What is the…
fury of God

Hebrew: חֵמָה —transliteration: chemah

also known as: wrath of God or wrathful hostility of God

Meaning: intense destructive rage of God bring avenging punishment flowing from God’s intense anger with evil

The “fury of God” is a figurative expression about His dispensing of painful, distressing Divine judgments on evil people. For example, the LORD warned the evil hard-hearted men of Judah and Jerusalem to change,

“…Lest My fury come forth like fire,
And burn so that no one can quench it,
Because of the evil of your doings.” —Jeremiah 4:4 NKJV

NASB: ……My wrath will go forth like fire
And burn with none to quench it,
Because of the evil of your deeds.

…I have trodden them in My anger,
And trampled them in My fury… —Isaiah 63:3 NKJV

NASB: …I also trod them in My anger
And trampled them in My wrath

Speaking to the Israelites, God warned,

“Yet if in spite of this you do not obey Me, but act with hostility against Me, then I will act with wrathful hostility against you, and I, even I, will punish you 7 times for your sins.” Leviticus 26:28 NASB

NASB: …I will act with wrathful hostility against you, and I, even I, will punish you 7 times for your sins.

A prayer of Daniel on behalf of Jerusalem and the Kingdom of Judah,

“O Lord, according to all Your righteousness, I pray, let Your anger and Your fury be turned away from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain; because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people are a reproach to all those around us. —Dan. 9:16 NKJV

NASB: O Lord, in accordance with all Your righteous acts, let now Your anger and Your wrath turn away from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain; for because of our sins and the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people have become a reproach to all those around us.

More examples of the fury of God…

‘Thus shall My anger be spent, and I will cause My fury to rest upon them, and I will be avenged; and they shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken it in My zeal, when I have spent My fury upon them. —Ezekiel 5:13 NKJV

NASB: ‘Thus My anger will be spent and I will satisfy My wrath on them, and I will be appeased; then they will know that I, the Lord, have spoken in My zeal when I have spent My wrath upon them.

Thus saith the Lord of hosts; I was jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I was jealous for her with great fury. —Zechariah 8:2 KJV

NASB: …with great wrath I am jealous for her.

More information

Article Version: June 13, 2024