Reading through the major prophets, again I am struck with the boiling wrath of God which seems to never end. Probably 90 percent of the prophets are announcements of fierce judgments upon God's people.

Does God savor being angry and unleashing fire and brimstone upon rebellious Israel? Is this evidence that God is unmerciful? No. It proves the very opposite. Remember two facts when reading the Old Testament prophets:

1. The prophetic books were not all preached to the same audience. When you read the prophets, you are reading sermons preached to Israel over a period of 200 years during the reign of forty kings. So in one sitting you might read prophecy that was preached over a 20 year period, or you might read one prophetic book of which only one portion of it was preached to a particular king.
2. The announcements of coming judgment were acts of God's mercy. They were God's warnings to Israel and Judah, pleading with them to repent and be delivered from the coming punishment. If God savored His people's sufferings, He never would have sent so many prophets over such a long period of time before finally taking action and sending Israel and finally Judah into exile.

Then the LORD passed by in front of him and proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth" (Ex 34:6).