is outside the city and the plague and the famine are within. Anyone who is in the field will die by the sword, while famine and the plague will consume those in the city. 16 Even when their survivors escape, they will be on the mountains like doves of the valleys, all of them moaning, each over his own wrongdoing. 17 All hands will hang limp, and all knees will drip with water. 18 They will put on sackcloth and shuddering will overwhelm them; and shame will be on all faces, and a bald patch on all their heads. 19 They will fling their silver into the streets, and their gold will become an abhorrent thing; their silver and their gold will not be able to save them on the day of the wrath of the Lord. They cannot satisfy their appetite, nor can they fill their stomachs, because their wrongdoing has become a cause of stumbling. 20 Moreover, they transformed the splendor of His jewels into pride, and they made the images of their abominations and their detestable things with it; therefore I will make it an abhorrent thing to them. 21 And I will hand it over to the foreigners as plunder, and to the wicked of the earth as spoils; and they will profane it. 22 I will also turn My face away from them, and they will profane My treasure; then robbers will enter and profane it. 23 ‘Make the chain, for the land is full of bloody crimes, and the city is full of violence. 24 Therefore, I will bring the worst of the nations, and they will take possession of their houses. I will also put an end to the pride of the strong ones, and their holy places will be profaned. 25 When anguish comes, they will seek peace, but there will be none. 26 Disaster will come upon disaster and rumor will be added to rumor; then they will seek a vision from a prophet, but the Law will be lost from the priest, and counsel from the elders. 27 The king will mourn, the prince will be clothed in horror, and the hands of the people of the land will tremble. I will deal with them because of their conduct, and by their judgments I will judge them. And they will know that I am the Lord.’”

Ezekiel 13:15
So I will expend My wrath on the wall and on those who have plastered it over with whitewash; and I will say to you, “The wall is gone and those who plastered it are gone.”

Ezekiel 16:38
So I will judge you as women who commit adultery or shed blood are judged; and I will bring on you the blood of wrath and jealousy.

Ezekiel 20

Ezekiel 21:31
I will pour out My indignation on you; I will blow on you with the fire of My wrath, and I will hand you over to brutal men, craftsmen of destruction.

Ezekiel 22:20-22, 31
As they gather silver, bronze, iron, lead, and tin into the smelting furnace to blow fire on it in order to melt it, so I will gather you in My anger and in My wrath, and I will place you there and melt you. And I will gather you and blow on you with the fire of My wrath, and you will be melted in the midst of it. As silver is melted in the furnace, so you will be melted in the midst of it; and you will know that I, the Lord, have poured out My wrath on you… “So I have poured out My indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath; I have brought their way upon their heads,” declares the Lord God.

Ezekiel 24:13
In your filthiness is outrageous sin. Because I would have cleansed you, yet you are not clean, you will not be cleansed from your filthiness again until I have expended My wrath on you.

Ezekiel 25:17
I will execute great vengeance on them with wrathful rebukes; and they will know that I am the Lord, when I inflict My vengeance on them.

Ezekiel 36:18
Therefore I poured out My wrath on them for the blood which they had shed on the land, because they had defiled it with their idols.

Daniel 9:16
Lord, in accordance with all Your righteous acts, let now Your anger and Your wrath turn away from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain; for because of our sins and the wrongdoings of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people have become an object of taunting to all those around us.

Hosea 13:11
I gave you a king in My anger, and took him away in My wrath.

Nahum 1:2, 6
A jealous and avenging God is the Lord; the Lord is avenging and wrathful. The Lord takes vengeance on His adversaries, and He reserves wrath for His enemies… Who can stand before His indignation? Who can endure the burning of His anger? His wrath gushes forth like fire, and the rocks are broken up by Him.

Zechariah 7:12
They also made their hearts as hard as a diamond so that they could not hear the Law and the words which the Lord of armies had sent by His Spirit through the former prophets; therefore great wrath came from the Lord of armies.

Zechariah 8:2
The Lord of armies says this: “I am exceedingly jealous for Zion, yes, with great wrath I am jealous for her.”

Matthew 3:7 and Luke 3:7
But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, “You offspring of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?”

Luke 21:23
Woe to those women who are pregnant, and to those who are nursing babies in those days; for there will be great distress upon the land, and wrath to this people.

John 3:36
The one who believes in the Son has eternal life; but the one who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

Romans 1:18
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of people who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.

Romans 2:5, 8
But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God,.. but to those who are self-serving and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, He will give wrath and indignation.

Romans 3:5
But if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say? The God who inflicts wrath is not unrighteous, is He?

Romans 4:15
For the Law brings about wrath, but where there is no law, there also is no violation.

Romans 5:9
Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.

Romans 9:22
What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with great patience objects of wrath prepared for destruction?

Romans 12:19
Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written: “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord.

Romans 13:4, 5
But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a servant of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil… Therefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of wrath, but also for the sake of conscience.

Ephesians 2:3
Among them we too all previously lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the rest.

Ephesians 5:6
See that no one deceives you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.

Colossians 3:6
For it is because of these things that the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience.

1 Thessalonians 1:10
Wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is, Jesus who rescues us from the wrath to come.

1 Thessalonians 2:16
…hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved; with the result that they always reach the limit of their sins. But wrath has come upon them fully.

1 Thessalonians 5:9
For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Revelation 6:16, 17
They said to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the sight of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”

Revelation 11:18
The nations were enraged, and Your wrath came, and the time came for the dead to be judged, and the time to reward Your bond-servants the prophets and the saints and those who fear Your name, the small and the great, and to destroy those who destroy the earth.

Revelation 14:10, 19
He also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb… So the angel swung his sickle to the earth and gathered the clusters from the vine of the earth, and threw them into the great wine press of the wrath of God.

Revelation 15:1, 7
Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous, seven angels who had seven plagues, which are the last, because in them the wrath of God is finished… And one of the four living creatures gave the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God, Who lives forever and ever.

Revelation 16:1
Then I heard a loud voice from the temple, saying to the seven angels, “Go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God.”

Revelation 16:19
The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. Babylon the great was remembered in the sight of God, to give her the cup of the wine of His fierce wrath.

Revelation 19:15
From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty.

OBSERVATION
I’d REALLY RATHER NOT be talking about the wrath of God in this season. (I’d probably NEVER want to talk about the wrath of God…) I’d rather be talking about what I’ve preached and taught for nearly 40 years – revival; unity in the Body under the banner of Christ; the goodness of New Testament community; the power of the Holy Spirit; the exhilarating adventure of following Jesus and His great commission; His glorious return, and prayer and worship of the Son of God.

But we’ve not been called into a “status quo” family. We’re the people of “statue Regis” – “the order of the King”. And His leadership is present to us; dynamic; not disconnected and static. And when His own household continues to spurn His analysis, judgments, and ways of correction again and again and again, our King WILL bring correction. He will even punish – and sometimes, severely.

This isn’t TRYING to be prophetic. This is reading the scriptures, and seeing the pattern of how our God will not relent in bringing forth a Bride for His Son who is wholly in love with Him, and His ways. A bride who loves like Him. It’s also paying attention to where we are in the big-picture of current events.

Judgment isn’t “coming”. Judgment has BEEN here. Intensifying for years.

Displeasure, chastening, discipline, punishment, penalty, vengeance, castigation, sanctioning and penalty are coming upon a people who are bent with arguments for self-exoneration, and perverted hearts for retaliation and retributive justice.

I would rather the theme for the hour be something else. Ten years ago, this isn’t where I had hoped we were going to be. It wasn’t anything I was praying toward.

But we belong to a real God Who is a real Governor of the affairs of His people.
He isn’t a blithe principle.
He didn’t sign us up for a “read through the Bible in a year” program.
He isn’t a stuffed lion.
He isn’t a helpless baby in swaddling clothes.
He didn’t give us WWJD bracelets.
He filled us with His own dynamic Presence.
And He is filled with holy, resurrection power, purposeful zeal for His creation, and the redemption of His creation. He’s going to get full value for His Son’s atonement – whether we agree with the purchase price or not.

He IS going to have a people who are
humble,
contrite,
filled with mercy,
ablaze with the fear of the Lord,
consumed in first-commandment love,
living the Sermon on the Mount,
alive in prayer,
crucified unto the purity of Christ,
walking in the Spirit, and His fruitful ways…

____________________
JSB • November, 2025

Understanding Psalm 2 for Today

The Drama of This Ancient Psalm/Prophecy Is Being Played Out Before Our Eyes. Are We Aligning Our Lives to Its 5 – Fold Exhortations?

Why do the nations rage, and the people plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the  rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying, “Let us break Their bonds  in pieces and cast away their cords from us.”

He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; the Lord shall hold them in derision. Then He shall speak to them  in His wrath, and distress them in His deep displeasure: “Yet I have set My King on My holy hill of Zion.”

“I will declare the decree: The Lord has said to Me, ‘You are My Son, today I have begotten You. Ask of  Me, and I will give You the nations for Your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for Your possession. You  shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel.’ ”

Now therefore, be wise, O kings; be instructed, you judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and  rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish in the way, when His wrath is kindled  but a little. Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him. 

INTRODUCTION:
Psalm 2 is a 4-part prophetic drama about the Father establishing Jesus’ leadership over the earth. God intends for this narrative to help us cultivate an appropriate, prayerful response today so that we have the grace to stand with Him in the hour when these events are being fulfilled.

Most Christians live largely unsettled and a little apathetic about the major features surrounding God’s end-times’ storyline.

Without a clear understanding of these realities we live unsure of the purpose of our lives, foggy about our  calling, uncertain of our priorities, unconvinced of God’s loving presence, prone to distraction, with little  appreciation for what’s “at-risk”, and little perspective on just how prayer contributes to our vitality.

Gaining “living understanding” about these “plot-points” is like erecting a strong framework within which we can cultivate passion, exhilaration, wisdom, power, and strength to persevere in our daily relationship with Jesus.

Psalm 2 provides us with a 50,000 foot overview of the essential elements contained in God’s end-times’ narrative.

(Act I) The Rage of the Nations (Psalm 2:1-3)

Psalm 2:1-3 prophesies that the nations will rage in anger against Jesus’ leadership. His standards of morality, righteousness, and His right to hold every heart accountable to His order of love and justice will be deeply opposed by a world steeped in the curse of sin. It will also be a stumbling block to many within the Church.

People from every political stripe, on every level of society will plot strategies, and use their influence to mobilize the masses to rebel against God’s righteousness, and resist God’s loving leadership.

The rulers speak of the leaders of the “culture”: socio/political,  economic, spiritual, educational, military, entertainment, media, arts, athletics, etc. They will use social unrest, hardship, conspiracy and injustice to exert pressure on each other to make lawlessness the cultural norm.

The kings of the nations will set their hearts to fully influence the faithless ways of the people under them. The term kings includes the heads of state,  e.g., presidents, prime ministers, and legislators. The term also refers to believers; those who have been called to be kings and priests to God (Revelation 5:10), but who have fallen under the sway of false teaching, and strong delusions.

The kings, rulers, and people will conspire together against the values and plans of the Lord which will be portrayed as foolish, “unenlightened”, and even “dangerous” to the  well-being of society, and in some cases, the Church within a society.

They will also lodge hostile arguments against the Father and His anointed One (Jesus); protesting, and compromising with the idea that Jesus is uniquely the Jewish Son of the Father, and the only One worthy to rule every nation.

The plan against God will be focused on casting away the authority of His Word (v. 3) (either through rejection of the Word itself, or through perversion of the application of the Word) throughout all aspects of society. These people will see a literal understanding of God’s Word as if it were “bonds” that enslave them and “cords” that bind them from being “authentically human”, or “unrealistic to the human situation”.

(Act II) The Father’s Response to the Rebellious Nations (Psalm 2:4-6)

God laughs because He is confident in His ability to fully accomplish His plan in spite of humanity’s resistance. We are small creatures who live for a mere eighty years. God’s whole Person fills 300 billion galaxies, and He has no beginning and no end. His laughter denotes just how small our power is to overthrow the intent of His heart.

One of the chief ways that the Lord will express His intent is through end-time, friends of the Bridegroom, who will primarily speak of the earth’s need to be prepared for the coming of the Bridegroom in His anointed glory.

The Lord will also use these ones to express His “deep displeasure” over the nations’ fierce opposition to the preeminent plan to have Jesus, and His unique manner of leadership reign over humanity.

Beloved, it’s vital that we let the Holy Spirit develop a theology of the fear of the Lord in us today, so that we possess a holy respect for His judgments, His wisdom, His redemptive love, and His sovereign ability to rule the heart, in the hours in which the Lord is, in fact, expressing His displeasure in our world.

(Act III) (Scene 1) Jesus Recalling the Inheritance He’s Received from the Father (Psalm 2:7-8)

In these 3 verses we hear Jesus recalling the divine decree that the Father has declared over Him. Jesus’ inheritance from the Father is a redeemed Bride and a throne in Jerusalem, from which He will rule the whole earth.

As He recalls the eternal dialogue that He and His Father have had, He is also giving us revelation of the desire that burns in His own heart. Understanding the Father’s decree, and the Son’s desire are vital if we want to faithfully partner with Jesus in praying for God’s purposes on the earth. 

The apostles drew on these realities when they prayed about the hostile leaders in Jerusalem. They asked the Father to manifest His power on the basis that the world was opposing the reign of His Son, the One He had anointed to rule the earth.
“For truly against Your holy Servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate,  with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together…Lord, look on their threats and  grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word, by stretching out Your  hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done…” (Acts 4:27-29)

If we are to grow up in our prayer-lives, (indeed, if we are to grow up in our relationship with God) we must move from a “Jesus fix our lives” mindset, to a “Jesus, reign in my world” mindset.

One example of this mature intercession is found in (Acts 15:13-17) where God answers Cornelius’ prayer, and releases salvation to the Gentiles. This was God fulfilling one key dimension of His plan to have His Son rule the nations. In order to accomplish this, He actually looked for a human heart that was aligned with what He (the Father) had purposed to do on earth.

In (Acts 10:3-5) we hear about the Father responding to Cornelius’ prayers:
“About the ninth hour of the day he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God coming in and saying to him, “Cornelius!” And when he observed him, he was afraid, and said, “What is it, lord?” So he said to him, “Your prayers and your alms have come up for a memorial before God. Now send men to Joppa, and send for Simon whose surname is Peter.”

When Peter arrives at Cornelius’ house, he is also in prayer and receives revelation of God’s intent to bring “the nations” (the Gentiles) under the covenant reign of His Son.

The point is:“Who is Cornelius? Who is Peter? On earth they were simple men uttering weak prayers based what they saw in the heart of God. In heaven God saw them as a vital allies, through whom He would fulfill one major component of the promise that He had made to His Son.

The story of Peter and Cornelius’ prayers are profound encouragements to our own prayers.

(ACT III) (Scene 2) Jesus Judges the Rebellious Nations (Psalm 2:9)

In verse 5  David tells us that the Lord will judge the nations with “WRATH” and “HIS DEEP DISPLEASURE“. What does “deep displeasure” look like in a trillion galaxy God???

Verse 9 tells us:
You (the Son) shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel.

MOST of us western, Bible-believing Christians don’t have a theology of God’s WRATH that’s stable enough to keep our hearts secure in love through the “time of trouble” that’s erupting around us… What I mean by this is, when the judgments of God fully come upon the earth, they will stir up so much emotional hostility and accusation against others, and ultimately against God Himself. The essence of this hostility and accusation will sound like this in the human heart, “God isn’t fully just. His Word is too radical. His way needs to be more reasonable. All by itself, His plan is not good. It needs the help of human wisdom. His judgments are out-of-line with true love. etc.”

There will be SO MUCH HUMAN-CULTURAL PRESSURE to agree with these accusations against God’s character. If we don’t prepare our minds and hearts today for the social pressures we will face tomorrow, our “love” and “faith” in God will be severely crushed.

How do we prepare ourselves to face these social pressures?
David gives us four ways to prepare ourselves in Act IV of Psalm 2, but in a nut-shell, we need to pray-read the Word of God today with a spirit of humility and wonder.

(Act IV) David Prophetically Warns the Leaders of the Nations (Psalm 2:10-12)

In the final scene, King David issues a solemn, five-fold exhortation to the leaders, and all people of the earth. It’s wise for us to heed these divine admonitions as we prepare ourselves for the Day of the Lord. No one can say that they have not been warned, or don’t know how to respond to His purposes.

1. Be wise O Kings; be instructed, you judges of the earth
This is an exhortation to those believers, and unbelievers who think they already have enough information and “soul-resolve” to make sound judgments about God during the end-time pressures. We are wise to learn from our brother Peter, who believed he had enough inner fortitude to withstand the temptations to deny Jesus. We are wise to heed the Spirit’s warning now and cultivate humility, teachability; and seek the Lord (Psalm 27:5) for wisdom (James 1:5), divine might in the inner man (Ephesians 3:16) and grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:16)

2. Serve the Lord with fear
This is a call to obedience. But it is based on the revelation that God is the eternal God and we are HIs creation made of dust (Psalm 103:14). It’s wise to cultivate the fear of the Lord regarding One Who is so holy, and greater than us, so that we can serve Him in the way that He has determined.
“Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by  which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. For our God is a  consuming fire.” (Hebrews 12:28-29) (For a more complete picture of the fear of the Lord  read Hebrews 12:18-29)

3. Rejoice with trembling
This is an command to mix our fear and awe with the joy and exhilaration that comes from beholding Him in His beauty (Psalm 27:4) and being made joyful as He engages us in His house of prayer. (Isaiah 56:7)

4. Kiss the Son, let He be angry and you perish in the way, when His wrath is kindled (in His judgment against evil) but a little.
a. One prominent greek word for worship is “pros-ku-ne-ow”. It literally means “to kiss toward”. To “kiss the Son” is an exhortation to live a life of adoration, worship and first commandment love.

Jesus is worthy (Revelation 5:12) to be loved, adored and worshipped. But He’s also gloriously beautiful. Our hearts were fashioned to (kiss) “adore” the wonders of Who He is. (Psalm 27:4; Psalm 45:2; Psalm 50:1-2; Isaiah 28:5; Zechariah 9:17)

5. Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him.
It is supremely prudent to do the hard work of cultivating great trust in God today, rather than to allow the subtle, mounting deception of the world to gain increasing sway over our minds and hearts.
“And because wickedness will abound, the love of most will grow cold.” (Matthew 24:12)
“Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord. Blessed are those who keep His testimonies, who seek Him with their whole heart.” (Psalm 119:1-2)

The Lord is gloriously orchestrating a prophetic voice in His Church that will amplify and give understanding to these 5 exhortations of verses 10-12. However, these voices will only be cultivated and strengthened through lifestyles that are plumb-lined to the priority of corporate prayer.

May God’s grace be upon us as we seek Him in the place of prayer, beloved.

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JSB • November, 2019