The Anger of God

by Chris Simmons

We are commanded to “know” God. We read in Jeremiah 9:23-24, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord who exercises lovingkindness, justice, and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things,’ declares the Lord.” We must know of God’s lovingkindness but we also must know of His justice. We also read in Exodus 34:6-7, “The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished.” We must know of God’s compassion and grace but we also must know of His punishment of the guilty. We must understand that He is “slow to anger” but that there are things we can think, say, and do that make God angry. If we seek to please God above all else, should we not pay close attention to what His revelation says about what makes Him angry?

Hypocrisy. We read in Mark 3:4-5, as Jesus addressed those who watched Him heal on the Sabbath and then criticized Him, “‘Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save a life or to kill?’ But they kept silent. After looking around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, He said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored.” It angers God when we apply His word to others not ourselves (Matthew 7:5), when our heart and our words don’t match (Matthew 15:7-8), and when what we are on the inside doesn’t match what we portray on the outside (Matthew 23:25).

Man’s perversion of religion. In John 2:13-17 we read of the anger of Jesus when He entered the temple and found those inside “selling oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables.” Jesus reacted with righteous indignation when He “made a scourge of cords, and drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen; and He poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables; and to those who were selling the doves He said, ‘Take these things away; stop making My Father’s house a place of business.’” Is not the Lord angry today when we burden the church (I Timothy 5:16) He shed His blood for with things like recreation, entertainment, and alieving social ills? Is it not clearly stated in God’s word that the social and fleshly needs of man are to be addressed “at home” (I Corinthians 11:22, 34)? How angry must “the social gospel” make our God?

Making excuses. In Exodus 3:10 we read of God telling Moses that He was sending him to Pharaoh so that he would bring God’s people out of Egypt. When presented with this command, Moses began to make excuses such as: they won’t believe me or listen to me (4:1) or I’m not a good enough speaker (4:10). The result was that in verse 14 we read that “the anger of the Lord burned against Moses” and He then assigned Aaron his brother to speak the words that God would reveal to him. As our Creator, God knows we’re capable of doing everything He asks of us, and it angers Him when we today make excuses for doing what He has asked of us. God is angered when we fail to accept the responsibilities He has given to us. From the very beginning (Genesis 3:12-13; Exodus 32:22-24; Luke 14:16-24), Man has been seeking to make excuses for his sin and that has to stop if we ever hope to be in fellowship with Him. We need to overcome the victim mentality and take ownership of where we are before God. We will be held accountable.

Complaining. After God delivered the Israelites from their bondage and led them into wilderness on their way to the land which He swore to their fathers, the Israelites took every opportunity to complain and murmur whenever everything wasn’t just right (Numbers 11:1-10; 31-34; 14:27ff). Numbers 11:1 says, “Now the people became like those who complain of adversity in the hearing of the Lord; and when the Lord heard it, His anger was kindled, and the fire of the Lord burned among them and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp.” It’s the opposite of thankfulness and contentment which God expects of each one of us (Colossians 3:15-17; I Thessalonians 5:16-18; Philippians 4:4-11; I Timothy 6:6-8; Hebrews 13:5). Are we foolish enough to think that we can complain or simply lack contentment and not have God angry with us?

Jealousy, Envy, and Pride. In the follow chapter, we read of Miriam and Aaron expressing their envy and jealousy toward Moses as to why God would use him for His service and not themselves. God had a talk with Miriam, Aaron, and Moses and He explained not only why He chose Moses but how He felt about the jealousy and envy of Miriam and Aaron when it says in verse 9 that “the anger of the Lord burned against them and He departed.” Today, when we walk according to the flesh filled with jealousy and envy (Galatians 5:20-21) we can rest assured that God’s anger has been provoked as it was with Miriam and Aaron. May each of us learn “not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment” (Romans 12:3).

Exercising self-will and simply doing what we want. We read in Numbers 22:12-13, 16-19, 22 of Balaam and his desire to be blessed by Balak for cursing the Israelites. God had clearly told Balaam not to go with Balak yet Balaam persisted in continuing to go back to God to ask Him if it was alright to do so. God allowed Balaam to go but in verse 22 it simply says “God was angry because he was going.” God was angry because Balaam was not willing to submit to what God had said. Today, if we simply will not submit to the will of God, God may “give us over” (Romans 1:24, 26, 28) to pursue the lusts of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, or the pride of life but understand this: it makes Him angry – especially when we clearly understand what His will is!

Irreverent worship. We read in Psalms 2:11-12, “Worship the Lord with reverence and rejoice with trembling. Do homage to the Son, that He not become angry, and you perish in the way, for His wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!” Irreverent worship is not only displeasing to God but it makes Him angry. We read in II Samuel 6:6-8, “But when they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah reached out toward the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen nearly upset it. And the anger of the Lord burned against Uzzah, and God struck him down there for his irreverence; and he died there by the ark of God. And David became angry because of the Lord’s outburst against Uzzah, and that place is called Perez-uzzah to this day.” We owe God all honor, glory, and reverence in our worship to Him (Hebrews 12:28).

Finally, making anything other than God your priority is otherwise known as idolatry. As exemplified in Deuteronomy 4:25 and 9:15-20, idolatry always provokes God to anger but we need to remember than idolatry is simply anything that takes preeminence over God in our lives. When we allow anything or anyone other than God to be our priority (our first thing) we will also find ourselves on the receiving end of God’s anger unless we humbly seek His forgiveness on His terms.