I was thinking about anger when I got very angry recently. I won’t go into the reasons, but it left our family deflated and I felt really bad about it.
It’s not the first time this has happened, I tend to have a short fuse at times, which upsets others as well as myself. I prayed about it, and yes, I know God has forgiven me one more time, after many times. Then I decided to look on how God and His son Jesus handled anger. Did you know that he displayed anger many times?
Not my sort of anger, but it was always in context and there was always a reason for it.
Lets look at how God handled his anger against his chosen people, Israel
(a) The golden calf episode
(b) Against individuals who sinned and practiced deception
Jesus displayed anger many times, here are just a few
(a) Against towns and areas that rejected Him and His message
(b) Against the Pharisees and teachers of the Law
(c) Against the money changer’s and those buying and selling in the temple
And how might we be encouraged, and also warned.
From all this there is encouragement and warnings for us. Jesus was fully human yet fully God, so he exhibited the traits we exhibit. But there was difference- Jesus’ anger was always righteous and God inspired.
And God had a right to be angry. What we know from His word is that there are two major things that arouse his anger
(a) Worshipping idols rather than the living God
(b) Willfully disobeying his commands
So I guess we must learn to deal with our anger, if it falls outside of God’s ways, which in fact, is most of the time. We are a poor reflection of Jesus, but thanks be to God, forgiveness is ours when we do fall into the trap of anger and are truly sorry..
Bible references to the discussion above follow…
God’s anger against Israel
Exodus 32: 7-8
Joshua 7: 10-12
Isaiah 5:24 -25
The righteous anger of Jesus
Matthew 11:20-24
Matthew 23:13-29
Mark 11:15-17
Encouragement and warnings for ourselves
Psalm 103:8-10
Psalm 7:11-13
Proverbs 15:1
Colossians 3:8-10
Matthew 5:22