Is God's Wrath Justified?

Last night we finished a look at Hosea in our weekly Bible Study. Chapter 13 ends with a very disturbing image:
"Though he may flourish among his brothers,
the east wind, the wind of the Lord, shall come,
rising from the wilderness,
and his fountain shall dry up;
his spring shall be parched;
it shall strip his treasury
of every precious thing.
Samaria shall bear her guilt,
because she has rebelled against her God;
they shall fall by the sword;
their little ones shall be dashed in pieces,
and their pregnant women ripped open" (Hosea 13:15-16)

This is God's pronouncement upon the nation he had created, redeemed, and nurtured. Because of their persistent and unrelenting lack of repentance they would experience his unrelenting wrath. Before we charge God with unjustified cruelty we must remember that God understands the concept of appropriate retributive justice. He is the one who specified that "if there is harm, then you shall pay life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe" (Exodus 21:23-25). This is the biblical version of the punishment fitting the crime and is intended to rein in the darker impulses of people.

Given this we can only assume that the punishment that awaits the Northern Kingdom of Israel at the hands of the brutal Assyrians is appropriate to the offense. The crime against his majesty demands punishment of majestic proportions.