Mountain of Myrrh

(Isaiah 63:1-4 NKJV)

It was not so long ago that I would read verses like this in the Bible, skim over it, and keep going, looking for a happier passage. Quite honestly, I had no idea what to do with this. I knew that God was a God of love. I knew that Jesus was gentle and kind. I had a revelation of the Lord as my heavenly Bridegroom (Ephesians 5:32), so I couldn’t reconcile this kind of imagery with what I knew to be true of the character of God. I seldom heard verses like these brought up in church, and when I did, they were usually accompanied by a somewhat apologetic explanation of how God was full of wrath in the Old Testament, but after the death of Jesus, He “mellowed out,” so to speak.

Our biggest, and undoubtedly, our gravest problem is that we utterly misunderstand the heart of God in these types of passages. We have a handle on the goodness and grace of God, which is a crucial truth and vitally necessary for us to know—but, once having that, we apply our own definition of “goodness” to God and construct a cute little theological box to try and fit Him in. We reason that, if He is really good, then He must only do “good” things—i.e. things that make us feel good, things that don’t violate our societal taboo, things that are nice and pleasant and happy.

So when Jesus shows up in Scripture as a God of judgment, we don’t know what to do with Him. Our theology becomes threatened, our hearts draw back in offense, and we struggle to find some comfortable way to deal with the Word of God. Sometimes we philosophize and spiritualize it until it is reduced to vague, ultra-symbolic poetry that has little to no impact on real life today. Other times we try to classify it in a separate personality of God, distinct from the One we know—therefore creating either two “Gods,” or only one who snaps back and forth from fits of temper to loving tenderness. We then try to sweep the scary side of Him under the rug, a little embarrassed of Him in His wrath. Or perhaps we simply set the whole thing aside—massive portions of the Old Testament and significant parts of the New—and choose not to look at it, avoiding such controversy altogether. After all, ignorance is bliss, right? (At least, that’s how I handled it!)

But God is One. He is unchanging. Every word He has ever spoken about Himself is true—and what’s more, it’s tremendously important for us to know. God is not only a God of mercy or only a God of judgment. He is both, perfectly harmonizing the two aspects in one beautiful reality. Jesus, the same One who describes Himself in Matthew 11:29 as “gentle and lowly in heart,” tells us in Isaiah 63, “…The day of vengeance is in My heart…”

Paul issues the challenge in Romans 11:22, “Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God…” We need to lay down our own ideas about God and let Him speak for Himself in His Word.

So how do we reconcile verses like, “God is love” (1 John 4:16) with passages like Isaiah 63:1-4? How can we say that Jesus is both a tender Bridegroom and a righteous, powerful Judge without admitting some kind of contradiction? I find that the answer is best summed up in a very short verse:

(Proverbs 6:34)

The very fact that Jesus is a Bridegroom necessitates that He also be able to exercise judgment. His love necessitates His wrath; otherwise it wouldn’t truly be love. What sort of husband would sit by silently while some other man brutalized his wife? Who could smile and “make nice” with a guy who actively inflicts harm upon the woman he loves? Jesus is most certainly not that kind of husband. The day of vengeance is in his heart, and holy jealousy—zeal for His beloved—is His fury.

He is most certainly a God of love. He loves enough to convict my heart, rather than let me steep in my own sin. He loves enough not to let wickedness prosper forever on this fallen earth. He loves enough to set before us life and death, blessing and cursing, so that we may choose life. He desires our love and our whole hearts, so in His righteous jealousy, He will remove the things in our own lives we idolize. He loves us with everything that He has, and wants us to love Him the same way. Therefore He is also a God who judges.

The ultimate picture of this is in the cross. As a global people, we were all poised under the righteous judgment of God. He would have been perfectly justified in dusting us off of the slate of history, never to return. He could have condemned every one of us to the Lake of Fire and been right in doing so. But He is a God of love. He longed for us with holy jealousy. He yearned for us to be His people, to love Him with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. Jesus Himself prayed, only hours before He went to the cross, “Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am…” (John 17:24)

The truth was that we didn’t deserve to be saved. The mercy of God moved Him to save us anyway. The righteousness and justice of God mandated that iniquity must be answered with wrath. The love of God brought reconciliation—peace with God—by crushing His own Son with that wrath. In the most severe judgment ever bestowed upon a man, “Mercy and truth have met together; Righteousness and peace have kissed” (Psalm 85:10). The cross is a simultaneous display of the love of God for humanity and the hatred of God towards sin.

The judgments of God are part of what makes Him so beautiful. Even His wrath is an outpouring of His love—and yes, an outpouring of His mercy. Jesus Christ is indeed a magnificent Bridegroom, and He is also a Judge, beautiful and terrifying.

And I wouldn’t desire Him any other way.