Jeremiah 30:23-24
“See, the storm of the LORD will burst out in wrath, a driving wind swirling down on the heads of the wicked. The fierce anger of the LORD will not turn back until he fully accomplishes the purposes of his heart. In days to come you will understand this.”
Jeremiah 30:23-24 is an almost word for word repeat of Jeremiah 23:19-20. The repetition is significant because Jeremiah 23 is a warning against false prophets. In particular, it is about men, claiming to speak for God, whose lives deny God. These prophets, in essence, they deny God’s justice, and the fact that sin has consequences. They are telling the people not to worry about God’s judgment.
It appears in scripture that God desires peace, but if the sinning party is unwilling to face reality and repent, then His response will be a painful one. There will be peace with God only when the sinner is broken and submits to God. The symbol of the whirlwind, then, represents God’s fury and anger. Just as no man can control or divert a tornado or hurricane, so God’s anger at the sin of the wicked cannot be resisted. It will continue until He has performed the intents of His heart. In the latter days, God says we should consider it, meaning that mankind have not yet learned this lesson. However, when that chastening is over, mankind will be restored to the land, and, more importantly, they will be reconciled to God and able to live in peace.
God works toward repentance, but if there is no repentance, the only solution is to destroy those in rebellion against Him. After God performs the intents of His heart and His wrath has consumed those He will consume, then peace in the relationship between mankind and God becomes possible because all of those who declared war on God through their conduct are dead. We may cringe at God’s justice with wrath, because it is so unusual, since most of the time He is so gracious. Human nature deceives us into taking it for granted, but we need to keep it in mind because it just as integral to His character.
