The Other Anger – Psalm 2:12

Kiss his son, or he will be angry and your way will lead to your destruction, for his wrath can flare up in a moment. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

In yesterday’s post, “Three Angry Men,” we looked at three men in scripture who were angry for the same basic reason. They all expect life to happen the way that they wanted it to happen. They wanted to get their way.

The prodigal’s older brother figured his little brother was out of the way. Being the only son he “owned” his dad and everything else would be his. When the prodigal comes home, big brother is put out. This isn’t the way it was supposed to work.

Cain figured God ought to be content with whatever he brought him for an offering. God wasn’t happy with receiving what Cain thought was good enough. God’s attitude irritated Cain.

Esau and Jacob were fraternal twins. They were not identical, but they were the same age. Only it happened that Esau came out first. Traditionally he was the “oldest” and stood to inherit his father’s blessing and the lion’s share of his property. He didn’t think it would hurt if he “sold” his birthright to Jacob for a bowl of soup. When things worked out as they did, his expectations clashed with reality.

In all three cases, the unhappy older brother has expectations that are not met. They also happen to be expectations that centered around their own self-interest instead of God. Interesting how the outcomes all involved anger.

The other kind of anger is based on what God wants. God loves his creation. But when people do not honor their creator or love others as they love themselves he becomes angry.

In Genesis 9 we read the story of Noah and his three sons. Noah was in an ark for a whole year. When he finally gets out he plants a vineyard and makes some wine. I am guessing that he probably didn’t drink any wine on the ark because his tolerance for alcohol was almost nil. He gets drunk and falls asleep in his tent. Naked. When he finds out that his son, Ham, has seen him naked he is furious. He curses Ham with an especially nasty curse that God honors. Even though Moses had not yet been given the Ten Commandments, it was still God’s desire that children honor their parents. Ham had dishonored his father. His father was angry based on this violation of God’s law.

Moses was angry a number of times, but none so much as the time he first brought the Ten Commandments down from Mt. Sanai. What he found offended God and offended him. The offense was not because what he wanted had been violated, but because what God wanted had been violated. Moses was a man who almost totally focused on what God wanted.

Centuries later, Jesus walked on the earth. God Himself had become a man. We do not see Jesus angry very often but when he is it is always about honoring God. The best example that comes to mind is the cleansing of the temple.

“When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple courts, he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. To those who sold doves, he said, ‘Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!’ His disciples remembered that it is written: ‘Zeal for your house will consume me.‘” (John 2: 13-17)

Jesus had a passion for standing up for his Father. In all three cases: Noah, Moses, and Jesus; their anger stands on God’s law being violated, not their own.

Application: As we are faced with anger in others, it can help to discern where the offense is. Is it centered on the personal desires of the angry one, or something larger like God’s will?

Food for Thought: Are there any other differences between the two types of anger: the kind that is based on our own priorities and the kind that is based on God’s priorities?