My approach is: Don’t apologize for it! Simply explain it, and show how reasonable God’s wrath really is. One reason people recoil against the idea of an “angry God” is false perception. I find that people often project their own struggles with anger onto God. For example, if I lose my temper or get angry over something trivial, I may think of God in these terms when I read about His anger.

The illustration I used last Sunday was an allergic reaction. When I was in my early twenties, I spent part of a summer working for a rancher. One day during haying season, I entered an alfalfa field to move the irrigation pipe. My eyes swelled shut in twenty minutes because my body could not tolerate alfalfa pollen! My doctor didn’t take offense at my intolerance. He didn’t suggest I was being unreasonable. He realized that my make-up didn’t allow me to spend time in the presence of alfalfa pollen without a violent reaction. The image of food allergies helps, too. We don’t angry with people who are lactose intolerant. Nor should we be angry with God because he is evil-intolerant!

As I pointed out from the larger context (Ephesians 2:4-7), God is so loving that He found a way to satisfy His appropriate, righteous outrage against evil in order to have a relationship with us. That’s the wonder of His grace and mercy! According to Exodus 34:5-7, these are God’s lead character qualities!

I also talked about how we really do not want a God who does not get angry over evil. After all, we get upset at our justice system when it lets a guilty person (or one we perceive to be guilty) get off scot-free. Just because a judge may be a kind-grandfather does not mean that he can look the other way when injustice rears its ugly head.

So when the subject of God’s wrath needs to surface in your preaching, don’t apologize for it. Simply explain it and help listeners understand why there’s no reason for them to get angry about it.