The Anger and Wrath of God
In this section we begin by examining the anger and wrath of God, noting that it is, in fact, an expression of his holiness and love. Man's anger, however is sinful and he struggles to control this powerful emotion, often hurting himself and others in the process.
Consider the following questions before you study this section:
1. How do people view anger and wrath?
2. What's the difference between God's anger and man's?
3. What are the effects of man's anger?
Not all anger is wrong, since the Bible speaks of God's anger and wrath on many occasions (e.g. Mark 3:1-5, Eph 4:26-28, Matthew 21:12). However, Jesus condemns all selfish anger.
"So Jesus forbids for ever the anger which broods, the anger which will not forget, the anger which refuses to be pacified, the anger which seeks revenge. If we are to obey Jesus, all anger must be banished from life, and especially that anger which lingers too long."
R. Barclay, 'An Alphabet on Barclay', page 4.
Jesus' anger was always a righteous anger which was not rooted in a desire for revenge or simply out of vindictiveness.
He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored. Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus. Mark 36:5-6
Unlike the sinful anger of man, God's anger never arises out of a desire to get even, or from reading a situation the wrong way as Cain did. God always sees to the very heart of a matter; there is nothing that takes him by surprise, and God is always in control.
"God's wrath in the Bible is never the capricious, self-indulgent, irritable, morally ignoble thing that human anger so often is. It is, instead, a right and necessary reaction to objective moral evil."
J.Packer, 'Knowing God', p 136.
I feared the anger and wrath of the LORD, for he was angry enough with you to destroy you. But again the LORD listened to me. And the LORD was angry enough with Aaron to destroy him, but at that time I prayed for Aaron too. Deut 9:19-20
'Qetsep' - anger/wrath aroused by failure to do a duty
We must note that the word 'wrath' gives expression to a relationship between two or more persons, one or both of whom can be said to feel anger and wrath / displeasure.
We have to understand this because God is not simply an enraged judge who can only just hold back His anger, bottling it up like the fizz in a bottle of lemonade that suddenly pops its cork.
God is a father and anger/ wrath must always be seen in relationship to who He is and who we are.
The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities - his eternal power and divine nature - have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. Romans 1:18-20.
If the wrath of God was simply about God 'blowing a gasket' (as our anger and wrath so often is!), then the above verse would not make sense, because man would have been destroyed in an instant.
We were, by nature, objects of wrath (Eph 2:3), yet Jesus has paid the price for our sin, and the coming wrath will not fall upon us at the final judgement. 1 Thess 1:10
God's wrath does not refer simply to God's feelings (although feelings are involved), but to his action in judging and punishing men for their sins. This, of course, is for man's own good.
"The infliction of punishment is called punitive justice. It is the expression of divine wrath (Gen 2:17; Ex 34:7, Ezek 18:4). God cannot make a law, establish a penalty, and then not follow through if the law is disobeyed. When the law is violated, punishment must be meted out, either personally or vicariously."
Prof H. Thiessen, 'Lectures in Systematic Theology', p 85.
The wrath of God speaks of God's concern to protect His interests, which also involves His desire to reach out to fallen man and reconcile man to God. Therefore, God's anger is always an action of righteous indignation against some form of unrighteousness.
God's anger and wrath arise because of His love and holiness, and not instead of it.
It can be difficult for 21st century man to see that God's anger and wrath rise out of His love and holiness because in our society anger and wrath are so often about getting even. This is not the case with God, his ways are perfect.
Genuine love is protective and sometimes we need protecting from what we have become. One of the ways God seeks to protect the covenant relationship is by directing anger and wrath at man's sinful ways. In doing so, God seeks to stop man in his tracks and make him reconsider the path he is taking. In punishment and the curtailment of freedom, God seeks to help man understand his predicament and reach out to the hand of grace extended to him.
"God's wrath is not vindictive. It is always under His control (Hos 11:9), and it is aroused in particular by man
breaking His testament (Deut 31:16-17)."
'The Theology of the Old Testament', J. Barton Payne.
God's wrath is an ever-present divine potential because of ever-present love, holiness and righteousness.
Again let us note that God's wrath reveals His hatred for sin yet also expresses a willingness to show people His displeasure, for their benefit. God is always willing to instruct man in the way he should go, even amidst judgement. For example ...
God could have pulled Israel out of Egypt in a second had He so wished. Instead, He worked in a way that revealed what He was like so that others could repent (see previous notes).
God could have destroyed the inhabitants of the land of Canaan in a millisecond, had he wanted to. Instead, we see that He allowed the sin of the Amorites to come to the full (Gen 15:16), and put the terror and fear of His people upon others (Deut 11:25). Even in judgement there was communication of His ways whereby those who responded could find reconciliation with God (Josh 2:9-11, Heb 11:31). We also note that a judgement in time does not necessary have eternal consequences. For example, Moses was not allowed to enter the Promised land (Num 20:12, Deut 34:1), yet appears with Elijah before Christ on the mount of transfiguration (Mark 9:4).
At times God does reveal His mercy, even amidst anger
Then the Lord's anger burned against Moses and he said, 'What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you, and his heart will be glad when he sees you.' Exodus 4:14-15
LORD, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, O LORD. Renew them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy. Habakkuk 3:2
"Those who undermine the love God pours forth for the world, experience his love in the form of wrath. God's holiness, jealousy, and wrath in the face of sin can be viewed in another manner as well. God's love for creation means that he is concerned that each person become all that God designed humankind to be, but as humans reject the divine design, they suffer the outworking of their chosen wayward course of action. They remain the recipients of God's love, but experience that love in the form of wrath."
Prof S. Grenz, 'Theology for the Community of God, p 95.
God's wrath is always the just, proper and right expression of his holiness and love. He executes that wrath in a perfect way.
Adam's Legacy
"Birth carries within it the seed of death, the breaking-up of individuality, and the loss of hope. He who begets
is himself condemned to die and condemns to death those who in their turn come to birth."
Dr N.Berdyaev, 'Freedom and the Spirit', page 202.
"Now man must wrest his livelihood from nature and defend himself against the elements and other life. The fact that each man is a centre of activity and meaning in competition with all others involves the corruption by this fundamental sin of the family as well as of all other social relationships in this life."
P.Meehl, R. Klann & A. Schmieding, "What Then Is Man" p 53.
Imagine that your mind is a rolling landscape of hills, valleys, streams, houses, trees and so forth, stretching out before you as far as the eye can see. This landscape represents all the events of your life. Amongst other things, it includes all that has affected you for good or bad, whether inflicted by self, others, or the environment you have lived in, or are living in right now.
As you look more closely at the landscape you see poison ivy slowly growing on some of the trees, whilst in another corner there is barren, dry ground, devoid of grass.
As you continue to look into the landscape of your mind you see ground that has been freshly tilled, with weeds removed, yet elsewhere there is a hazy fog which prevents you from seeing clearly. This fog represents unresolved issues, which are spreading and seeking to choke all that which is good.
Cain allowed his thoughts, feelings and imagination to build and empower his own worldview. Cain was no longer living as one made in the image of God (relationship). Evil was spreading across the landscape of his mind and pushing itself out in such a way that it would result in the death of his brother.
"If the word sin has any useful meaning at all in a time when there is no possibility of redemption it must speak about a distortion so severe that the recognisable self is blotted out or lost."
Mary Gordon.
"Vengeance, bitterness, hatred, revenge, and an attitude of judgment all result from anger and are condemned in scripture."
Dr G. Collins, 'Christian Counselling', p 122.
Thousands of years after Cain some of the learned teachers of Israel were so caught up with their own worldview that they sought to kill a man who had no sin within Him.
Cain's emotional response came about through his own sinful thinking; it was not a case of not knowing what God required. Cain was in rebellion, he chose to live his own way.
The way we think, feel and act can have a physiological effect on our bodies. Cain's face was downcast (Gen 4:5), something which God picked up on (Gen 4:6).
At this my body is racked with pain, pangs seize me, like those of a woman in labour; I am staggered by what I hear, I am bewildered by what I see. My heart falters, fear makes me tremble; the twilight I longed for has become a horror to me. Isaiah 21:3-4
"I heard and my heart pounded, my lips quivered, decay crept into my bones and my legs trembled." Hebrews 3:16.
Think about it
Cain assumed that he could gain the most from life by 'building' with that which was ultimately destructive (his anger) and against the very nature of the Universe. He built with sinful self as a reference point concerning how life should be lived! Cain was not willing to listen to the counsel of God.
"The overruling reality of life is the Will and Choice of a Spirit acting not in a mechanical but in a living and personal way; and that the spiritual life does not consist in mere individual betterment, or assiduous attention to one's own soul, but in a free and unconditional response to that Spirit's pressure and call, whatever the cost may be."
Evelyn Underhill, 'The Spiritual life', pp 29-30 quoted in 'Habits of the Mind', Dr J. W. Sire.
Cain was angry.
"Anger - an intense emotional reaction, sometimes directly expressed in overt behaviour and sometimes remaining a largely unexpressed feeling. Anger is not a disease but rather a social event that has meaning in terms of the implicit social contract between persons."
'Baker Encyclopaedia of Psychology and Counselling', p 80-81.
"He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city."
Proverbs 16:32.
In the above verse the Hebrew word for anger (apayim) comes from a root (anaph) meaning 'to breathe hard, i.e. to be enraged." The first part of this word (ap) means 'nose' or 'nostrils.' To have a long nose is to be slow to anger, whilst to have a short nose is to be quick-tempered.
"In the United States there are around 25,000 murders each year. There are 1,000 murders in the workplace, and a million people are injured in the workplace by violent attacks from co-workers. It is a simple fact that none of the 25,000 murders, or only a negligible number of them, would have occurred but for an anger that the killers chose to embrace and indulge."
Prof D. Willard, 'The Divine Conspiracy.'
Fire is often the idiom (a form of speech that a particular people group use) of human anger, which, at times, is seen as a total loss of self-control that results in wrong behaviour.
Anger often seeks to injure others without any thought or concern for the consequences.
Most of us would never walk along a road and smash someone's window or pour paint over their car - yet with our anger we can end up destroying that which is of far greater value than a window or car: fellow man.
...but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favour. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast. Genesis 4:4-5
In the above verse the Hebrew word for anger is 'wayichar' which comes from a root meaning 'to burn.'
The word emphasises the kindling of anger. In other languages the verse is translated, 'Cain's insides burned.'
Even those of the world are often aware of the negative effects of anger. Take for example, the recent words of Eugene O'Kelly.
Eugene O'Kelly was 'one of the most powerful businessmen in America' (according to the Times newspaper, March 14th 2006). He recently died of cancer at the age of 53 having been diagnosed only three months previously. One of the things that O'Kelly wrote shortly before his death was about how he had spoken to one of his brothers.
"Later my brother and I talked alone. He was angry that this should be happening to me. "Your anger won't do anyone any good," I said. I told him to take the energy he was spending being angry at the world, double it, and channel it into love for his children (or even more love, I should say, because William already loved his daughters and son dearly)."
Anger can come about when a person feels rejected or put down, or believes they have been wrongly criticised (look at Cain).
Those who think they have been abused and mistreated by society can turn their frustration, anger and bitterness onto others, feeling they are justified in victimizing them because of how they feel. Again, note Cain.
Some people think that anger is a sign of strength, whilst turning the other cheek is a sign of weakness!
In commenting on antisocial personality disorders in their book 'Cognitive Therapy of Personality Disorders' (p48-49) A. Back and A. Freeman say...
"When a particular effect is present, it is essentially anger - over the injustice that other people have possessions that they (the antisocial personalities) deserve". (please note this is not a Christian book)
Sinful anger is a sign that something has gone seriously wrong; not around us, but inside us.
Worldly anger often wants to get back at the person who has upset us yet, "man's anger does not bring about the righteousness of God." (James 1:20-21).
Worldly anger is often fuelled by a desire for revenge. Its purpose is not to challenge in order to aid reconciliation.
"Anger may start early with the temper tantrums of small children, but its flames lick high and far into history's worst ethnic and international conflicts."
Prof Oz Guinnes.
Cain was angry because his expectations (this offering will be accepted) were thwarted. His frustration and anger could find no real release because he would not admit his failings. He was not willing to deal with the issues at hand, and so anger remained within him, although the particular events that had triggered it were now past.
In his book 'Remembering Auschwitz' Arnost Lustig (Prof of Lit at the American University in Washington) wrote...
"Nine out of ten survivors of Auschwitz-Birkenau gain safe distance from it during the day, but at night when the world is suspended, they inevitably return to it. Auschwitz-Birkenau was not behind them, but with them, in them."
Although Lustig's comment does not specifically refer to anger, we can see a parallel between this and the person who wakes up in the middle of the night, and gets angry all over again, concerning a long past incident, the feelings and emotions remain with them.
Some people have a 'short fuse' and quickly boil over in anger when things don't go their way. A 'short fuse' can sometimes point to unresolved areas in their lives. Every so often this person explodes in anger, often at things that seem trivial to others.
The outburst has a calming effect on their lives, yet underlying issues have never really been dealt with, and it is just a matter of time before the whole scenario is repeated. They will 'boil over' again.
"A person who exhibits rage, if he is wise, his wisdom is suspended, and if he is a prophet, his prophetic powers are suspended." Rabbi Tverski, 'Spirituality', p 126, where he quotes 'Torah Pesachim' 66b.
When we become angry, all that we have learnt from God goes 'out of the window' as we quench the work of the Spirit and ignore the only one who can really help us. Yet our mind is certainly not inactive. With lightning speed we can call to mind all that the person we are angry with has ever done wrong, or all that we have heard about them in a negative way, in a millisecond. Now that is powerful!
Cain could have confessed his anger and repented of his wrong thinking. In Psalm 73 we find Asaph struggling because the wicked seem to be happy, whilst the believers have nothing but trouble. He brings his thoughts to God, rather than simply exploding in frustration. In seeking God's presence he began to get the right perspective on life and his frustration subsided and was replaced with praise. In the end he could say, "My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever.as for me it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge; I will tell of all your deeds." (v26,28).
Cain did not really pour out his heart to the Lord or challenge his own thinking as David did on more than one occasion:
These things I remember as I pour out my soul: how I used to go with the multitude, leading the procession to the house of God, with shouts of joy and thanksgiving among the festive throng. Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Saviour and my God.Psalm 42:4-6
Unlike David, Cain did not open his life to the Lord - he was imprisoned with his own thinking and emotions.
Search me O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughtsPsalm 139:23
David spoke the above words having come into the sanctuary to present his prayers and protest his innocence concerning certain charges that had been brought against him.
David came before God who had insight into the whole of his life - a God who knew everything about the way he thought, felt and acted.
David knew that man is the object of God's activity - that God was interested in him, and so he sought God's counsel.
David did not claim moral perfection. He wanted evil to be dealt with, but also recognised the need to have the Lord show him what his own heart was really like.
Some people are aware of negative emotions (like David was) and seek to suppress them.
Suppression is a conscious process. It speaks of putting down something as with power or authority. For example, a person can feel anger rising when another motorist cuts him up on the road. He may want to race after him, shout at him, or stop him and have a real go. Instead of doing any of these he seeks to suppress his wrong feelings. Cain did not seek to deal with his feelings the right way, which would have been to think through what he was feeling and bring everything under God's authority.
Repression
Some people do not like feelings of anger and frustration and seek to repress such thinking. Repression, in this context, speaks of uncomfortable feelings that are ignored or circumnavigated. This can start with "I don't want to talk about it - I don't want to think about it."
Ignoring an issue does not make it go away. Try walking through a field and ignoring the bull in it and there may be disastrous consequences.
Issues that we do not deal with, or simply seek to forget will find their way out somewhere else in our lives. Sin is like yeast - it will spread, and express itself somewhere.
The repression of frustration and anger can lead to a very distorted and often negative view of the world. People who repress anger and frustration can become bitter, twisted, cold, and cynical.
Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Ephesians 4:31-32
Sometimes our wrong attitudes simply indicate that we have not really dealt with issues that are bothering us. We may have resentment and anger towards people or situations; yet erroneously think we have dealt with the issues by avoiding them.
The truth may be that we have spent so long avoiding issues that we have simply become used to them being there. We think they are dealt with, yet our attitudes in personal relationships show that they are not.
I confess my iniquity; I am troubled by my sin.Psalm 38:18
"Iniquity" - particularly evil, strongly conveying the idea of twisting or perverting deliberately.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
1 John 1:8-9
Back to Cain
Cain sought to get rid of his tension and stress by killing his brother. In ignoring God Cain was imprisoning himself with his own thoughts and allowing such emotions as anger to be the jailor, preventing him from knowing freedom in the Lord.
If we do not deal with the root of anger in our lives it will express itself one day as a fruit around our lives. Anger can be costly. For example, think of what anger would have cost Naaman the leper if he had not been challenged by others:
But Naaman went away angry and said, "I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the LORD his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy. Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than any of the waters of Israel? Couldn't I wash in them and be cleansed?" So he turned and went off in a rage.
The greatest cost to Namaan would have been not knowing God.
Abraham Lincoln once said,
Madam, do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends.
Let us ask ourselves a few questions?
1. Am I always flaring up at others and seeking to pull them down. Why do I act like this?
2. When I get angry with people, is it because I want to get back at them, or because I care at them?
3. When I get angry with someone am I sure that I actually have all the facts?