Anger

Maybe I am starting to understand something. In the old church, I was taught that sanctification meant, for one thing, never being angry. Hm-m-m. Interesting. Then I guess G-d is not sanctified. Wow.

Okay, G-d got angry. Often, in Hebrew, it says that His nose got hot! (I love that! That's quite descriptive!) You may read this in Deuteronomy 1:37; 9:8, 20; 1 Kings 11:9; Psalms 2:5; and Romans 1:18 for just a few, if you don't happen to remember.

Yeshua got angry. Mark 3:5. And can we imagine He wasn't angry with the misuse of the Temple on the day He used a whip and overturned the tables to get the thieves out of it? (The old church taught me that He wasn't angry!)

Then, the anger of G-d is always righteous anger; my anger is not always righteous! However, rather than promise that we won't be angry, the Bible teaches us not to have easy tempers -- not to be quickly angered. It teaches us how to treat our own anger. It teaches us how to treat those who tend toward easy-anger. It warns us about how to treat those who are angry.

The following is a long list of texts, and rather than just giving references, I want to put the Scriptures here, so you will not have to look them up. There will be some repeated Scriptures.

Rather than promise that we won't be angry, the Bible teaches us not to have easy tempers -- not to be quickly angered.
◌ Proverbs 14:17 A quick-tempered man acts foolishly
◌ Proverbs 15:18 A hot-tempered man stirs up strife, But the slow to anger calms a dispute.
◌ Proverbs 16:32 He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, And he who rules his spirit, than he who captures a city.
◌ Proverbs 19:11 A man's discretion makes him slow to anger, And it is his glory to overlook a transgression.

It teaches us how to treat our own anger.
◌ Proverbs 12:16 A fool's anger is known at once, But a prudent man conceals dishonor.
◌ Proverbs 14:17 A quick-tempered man acts foolishly
◌ Proverbs 15:1 A gentle answer turns away wrath, But a harsh word stirs up anger.
◌ Proverbs 15:18 A hot-tempered man stirs up strife, But the slow to anger calms a dispute.
◌ Proverbs 16:14 The fury of a king is {like} messengers of death, But a wise man will appease it. 15 In the light of a king's face is life, And his favor is like a cloud with the spring rain.
◌ Proverbs 16:32 He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, And he who rules his spirit, than he who captures a city.
◌ Proverbs 19:11 A man's discretion makes him slow to anger, And it is his glory to overlook a transgression.
◌ Proverbs 19:19 {A man of} great anger will bear the penalty, For if you rescue {him,} you will only have to do it again.
◌ Proverbs 21:23 - 24 He who guards his mouth and his tongue, Guards his soul from troubles. "Proud," "Haughty," "Scoffer," are his names, Who acts with insolent pride.
◌ Proverbs 25:23 The north wind brings forth rain, And a backbiting tongue, an angry countenance.
◌ Ecclesiastes 7:9 Do not be eager in your heart to be angry, For anger resides in the bosom of fools.
◌ Matthew 5:22 "But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, `You good-for-nothing,' shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, `You fool,' shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.
◌ Ephesians 4:26 - 27 BE ANGRY, AND yet DO NOT SIN; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and do not give the devil an opportunity.
◌ Ephesians 4:31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.
◌ Romans 12:19 Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, "VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY," says the Lord.
◌ 1 Corinthians 13:5 does not act unbecomingly; it does R510 not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered,
◌ Colossians 3:8 But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth.
◌ Titus 1:7 For the overseer must be above reproach as God's steward, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not addicted to wine, not pugnacious, not fond of sordid gain,

It teaches us how to treat those who tend toward easy-anger.
◌ Proverbs 19:19 {A man of} great anger will bear the penalty, For if you rescue {him,} you will only have to do it again.
◌ Proverbs 20:2 The terror of a king is like the growling of a lion; He who provokes him to anger forfeits his own life.
◌ Proverbs 21:14 A gift in secret subdues anger, And a bribe in the bosom, strong wrath.
◌ Proverbs 22:24 Do not associate with a man {given} to anger; Or go with a hot-tempered man,
◌ Ephesians 6:4 Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
◌ Colossians 3:21 Fathers, do not exasperate your children, so that they will not lose heart.

It warns us about how to treat the angry.
◌ Proverbs 21:19 It is better to live in a desert land Than with a contentious and vexing woman.
◌ Proverbs 27:3 A stone is heavy and the sand weighty, But the provocation of a fool is heavier than both of them.
◌ Proverbs 29:22 An angry man stirs up strife, And a hot-tempered man abounds in transgression.
◌ Ecclesiastes 7:9 Do not be eager in your heart to be angry, For anger resides in the bosom of fools.
◌ Ecclesiastes 5:16 This also is a grievous evil--exactly as a man is born, thus will he die. So what is the advantage to him who toils for the wind?
◌ Romans 2:8 8 but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation. 9 There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek, 10 but glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 11 For there is no partiality with God.

How did Yeshua treat wrath? I just love this!
◌ Luke 4:25 "But I say to you in truth, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the sky was shut up for three years and six months, when a great famine came over all the land;
4:26 and yet Elijah was sent to none of them, but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow.
4:27 "And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian."
4:28 And all the people in the synagogue were filled with rage as they heard these things;
4:29 and they got up and drove Him out of the city, and led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city had been built, in order to throw Him down the cliff.
4:30 But passing through their midst, He went His way.

I sit back, reading this, and just smile. Wow! He's surrounded by an angry, convicted crowd that is driving Him toward a cliff, and He just walks through them and disappears. It is wondrous that He got away from these grasping, vicious people!

But while we don't have such powers, we do have the ability to walk away, if our pride does not prevent us. How hard is it for us to just walk away from an argument, when we realize that nothing we say will mean anything anyway? It is interesting to do this in our writings, bloggings, and forums, too, because we all know that some will think we walked away because we could not answer or could not "hold our own" in the fray. But can we do it anyway, when we recognize that continuing is of no value to the other person, to us, or to G-d?