In the Bible, we find many examples of the specific forms God’s wrath takes in this world, such as:

Killing individuals through supernatural means.
(ex: the fire that consumed Nadab & Abihu; the fire that consumed soldiers who tried to arrest Elijah; God suddenly striking Herod down and causing him to be eaten by maggots; God striking dead the man who touched His Ark)
The mass slaughter of people through supernatural means
(ex: the Red Sea collapsing on the Egyptian army; God raining hailstones down on a fleeing army; God massacring Israelites after King David’s census)
The sudden onset of widespread diseases.
(ex: the plague of boils; the plague that swept through the Israelite camp after they ate quail; the plague of tumors on the Philistines after they stole the Ark)
Supernaturally inflicting humans with dramatic diseases.
(ex: God turning Miriam’s skin white and necrotic; God turning Elisha’s servant Gehazi into a leper)
Terrifying geological events.
(ex: the plague of hail; the ground opening and swallowing Korah)
Causing nature to run amuck.
(ex: the plagues of frogs, locusts, & gnats; the attack of deadly serpents in Israel’s camp; wild lions devouring people in Samaria; the plague of rats on the Philistines after they stole the Ark)
Causing animals to attack individuals.
(ex: the lion that killed a disobedient prophet but left his donkey unharmed)
The sudden destruction of large manmade structures.
(ex: the fall of Jericho; the collapse of the Philistine temple; the fall of the Philistine idol Dagon).
Using human armies to inflict shocking carnage on a massive scale
(ex: the cutting open of pregnant women, the beating of children on rocks, the mass slaughter of men during the fall of Jerusalem)
The degradation of humans.
(ex: the mass rape of women & driving the Jews to cannibalism during the final siege of Jerusalem)
The mass slaughter of children.
(ex: the plague on the firstborn)
The mass slaughter of animals.
(ex: the plague on the livestock)
Do any of these things sound familiar? We read about similar events happening in the news all the time. When scores of children get gunned down by a psychopath in their classroom, what is your first response? Do you wonder where God is and how He could have let such a terrible thing happen? Such questions flatly deny God’s sovereignty. You aren’t getting any points with God by pretending He has nothing to do with shocking and terrible events. When you read about a tree collapsing on a little girl at the exact moment she is walking under it; when you read about a plane crash killing hundreds; when you read about terrorists mass torturing and slaughtering people, don’t be asking “Where’s God?” Open your eyes and see that God is right in the middle of all of these things: causing them to happen for very good reasons.

Now there’s a widespread delusion in the Church that if God ever does something bad to someone, He must be angry at them. No, this is wrong. God wasn’t angry at the unborn children of Israel when He arranged for their pregnant mothers to be run through by swords. God wasn’t angry at men like Daniel and Ezekiel when He trashed their homeland. We have to be very careful when we are interpreting violent acts in the news. Most of the time, God isn’t going to give us specific explanations about why He does what He does. When a tornado flattens a community of people, was God trying to punish those people or was He really going after other people who He knew would be devastated by the loss of that town? Death is only a terrible punishment if we are going to end up in Hell. For Christians, it’s a reward to die—it only devastates those we leave behind. So who is God trying to reach when He causes mass destruction? There is no simple answer. God is a multitasker. He’s always working several angles at once.