From my point of view, there is a tension between the justice and the mercy of God. And I am not talking about any gods. I am talking about the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
If you are wondering what God is like, this passage from Exodus 34:6-7 summarizes the characteristics of God:
Then the Lord passed by in front of him (referring to Moses) and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.”
Throughout the Scripture, you’ll see how God has been slow to anger, always forgiving the stiff-necked humanity. But it’s also true that He allows us to suffer the consequences of our wrongs so that we’ll learn that when we follow our own devices, we are going down to self-destruct. God knows what’s best for us if we only trust how He sees things.
It’s actually like our relationship with our parents. They’ve been where we are and already know where our foolishness will lead us. So they are not horrible for punishing us for our stupidity. But they do so because they love us.
So, is God always angry?
No. God is compassionate, gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth. He keeps lovingkindness for thousands and forgives iniquity, transgression, and sin.
All it takes is for us to turn back to God.
But you might say the passage even said God doesn’t leave the guilty unpunished. Yes, that’s true. But only until the third and fourth generation compared to his lovingkindness that goes for thousands of generations (practically forever).
jessa 