E68 - Hope’s Harbor Gritty Bible Devotions - Why Angry? 1 of 2
Hope’s Harbor
Gritty Bible Devotions
Episode #68
Title: Why Angry? 1 of 2
Date: August 22, 2022
Contact: info@hopesharbor.net
Key verse(s): Ephesians 4:26 - "BE ANGRY, AND DO NOT SIN": do not let the sun go down on your wrath…’
In this verse angry means enraged, exasperated. Ever been exasperated? It is taken from a root word involving vengeance.
And wrath means simply rage. And both the noun and verb describe uncontrollable anger.
noun
1. violent, uncontrollable anger.
verb
1. feel or express violent uncontrollable anger.
Intro: Anger… Is it wrong? The answer should be obvious and if not, then here it is: at times anger, normally, is wrong. And at others, seldom, is anger the right reaction.
Notice I said ‘reaction.’ Anger is a reaction to some event, circumstance, mistreatment, etc. An online source had anger defined as a reaction to ‘to a perceived or an actual injustice.’
We’ll look at a few examples from the Bible.
Devotion focus: When anger is right – when it is wrong
I understand best the definition of anger is a reaction to injustice. We can all think of any number of injustices that are happening at any given time in our country from political to religious.
However, I want to look more deeply into anger when it isn’t called for when it’s toxic, and the damage it does.
Most of us may be familiar with the event, the first murder, recorded in Genesis when Cain killed his brother Abel. Cain’s anger was toxic. All because he believed GOD committed an injustice against him by accepting Abel’s sacrifice and not his. GOD even asked Cain about his anger in Genesis 4:6 – ‘So the LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen?”’
The word for anger is wroth in the KJV and means to ‘blaze up.’
Anger grows if we feed it. The Bible says one day it came to pass as Cain and Abel talked Cain killed his innocent brother and it must have been in a rage.
Another Bible character with a temper is Moses. Did you know that? As a prince of Egypt, one day Moses saw an injustice, recorded in Exodus 2:11&12 Verse 11 - ‘Now it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown, that he went out to his brethren and looked at their burdens. And he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his brethren.’
Verse 12 – ‘So he looked this way and that way, and when he saw no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.’
It’s arguable Moses committed murder. He defended a helpless slave. Regardless Pharaoh didn’t like it and set out to kill Moses.
The point to realize is Moses’ anger put him on the run. Later GOD called him to deliver the Hebrews, which he did. They headed out to the desert. One day GOD called him to a mountain top and there gave Moses the Ten Commandments, etched onto two stone tablets
Because of Moses’ anger, those two tablets didn’t remain intact for long.
Exodus 32:15 – ‘And Moses turned and went down from the mountain, and the two tablets of the Testimony were in his hand. The tablets were written on both sides; on one side and on the other they were written.
Exodus 32:16 – ‘Now the tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God engraved on the tablets.
Exodus 32:17 – ‘And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, "There is a noise of war in the camp."
Exodus 32:18 – ‘But he said: "It is not the noise of the shout of victory, Nor the noise of the cry of defeat, But the sound of singing I hear."
Exodus 32:19 – ‘So it was, as soon as he came near the camp, that he saw the calf and the dancing. So Moses' anger became hot, and he cast the tablets out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain.’
GOD was patient with Moses and his temper for many years. But then an outburst of Moses’ anger cost him dearly.
Numbers 20:8 – "Take the rod; you and your brother Aaron gather the congregation together. Speak to the rock before their eyes, and it will yield its water;”
Numbers 20:11 – ‘Then Moses lifted his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; and water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their animals drank.
Numbers 20:12 – ‘Then the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, "Because you did not believe Me, to hallow Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them."’
Deuteronomy 34:4 – ‘Then the LORD said to him, "This is the land of which I swore to give Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, 'I will give it to your descendants.' I have caused you to see it with your eyes, but you shall not cross over there."’
At the end of Moses’ life, he looked with longing across the Jordan Valley at the Promised Land, denied him because his outburst of anger caused him to disobey GOD and rob GOD of the glory due Him.
Now listen, I’ve spent this much time on Moses to make the point that if uncontrolled anger cost Moses so much, what about you and me? The point is GOD’s patience has a limit.
Summary: Toxic anger costs us, often much more than we know. Behind deep-seated anger is bitterness, resentment, and unforgiveness; all harmful effects against our souls and robbing us of peace and rest.
Action to consider: Take the time to write down the circumstances involving the last time you got really angry and ask yourself these questions: Did you blow up? What did it look like? Who was affected? What resulted? Be honest with yourself – no one will see what you write.
Next week’s devotion: Why Angry? A look at reducing it - 2 of 2