Proverbs 16:4, God’s Wrath Is Real!
October 17, Proverbs 16:4
2 Tim. 2:20-26; 2 Pet. 2:9-22 “Oppose God’s Word, you may, but you cannot escape His wrath.”
God’s Wrath Is Real!
On first reading this Proverb it seems to raise a question about the character of God. Closer study will remove any such thought. Its message is simply, “There are no loose ends in God’s world.” When we are told that God hath made all things for himself, it means that the final end of everything answers to God’s intended purpose. This is what we would expect from the Sovereign God of Scripture!
1. God is The Author of All. The Lord has made all things for himself. This denies the widespread belief in dualism, that teaches there are two powers, two fates, light and darkness, one good, the other evil. Both are equally powerful, so they say, and are locked in an eternal duel for control. Today’s proverb teaches there is only One God who is the Source, the Fountain, of all Being. Every creature has its life and its appointed place from Him (Jn. 1:1-3; Rev. 4:11). This necessarily includes the wicked, but that does not mean that God is the Author of sin! “Infinite perfection cannot impart imperfection. Absolute holiness cannot be the cause of unholiness” (Bridges). Sin is not eternal. Man was created good, but that goodness was dependent on God. A sustaining power must go out from God if moral creatures are to continue as created. This sustaining power is of grace, not of debt. Put it this way. God permitted sin that He might overrule it to the praise of the glory of His grace (Eph. 1:6). Even the wrath of man shall praise thee (Ps. 76:10). O the depth of the riches both of wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and his ways past finding out (Rom. 11:34). Thus, The glory of the Lord shall endure forever; the Lord shall rejoice in his works (Ps. 104:31).
2. God is The Answer to All. The O.T. word used for wicked (252 times) represents moral rebellion on the part of man, not just mistakes, or misfortunes. It is an active, destructive principle of evil. Men are wicked by their own will. They are in bondage to sin. God does not make men wicked (Eccl. 7:29, Gen. 1:26-7, 31). They are in the snare of the devil and are taken captive by him at his will (2 Tim. 2:26). Their very God-given powers, when used to rebel against their Creator, only demonstrate their wickedness and guilt (Rom. 2:5-11). Thus they willingly prepare themselves for the day of evil that must surely come because God is just. The wicked will not allow Him to rule over them, and though God made them, He will not save them! The Lord has made all things for himself, even the wicked…. Job asked his “comforters,” Do ye not know that the wicked is reserved to the day of destruction (21:30)? See also what the Apostle Paul says on this fearful subject (Rom. 9:14-24). The old Baptist scholar-preacher, Dr. John Gill, put this perplexing matter in a somewhat startling way. He said, “God made man neither to save nor to damn him, but for his own glory. And it is secured, whether in his salvation or damnation in doing which he glorifies his justice.”
Thought: “His retributive justice, no less than grace, sets out His glory.”
Prayer: Lord, all Thy works and Thy saints shall bless Thee (Ps.145:10).