There are many verses that speak to anger found within the Bible. The Bible tells us that God became angry (Num. 32:10-15). The Bible also tells us that Jesus became angry (Mark 3:5). The Bible also tells us that we can become righteously angered (1 Sam. 20:34). However, unlike God who can only exhibit righteous anger, we often fall into a state of unrighteous, or fleshly anger (Gal. 5:19-20) which is not justifiable, and can most often be very destructive to us as well as the object of the anger.
Throughout the Old Testament we can read of how God can become angry. In chapter 32 of the book of numbers we see God’s anger focused on man’s disobedience. The prophet Nehemiah, in chapter 9, tells us that God is slow to anger. However, one of the great attributes of God is that His anger does not last forever.
18 Who is a God like you,
who pardons sin and forgives the transgression
of the remnant of his inheritance?
You do not stay angry forever
but delight to show mercy.
19 You will again have compassion on us;
you will tread our sins underfoot
and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.
20 You will be faithful to Jacob,
and show love to Abraham,
as you pledged on oath to our ancestors
in days long ago. (Micah 7:18-20, NIV)
This passage can be summed up in this way:
The reasons why God pardons sin, and keeps not His anger forever, are all taken from within Himself; it is because He delights in mercy, and the salvation of sinners is what He has pleasure in, not their death and damnation.
(Henry, 1961, p. 1157)
God’s whole purpose for humanity is to come into a relationship with Him. If He held on to His anger everytime we disobeyed His will, there would be no chance of salvation and reconcilliation. This passage, in context from Micah, is a great example of how we should also let go of anger in order to reconcile human relationships.
People often focus on how God exhibits anger in the Old Testament, but it is amazing how many ignore, gloss over, have never read about, or minimize how God, in the person of Jesus, also exhibited righteous anger. There are many passages in the New Testament in which we read about how Jesus was disapointed and frustrated with the people around Him including His own disciples. At these times Jesus would explain things in greater detail, or leave and do nothing like he did in His own home town (Matt. 13:54-58). The writer of the Gospel of Mark gives us a picture that speaks volumes about when anger is appropriate.
1AGAIN JESUS went into a synagogue, and a man was there who had one withered hand [as the result of accident or disease].
2And [the Pharisees] kept watching Jesus [closely] to see whether He would cure him on the Sabbath, so that they might get a charge to bring against Him [formally].
3And He said to the man who had the withered hand, Get up [and stand here] in the midst.
4And He said to them, Is it lawful and right on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to take it? But they kept silence.
5And He glanced around at them with vexation and anger, grieved at the hardening of their hearts, and said to the man, Hold out your hand. He held it out, and his hand was [completely] restored. (Mark 3:1-5, AMP)
The example of anger presented here is what real righteous anger should look like. Jesus was angry at sin, but not sinners.
The sin of sinners is very displeasing to Jesus Christ; and the way to be angry, and not to sin, is to be angry, as Christ was, at nothing but sin. (Henry, 1961, p.1369)
The New Testament often illustrates the compassion Jesus has for people, but it also shows how much He hated sin. In our lives we need to be very careful about what we become angry about. We are all created in the image of God, and therefore we need to be mindful to focus on sin and not the sinner. We should have enough compassion to confront people, even in an angry manner if necessary, and help them get past the sin that is keeping them from having a relationship with Jesus Christ.
The Apostle Paul writes a great deal about the flesh. The “flesh” as Paul describes it, is acting in ways that please us, or doing what we want contrary to what God would have us to do and how He would have us to act. Basically, it is acting in ways antithetical to Christianity. Paul writes to the church at Galatia concerning things that can keep us out of heaven. It is very interesting, in light of the passages listed in this paper, that anger is included in the list of abhorrent behavior.
19Now the doings (practices) of the flesh are clear (obvious): they are immorality, impurity, indecency,
20Idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger (ill temper), selfishness, divisions (dissensions), party spirit (factions, sects with peculiar opinions, heresies),
21Envy, drunkenness, carousing, and the like. I warn you beforehand, just as I did previously, that those who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. (Galatians 5:19-21, AMP)
The last line is often hard for Christians to understand, or if they do, often hard to accept. These are the sins which will undoubtedly shut men out of heaven (Henry, 1961, p.1845). I like to use the Amplified version to help shed light on this passage. The word used for anger (θυμοί) is translated here to mean ill tempered. Being ill tempered is a reference to a constant state of mind. It means that I am not going to be a very fun person to be around. Being ill tempered is a real anti-God state of mind because the Bible teaches that those who are in Christ have joy in the Lord in spite of circumstances. Therefore, the last line in verse 21 is very applicable. If we have an anti-God state of mind, heaven is the last place we would want to be, at least until the final judgment.
What should our attitude be regarding anger? We should be slow to become angry (Prov. 14:17). Be careful not to sin while angry (Eph. 4:26). We should remove unrighteous anger from our lives.
30Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 32Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you. (Ephesians 4:30-32, NASB)
We must not do that which is contrary to His holy nature and His will (Henry, 1961, p. 1855). Here the word anger could also be translated as resentment or animosity. For us, as believers, to harbor resentment, or remain angry about something, will actually cause God to grieve. To cause God grief, in this context, means to offend Him. Again, when we offend God we cannot be in a right relationship with Him. If we are not in a right relationship with God, it will cause us to be hindered in all of our relationships. The Bible has laid out a plan, which if followed, will always result in a better life.
The book of Proverbs is really a complete guidebook on how we should live, and chapter 19 is a very concise look at life. It specifically addresses many facets of how to live, and how not to live. This chapter also contains a warning about anger.
19A man of great anger will bear the penalty,
For if you rescue him, you will only have to do it again.
(Proverbs 19:19, NASB)
Proverbs tells us that the penalty is great for unrighteous anger. The sad part of the story is that the one who is angry of injures innocent bystanders.
Angry men never want woe. Those that are of headstrong passions, commonly bring themselves and their families into trouble by vexatious suits and quarrels. All which troubles to themselves and others would be prevented if they would get rule of their own spirits. (Henry, 1961, p. 768)
We have the ability and responsibility to control our anger. Anger is a very dangerous emotion with far reaching consequences. Controlling anger is what is required of a person claiming to be a Christ-Follower.
With the exception of being angry at sin, anger is one of the most dangerous emotions we can exhibit. God can exhibit anger because He is perfect, and the creator of all, so there is no chance of unrighteous anger coming forth from Him. On the other hand, we are very imperfect created beings with a propensity to sin as a result of being fallen people. This means we have to always be on guard to keep ourselves from being a pawn of unrighteous anger, and experiencing the detrimental effects anger can have in our lives.
Henry, M. (1961). Commentary on The Whole Bible. (L. F. Church, Ed.) Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA: Zondervan Publishing House.
"Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible ®,
Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation Used by permission."
"Scripture quotations taken from the Amplified ® Bible, Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation Used by permission."
Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 Biblica. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.
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