THE WRATH OF YHVH REVEALED – PART 1

[For the wrath of YHVH is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness] -- Romans 1: 18. There is a sense in which the reading of this part of -- Romans 1 might be thought to be rather depressing. There are various lists and catalogues in Scripture of the sins of the human race. This indeed is one of the features of the writings of the apostle Paul, that again and again he gives us these lists concerning the sin of mankind in all its various forms. This I believe, is the longest list of all. It is an astonishing summary of the corruption of the human heart and of the depravity of human nature. Many, many verses here, as you would have noticed, deal with nothing more nor less than the various manifestations of evil, of irreligion and of sin. However, this should never depress any believers. If it depresses worldly people to hear these things, we who are believers understand why it is that the apostle Paul spends so long telling us about these various forms of evil that are manifested in the world and in society. What is the reason why he tells us these things? It is not in order to make us feel that the world is as bad and as black as can be. No, it is for another reason. It is in order to prepare us for the grace of YHVH. In the epistle to the Romans, Paul is giving us the Gospel but in order to make us appreciate the wonders of the Gospel he must needs begin by telling us the need for the Gospel. You see mankind's problem is that they do not know their need. If men and women all around us in inverness - to look no further a field - knew what their real problem is, they would be coming here and similar places, to find the answer; but they do not know their problem and their leaders are not telling them their real problem. For that reason, the apostle Paul begins by explaining to us what is really wrong with the human race. There are many explanations for the state of society, are there not? It makes you smile to listen to some of our politicians when they begin to analyse the problem in the modern world and the continuing rise in crime. They tell us of course; it is all to do with lack of resources. That is the politically correct word – [resources]. If we were to put more money, they say, in to educating those in slums - the poor, the deprived, ethnic minorities - then things would greatly improve; people would behave much better and crime would go down they say. The real problem is that people are out of work; they are bored and so they have to take extra alcohol and drugs to compensate. You do not blame them if they decide they want to go in for a life of crime. Life is grim for the poor and it is all to do with money and resources, education and leisure. Whether they believe this or not, I do not know. I suppose they do. But if this is what they think is wrong with the human race, they have not the faintest idea of the gravity, the seriousness and the plight of mankind. So, the apostle tells us here that our real problem is sin. All this list of sins is to show us how extremely dreadful sin is. If people do not know their condition, they are never going to think that they need Moshiach. If only we could persuade people in our own community alone, for instance, that their problem is that of sin and that there is no cure anywhere for sin apart from in the Gospel. It is therefore incumbent upon them to come to YHVH to hear the Gospel expounded. If only, we could persuade them of that, they would come. But they are not persuaded of that. What then does the apostle Paul tells us about sin. You see from the text it takes two main forms: [ungodliness and unrighteousness of men]. Those two words summarise all sin.

The first word ungodliness means as we are born by nature, we break the first table of the Moral Law - the first four Commandments:

1 -- Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.
2 -- Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image.
3 -- Thou shalt not take the Name of Adonai thy Elohiym in vain.
4 -- Remember the Shabbat day to keep it holy.

In summary these are what we call the First Table of the Law. Ungodliness is breaking those Commandments.

The second word is unrighteousness. This is to do now with the Second Table of the Law. All the others:

5 -- Honour thy father and thy mother.
6 -- Thou shalt not kill.
7 -- Thou shalt not commit adultery.
8 -- Thou shalt not steal.
9 -- Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
10 -- Thou shalt not covet.

None of that is permissible. All of that is a breaking of the Second Table of the Law. The First and Second Tables are contained in these two words: the breaking of the Law of YHVH in every form. Putting it another way, ungodliness means sins which are distinctly against YHVH; unrighteousness is those sins which are against our fellow men. One is vertical, the other is horizontal. They are all sins which mankind are guilty of. Why should these things be so very serious? The ultimate answer is here in -- Romans 1:18; it is because of YHVH's attitude to sin: [the wrath of YHVH] -- anger of YHVH – [is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men]. The wrath of YHVH means His Holy hatred of all forms of sin and His determinate intention to punish all sin, sooner or later. This is the real condition of mankind; this is the real problem. Ultimately it has little or nothing to do with whether we are rich or poor, whether we are of an ethnic minority, whether we are employed or unemployed, whether we have had a good or a bad upbringing, whether we have had good or bad parents or no parents at all. Ultimately it has little or nothing to with these things. It has to do with our relationship to YHVH - it is all wrong by nature. In the long list of sins which is given to us, we see that one word summarises them all - it is the word [against]. Sin is against everything that is right and good. Sin is the very opposite of everything that is good. It is against our parents. Is not that an interesting phrase to have there: [disobedient to parents] -- verse 30. Children are against their parents - even the very ones who gave them their birth and existence. Sin is against our own physical and moral wellbeing. Then there is this reference to [men with men] -- verse 27, and women with women -- verse 26. We know very well the consequence of that sort of behaviour results in terrible punishment. The phrase is right here – [receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was meet] -- verse 27. YHVH has temporal as well as eternal punishments for those who commit these things. Sin is against our fellow man. Sin is against our own health, against our families, against YHVH, against truth and against light. It also illustrates how very entirely and completely man is against the holiness of YHVH. If there is one thing more than another about YHVH that sinners hate, it is his holiness. So, the apostle tells us here what people have done; they have changed YHVH: [changed the glory of the incorruptible YHVH into an image made like to corruptible man and to birds and four-footed beasts and creeping things] -- verse 23. This is literally true. This is precisely how men represented YHVH in the days of the apostle Paul -- they worshipped everything, all sorts of creatures that they saw with their eyes. They made their images and idols in the form of cows, dogs, sheep, lions, even beastly things crawling upon the floor. This is all because they could not tolerate a view of YHVH being Perfectly Holy. Of course, we cannot by nature tolerate such a view of YHVH because such a view of YHVH entirely condemns our own lives and hearts. Therefore, man's religion automatically becomes debased: man recreates a god. He invents a god with his own hands; gods he can manipulate and handle; gods he can manage to live comfortably with. Whereas the truth is that the real YHVH is the enemy of all sin because of His Infinite Holiness and His Infinite Glory.