Jan 8 But I Was Angry!

Jan 8 

But I was Angry

Eph 4:26 Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:         

          “The reason I did it was because I was angry!”  That sorry excuse is not so much an explanation as an indictment of your wrong behavior.  Being angry is a sin, isn’t it?  No, the verse tells us that when we are angry we should not sin. It must be possible to be angry and not behave badly. The idea that anger is a sin is because too often sinful behavior is connected with anger.  So it is wrong to get angry isn’t it. And if you do get angry you have to get over it by sundown.  Isn’t that what the verse means?  No, not at all.

          Let’s look at the verse and see what it says, and not be guided by what we think it says. First it says “Be angry”.  There are times when we should be angry, but more on that later. Then the verse cautions us to “sin not” while we are angry. That is where the problem arises. Too often our anger is motivated by what has happened to us. We have been wronged. We have been hurt. We just aren’t going to take it any longer, and we respond with anger and bad behavior (sinful behavior!)  We permit ourselves to have bad thoughts (“I hope he gets run over by a bus!”)  We permit ourselves to use bad language ( “you &*%$#  fladderwakin, gerbalsnatzin idiot”)  We permit ourselves to act badly (Slam doors, throw things, etc)  Those are the behaviors the verse prohibits, not the anger.

          The second part of the verse seems to say we have to get over being angry by sundown, or “bedtime”. But that is not what it says at all. The first part of the verse deals with anger. The second part with wrath.  Some modern translations, such as the NIV use the word anger in both parts of the verse. The old King James version uses the words anger and wrath.  I checked my computer Bible program, which can show the Greek words. I am not a Greek scholar but I could see that the Greek word for wrath was not the same as the Greek word for anger.  The words anger and wrath do not mean the same thing.

My Webster dictionary explains the difference. The simple explanation; Anger is “I am mad at you” and wrath is “I am mad at you and I am going to get even”  Wrath is anger plus revenge!  The verse says “get any thoughts of revenge out of your head the same day you have them.”    

Ro 12:19 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.

          Moses had a temper. It caused him lots of problems.  He had to flee Egypt after he killed an Egyptian that was striking a Hebrew.  Ex 2:12 And he looked this way and that way, and when he saw that there was no man, he slew the Egyptian, and hid him in the sand.

          His temper kept him from entering the Promised Land. Nu 20:8 He was told to speak to the rock to get water for the people. But in verse 11 Moses is angry with the people and smacks the rock with his rod, twice.

          My favorite account of Moses’ temper is when God had prepared two stone tablets with the law engraved in them by the finger of God.  Moses returned from the mount and saw the golden calf and the people partying and (Ex 32:19) “Moses' anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount.”    So later he has to go back up to get a duplicate set of the stone tables, only this time there is a difference.  Ex 34:1 ¶ And the LORD said unto Moses, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first: and I will write upon these tables the words that were in the first tables, which thou brakest.          

          God had made the first set of tables, which Moses had broken in a fit of anger. So this time God tells him “Well since you broke the first set how about this time you make the stone tables.”  I wonder how much work that took. I smile as I picture Moses chipping away at a pile of stones trying to get two tables of stone prepared.  I like to think of it as anger therapy for Moses.

          So are we supposed to be all “zippity do dah” Christians who never get angry?  NO! Pslms 7:11 tells us “God is angry with the wicked every day.”  What is there in your life that you should be angry about?  We should be angry at our own sin. Proverbs 25:23 says we should be angry when invited to join others in evil things such as gossip, backbiting, evil communications. We too often overlook what we should be angry about in our daily lives and at the same time excuse too much anger over things which wound our prideful spirits. God grant us wisdom to recognize the difference and the desire to bring every thought into compliance to His word and will.  May our prayer be “Php 2:5  Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:”