Yet they tested the Most High God, and rebelled against him. They did not observe his decrees, but turned away and were faithless like their ancestors; they twisted like a treacherous bow. For they provoked him to anger with their high places; they moved him to jealousy with their idols. When God heard, he was full of wrath, and he utterly rejected Israel. He abandoned his dwelling at Shiloh, the tent where he dwelt among mortals, and delivered his power to captivity, his glory to the hand of the foe. He gave his people to the sword, and vented his wrath on his heritage. Fire devoured their young men, and their girls had no marriage song. Their priests fell by the sword, and their widows made no lamentation. (Psalm 78: 56-64)

The anger of God is a recurring theme. In the Psalms - and in many of the Hebrew scriptures - God's patience is finally exhausted and God's justice is punishing and awful.

This God of fierce wrath is also a recurring theme of Christian belief. The fire and brimstone tradition of Jonathon Edwards Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God is alive and well today. Many of the churches that preach fear are among the most successful.

In a universe created for freedom evil is a ready option. Even in the midst of faithfulness evil and suffering are possible. In rebellion and faithlessness the suffering will be even greater.

I cannot, though, reconcile a God of Wrath with the God of Jesus or the God I have known. My God is loving, creating, and giving. In the midst of evil and suffering my God is ready to redeem, transform, and make meaning.

Like Job we are often inclined to blame God. As with Job, when we finally turn to God we find not the cause of our suffering but healing and hope to overcome the pain.