Wrath, often translated as anger, indignation, vexation, or irritation, is defined in the English dictionary as the emotional response to perceived wrong and injustice.
Both humans and God express wrath but there is a vast difference between the wrath of God and the wrath of man. God’s wrath is holy and always justified; man’s is never holy and rarely justified.
In Zephaniah 3:8 we see a description of God’s jealousy. “Therefore, wait ye upon me, saith the LORD, until the day that I rise up to the prey: for my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce anger: for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy.” In Hebrew, the word translated indignation is Zaam which literally means to foam or froth at the mouth to describe fury or rage.
In the ancient Hebrew, each letter of the alphabet is a pictogram that describes a picture to preserve the exact meaning of each word over long periods of time. Zaam is spelled Zayin Ayin Mem.
Zayin is the picture of a sharp tool and means to cut off, to prune, to harvest or to pierce. Ayin is, the picture of the eye, meaning to see, to know, or to experience. Mem is the picture of waters, which can be chaotic like a tsunami or gentle like a rain. It refers to the Word of God that brings life or living waters.
The meaning of the pictures of Zaam should put fear into the heart of anyone choosing to oppose God, to incur His indignation or wrath. They will know or experience a piercing or a pruning at His hand that will be chaotic and destructive like a tsunami. It will be a harvest of destruction.
God’s wrath and the destruction that follows is not directed towards those that have remained faithful to Him, according to His words in Isaiah 26:20. “Come my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee, hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast.” His wrath is reserved only for those who have forsaken Him.
There is also the future fulfillment of God’s wrath to which the prophet Daniel wrote in Chapter 11, verse 35 points: “And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvelous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished; for that which is determined shall be done.”
And again, in Daniel 12:1 “And at that time Michael shall stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people, and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time; and at that time thy people shall be delivered, everyone that shall be found written in the book.”
These verses speak of Satan’s role as the anti-Christ, which Christ warned us about in Matthew 24:15-22. “When ye therefore see the Abomination of Desolation which was spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place….let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains….neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes….pray that your flight be not be in the winter, neither on the Sabbath day… for then shall be tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, nor ever shall be. And, except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened. (Rev. 9:5)
The ancient Hebrew letters also represent numbers whose meaning is determined by how that number is used throughout the Scriptures. These numbers can tell us even more about this future Zaam or indignation, spelled Zayin Ayin Mem.
Zayin is the number 7 and means spiritual perfection and completeness. Ayin is the number 70 indicating perfect spiritual order carried out with all spiritual power and significance. Mem is the number 40 which means probation.
This reminds us that the wrath or indignation of God against His people will not last forever. Just as the tribulation in Zephaniah’s day had a certain end date, so too will the indignation of which Daniel wrote end with renewal for God’s children.
All those who put their trust and faith in Jesus Christ as their savior will not suffer God’s wrath but rather the gift of life eternal.
Source: Living Word, Zaam: The Wrath of God
