Does God Bring Judgments on Groups?

We live in a world that has a lot of troubles normally. Every human being has a sinful nature and too often we act according to the nature and cause harm to others and ourselves. That sinful nature can even network into a movement of ill intent. We also live under “the curse” which basically means that cause and effect within creation will cause problems, and God will not normally set it in order. Then there is the problem of the Kingdom of Satan being present on Earth. Satan normally causes suffering by manipulating and encouraging sinful nature, but he no doubt has other means to create human suffering. Creating suffering is how Satan strikes back at God, since he cannot fight Him directly.

With all of this, does God also pile on? Is suffering ever not the direct result of sinful nature, the curse, or the Kingdom of Satan, but directly the result of God’s wrath? Is wish I could say no, but Scripture tells a different story.

We must keep in mind that God’s general disposition toward humanity is positive. God loves humanity. That is why Jesus became one of us. God is also very patient, not infinitely patient, but very patient. He works with us and waits for us. Sometimes when people read the Old Testament they see a vengeful God but miss the time factor. God waited a full 490 years before sending Israel into exile, for example. I would not have been nearly so patient. God is also eager to forgive. So, when God’s wrathful judgment falls on a group, they have really worked at being provocative. That doesn’t mean it can’t be done.

There are plenty of Old Testament examples of the wrath of God. The Israelites that were with Moses in the Exodus, really pushed God’s buttons. God’s wrath fell on Egypt before the Israelites left. God’s wrath fell on pagan nations because of their “detestable” practices: the Canaanites, the Amalekites, and other -ites. These were generally small groups. God used Babylon to punish the Jews, then used the Persians to punish the Babylonians, and the Greeks to punish the Persians, and the Romans to punish the Greeks. All of this foretold in Daniel.

A New Testament example is God’s disappointment and wrath again with the Jews in 70 AD. Has there been instances since then? I imagine so. We don’t have recorded prophetic word about it though. Revelation speaks of God’s wrath in conjunction with the opening of seven seals, the blowing of seven trumpets and the spilling of seven incense burners. These are often interpreted as God’s wrath in the last seven years before Judgment Day, or before a Millennium (which I don’t agree with). I think these are things that either happen across the whole span of the “last days” (which is from Jesus’ resurrection until His return) or they are things that were planned if Jesus could not open the scroll:

² And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?” ³ And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it, ⁴ and I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it. ⁵ And one of the elders said to me, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.”

Revelation 5:2-5 (ESV)

The scroll seems to contain God’s good plans for people. It is strange that it is sealed with seals that would kick off mostly wrathful things. That is why I wonder if Jesus actually stops these things instead of starts them. For the benefit our discussion here, it is more proof that God can and does judge groups.

Can good people, even those who belong to Christ, get caught up in God’s wrath against a group to which they belong? The answer is “yes”.

¹⁰ If anyone is to be taken captive,
    to captivity he goes;
if anyone is to be slain with the sword,
    with the sword must he be slain.

Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints.

Revelation 13:10 (ESV)

We can also put off God’s wrath by being “salt”:

¹³ “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.

Matthew 5:13 (ESV)

Salt was added to grain offerings in the Old Testament. It represented righteousness. Here Jesus is saying that if we continue to live righteously while in the midst of an otherwise unrighteous group, we can head off judgment of group or at least delay it. The interchange between God and Abraham over Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 18:22-32) illustrates this.

Should we interpret any of the current wars or natural disasters as God’s wrath? I would be very careful not to be an uninformed judge. Without some sort of prophetic warning, I would interpret any bad event as the result of sinful nature (like war), the curse (natural disasters), or Satan (perhaps anything). There can be easily discernable cause and effect. STD’s from sexual immorality. Government missteps resulting in revolution or terrorism. That doesn’t make it God’s wrath, but we must respect the possibility of it. We are pretty good at creating our own problems. We don’t need to cross a line with somebody who wants to be our help.