Wrath (1)

When David counted his fighting men, he brought terrible judgment on the nation. An interesting aspect of the incident is the way that David was incited to do evil. Samuel and Chronicles describe the event in different ways that are actually the same.

Again the Wrath of the Lord burned against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, “Go and take a census of Israel and Judah (2 Sam 24:1).

Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census of Israel (1 Chron 21:1).

Samuel says that God’s wrath burned against evil. The Chronicler says that Satan incited David. The difference is more important than we realise. This is not a contradiction, but an insight into the structure of the spiritual world.

Satan is one of the spiritual powers of evil. These powers are controlled by a powerful hierarchy of evil spirits, but they do not like each other. Throughout history, they have jockeyed for control of their hierarchies of power. A spirit called Satan controlled this empire for a long time, but for much of history it has been controlled by a spirit called Death. One of the more powerful spirits in this evil hierarchy is called Wrath.

The devil often has Wrath with him when he attacks the earth.

The devil has come down to you having great Wrath (Rev 12:12).

This understanding of Wrath is confirmed in Psalm 78:49.

He unleashed against them his hot anger,
Wrath, indignation and hostility—
a band of destroying angels.

Wrath is the leader of a band of destroying angels.

Wrath is not a manifestation of God’s character, but an evil spiritual being.