Three Minute Bible

March 5, 2020March 5, 2020

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.

March 4, 2020March 5, 2020

Three Angry Men – Proverbs 15:1

A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.

In the story of the Parable of the Prodigal Son,* there is a minor character that we don’t get to meet until the end of the story. After the prodigal is welcomed home by his father, his dad throws a party for him. The older brother is out in the field and is incensed that his wayward brother should be honored in this way. Even when his father comes out to him to beg him to come into the party he refuses. I think it is safe to say that the older brother was angry.

Our definition of anger in “Anger’s Cause” goes like this:

“Anger is the feeling that results from an imbalance between our expectations and the situation we find ourselves in.”

The older brother expected that the younger brother would get what is coming to him. After all, he had demanded that his father give him half the estate and then ran off and squandered it. Who knows what he did with all that money! Then he has the nerve to come home and ask for a job from his dad.

March 3, 2020March 3, 2020

Anger’s Harbor – Leviticus 19: 15

Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great, but judge your neighbor fairly.

How do we tell the difference between anger that has been harbored in someone’s heart and anger that is served up fresh each day?

Rich raised this question in response to yesterday’s post, “Hyperopia.” He posits a person who harbors “anger, revenge, [and/or] bad feelings toward someone in our family or inner circle.”

What does it mean to “harbor” something? A boat in a harbor has a place to stay protected from outside forces. The idea of harboring a feeling suggests that the person wants to keep the angry feeling alive. This kind of person nurtures a grudge and as Rich points out stews their bad feelings with thoughts of revenge.

March 2, 2020March 2, 2020

Hyperopia – 2 Samuel 19: 6a

You love those who hate you and hate those who love you.

Today’s passage is a bit odd for a theme verse. Joab, the king’s commander of the army, has just killed Absalom and saved the kingdom for David. Instead of thanks and praise, David rewards him with recriminations. Here is the passage in context:

“Then Joab went into the house to the king and said, ‘Today you have humiliated all your men, who have just saved your life and the lives of your sons and daughters and the lives of your wives and concubines. You love those who hate you and hate those who love you. You have made it clear today that the commanders and their men mean nothing to you. I see that you would be pleased if Absalom were alive today and all of us were dead. Now go out and encourage your men. I swear by the Lord that if you don’t go out, not a man will be left with you by nightfall. This will be worse for you than all the calamities that have come on you from your youth till now.’”

— 2 Samuel 19:5-7

For the most part, David lived a noble life. He was courageous before his enemies, and faithful to God, even to the point of respecting the life of the man who was bent on killing him, King Saul. It was only when he had achieved relative peace and had been established as king over Israel that the wheels started to come off.

March 1, 2020March 1, 2020

Anger’s End – Psalm 85: 1-3

You, Lord, showed favor to your land;
    you restored the fortunes of Jacob.

You forgave the iniquity of your people
    and covered all their sins.

You set aside all your wrath
    and turned from your fierce anger.

This passage from Psalm 85 gives us some clues to resolving anger. In this short series of essays on anger, we defined anger as, “the feeling that results from an imbalance between our expectations and the situation we find ourselves in.”*

God expects that his Creation will recognize Him and honor Him. When this doesn’t happen God becomes angry. God says:

“Do not follow other gods to serve and worship them; do not arouse my anger with what your hands have made. Then I will not harm you.”

— Jeremiah 25:6

Because of God’s great love for us, he provided a means for us to be redeemed from his anger. In the Old Testament, that meant dumping all the foreign gods in the Kidron Valley and submitting to God’s will. Unfortunately over the centuries, the Israelites turned their back on God so often that they made a mockery of his willingness to forgive. Instead, when the old covenant was in tatters, God formed a new covenant in his son, Jesus Christ.

February 29, 2020March 1, 2020

Anger’s Judgement – 1 Corinthians 6:1-3

If any of you has a dispute with another, do you dare to take it before the ungodly for judgment instead of before the Lord’s people? Or do you not know that the Lord’s people will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases? Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life!

So far we have talked about what causes anger, and about the power of anger. The main thesis has been that anger by itself is neither good or bad, but is a sign of a deeper pain. In “Anger’s Power” we discussed the good or bad part. Anger based on a violation of God’s values is more righteous than anger based on a bruise to our ego. Today I would like to look at ways we can evaluate the anger we are confronted with in ourselves or someone else.

There is a touching story in 1 Samuel about the friendship between David and the son of King Saul, Jonathan. Saul has been stricken by a wild jealousy of David. The jealousy has roused a fit of powerful anger in Saul and he tries several times to skewer David on a spear. David escapes only to be reconciled to Saul by the efforts of his friend Jonathan.

February 28, 2020March 1, 2020

Anger’s Power – Zechariah 1:14-15

Then the angel who was speaking to me said, “Proclaim this word: This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘I am very jealous for Jerusalem and Zion, and I am very angry with the nations that feel secure. I was only a little angry, but they went too far with the punishment.’”

Yesterday in “Anger’s Cause” we talked a little about where anger comes from. But anger is not like a light switch. We do not simply become angry. There are many degrees of anger, just as there are many degrees of happiness.

When things in our life do not match our expectations (here I should add that we are talking about those things that are worse than what we expect) we start to become irritated. Irritation leads to frustration, and frustration can lead to anger. As we see in today’s verse, anger can range from a little angry to very angry.

Sometimes the change from happy to angry happens so fast that we miss all the warning signs along the way. And that is what irritations and frustrations are; warning signs. They tell us that there is danger ahead. If we heed the warnings, sometimes we can avoid the anger. The main point today though is that there are degrees of anger.

Where does this power for being very angry come from?

February 27, 2020March 1, 2020

Anger’s Cause — Jonah 4:4

But the Lord replied, “Is it right for you to be angry?”

Today we are going to change gears for a while and talk about a topic that affects everyone’s life at some point or another: Anger.

People tend to think anger is a bad thing but actually, anger itself is nothing more than an indicator like a gauge on the dashboard of your car. The problems that we have with anger are manifested in how people react to it.

So what causes anger?

February 26, 2020February 26, 2020

James 3: 2 – A Show of Hands

We all stumble in many ways. Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is perfect, able to keep their whole body in check.

How many of you (dear readers) are never at fault in what you say? I am taking James at his word when he writes “never.” So when we say, “… never at fault…” we mean someone who is not at fault and has never been at fault.

Hmmm… I’m not seeing a show of hands.

Let’s try the other side of the coin: How many of you have been at fault in what you say at least once in your lives?

Ahhh! Now I see everyone’s hand!

February 25, 2020February 25, 2020

James 3: 1 – Understanding

Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.

I don’t think of myself as a teacher, even when I am teaching. This verse is why. I don’t want to be “judged more strictly.” Yet to the extent that I do teach, I am sure James’ words will apply.

So let me tell you what I teach:

I teach that God is real and that Jesus is his Son.

I teach that the Bible is written by God and exists exactly the way He wants it to be.

Everything else comes from the Bible and God Himself.