“God is a just judge, and God is angry with the wicked every day.” Ps. 7:11. “For the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.” Jas. 1:20. God is noble and good. Therefore His wrath is also noble and good. It is chastisement unto salvation. He is a just judge; therefore His wrath is also just. It is just in strength and in duration! We can gain some especially good insight into this by meditating on Zechariah, Chapter 1. There we see His goodness and His strength as well as examples of His gradual, measured wrath: “Against which you were angry these seventy years.” “Exceedingly angry.” “Just a little bit angry.” The guideline is always: “Return to Me . . . and I will return to you.” Ch. 1:3. Why does the wrath of man not produce what is just and good? Because it is neither noble nor good. Why does it not and why could it not produce anything good like God’s wrath? Because man is not a just judge! So long as he has a self-will, that is how long his judgment will be influenced by it to some extent, and as a result, it becomes partly unjust even if it is our sincere desire to avoid that. For this same reason we read in Romans 12:19: “Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath [the wrath of other people, without responding in kind], for it is written, ‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord.” Vengeance is a just retribution, and this is precisely why it is to be left up to the Lord Himself, for He alone can repay fully and justly! Nevertheless, God has given us exceedingly great and precious promises that are so far-reaching that through these we already in this world, in the days of our flesh, can really partake of divine nature. 2 Pet. 1:4. Thus we have the opportunity to partake of God’s personal righteousness, with the consequent wrath of God. Because of this, we can encounter God’s wrath in a holy man, instead of man’s wrath.Elias Aslaksen